‘Being a pro can take away the fun...’ Just ask the ex-players who understand why Seb Ryall quit
THE words of David Bentley will ring true at Sydney FC, amid the bewilderment at Seb Ryall’s decision to walk away from the game. Bentley did the same, even as the heir-apparent to David Beckham.
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‘I’VE fallen out of love with the game. It’s changed a lot - when I first started playing it was more about enjoying it, you went into work every day and it was brilliant.”
The words of David Bentley will ring true at Sydney FC this week, amid the bewilderment at Seb Ryall’s decision to walk away from the game aged 28. Bentley did the same three years ago, the heir-apparent to David Beckham for England likewise quitting Tottenham and retiring at almost the same age.
In any profession there are some who find the allure of their work is diminishing, but the apparent glamour of a life playing football makes it less comprehensible from the outside.
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The reality is that Ryall has been making the sacrifices needed to pursue an elite career since before he could vote, let alone legally have a beer, see the world and enjoy the experiences his friends got to do a decade ago.
When Ryall got into the Young Socceroos squad aged just 16, a teammate was Steve O’Dor - also a centreback, who had joined Wellington Phoenix after the collapse of the New Zealand Knights.
O’Dor had also started studying commercial law at university, but put the bookwork on hold.
Quickly, though, he started to question whether it was the right move.
“I knew I’d have to start getting exemptions from the university to put off my studying, and you start to weigh things up,” O’Dor told The Daily Telegraph.
“You’re kind of grappling with the concept of professionalism - it can take away the fun from the game when you’re vying for a position every week.
“I’d found a position (in the team) but it wasn’t giving me the love for the game that I assumed it would.
“It’s something you dream about, but football is also a career where it can be very hard to sustain a good quality of life. My experience at Wellington wasn’t as gripping as I’d expected.
“Phoenix were very supportive, and understood what I was going through. They realised it was partly the environment but also missing home and a desire to pursue other things.”
O’Dor quit, and with the help of then-players’ association (PFA) boss Brendon Schwab made the transition into the successful legal career he has followed since.
For others the disillusionment comes later. According to his teammates, Ryall had started to question why he was training ferociously every day for what was essentially a supporting role.
Beau Busch is well placed to empathise, as the PFA’s player development manager but also an ex-pro who doggedly pursued a career in England and Scotland until calling it quits in 2013.
“You can get to a point where the best-case scenario is eking out a living, bouncing around from year to year and not knowing what the future holds,” Busch recalled.
“At the end of last season we did a survey of all the A-League players and asked them to name the factor most likely to make them leave the game.
“The answer was uncertainty, in a league where every year well over half the players are off contract.”
Ryall by contrast had a deal for next season, and offers from other A-League clubs, but that still wasn’t enough to quell the wanderlust.
“You devote your life to trying to get in that starting XI, when basically half of the squad can’t be,” Busch said.
“That’s something you don’t see from the outside, the disappointment when the team sheet goes up, even for the best players. If your desire and motivation is to get in the team, and you don’t, it can be extremely difficult.”
Even watching the subsequent careers of Young Socceroo teammates like Robbie Kruse and Matthew Spiranovic, O’Dor has no regrets. “I got a taste of professional football, and I played at international level,” he said.
“But I now have another career I really enjoy. I wouldn’t change any of it.”