‘Football is medication … you can forget you’ve got cancer

The pain came quickly, like a shot to the top of the leg. Matt Forde was only mildly concerned as he was performing at the Edinburgh festival, but sought a swift trip to the doctor anyway. It was likely a slipped disc pressing on a nerve, they said. But it wasn’t long before his world was turned into tumult.
A cancerous tumour called a chordoma was discovered at the bottom of his back after an MRI scan. “You’re not sure how your life is going to turn out at that point,” says Forde, who was told the base of his spine would have to be removed in life-changing surgery. It was his only option if he wanted to survive.
Waiting for the operation “was like knowing I was going to be in a car crash”, he says. “It was going to be traumatic and painful and take a long time to recover from, but it was for my own good.”
A year later, Forde is in better health and good spirits. He has a stoma and a colostomy bag for life and, temporarily, needs walking sticks, but is virtually back up and running. He credits his wife and the brilliant staff at the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital in Stanmore for helping him through. His other main coping mechanism? Football.
“When I was in a lot of pain, nothing took me out of it better than football. I had to stop watching Married at First Sight because the arguments on that show made the pain worse. Whereas football is completely immersive. For an hour and a half, you forget you’re on sticks, that you’ve got cancer, that you’re in pain. It’s medication, it’s like voodoo witchcraft! There’s no drug alive that makes you feel like football at its highest.”
As a Nottingham Forest and England fan, Forde has been through his fair share of highs and lows with the beautiful game. But the kindness and goodwill the club showed throughout his treatment went way beyond football. The former manager Steve Cooper made regular phone calls to him, he received videos from Harry Toffolo and Anthony Elanga; Ryan Yates and Joe Worrall would regularly check in. He even got visits from a boyhood idol.
“Stuart Pearce came to visit me in hospital a few times. We wouldn’t always talk about football, we’d talk about life and music. He’s phenomenal, a really special person. He’d heard I had cancer through a mutual friend, Jonny Owen, who’s on the board at Forest. I’d met Stuart a couple of times before but I was never quite sure he’d remembered me.
“Stuart was so perceptive. His advice was about how social circles work, how some friends would reach out to me and others wouldn’t, it was sociology and psychology. His visits were so entertaining.”
It wasn’t just the direct help from Forest that ensured Forde could see light at the end of the tunnel. During his darkest days lying on a hospital bed, he would reach out to his future self and envisage himself at the City Ground again. It was his therapy.
“When I was in the pits of despair, I would tell myself that I existed in the future. I would almost talk to my future self and I’d say: ‘We get through this, we go to the pub, we do comedy again and we go to football matches again.’ It was like a moment of time travel.”
And it happened. Months later, when he was back on his feet, Forest invited him to a game – and on to the pitch before kick-off. Standing there while the club anthem, Mull of Kintyre, was belted out, it took all of Forde’s strength not to break down in tears.
“It was such a profound experience. It’s just one of those moments when you reflect on how severe your experience has been. The City Ground is so moving and atmospheric anyway, but when you’ve been away for so long, you worry you might never go again.
“Football is so important in terms of identity and place. I’m from Nottingham, I grew up going to that ground, so I will remember that moment of magic for the rest of my life.”
Forde believes Forest and football in general deserves more credit than it gets for the way it handles such situations. “Tons of football clubs do stuff like this and it’s not done for clicks or social media, it’s done because they genuinely feel one of their own is going through something difficult. That stuff doesn’t always get publicised.
“I really felt they wanted to look after me. Yates, Elanga, they’re so bright and smart, as well as being very gifted footballers. They realise the privilege they have playing for a club like Forest. They genuinely care.
“Footballers have to grow up so fast. It’s mad that I’m 41 and these guys are 20 years younger than me, but you still look up to them – they’re an authority figure in your life.”
And what about Cooper? The man who cared so deeply about Forest – and Forde himself – is now in charge down the road at Leicester City. Will the pair still exchange messages? “I can’t just not talk to him now! I’d rather he hadn’t gone to one of our fiercest rivals. He’s a really special person and his place in Forest history is secure, to get us promoted was something nobody managed in 23 years. It was miraculous. So I have messaged him and I wish him personally well – I just hope Leicester don’t finish above us! I think he’ll get a huge reception when he comes back. He’s a god in Nottingham. We’ll always love him.”
Forde is now back at the Edinburgh festival as we speak, performing his show titled The End of an Era, and he will be on a nationwide tour from October to March. While going back to comedy has been restorative, his next goal is getting to another Forest game. “I’m already looking at the fixtures and planning which game to go to,” he says.
“Those moments when you go, you savour every second, every smell. I can’t wait. And I think we’ll have a better season. I don’t think we’re far away from being a bit more safe, just not to be in a relegation fight would be lovely!”
Survival would be more than enough for Matt Forde.