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I was training in the park with my dad and three or four months, to be honest. He was joining in with the rounder of me. Best shape he's ever been. He pulled both hammocks. So my dad had to help with some of his own money and contribute to the fee. It's bizarre circumstances that you're often four years at full of. You decided to turn that down. And then all of a sudden your mum and dad had been on the other side. Honestly football is surreal at times.
I shouldn't say this on a podcast because we're doing this on a podcast. They were being honest, right? I've had a good get my coat. Welcome to the official Brighton and Hove Albion Podcast. With me, Paul Hayward and me, Glen Murray. This is the podcast that takes the fans behind the scenes at the AMICS with a range of special guests, players, legends, coaches, managers and celebrity fans. So expect some fascinating conversations along the way.
Joining us today is one of the club's record-breaking summer recruits, mid-fielder Matto Riley, a player that's had the un luckiest of starts here at Brighton after suffering an ankle injury early in his first appearance against Crawley, putting his Albion career on hold. Yes, not the ideal start, especially when you want to try and get some momentum at your new club. We'll get into Mat's journey to Brighton, his goals for the season and how he's adapting to life in the Premier League.
So let's welcome Matto Riley. The official Brighton and Hove Albion Podcast. Mat, it's good to see you in here because you've made a fairly quick return from injury. Everybody's relieved to see that and delighted for you. Just take us back to the sort of disappointment and the shock of the moment against Crawley when you're just starting out in your Brighton career in the next minute. You're hobbling off the pitch. Yeah, I mean, there's a shock to a system, for sure.
It was my first injury in a long time. I think since I was playing regularly in professional football, it was my first proper injury. I had someone I was younger at Fulham and stuff, but I think being a Celtic for nearly three years and MK Don's before that to play pretty much every game and get through it fine. That was just my norm, you know, and then out of nowhere, just one tackle kind of changes that.
But to be completely honest, I think mentally I was in quite a good space because it was something I'd worked on, prize of that for a long time. So in terms of coming back from the injury, I think I managed to navigate pretty well just because I was able to accept it quite quickly. And then I think that actually helps me get back ahead of schedule as well, to be honest. Right. And presumably work very hard as well to get back.
Yeah, of course, but I think it's a balance of working hard with then, like when you're at home, respectfully like being able to switch off and still rest because like as a player, obviously the most frustrating thing is getting injured. So if you can kind of like not take that with you when you go home, I think it almost allows the body to just do its job and recover. Like when we get to a frustrated, I think we can end up almost getting in the way of the healing process.
So I think that was something I really tried to focus on and I think it helps, yeah. You've had time to look at the team and how they play and who does what and how it functions. I guess you, you know, desperate now just to get in there and be involved. You've got a lot of information in your head now, haven't you about how, what bright and alike I guess. Yeah, I think again, that's another positive way to look at it. I've seen the team play for a while now.
I kind of know the structure of the system we play and I've watched enough games now to kind of see the positions I'll be in on the pitch, et cetera. And I think in terms of transitioning back into the team, that's going to be quite helpful. Talk to me about, you just mentioned acceptance of the injury. That's quite a, it's a different way to look at it.
Yeah, it's quite deep stuff, but I know it sounds weird, but like the night it happened and I like, in my head I forgave the guy that did it like straight away. You know, everyone around me like family obviously won't happy with what he did and some of them to the stage still probably like respectfully don't like him because of it, you know, but I think like the quick ride could accept it and forgive him and just be okay with it. I then like stop myself suffering about it more.
I don't end up holding on to it for too long and doesn't become a thing within me to the point where maybe I come back training with the boys now and there's still something hanging over me that hasn't really been. Cycle, cycle, exactly. Yeah, exactly right. I think everything, every detail matters and that's kind of the way I try to look at it.
So when I go into the pitch, I want to feel as open as free as I can because like you know yourself, like when you're in a good place mentally on the pitch, naturally, just perform better. So it's quite a holistic view. Because it is, I like it. Yeah, I mean, I've worked in it for quite a few years now.
I've got really random situation going on with the guy I work with in India in terms of like mental psychology but also like a lot of meditation stuff and that's been something I've been doing a lot for the last few years and I think over the past few months and last year especially I'm really starting to see the fruition of it in terms of both as a person I feel happier but then also just on the pitch I feel more free.
So I understand the benefits in day to day life how we can stop the chatter in your mind and how we can calm you down on things. Do you think it gives you a little bit more clarity on the field?
Definitely, I think, I mean a lot of it's just like where we're putting our attention as well, you know, I think I'm very mindful of what I'm doing when I'm away from training as well where my attention is like I'm conscious enough to not spend time on social media and stuff like that because I just think respectfully like a lot of the stuff you see isn't always positive.
So for me I'm quite mindful of that and at the same time of course you're going to see stuff that's negative but by doing it and practicing it I think over time you kind of learn to see it less personally and just see it for just movements in your mind. Very aware for such a young player?
Yeah maybe I think it just obviously playing for a club like Celty I think it does mature you quickly as well so I think I had to grow up quick but last season especially I felt like the work I did with Dish the guy in India or the meditation or the like sounds but
like a lot of really deep, lots of nice chats as well just getting stuff out my system has really got me to a place now where I wouldn't be embarrassed if you asked me anything I'll give you any answer that you wanted you know I speak about anything whereas before I might be a little bit closed off you know.
Yeah it's an interesting discussion because people listening to this will probably identify with a lot of this this is a kind of growing philosophy isn't it in a sense present moment awareness so the past has gone and the future is unknowable so what you really have is the moment you're in the present moment and I think a lot of people are trying to anchor themselves in that daily life.
So it sounds like an intense conversation but it's not actually because the principles are quite simple I know they are very simple I think we're just setting up getting in our own way most of the time you know like the mind's job is to always do something where I always
want to get the next thing and accomplish the next thing but I think the more you sit with that and the more you watch it you learn to get to a place where you can kind of sit but kind of watch the urge as opposed to getting pulled by it in a way. These little things don't help that constant pull of.
I'm somewhat still addicted as well I think most people are addicted to just like you know when you're just at home even my TV like goes to an advert or something I feel myself like grabbing from my phone because I can't like we don't even want to sit still for like more than two seconds that's the mind constantly wanting to be occupied you know.
I also think we're probably the worst generation for that because we grew up without that constant well we didn't have that awareness that our minds were doing that. I mean as far as devices are concerned we grew up without devices down there just like a constant draw of your attention out there and like your generation it's kind of it's not acceptable but it's understandable because you've always had it whereas we never had it pull.
I know we've just fallen into the trap haven't we of you know all that's for profit isn't it. Social media absorbs I shouldn't say this on a podcast because we're doing this. We'll be honest I better get my coat. But yeah but it's a very powerful thing isn't it when you can and people wouldn't expect to have a professional footballer I suppose because because the subconscious is more than I've had for done and looking at for as they walk in that stage.
Well and you need you need you need your ego to run free in some ways as a footballer so but if your ego is going to sabotage you all the time by feeding your false information it and false thoughts as it is going to say my wife doesn't love me anymore just because she's annoyed because you forgot to get the milk. That's a whole other podcast. We can do that another time as well as no problem. I've got to speak about this all day.
It's not all these thoughts you have not necessarily accurate or reliable so you can listen to them can you and say that's not a reliable thought I don't need to pay that any attention. No you just need to go and enjoy myself. But that takes a level of control.
I think it's also like about letting go of the control like I think we all want to have so much control of our lives and how it unfolds etc but like for example when I'm on a football pitch I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen. I have no control of anything that's going to happen so the less I'm in the way of the thoughts in my head and my mind I think the more I'm just going to be there for whatever has happened. So you're more reactive?
I say so I think your body just responds like we've like yourself as well we trained our whole careers our body knows what to do right like we don't need to tell it to shoot there it knows where to put the ball I think sometimes we just get in our way by overthinking it. I think that is even more with a striker on a one-on-one situation.
You often see a striker that's got I don't know I say it's eight seconds to think about it it can often go wrong whereas like Matt says if you've got two seconds and you're acting on instinct then it often goes right. Yeah because Tony Cascarina wrote in his book didn't he used to get in goal scoring positions and the voice would say to him you're going to miss.
So that's an unreliable thought isn't it of course yeah yeah have you talked to the other players here about this so they receptive to it? I spoke to a couple to be fair again I'm still pretty early in my days here so I don't think the injury helped in that sense of settling in with the team as much but I've had a chat with Barth especially about meditation stuff and just explained how it's helped me
because he's someone that's interested in it already and I think just by speaking about it people will naturally start to understand as well because they'll realize that a lot of us have very similar experiences on the pitch as well so the actual details might be slightly different but the overall principle is the same like I'm genuinely just trying to get out of my way. Yeah. It'll give you more composure on the pitch because it gives you more.
Definitely I think it gives you more trust as well you know just you're just obviously last season was a really good. I got the evidence in terms of performances as well like it was genuinely a trial and everything for a while as well I was trying different things before games at points just in terms of cues to come back and stay focused but by the end I just called it to the point where I was like okay let's just see what happens.
I'm going to go out there see what happens I trust myself I trust my team and the more I did that the more things just started to click every game I've set an intention of I'm going to score this game and never scored. Generally I swear like it might work for some people but for me like the more I did that it almost felt like I had a restriction every time like because I was trying too hard anyway. Yeah. And as opposed to when I was just easy with it I just happened.
Talking of your game how would you describe it if somebody asked you to break it down and put labels on your game as a midfielder what would you say? Complete. Now not complete. I would say I'm an all rounder as such yeah I'd like to help out in both boxes defensively and going forwards I'd like to help in the build up with the team and also by contributing higher up the pitch as well.
That's where I get most of my enjoyment as well and I think when you enjoy it more you perform better so yeah I try to like I said by playing free I think it allows me to create more for the team as well so the more I get out get out my way the more I feel like I can create for the team and I like to take risks in terms of that as well. The official Brighton and Havaldian podcast.
You've had an interesting trajectory in a sense that well partly because you know you left full and because you didn't feel it was a career path for you is that right and you really know what you were going to do next so what was the thinking behind that? Yeah I mean like quite unusual. I got offered a contract at full and when I was 19 I wanted to say 19.
Decent contract like before your contract they wanted to have me around the first team still but I was lucky enough to be around the first team since I was about 16 so I'd also got quite a good feel of the environment and also my level and where I sat within it
and to be honest even when I was 18 I thought like I was ready to contribute and help the team just based on honest feedback from myself seeing myself in training I felt like I was comfortable to play but I think it's tough as a young player coming through academy
sometimes because naturally there's other players who get bought for big money there's more incentive to play them you know I feel for all young players at clubs because I know what it's like for me I just felt like I wasn't going to play and to be fair to Scott
Parker he was really honest with me at the time and he basically said I see he was in number six at the time I'd naturally prefer a plane as an A I think I'm more suitor to it but I can happily do a six as well but there was four or five number six is any basic said
I was below the rest in the pecking order so I just thought for me it was best to go elsewhere and I thought it was actually really helpful that he was honest as well because if he wasn't honest I might not have made that decision so it's hard to find sometimes isn't it? No exactly and he just said it as it is he really likes me as a player but right now he doesn't seem yet the front of it and I was like fair enough I think the best thing to do is try something else.
So you walked away from a FOIA contract because you didn't feel as other that pathway was there? Did you not think that Scott wouldn't be there forever? Because obviously he's opinion the matters. Yeah of course I mean I did.
I did but I also saw players in previous years in very similar positions above me where I felt like full and we're just going to keep signing players and as much as I trusted myself I just felt the best thing to do was go and almost put the control a bit into my hands and kind of make a decision myself where I want to go somewhere I want to play football I want to play regularly.
I know I could have gone on alone but it just felt like I had a little bit more power that way and for whatever reason it just felt like the right thing to do. So how did you end up at MK Don's and what part did Russell Martin play in that? Yeah he played a big part.
It took a while before I actually got to MK Don's I think I left full him around April time it was Covid time as well so clubs didn't have money probably didn't think that through at the time because that made it really difficult to find anywhere to be honest. So when you refused the contract did Covid not hit? No it just hit. It just hit but it was very very new you didn't understand what was going to. Not really yeah it was very new exactly.
And then I was training in the park with my dad and a lot of the time with my dad for three or four months to be honest. He was joining with the rounds of me like he would do. The best shape he's ever played. He pulled both hammies. The fair play to him and one of my mates helped out a lot as well. I called Q for being a macho because he deserved it.
Just in terms of helping me train feeding me and serving me for a... I want to say up to like the end of August start of September and it was only then when I started training with MK I'll be honest I started training with them just to keep fit because I was hoping to get somewhere slightly higher level. And you an agent who knew Rust and Rust was like come and train with us. You'll help the standard be good and you know after a while I did start enjoying it as well.
December time I then went to Belgium I don't know if anyone knows this. My dad drove me to Belgium and locked down really rogue and we stayed in a apartment out there a train with a team called Courtrick or Courtrick and I had to pronounce it in the Belgian League. For about a week thought I was going to sign there like the manager would and me and I was happy to do it and then the last day the chairman pulled out so then I was obviously like... What did we go for me?
Pulled out because of money presumably always. I presume so just like for whatever reason I didn't want to do it. And again it was obviously COVID that was December time so I came back to MK. So at this point you still just train with MK. I'm training with MK all the way up until that point. But that's it just training. Just training.
Yeah. Yeah and then by that stage I just wanted to play football you know we've been quite a long time and Rust was also keen to try and sign me so he said that anyway we can do a deal with full of them to try and lock out some sort of compensation here. I'm obviously wanted far more than what MK could pay at that time because they didn't have a lot of money. So my dad had to help with some of his own money and contribute to the fee that MK gave to Fulham. The settlement.
Yeah to which MK obviously gave my dad the money back over time but like that just shows the help for my dad and stuff you know and my mum and dad's money was together. That's right. And you're sure is it for a parent to do that or to have to do that? I mean parents do what they need to do for you. My mum and dad were both like yeah we'll do it for you because they've both like been so.
I'm an only child as well so like in that sense like they're all in with me and football they're coming to every game all over. They've already moved to Hove. Right. They'll go to everything. I mean it's bizarre circumstances isn't it? You're offered four years at Fulham you decided to turn that down and then all of a sudden your mum and dad are building you out of the contract. Yeah. Honestly football is just surreal at times.
Yeah but it still felt right if I'm being completely honest I know it sounds so it doesn't sound like the best scenario but I felt like within myself I still felt more comfortable where I was than if I did sign that contract with Fulham. We've always relaxed even in those moments. I genuinely genuinely was. No I think because I was happy I was just like I feel like I'm doing the right thing. I trust myself to just get there in time you know. And you still believed? Yeah I did genuinely.
I've believed from a very young age that I can be good at football so I think that was never going to change and all I need, all I thought I needed was the platform to play games and you know one year at MK I was gone and out of nowhere so it came. I didn't think that would happen. How important was obviously you got a good look at this when you were, because you trained so long at MK but how important was Russell's brand of football for you? Yeah very important.
Like that's kind of what sold it to me as well. So just him as a person, him and there's a guy called Luke Williams at the time he's actually manager of Swansea now. Luke was at this school he was here. Was he? Yeah. Yeah I really liked him as well. Yeah I just love like both of their passion to want to make players better and the whole environment that I really really enjoyed so I think that makes a huge difference.
It's just the culture of a club being good and having good people around you and that's genuinely factored so many of my decisions going forward. It was one of the big reasons I came here was because I knew the people would be good and people would be nice. So I understand now why you signed for an apostacal glue as well? Yeah. Because of his beliefs and the way he portrays himself. Yeah and the health of the culture is so important within a club.
He's recruited players so well to the point where every single person in that team I felt was a good person and just wanted to help each other. I think that's how you get success as well and I think the model Brian have here is perfect for that. In fact they do so much research on both players and staff before they sign them just makes a lot of sense. Because then on the pitch you're going to get people who are more invested and bought into it as well. Because this wasn't your only option.
It was one of the reasons you chose Brian because you felt you'd get that environment. Yeah definitely. If I'm being honest, at the end it was probably between Brian and Atalanta. I spoke with both and I did get a good feeling from Atalanta as well. I will see those manufacturers at the end with between clubs which was probably the main reason stuff wasn't happening and stuff.
In terms of the culture here and the conversations I had on the phone, I just trusted that it would be a good fit for me and it's kind of proving to be already just from my feel around the place already. How do you boil it down? Obviously you've talked a lot about culture and about environment and how positive ones create a positive outcome kind of thing. So how much do you put culture over tactics? Tactical, cultural, cultural over tactics? I think you need both.
I think obviously if the style of play I didn't feel was right for me here, I would have said no as well. That's obviously a huge part of it. I wouldn't have gone somewhere just for the sake of it. I genuinely mean this if like a huge club came in but the style I felt was like no go for me I would have chose somewhere like here or Atlanta before that just because like the style in terms of a player affects everything.
It affects the way you perform as well and I think you need to be able to show what you feel is true to you on the pitch as well. So I think the system that you play in is really important for that as well. But therefore it can affect your happiness away from the feel, can't it? Yeah of course. Yeah I think it can I think it's also important again not to try and carry it with you when you go home as well. That was my big thing when I was injured.
Be for straight when I feel for straight but feel it and then don't hold onto it. Don't let it consume me for too long to the point where I'm not nice to my girlfriend at home and not nice to my mum and dad. These things are so important to me because I feel like every single detail matters and the fact I was able to accept it and be patient then when I come back to the pitch it means I'm going to be more patient on the pitch. I'm not going to be rushing things when I get on the pitch.
I'm going to be just in a good place. So I think everything every detail matters. Do you want a lot of secret? What? I loved being injured. What? Did you stop the recording? Because. No I tell you why but it boils down to this because it I didn't feel pressure. I had like a little break in pressure but I didn't have like a goal ratio to keep up. I didn't have I didn't have to be relied on to score the goals or whatever for it for anywhere and ever been.
So like when I was injured I felt free almost. That must be tough as a stroke and I'm like it is different right? So I say that when I was injured I didn't feel pressure. It was like it was like a little it was almost like a little mini break but I didn't realise the pressure I carried about on my own shoulders until after I finished like two weeks when I retired. Really? And honestly I just woke up one morning and I was like wow I've been carrying around.
Yeah so much baggage for so long and it's that form. Just all the things that you'd imagine like you pride in your performance, in your start everything and I just woke up one day and it was like oh. Do you know the things that takes the enjoyment out of it sometimes though when it's to that extent or what and everyone's different in terms of what they feel? No I never took the enjoyment out because I loved playing the game. Yeah as in when you're on the pitch.
Yeah I love playing the game but I did. I played for teams and squads that were always either fighting relegation or fighting promotion for championship kind of thing so there was always that like you trying to work out everyone's results and I think your approach is so much better because I couldn't affect their results. I've worried about them. Exactly. And I worked out scenarios like just waste energy. Yeah exactly. Right. And then it comes consuming yeah exactly.
Yeah. I just want to ask you one more question about Celtic because Celtic is a crucible some days and other days it's a can be a coast so the level of football there is obviously week to week is at a lower grade than the level of football you're going to be playing here. Was it still an important phase in your development though to be there?
For sure I think respectfully like the pressures of playing Celtic are for most people unimaginable when you it's not easy to win every game of football like regardless of who you're playing against they've got 11 and 11 men behind the ball who are well organised sometimes it's
tough to score you know and the longer the game goes on the anxiety builds up in the crowd and you need to learn to be able to again accept that but also just somehow block out and stay focused and to do that every single game is really tiring you know like mentally and physically like to sustain it as well.
It's like anyone who's able to play Celtic for such a long time like people who are there like James Forrest, Calamagrega to have like kind of relentless mentality of okay well go do it again go do it again go do it again like it's genuinely tiring and like I have
so much respect for them for being able to do it at such a high level consistently like 60 games a season and the unrelenting passion of that crowd the expectation of that crowd is that you win every game and that nothing less will do so I guess you're taking one taking on that on board every single game although with your kind of mindfulness we we're ever able to block that out and say I'm not responsible for their feelings how many responsible for what I'm doing on the pitch.
Of course but I was also aware that whatever I did on the pitch contributes so many fans like happiness you know because they're so mad up there to the point where I know when they're at the daily jobs like they're having a battle if they're Rangers powers the whole week like if the result's not good you know yeah I think for for me as a player in terms of preparation to go somewhere else is perfect just because the demand is so high.
You'll find Albin fans a bit gentler in their demands I think I mean they you know they want to win but they don't have that expectation built up over decades they deserve to win.
I enjoyed I really enjoyed the pressure of it though like the responsibility you need to be able to you know like you really test your limits every single week to be like okay we've got to do it again we've got to be even better we've got to do it again and again and again and if you don't then like they'll let you know about it the fans you know it's only because they care so much so in that sense that's why you don't take it personally they just care about their team doing well yeah.
So Matt let's just finish off with some questions from the fans that've been sent in on Instagram for you. Do you miss Glasgow? Yeah a little bit. I miss the people I think the people are really friendly up there and as much as I grew up down south in London so I know what the people I like but people up north are super friendly which is quite nice. Who was your best friend at Celtic? Hmm went through phases man.
When people like leave you know it's quite hard and transfer windows but if I'm being completely honest the group we had up there was just so good to the point where like I was going up for dinner with genuinely most of the team at different parts of the season so it would be unfair if I said one for being honest. What's your favourite footballing memory?
I think probably my first Rangers game at Celtic just because I just got through and like thrown into the deep end off to like playing with M.H. London League 1 was quite a big change in terms of atmosphere you know I went from 10,000 to 60,000 but like 60,000 nutters you know which is quite cool and it was an evening game as well so just the atmosphere was crazy and we won which was nice. I feel as though I know the answer to this one already. Haggis, Oficion chips. Oficion chips.
I didn't touch Haggis when I was at that. Favourite match of your career so far? I can't probably just touch on that. Just one of the Rangers ones like they're just so… Not real. No we got problems.
I enjoy the Champions League games a lot to be fair just you're really tested in a different way especially when I was at Celtic opposition and the league wasn't the highest level in comparison to that so when you played for example Ross County on Saturday and then you played at Flarecombejade on Tuesday like the transition was crazy but was also fun to be able to kind of test yourself against teams like that you know. Why number 33? It's my first squad number at Foulham so yeah.
When I came here there wasn't that many numbers available either and 33 was one of them so I thought why not stick with it you know. Favourite restaurant so far in Brighton? So far. I haven't been to loads of places. The salt room? I like that. Good luck fish there. Not nice in the summer. So Matt that was fascinating a whole new level of insight there thanks ever so much for joining us. Yeah no worries. Happy to be here.
Thanks once again to Matt we'll be back next week so join us then as we continue to explore the diverse stories that make Brighton and Hove Albion a club like no other. The official Brighton and Hove Albion podcast. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.