Viking Matthew Daltrey

Despite Tourette’s syndrome, he became a football hero

Number 56 has belonged to Matthew Daltrey at the Vienna Vikings for three years.(Bild: Hannes Jirgal)

Uncontrollable convulsions characterize the clinical picture of Tourette's syndrome. In the O-line, however, footballers are not allowed to move beyond breathing and blinking. Matthew Daltrey, a Scotsman in Vienna Vikings kit, told the Krone how he managed to become a champion despite this nervous condition and what our Kaiserschmarrn has to do with it.

"Anyone who meets me notices it immediately. I have Tourette's syndrome." Footballer Matthew Daltrey talks about his condition in public for the first time. Born in Scotland, the 27-year-old has never had the neuro-psychiatric condition officially diagnosed. "The necessary examinations are very expensive in Scotland. It's obvious, and I don't need any paper to say I have it," he says pragmatically. The so-called tics, i.e. uncontrollable twitching, are actually a reason for exclusion, especially in his playing position. Matthew stands in the O-line in front of the quarterback. He and his colleagues are not allowed to move until the ball is in play. Anything more than breathing or blinking would be penalized with a loss of space. "In those seconds, I'm so focused that it just doesn't happen."

Matthew won the European League of Football title with the Vikings in 2022.(Bild: ELF/Fiona Noever)

Daltrey is now in his third season on the field for the Vienna Vikings in the European League of Football (ELF) and has yet to produce a single penalty. But if you watch the man with the number 56 before and after the moves, you will recognize a twitch or two.

The next opportunity to do so is on Saturday (18) in the Generali-Arena in Favoriten, where the Vikings invite the Raiders Tirol to the "Battle of Austria" in the ELF. And they do so as favorites. The Viennese franchise has never lost to the Tyroleans in this league.

The Scot, who has lived and played in the USA and Finland, also has a connection to the red-white-red mountains: "My father proposed to my mother while eating Kaiserschmarren at a hut."

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker TJ Watt, an NFL star, also enjoyed Austria's mountains and the capital Vienna. He and his wife Dani, a soccer player, are celebrating their second wedding anniversary at the beginning of June. The two spent a few days together in Austria on a trip to Europe and are now in Italy. However, they will miss the duel between Daltrey and Co. and the Tyroleans, which is certainly worth seeing.