Matt Filipo

Matt Filipo’s rugby life has been marked by the kind of quiet, sustained presence that holds clubs together long after the final whistle. His New Zealand playing record names Manurewa as his club and earned his place as a prop in the New Zealand Colts side in 1992, playing two games and scoring a try. He went on to represent Otago XV in 1994 and was listed with Counties Manukau between 1995 and 1998, building a career in the forwards during a period when New Zealand provincial rugby demanded both physical commitment and technical precision.

In 1996, while still connected to rugby in New Zealand, Filipo joined Fylde RFC in Lancashire. The move brought him into a different rugby culture, one rooted in the English club game’s particular blend of competition and community. Over the years that followed, he played across the club’s teams and eventually captained the first XV from 2000 to 2003, a period that required him to balance his own game with the responsibility of leading others through matches, training sessions and the inevitable setbacks that come with any season.

What distinguished Filipo’s time at Fylde was not simply what he did on the pitch but what he continued to do beyond his playing role. He became a coach for the club’s mini and junior sections, working with young players at the age when rugby is still more about learning to pass and tackle than about winning trophies. He volunteered at summer barbecues and helped with catering, the kind of work that rarely makes headlines but keeps a club functioning week to week. It was service that accumulated quietly, season after season.

Filipo served as Fylde’s chairman from 2021 until September 2025, adding another chapter to an association that had begun when he arrived from New Zealand in 1996. It was a voluntary role, like his other service to the club. When he stepped down, Fylde’s president thanked him not only for his chairmanship but for the breadth of his contribution: playing across the club’s teams, captaining the first XV, coaching the mini-juniors and helping with barbecues and catering. Matt Thompson took over as chairman on 1 October 2025, following the committee’s agreement to the handover.

His story is one of sustained connection rather than dramatic turning points. From Manurewa to Fylde, from the New Zealand Colts to the club’s barbecue roster, Filipo has remained involved in the structures and routines that allow rugby to exist beyond the professional game. He has been a player, a captain, a coach, a chairman and a volunteer, roles that together sketch a picture of someone who found a place within the game and chose to stay.

The chairmanship ended, but Filipo’s connection with Fylde did not. The club’s announcement said he would continue volunteering, much as he had done alongside his playing, coaching and leadership roles. From the Manurewa grounds in South Auckland to Fylde in Lancashire, his contribution had taken different forms: the work of a prop, the responsibility of a captain, the patience of a junior coach and the service of a chairman. By the time he handed over that last role in 2025, almost three decades had passed since his arrival at Fylde.