More than a Rogue
Matt Cowan sponsor of the 2021 Home kit (No Quarter kit)
“Who doesn’t want to be a Rogue?” Matt Cowen questioned me over the phone. It was a rhetorical question that we both knew didn’t need an answer, but the point remained: separated by hours of travel time, Matt, nestled into upstate New York, an ex-D3 soccer player, and a Navy veteran, was committed to becoming a Rogue, being a Rogue, and making his presence known. In the brief time I was able to meet Matt and talk to him about his story, his ties to the club, his belly laugh and audible smile drew me in, but his unrelenting passion for Providence City had me hanging on to his every word. It was a real treat to hear from a man who has impacted the club with such graceful silence.
With this year’s No Quarter Kit about to drop, fans might be surprised to see “Rogues” written in looping text across the shirt’s midsection as opposed to a familiar local Providence business. While this might, to the untrained eye, look to be one of the club’s most inward-facing designs, only representing PCFC’s own insignia, in fact this shirt was constructed via phone calls stretching hundreds of miles across the American North East, a testament to the far flung nature of the Rogue community. “It’s worldwide local,” Matt told me.
Matt has been following the PCFC project for quite some time now. First following on Twitter, Matt’s first experiences with the Rogues were the eye-catching designs of the kits, kits that he would ultimately passionately collect. Feeling like the grassroots soccer movement across the country was his best shot at getting involved and making a difference, Matt came into contact with Jason, and, after speaking about the fundamentally community-oriented outlook of the club, Matt was immediately hooked. What started as sponsoring tables at fundraising dinners translated into a club membership, and, ultimately, Matt’s love for the club manifested itself as plans to visit the city with his son last spring. With COVID cutting his plans short, however, Matt and I might have to wait until this summer until we meet on the touchline.
Matt, however, was able to look beyond his own inability to visit as he took stock of what COVID meant for a club like PCFC. Assessing the situation, and burning with his ever-glowing passion for the club, Matt knew that, as many kits are emblazoned by the branding of eateries and social venues, this year might represent a real challenge to local businesses, and, by extension, might make his favorite shirts more challenging to sponsor. With this profound level of foresight, Matt called up Jason and asked an unexpected question: “what does it take to get on the kit?” After exchanging calls back and forth, after months of planning and preparation, the looping “Rogues” that will feature front and center on our newest kit ultimately bears Matt’s own name. A Rogue sponsoring the Rogues.
Indeed, without Matt, there couldn’t be a No Quarter Kit; his willingness to sponsor and support the club, however, goes beyond shirts and stitching as his help is massively important to the team’s travels and fixtures this year. Without Rogues like Matt, PCFC couldn’t continue to reach out to people in the way that it strives to, and, for that reason, Matt, hours upon hours away, having never played a minute for the club, is more of a Rogue than few could even dream of being.
Written by: Colin Olson