AFC Sudbury to stage first academy alumni match to honour founding academy coach David Cannon as former Colchester United coach Steve Downey set go full-time
One of the two founding figures of AFC Sudbury’s revered academy has said he is ‘humbled’ that his shared vision for a regular alumni match at King’s Marsh is set to become a reality as he bids an emotional farewell to a club that has very much become his home from home.
The 46-year-old is now in his 11th season at The MEL Group Stadium, having operated in both a dual teaching and coaching role during the week while being involved in the dugout with both the men’s first team – over two spells – and their reserves side – as a permanent fixture but latterly as their head coach – over the weekends and midweek evenings.
But Friday saw the club reveal his time with them is coming to an end, with Cannon telling the Suffolk Free Press he will depart at the end of November to pursue his previous sideline of being a project manager in property development.
The Woodbridge-based coach came over to Sudbury with Danny Laws (head of football) prior to the 2014/15 season with the aim of helping the club set up and establish a full-time academy on site to supplement the pathway into senior football from the exiting grassrooots (youth) section.
With a list of players the pair, along with now academy manager Craig Power, have gone to help into the professional game as well as a haul of trophies including national ones for both their boy’s and girls’ academy sides, he will depart with enormous pride at what he leaves behind.
“I’ve been asked many times, did you not get bored of winning? I’m like, you can’t get bored of winning because you’re just doing it with a different group all the time,” he said.
“It grows in a different shape with different strengths and weaknesses and challenges. It’s fabulous.
“To say that I’ve been part of that, I’m really proud because it’s not something that just appears and goes away. But it’s also bigger than that.
“So many students have gone to university and some are working in education now and some are doing other bits and some are in America at university.
“It’s more than just the football. That’s what these schemes should be and that’s what so many of them that don’t last. The education is so important.
“We try to make the education about making them a better footballer because if they buy into that, then they’ll probably buy into the education.
“I’m really proud to say that I was part of that.”
He added: “I’ve loved the job and I still do love the job, but I just wanted to try something different in life, something else I’m also really interested in, and I’ve taken the plunge.”
Cannon said his greatest achievement at the club was “being part of a group of players and coaches that won the national cup for boys and girls on the same night (May, 2024)”.
Part of his leaving present has already been revealed with his joint idea of staging an alumni match at the club – to bring back some of the wealth of talented players they’ve worked with in 11 years – set to become a reality ahead of Christmas in what is planned to be the first of an annual celebration event of the academy.
“Danny spoke to me about it because he wanted to make sure, as it’s right near the Christmas period, that I was actually going to be available, but I was like ‘I love that’.
“Danny and I have talked about doing an alumni game for a long time.
“I think it came off when the Free Press did Danny’s best ever academy team (during Covid-19 lockdown).”
The inaugural AFC Sudbury Academy Alumni Match is set to be take place on December 22 with more details to follow.
Cannon, who is set to be replaced by current part-time academy staff member Steve Downey, whose previous work includes at Colchester United and Colchester Institute, has also picked his all-time AFC Sudbury Academy side which will be revealed in next week’s Suffolk Free Press (October 24).
