Dom Matteo and Mark Viduka may have played at opposite ends of the pitch for Leeds United, but they were an overlooked partnership. Aside from scoring a fucking great goal in the San Siro, Matteo wasn’t exactly known for his attacking prowess, and he saved what Transfermarkt says were his only two assists in a Leeds shirt for two of Viduka’s biggest goals.

According to Matteo, Viduka was more bothered about the pre-match lasagne than Dom’s goal in Milan that put Leeds through to the second group stage of the 2000/01 Champions League. There Leeds were drawn in a group featuring Anderlecht, who boasted a fearsome unbeaten home record, beating Scum and Lazio that season. When Leeds made a mockery of Anderlecht’s reputation with a 4-1 whipping, Viduka had Matteo to thank for a perfect cross to set up his header. Two years later, Viduka’s late winner at Arsenal is best remembered for manic fan commentary on the goal that kept Leeds in the Premier League, ignoring Matteo’s contribution in driving forward and releasing the man he still calls “the great Mark Viduka”.

Viduka is returning to Elland Road to make a guest appearance at a Q&A evening, raising money for the Brain Tumour Charity and Matteo’s foundation Ahead of the Game, as the former Leeds captain continues his recovery from a life saving emergency operation in November 2019 that was followed by thirty sessions of radiotherapy. They were close friends when playing for Leeds, and Matteo can’t wait to reminisce about the times he shared on the pitch with one of the club’s most gifted strikers. He told Adam Pope, in an interview for BBC Radio Leeds:

“Mark Viduka was a huge part of that team, because of what he brought to the table. He actually had one of the best first touches [of any player] that I’ve ever played with. You talk about Viduka and people talk about his power and his ability to hold people off. Well let’s go back to his first touch, which was unbelievable. People like Eddie Gray always raved about the big man. I think he was his favourite to be honest. Eddie’s favourite was definitely big Mark. When you play with a player like Mark, who was very clever, knew what he was doing with the ball, always found a way — for example, think about the goal against Lazio when he did that little backheel into Alan Smith. Only certain people have that awareness. Mark has that.”

To Matteo, Viduka is much more than the goalscorer we all saw on the pitch. “I don’t forget the person he is,” he says. Since his operation, Matteo has lost some sight in his right eye, and has had to relearn how to read and write. He has been supported in his recovery by a number of Leeds United figures. Viduka was straight on the phone, and Eddie Gray was the first person to visit him in hospital (“they couldn’t stop him, he came on the bus to see me,” Matteo told the YEP). Members of the current squad like Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas were in touch, even though Matteo didn’t know them that well. The club have let him use facilities at Elland Road for sessions with a life coach, providing a space where he can have open conversations he might not want his children at home to overhear, and he has been back on LUTV since returning to work. “I needed help, and Leeds were there for me,” Matteo says.

“To be honest, I’m lucky to be here. I can say that honestly. At points I didn’t think I was going to make it, but I did. So I’m here talking to you, which is great. I think the biggest heroes around this have been my wife and my kids, and my family and friends. I’ll be totally honest, without them I wouldn’t be here having this conversation. I’m learning to read again. I’m learning to write again. I can’t drive anymore. So there’s a lot of things that comes with a brain tumour — it doesn’t happen with everyone, but it did with me, I think because it was obviously an emergency to get this operation done so quickly. Ryan Mathew, my surgeon from Leeds, I work with now. I’m an ambassador for the hospital. That was so important to me as well. There’s so many people that I’d like to thank that helped me. And I think for me as well, just the people that spoke to me about my illness and people who are living with this illness, it’s like we get one percent basically, that’s the support we get. So we’re trying to make a difference by doing this event as well. Hopefully maybe the government can help us out a little bit more and give us a little bit more support.”

Daily life is still “a struggle” for Matteo, but his recovery means he now cherishes things he may have taken for granted before.

“Every day now is special to me. It’s so bizarre talking about something so simple, like walking my little boy to school, speaking to my kids on the phone. These are things I couldn’t do, and I’m still learning to do.”

Alongside his fundraising efforts and broadcasting work, Matteo is working on a second autobiography, written with his wife, covering his ordeal and ongoing recovery. Again, he is determined to use the book to help raise awareness for people rehabilitating from brain tumours, eager to repay the support he was shown after his own diagnosis, whether that be by talking to Mark Viduka at the Pavilion or phoning someone with a similar illness.

“I’m just so happy that people are jumping on and wanting to get involved and support me. I think sometimes you forget about the support and about the fans, but I don’t forget all the messages that I had throughout my time in hospital. They were coming through thick and thin every single day. I just want to thank the people who supported me, especially in Leeds, throughout this. Obviously it’s ongoing for me at the moment and hopefully we can find a cure for what I’m going through. At the moment there isn’t anything out there. So hopefully by doing events like this and getting the awareness out there, that’s what I’m trying to achieve.

“I think when you get someone like Mark as well who knows my story and I know him so well — he’s a great guy. I’m just buzzing to be honest. First and foremost to get him over to Leeds and meet people again, because obviously he’s got a lot of friends from Leeds and he still speaks to a few people. I’m just buzzing that he’s coming. And what a player. Let’s be honest, we’re talking about one of the greats at Leeds United.”

(Dom and the Duke will be appearing at the Elland Road Pavilion on March 11th, raising money for Brain Tumour Charity and Ahead of the Game. You can buy tickets here.) ⬢