From Blacktown to Brugge: The rise of Maty Ryan

Tweet

Australia has always been well equipped in the goalkeeping stocks, with Europe a common destination for our talented glove men. Mark Schwarzer, Brad Jones and Adam Federici all ply their trade in England, Mitch Langerak continues to learn the ins and outs of European football at Borussia Dortmund, and now, we have another shot stopper at a powerhouse European club.

The undoubtable talent of Maty Ryan, who only turned 21 in April, caught the attention of Club Brugge’s new coach Juan Carlos Garrido, who moved quickly to make the Australian his number one goalkeeper. Fresh from both Belgian Pro and Europa League action, From the Stands AL was lucky enough to get a few answers about the history of one of Australia’s brightest youngsters.

After three stellar seasons in the A-League, attracting attention from clubs around the world, Maty was finally granted every young footballer’s dream. After trials at Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspurs and West Bromwich Albion, Ryan signed a three year deal with 13 time Belgian champions, Club Brugge. Two months later, Ryan started and played 90 minutes in his first taste of European football, keeping a clean sheet as Brugge kicked off their Pro League campaign with a 2-0 win over Sporting Charleroi. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my European career. Didn’t have a lot to do in terms of making saves, but they’re the hardest of games sometimes. I was happy with my focus throughout the game and enjoyed the clean sheet and victory in front of our home fans.”

Undefeated after four games, Club Brugge sit towards the top of the table, equal on points with first place, a position Maty would have become well accustomed to with his time at Central Coast. However, Maty has been overly impressed by the professional setup and facilities at Club Brugge, a welcomed challenge for the young stopper. “The club, as you’d expect, have top-notch facilities. 30,000 capacity stadium, 4 training pitches, 1 of which is astro-turf, a gym, dining room and the Club’s offices all situated on the same premises”

Away from football, Maty has also been slowly adapting to his new way of life in Belgium. “I feel as if I’m adapting well to Belgium. Obviously the language barrier is a little difficult at time but I’m also lucky that a large majority of people speak a good amount of English. Bracing myself for my first European winter, but I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it.” But of course, and albeit only been away from home for a few months, Maty does reminisce about his life back home. “Having the best job in the world and doing it from home with the support of your family and friends are the biggest things I miss.”

From a youngster kicking a ball around at suburban Sydney parks, Ryan has become one of Australia’s finest goalkeepers, who describe his rise to the top as “such a great period of my life.” Having left his first club, where he learnt the ins and outs of professional football, Ryan accredited a lot of his success to the Gosford based club. “Getting an opportunity as an 18 year old and going on to make the Grand Final that year still seems surreal, as well as all the personal accolades that went along with it. Just so thankful to the coaching staff and players at the Central Coast Mariners who helped me develop during my time there. I learnt so much and it has helped me become the footballer I am today. I’m so happy to cap off my last year being champions. It was a fairy tale end to my time at the club and it was what the whole community has deserved for so long now.”

Ryan’s junior career started at the famous Blacktown City Demons, who produced the likes of Robbie Slater and Charlie Yankos. “Blacktown was a great learning period for me and helped the development of my game enormously. They were always a successful club no matter what age group you were playing in and I met some of my life long mates there too. Had an 8 year period at the club and enjoyed every minute.”

Having performed exceptionally at a young age with Blacktown Demons, Maty caught the attention of Central Coast Mariners, in particular their goalkeeper coach John Crawley. Crawley had also been aware of his talents through Maty’s high school, Westfields Sports High. After eight years with the club, Maty was selected for the inaugural Central Coast Mariners National Youth League team. Maty continued to excel with the youth team of Central Coast, and after a stellar season, was rewarded with a senior contract.

With the inception and focus of the National Youth League, it wasn’t too out of the blue for a NYL player to be signed by the first team. But this is where Maty’s story differs from others, because within a few months, an injury to Jesse Vanstrattan granted an 18 year old Ryan his debut against home-town team Sydney FC in the 2010/11 season. “The circumstances in which I signed, I thought I’d be an understudy for a few years, even possibly still today. But football is a funny game and it’s all about taking an opportunity when it comes around. When I saw Jesse go down at training and heard he was going to spend some time on the sidelines, Arnie said that I’d be playing. I did the best I could to bottle up my nerves. But playing against Sydney FC in front of 10,000 fans got the better of me a little bit. I thought I did okay in that game, apart from the error I made, and then from there I went on and just tried to learn as much as I could.”

Even with the signing of highly experienced Paul Henderson on a short term deal, Maty managed to hold on to that first team spot. Maty continued to grow exponentially as a footballer, bouncing back from a handful of blunders that naturally any youngster would experience for themselves. “That first season was probably the biggest learning curve in my football career to date. I grew up with all the hype surrounding the A-League, thinking to play on TV, you have to be some sort of freak to be that good. But the more I played, the more I recognized that it’s just another game of football, and you just concentrate on your job on the football pitch and block out all the hype. It became a lot easier to perform better. Playing with men twice my age, I also had to learn quickly how experienced players play the game. They have the ability to find ways to win games or find weakness within the opposition, and if you want to win games, then you have to be ready for whatever they throw at you. That comes with experience.”

Maty’s debut season consisted of a record 12 clean sheets, culminating in a Grand Final birth. Central Coast unfortunately did not come off as victors that day, conceding two very late goals in extra time before losing the tie on penalties. “From what I remember the Grand Final was one of the hardest days in my life. Just the circumstances which unfolded and the way we lost the game, it was very hard to take. Especially being a Goal Keeper, to lose in a penalty shoot out it’s tough. We, as keeper, all like to back ourselves in those situations and to not save one penalty was disappointing.”

Whilst it came as a tough blow for the youngster, Ryan’s performance in the final was unrivaled, and was rightly awarded the Joe Marston Medal, an accolade that Maty will “cherish forever.” Maty also went on to win the A-League’s Young Footballer of the Year, and FFA’s Australian U20 Footballer of the Year. Destined for greatness, Maty worked hard to prove he was not a one season wonder. Continually thriving in the A-League, Ryan was instrumental in Central Coast’s subsequent minor premiership winning season.

However his performances were not going unnoticed, with the youngster becoming one of the hottest prospects in the A-League. Amidst starting to attract attention from overseas, Maty was awarded with his first senior call up to the Australian national team during early 2012. “Definitely looking back on my progress during the time before my first call up, I didn’t expect it. I mean, it had been in the media, but I was still having none of it. Then to be called into the squad, having with me on the dinner table my childhood heroes from that penalty shoot out against Uruguay, I was very star struck But I knuckled down and made the most of it, and have been lucky enough to make a few more squads and have 2 caps.” That call up came in the form of a World Cup Qualifier against Saudi Arabia. An unused substitute, Maty had to wait until the end of the year, when Ryan made his full debut in a 1-1 draw with North Korea.

However, before signing with Club Brugge, Maty Ryan’s final season with Central Coast Mariners, which resulted finally in a championship winning medal, Ryan had attracted the attention of English heavyweights Tottenham. “Tottenham was great. Mixing it with the superstars of the game was something I never thought would have happened. It was amazing some of the things I saw some players do with the ball at those clubs. I was proud of how I went and hopefully I can mix it with those guys again someday.”

Fresh from Europa League action, Ryan seems ever so focused on his new role at Club Brugge. Installed as what seems Juan Carlos Garrido’s first choice stopper, a lot of faith has been put into Maty by a coach who he describes as “a very competitive person. It’s clear that he absolutely hates losing and is continuing to drive a winning mentality to everyone involved at the club.” When asked what can we expect in the future, a very humble Ryan replied “I have always been one to take things one step at a time. So hopefully I can continue to put in some good performances for Club Brugge, and with some luck, be involved with the national team, on that plane to Rio.”

Google+