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Inducted
into the Hall of Fame in 1987. Born 1939, Terry
Matthews began playing with the newly formed Whitley Bees at the age of
seventeen, and soon became a regular member of the team. When the Bees
folded in 1961, he moved south to Cheshire joining another new club, the
Altrincham Aces, and also iced a short spell with the Brighton Tigers.
In the 61/62 season, he was voted “Most promising young British
player,” and also made the first of his six trips to the World
Championships, in Colorado Springs USA. Following his season
with the Aces, he headed back to the North East joining the reformed
Durham Wasps before returning to Whitley Bay to become captain of the
Warriors. After coaching the Warriors for two seasons, Matthews became
player/coach to the GB national team in the early seventies. Following his final
appearances in the World Championships, the 1976 tournament held in
Poland, he retired for a year before making a comeback as player/coach
of the Billingham Bombers. He
remained as coach of the GB team, in a non-paying capacity, for the 1977
Pool C tournament and coached the 1980/81 under-19 squads. Matthews
crowned his final playing season, 1979/80, by leading the Bombers to a
very respectable second place in the First Division. In 1986, he rejoined the
Whitley Warriors as bench coach and guided the club to the English final
of the Norwich Union Cup, coaching with all the intensity and enthusiasm
that he exhibited in more than twenty years of playing at domestic and
international level. At the time of his
induction into the Hall of Fame, Terry Matthews stood in sixth place on
Great Britain’s all-time list of goalscorers, with thirteen. In 1998, in a ceremony
at the Newcastle Telewest Arena in further recognition of his services
to ice hockey particularly in the North East of England, along with Hep
Tindale, Alfie Miller, Peter Johnson and his own brother Kenny, Terry
Matthews was one the first five inductees into the North East Wall of
Fame. Compiled with research, provided by
Martin C.Harris & Tony Boynton – 1987. |
