ACE LOWE PUT ME ON A HIGH
FANS’ favourite Matt Lowe brightened up lockdown for a lifelong Brackley Town supporter – by surprising him with an onlione video call.
The England C midfielder took time out to bring a smile to the face of Phillip Eaton – one of the Saints’ biggest fans.
Mr Eaton, 31, suffers from downs syndrome but has never let his disability get in the way of him following his beloved Brackley week in week out.
And with the National League North season suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lowe was keen to check in on one of the Saints family’s most loyal members.
“It was only for 15-20 minutes via Skype but it felt really good to be able to give back,” said the former Cambridge United youngster. “Phil is so well liked at Brackley and he is an absolute legend.
“He waits around after the games. He is always there supporting and he even has some of the lads’ posters on his wall. He tells us football is the highlight of his week.
“For me, it was nice to cheer someone else up and it really gave me a lift. This situation is hard for all of us, everyone is missing football, it’s part of people’s routines.
“The one positive thing from the break is that it has given me the chance to interact with the fans.
Motivation
“Brackley may not have the biggest number of fans in the league but we have some of the best. They are what I’d call proper supporters.”
Along with his ambitions as a footballer, Lowe is also looking after his future and is currently in his final year of a Sports Science degree at Coventry University.
The 24-year-old admits that remaining focused at home is tough – but he has improvised and has even got his mum involved.
“It’s a difficult one for me,” Lowe continued. “I like my usual routine, do my university stuff throughout the week and then I have the weekend for football.
“It’s a case of juggling everything at the minute, it’s my third and final year of university, a lot of my modules have been moved online, but it’s difficult not being there in person.
“You’ve got to try to keep yourself fit but with no gyms open, it’s tough and I’m going to be honest I have been doing the old Joe Wicks workouts.
“But motivation levels are a strange one. I’ve got more time on my hands than usual, but without football it’s hard to break things up, and everything becomes a bit of a chore.
“It’s about trying to keep structure in your life. I have come up with a weekly plan with little activities and I am making sure to spend time with my family.
“I’ve been running, going on bike rides with my mum. She struggles to keep up but I think I will let her off, at least she is trying!”
The midfielder doesn’t hide the fact he is missing the game but concedes football is a distant second when it comes to concerns over public health.
“I’m missing football like everyone else,” he said. “But there are far more important things to worry about at the minute.
“When it first happened, we were one of the last teams to play. Even though games had been called off in the divisions above us, we were still playing.
Bitter blow
“You got the impression that because we are semi-pro, we did not matter. But thankfully they came to their senses and made the right decision.
“Health always has to come before competition. It wasn’t fair for the non-league to carry on, we have families too, people we care about.”
It’s clear that Lowe understands the severity of the situation but he does concede that from a playing stand point, the timing was a bitter blow. A play-off place was still on the cards for third-placed Brackley before the season was halted and Lowe was in fine form having scored three in his last two league games.
“From the football side of things it couldn’t have come at a worse time for me,” he said. “I was feeling confident and my form was good so of course it is frustrating.
“We’d got Wes (York) from York City which was a massive boost for us and I was having my best goalscoring season.
“I was in double figures for both goals and assists, looking forward to the play offs and seeing if we could get promoted.
“In recent seasons I had been known more for my assists but at the start of this season, I set myself a target to reach double figures in goals too.
“It was nice that I had done that this season and we still had another eight games more, so I could have increased that tally even more.”