Youth football coach, 43, dies after falling ill on flight home to UK leaving his heartbroken wife and kids ‘devastated’
A YOUTH football coach has died after falling ill on his on a long-haul flight home to the UK.
Tributes have been pouring in for “much-loved” dad Matt Milne, 43, who reportedly suffered a deep vein blood clot in his leg when flying back from Singapore.
The software programmer from Whitstable, Kent, could not be revived despite the efforts of off-duty paramedics on the plane.
Matt was an under-14s team coach for the town’s football club and was hugely popular with young players.
He also ran a bar in the Kentish coastal town.
On Wednesday, Matt’s his wife Francesca said she and their children, Will, 13, and Annabel, ten, have been left “utterly devastated”.
“Matt was just an amazing husband and dad,” Francesca told KentOnline.
“He had never had any health problems and was reasonably fit, so it has come as a huge shock.”
The couple, who met as freshers at Manchester University 25 years ago, were due to celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary this coming Sunday.
Matt would often travel abroad for work and was on his way home from Singapore from another business trip when he passed away.
“I found out when a policeman arrived at our door at 8am on Saturday morning to tell me he had been taken ill from the plane at Heathrow and I needed to travel to Hillingdon Hospital. But when I got there, he was already gone,” Francesca explained.
“The doctors said he’d suffered a thrombosis during the flight which had travelled to his lung.”
Francesca said the family have been inundated with hundreds of messages of sympathy and support.
“My heart is totally utterly broken and Will and Annabel are devastated,” she said.
“We will all miss Matt every second of every day for the rest of our lives.
“He had the biggest heart in the entire world and was loved so much by the three of us, his parents, all his family and his friends.”
The mourning wife also revealed her husband’s dedication to grassroots football began after their son started playing.
“His children were his world. He wasn’t an especially big football fan, but when Will started playing for the under-8s, he got involved with the club volunteering and it went from there,” she said.
“I got involved too as club secretary and then Annabel started playing for the girls’ team so it became a huge part of our lives.”
A tribute on the Whitstable Town FC website read: “It is with the deepest sadness and heaviest of hearts that we inform you of the sudden and unexpected passing of Matt Milne on Saturday, September 30.
“Matt was a beloved son, husband, father, and friend, and his loss has shocked us all. During this challenging time, our thoughts and condolences go out to his wife, Fran, and two children, Will and Annabel.
“Matt played an integral role in the club’s operations, managing the U14s team, which he led for several years across different age groups, as the club’s volunteer bar manager and our resident tech expert, among other responsibilities. He was always eager to assist anyone, and his warm smile was contagious.
“Despite the long and often late board meetings, he was always supportive and patient, with Fran as a director and club secretary. Something that the partners and spouses of grassroots football directors and committee members can relate to and appreciate.
“Matt’s passing is a tremendous loss to his loved ones, friends and colleagues, and he will be dearly missed.”
Following news of his death, his team cancelled a match they were due to play the following day.
On Sunday, the girls’ team will hold a minute’s applause for Matt.