Midlands rugby is coming together to raise money for the RFU Injured Players Foundation and the Matt Gallagher Foundation later this month.
A charity match between the Midlands Barbarians and Warwickshire Masonics will take place at Birmingham Moseley’s Billesley Common ground on Friday November 22 (7.45pm) to raise funds for both charities.
The match will feature many past and present stars of West Midlands rugby, many of whom will have played with or against Matt Gallagher during his illustrious career.
Having started his career with Birmingham & Solihull, Matt went on to play for Nottingham and Coventry and for the Midlands division.
Since retiring from playing Matt has established his own successful house-building business but life changed dramatically for him and his family in October 2023 when he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease after he fell from a ladder.
Despite this incredibly unexpected and abrupt diagnosis, one of Matt’s first thoughts was that he wanted to help others in his situation, especially after learning that there were just three specialist MND nurses serving the West Midlands, one of the largest health authorities in the UK.
So, the Matt Gallagher Foundation was born, a community designed to support those living with MND and their families.
Although it is more than 20 years since he retired from playing, Matt has retained a close involvement in rugby as an organiser of Coventry’s Former Players’ Association and as a coach at Solihull School who play King Edward’s Birmingham in an annual fixture at Avery Fields.
Admission to the match on November 22 is just £5 but there will be plenty of other fund-raising activities going on and Papa John’s Pizzas will be dishing up pitchside.
