Alan Matthews was the husband of Cathy Matthews who, prior to his death, had tended an allotment on the neighbouring plot to Roy Cropper and Sharif Nazir. Maintaining the plot gave Alan peace and quiet away from his job as a customer complaints officer for the council. Cathy spoke fondly of her late-husband in April 2015, and told Roy that he'd passed away about twelve months previously.

In January 2016, it was revealed that he had an affair with Cathy's sister Nessa Warner. Cathy would receive more shocking news later that year when in September she came to realise her nephew Alex Warner was a product of an affair between Nessa and Alan.
