PERS. INFORMATION

CLUB HISTORY

Club	Years
US Terre Sainte II	Youth
FC Portalban/Gletterens	Youth – 2025
Larkhall Athletic FC	2025
Bath City FC	2025 –

INTERVIEW

Introduce yourself…

Hi, I’m Matt Bowman. I’m a 22-year-old center midfielder currently playing for Bath City FC. I was born in Geneva and hold dual British and Swiss nationality. I grew up playing in the Swiss academy system before moving over to the UK to study Sports Management & Coaching at the University of Bath. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster few years with injuries and moving up the English non-league pyramid, but I’m loving my football right now.

How do you balance football with life off the pitch?

It requires incredibly strict time management. Alongside playing for Bath City, I’m also studying for my degree at the University of Bath. Balancing university lectures and assignments with semi-professional football—training, travelling, and matchdays means you really have to be disciplined. You don’t have much downtime, but getting a degree while pushing my football career as far as I can is a massive priority for me.

You started your youth career at US Terre Sainte and later FC Portalban/Gletterens. What key lessons from your youth in Switzerland still influence your game today?

Being at a professional academy like Servette sets your standards very high from a young age. The Swiss system is heavily focused on technical perfection and tactical intelligence. At Servette FC, you are drilled on keeping the ball under pressure and understanding the geometry of the pitch. As a center midfielder in England, the game is chaotic, but those years in Switzerland gave me the technical foundation to put my foot on the ball and dictate play.

At what point did you realize you could pursue football at a higher level beyond Switzerland?

It was actually born out of a setback. I got released from the Servette academy, which is a tough pill to swallow when you’re young. Being half British, I decided to pivot. I thought that moving to the UK to get a university degree while continuing to play football for the uni team was the smartest next step. I knew I had the ability, but I wanted to make sure I was building a future off the pitch as well as on it.

Moving from Switzerland to join Larkhall Athletic FC is a big step, what motivated that decision?

It happened really organically through the university. I was playing for the Uni of Bath team, and my manager there happened to know the manager at Larkhall Athletic. He recommended me, so I went down and started with the Larkhall Development squad. I worked my way into the first team from there. It was my first real taste of the English men’s game, and it was the perfect bridge between university football and the non-league pyramid.

What were the biggest differences you noticed between Swiss football and the English non-league system when you first arrived?

The transition from academy football to English non-league is massive. At Servette, everything is very controlled, tactical, and played on the floor. When I stepped into the Larkhall setup, it was men’s football, it was physical, fast, and relentless. You have to win your individual battles, fight for second balls, and deal with a level of aggression you just don’t see in youth academies. Fortunately, being 6ft4 and having a real physical presence helped me massively in this regard. It allowed me to hold my own, dominate aerial battles, and impose myself on the game while adapting to the sheer pace over here.”

What attracted you to Bath City FC, and how has the experience been so far?

It’s been an incredible journey to get here. I actually had a major setback when I went back to Switzerland for my university placement year. I signed for FC Portalban/Gletterens in the 4th tier, but tore my ACL in the very first game of preseason. I had to do my entire rehab over there. When I finally came back to the UK in July 2025, I literally had to start from scratch—back to Larkhall Devs, fighting into the Larkhall first team, and eventually earning my move to Bath City. Bath City is a massive club at this level, and to be playing National League South football feels like a big achievement. The club is fantastic.

How would you describe your role within the squad and your connection with teammates and fans?

As a 6ft4 center midfielder, I see my role as being the engine of the team—breaking up play, but also bringing that Swiss technical calmness to the midfield when we win it back. The dressing room here is brilliant. Having gone through the local ranks from the Uni to Larkhall to here, I feel a great connection to the city. The fans at Twerton Park are brilliant, and they really appreciate players who leave everything out on the pitch.

Do you still feel a strong connection to Swiss football, and would you consider returning there one day?

I’ll always have a strong personal connection to Switzerland, Geneva is where I was born, and doing my ACL rehab over there during my placement year kept me close to home during a tough time. However, in terms of football, I don’t have any desire to go back right now. My absolute focus and ultimate goal is to earn a professional contract here in the UK. I’ve worked incredibly hard to climb the English pyramid and rebuild myself after my injury, and I want to see exactly how far I can go in the English game.

If you could give advice to young players in Switzerland hoping to move abroad, what would you tell them?

Have a plan B, and never let a setback define you. Getting released from an academy isn’t the end of the world; it just means you have to find a different route, like I did with university. And if you suffer a bad injury, trust the rehab process. It’s a dark place mentally, but if you put the work in, you can come back stronger. Finally, if you come to England, be ready for a physical battle, but trust the technique you learned back home.”