Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Mat Ryan doing his bit to help Australian wildfire effort
“A few years ago when the fires weren’t as bad as they are now, but they were still quite bad, my uncle lost his house,” says Mat Ryan.
“He is really the only one from my close family that lives with bushland in close proximity.”
The Brighton and Hove Albion and Australia goalkeeper has been watching on, feeling isolated and helpless, as images of his homeland on fire are shown on our news programmes on a daily basis. During the Christmas period his mother and sister were visiting in the United Kingdom, but they returned home in the New Year and Ryan has been keeping abreast of the situation on his own. Last week he was on the phone to his uncle, who lives in the Blue Mountains region to the west of Sydney, checking that the fires are being kept at bay in his part of the country this time around.
But it was time, Ryan decided, to make a statement of support of his own from afar. He announced that for each save made by a goalkeeper during last weekend’s round of Premier League fixtures, he would donate 500 Australian dollars to the Wires Wildlife Rescue fund. Hundreds of fires during the hot season have burnt over 4.9 million hectares of land in New South Wales state alone.
Many animals were already struggling with a lack of water and food due to the drought. With the fires destroying unprecedented amounts of habitat, there is a significant long-term challenge for surviving wildlife. It is impossible to know how many animals have perished, it will be many months before the impact on wild populations can be better understood, but ecologists at Sydney University have estimated over one billion animals have died.
“I saw that a television network in Australia, Optus Sport, were donating a thousand dollars a goal for each game that weekend,” Ryan continues. “Us goalkeepers are the forgotten breed sometimes and I wanted to provide a bit of an incentive for us out there and it just came to mind to do the fundraising that way. I wanted to connect the football world to what is going on back home, as it’s very close to me. I feel very privileged to be inundated with messages of support, hearing stories of kids who support other clubs donating their pocket money and their parents jumping on board saying they’ll add a zero on the end of whatever their kids raise.”
The 56 saves made in the Premier League cost the goalkeeper A$28,000 (just under £15,000). Sitting down with Ryan at the club’s Lancing training ground, for an interview to be shown on Soccer Saturday today, it was clear that the keeper had been moved by the response to his appeal.
“I probably wasn’t expecting it to get the coverage that it did. I saw on social media that all the major networks, not just here and in Australia, but other countries as well all got hold of the story. You see the likes of Kylie Minogue [whose family donated A$500,000], Chris Hemsworth and Shane Warne getting behind it. Then there’s Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal, all these guys in the tennis donating too. It’s been evident to see how powerful that can be in influencing the public and encouraging them to get on board, and ultimately lending a helping hand to those in need.”
Ryan was on good form last weekend making five saves of his own, but he was unable to keep out all six of Everton’s shots on target as the Merseysiders ran out 1-0 winners. Despite the defeat, he came away from Goodison Park buoyed by the support for his fundraising efforts.
“Seamus Coleman said to me that it was a nice initiative,” Ryan explains. “Even the Everton fans were clapping me during the game as well. And the Brighton fans were great on the day. I’m fortunate enough to have a club song about me, and they changed it a little bit to incorporate ‘Save the Koalas’ in one line which was special.”
The south coast club has got behind Ryan and his team-mate and compatriot Aaron Mooy, who has also made a significant donation to the rescue fund. This week Brighton announced that it is match-funding their players’ donations.
“When I got that news the other day it was mind-blowing,” Ryan adds. “It was such an incredible gesture from the club and one that makes me even more proud to be a part of the club. It speaks volumes of the principles they instil within the club and the personnel who have them. I couldn’t thank them enough, and the Australian public can’t be grateful enough for their contribution as well.”
Ryan and Mooy grew up as kids not far from each other in Sydney’s western suburbs, and made their debuts for the Australian national side in 2012. Much of the current squad plies its trade in Europe and the players have been able to come together off the pitch to support a common cause.
“This year the national side created a bit of a fund to donate money to whatever foundations were out there,” Ryan says. “Obviously with the circumstances in Australia we made a group decision to donate to the people back home during the fires.”
You can donate to the Wires Wildlife Rescue Fund here https://www.wires.org.au/
