As the Polish national team prepares to face France in the ⅛ of finals, British Poles propose you a closer look at one of our rising stars, who happens to share a similar background with many of our readers. Born and raised in England, Matty has a strong bond with Poland.
Apart from playing for Aston Villa in the starting eleven of Poland’s representation, Matthew Stuart Cash is also known for officially becoming a Pole. Fun fact: Cash qualified to be naturalised Polish without ever having been in Poland before, which he referred to as “quite a crazy story really, a bit complicated” in an interview for The Guardian.
The Villans’ defender is Polish by his mother, Barbara (maiden name Tomaszewska). Her father, Ryszard was forced to flee to the UK during WWII. The Tomaszewski family then remained in Britain. His father, Stuart, was also a professional football player.
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Matty Cash turned pro himself at Nottingham Forest (Championship), where he performed for five seasons. In September 2020, Aston Villa bought him for £16 million. The young talent scored his first goal for the Villans one year later.
His journey at Villa Park has been a success so far. In March 2022, he was elected Aston Villa’s player of the month. A few weeks later, Cash was awarded the title of Player of the Season for the 2021–22 season during Aston Villa’s End of Season awards.
His naturalisation as a Pole took place in October 2021. On 1 November, Cash received his first call-up to the Polish national team and scored his first goal for the White and Reds on 11 June 2022 in a Nations League draw (2–2) against the Netherlands.
The 25-year-old British Pole made tremendous progress in Polish, of which he had only a basic knowledge not further than a year ago. Before signing all the necessary documents for obtaining Polish citizenship, Matty promised his mum and Poles more broadly to learn Poland’s national anthem. When watching the start of any Poland game in which Cash is part of the starting eleven, one can assess he did keep his promise.
Image: Twitter (@mattycash622)
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
