Meet the Blue Heelers: Australia’s new national football team made entirely of players saved by organ donors

There’s one big difference between Australia’s newest national football team - the Blue Heelers - and the Matildas and Socceroos. If things had gone differently, every player in their squad would be dead.

Australia has a new national football team – the Blue Heelers.

What sets this team apart from the Matildas and the Socceroos is that every single one of the 12 athletes could be dead.

It is an apt name for the squad given each of the athletes are alive thanks to a lifesaving organ donation including livers, kidneys, a heart, bone marrow and double lung transplant.

Between them they have been gifted an extra 95 years of life and counting – a fact that makes heart recipient Brendan Ryland tear up.

Ryland received a heart transplant in 2015 – after three years of waiting on the transplant list.

He was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a heart condition, when he was six weeks old.

Brendan Ryland recovering from the heart transplant that saved his life. Picture: Supplied

“I was pretty sick as a young kid and was taking medication to deal with the issues but turned a corner when I was three or four,” Ryland said.

“I was sort of fit and healthy all the way through to 19 – I’d probably be the last person you would have thought had any sort of heart issues, I was playing all sorts of sports, was very active.

“But then I got sick again.

“I existed in a world of constant fatigue and hospital visits, it felt like riding a bike with the brakes on.”

The transplant was a lifeline – a new beginning.

Having led an active life the physical rehab wasn’t too hard for Ryland. But it took longer with his mental strength.

“I think it is something that all transplant recipients are dealing with and that is confidence in your body,” Ryland said.

“You’ve been frail for such a long time, for me at least with a heart condition, any abnormal beat or pushing too far, you get a sense of your own mortality sneaking there in the background.

“You are always building confidence and pushing yourself more and more.

“Being part of this transplant team has really opened up a new level of confidence for me.”

One of Ryland’s biggest motivators is wanting to do it for his donor.

Ryland will never know who the donor was – but the simple fact is Ryland wouldn’t be here without them.

Picture: Supplied by Donate Life

“The ripple effects of this donor – they’ve helped me graduate, become employed, see 10 more of my nephew’s birthdays, 10 more of my dad’s birthdays, at some stage I’ll become a father, a husband – the ripple effect of this one generous sort of moment can have such amazing effects,” he said.

“It is something I’ll obviously always be grateful for and I’ll be bringing them out on the field with me. I think about them every day.

“The combined team has 95 extra years of life and that just makes me so emotional, it puts into perspective how lucky we are to have these donors.”

It is a sentiment shared by teammate and close friend Matt Wills.

The 29-year-old was born with cystic fibrosis - at his worst, the year leading up to his transplant, he had just 25 per cent lung capacity.

Wills managed to play football as a child – forced to stop in 2017 when his lungs began to deteriorate.

“Everyday was a challenge,” Wills said.

“Living with cystic fibrosis was very frustrating and I felt like I missed out on a lot.”

He was placed on the donor list and was lucky to receive the call just three weeks later.

“I was very bad, my days would consist of what I could do, not what I wanted to do, they were pretty miserable days,” Will said.

Blue Heelers footballer Matt Wills post his double lung transplant. Picture: Supplied

In 2019 he received a double lung transplant. A gruelling procedure that left him in an induced coma for 10 days, in hospital for three months recovering.

“I was recovering for a full year before I could really start to enjoy life again.”

Wills, who now works as a top chef, says it was all worth it “I don’t think I’d be here today without the transplant.”

Ryland said the team’s main goal of competing in the Transplant Football World Cup was to raise awareness about organ donation.

Currently there are 1800 Australians waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

Central Coast Mariners premier winning goalkeeper Danny Vukovic is throwing his support behind the tournament. Vukovic, who retired at the end of last season, knows first hand what life can be like on the donor waiting list.

Baby Harley, at 8 months old in 2016, waiting for his new liver with his dad Danny Vukovic. Picture: David Caird

His son Harley received a liver transplant after being diagnosed with a rare liver disease when he was just six months old.

“It’s great to see the PFA support a cause that’s very close to my heart. The Transplant Football World Cup showcases the beauty of being given a second chance at life and having the opportunity to live out a dream of representing their country in our beautiful game. We need greater awareness towards the importance of organ transplants,” Vukovic said.

“It’s a seamless process that saved my son, Harley’s life and could save many more.

“Hopefully, the World Cup can bring more awareness towards the cause. I’ll be keeping a keen eye on Australia’s progress in the tournament, and I wish them all the best in Italy.”

Ryland is confident the team can bring back some silverware.

“We’ve got a few challenging opponents to get through in our group stage, but we’re going there to win the whole thing,” Ryland said.

“We’re on that mindset, we’re going to play with that sort of confidence and hopefully come back with some silverware.”

Transplant Australia CEO, Chris Thomas, congratulated each player and believes they will be

brilliant ambassadors for the gift of life.

“The underlying message of transplant football is to show gratitude to the donors who made the gift of life possible. Each of these players will be representing not just themselves, their family and country but another family who lost a loved one but decided to help someone else through organ and tissue donation,” Thomas said.

“Our aim is to ensure the public see these inspiring stories of triumph over adversity and decide, they too, would want to give someone else a second chance at life. And the best way to ensure that is to register at donatelife.gov.au.”

The tournament will be held in Cervia, Italy from September 8-14. Eleven countries will compete.