Johnie Markov | Bryan Robertson

Putting together the Football is. isolation series gave me the opportunity to connect with many different people. Johnie Markov (Dandenong City) and Bryan Robertson (Bentleigh Greens) bring the off pitch perspective into focus. 

I first met Johnie Markov when he was working at Hume City FC. It was during Hume’s 2015 FFA Cup run. What a memorable time it was and one I’m grateful to have experienced. I would later spend a lot more time with Johnie during my time as club photographer with Altona Magic during their  journey from State League to NPL2 and later NPL.  We have shared many cold evenings post match discussing football, life and well anything that came to mind. All over a beer or one of the many cevapi during the Magic days.

I met Bryan Robertson whilst shooting the behind the scenes for Football Victoria during the NPL Mens final at AAMI Park in September 2019. He was busily applying strapping to Bentleigh goal keeper Ryan Scott (now at Western United) prior to the match and I recall speaking a little to him at this time. Fast forward to 2020 and well all of our lives are very different. 

The two interviews conducted over the last 5 months with Bryan and Johnie have been revelations to me. They have embodied what it means to work not only in a professional sporting space but also a semi professional space whilst balancing your private practice. Both are dedicated to their professions and view the work they do at club level as one of the ways they contribute to the growth of Football in Victoria. It is through offering their knowledge about the latest rehab and science both Johnie and Bryan are able to ensure up and coming athletes have an opportunity to excel well into the future. 

These interviews were completed shortly after the season had been formally postponed in July 2020. Due to Bentleigh Green’s announcement that they were not intending to play in the revamped season they had effectively completed 2020 at round five. While the lift off point for the interviews are slightly different the differing perspectives on the second lockdown are certainly worthy of showing. 

Football is. Bryan, when Bentleigh told you that they were not going to be coming back for 2020, How did you view it?

Bryan Robertson 

That was a time where there was great uncertainty about what we should be doing what we shouldn't be doing. Football Victoria didn't know what was going on, there was no real clear direction. And so from a personal perspective for someone to make a very hard decision like that and say, you know, we know we're in a grey area, but it's black or white for us, and this is what we're doing. It actually gave me great confidence. It must have been so hard for the club to be able to make that decision. For them to be the only team to make a decision, the pressure on the coaches and the committee to then go to the players and to the staff like me and say, No, actually, we're not going to play for various reasons, but it actually gave me great confidence. So it gave me some certainty that I knew what I wasn't going to be doing this year. It kinda sounds weird, but when you're on this merry go round of emotions and the unknown that something like a pandemic creates, having that certainty even if it's a no we're not doing this. That was really good. I know a lot of the boys were shocked. And yes, a few of them didn't think it was the right idea or the right thing to be doing. But regardless, you know, it was amazing that they stood up and made a decision that went in the opposite direction of all the other clubs and teams and yeah, it actually made me feel really good.

Football is. Johnie, How did you feel when you found out that the season was going to be cancelled?

Johnie Markov 

As a medical professional the feeling was relief. The feeling of relief came from knowing that it would be very difficult to contain the virus if there were to be an outbreak. Knowing that it would be difficult to maintain the regulations and restrictions in a contact sport such as soccer. Unfortunately, the NPL competition does not have a hub like the AFL, A league and NRL, therefore it would be near impossible to make sure that the players were safe, not only for themselves but for their families. Being a semi professional sport the contact tracing would be difficult because players, staff, coaching staff and volunteers aren't situated in the one location away from others in the community. It is also concerning that the virus runs rabid in temperatures of 3 to 4 degrees, which is exactly the temperature we Victorians experience throughout our winter.  Further, without constant COVID testing it is virtually impossible to differentiate a diagnosis from upper respiratory tract infection, the common cold  and flu, sinusitis, bronchitis and COVID as they all display similar symptoms. 

On a personal level I was devastated, especially as I have been a part of Football Victoria for over 15 years, going back to the Whittelsea Fawkner days. Not only do I enjoy being the Chief Medical Officer of the club but I also enjoy treating the players and the social aspects and interaction with all members of the soccer club. It is the sense of community and social interaction that is an important part of mental health for all. People attend soccer to be a part of a club, a part of a community with people with the same interests and it is through football that they are able to switch off from work and the daily grind. For players it is a form of camaraderie, competition and even a source of income. So to see that being brought to a halt was really devastating and disappointing. 

Football is. How is this lockdown different for you?

Bryan We've done it before. I honestly went to the team at Optimus Health and said you know, this isn't new for us. We were pretty good because we documented a lot of our decisions and protocols from last time from, you know, finances and financial decisions and triggers for financial decisions, right down to safety and what we were doing with the team. And kind of having that baseline, again, gave us great confidence to be able to get through this lockdown. And, yeah, we feel like we're in a much better space at this time to attack this compared to last time. And yeah, the only thing that's really draining is not being able to get away. So we had a holiday booked my wife and I to Port Douglas, on July 19, we were meant to leave on Sunday, and that was kind of like the light at the end of the tunnel. And that's that's kind of like a massive kick in the guts is that those borders definitely won't be open to us and, you know, another five weeks to ago, we can’t even go camping. We can't kind of escape that and yeah, that's the biggest kick in the guts for me.

Johnie From my experience, this time around has been different in that people, players and patients have shown higher levels of anxiety. I feel that there is a lot more anxiety, depression, disappointment and anger due to the fact that the COVID numbers are increasing consistently on a daily basis, even after we did everything right the first time around. The majority of people behaved the right way the first time around and they feel that we shouldn't be in this horrible situation. It feels like we have gone backwards after all the hard work we all did initially and it is very upsetting, especially for those who run small businesses or have lost their jobs. A lot of our soccer players and people within the football community have small businesses that they are trying to establish, build and maintain and as a consequence of this virus may have narrowly escaped closure of the business in the first lock down but this second lockdown may decimate their businesses and that brings a lot of uncertainty, a lot of anxiety and fear as it is uncertain what the future holds, especially for those who own gyms, cafes and restaurants. The government rules, regulations and restrictions are changing on a daily basis and it is important to keep up with those changes so we can correctly implement them into our daily lives. It is very disappointing that due to the minority of people not adhering to the rules and regulations that the majority of our community have to pay the price. 

Football is.  What do you think the impact of all of this has been for you? mentally, physically,

Bryan physically, not very good.

You know, people deal with stress differently. From a mental health perspective, I've got some good coping strategies like I've got my hobbies. I bought Formula One on PlayStation four. So I'm lucky that I can use those escapes. But during the first lockdown, I probably drank too much either out of boredom or out of stress relief. And my food was not very good at all. 

I went to the doctor and had my blood tests, my cholesterol was high. I'm 34 and she just said to me, you know you you can't continue on doing what you're doing it doesn't matter that you own a business and you're highly stressed. You just can't use those things as coping mechanisms for stress so yeah, physically, it wasn't good the first time around at all. I'm going to change that this lockdown I already have over the last seven days which is good. But it's interesting sometimes you need a kick up the ass from the doctor, and not your your wife or not your business partners or not your colleagues. It's actually if it comes from someone else, then it's like okay, I'll listen. 

And yeah, mentally what a roller coaster, huh?

Johnie Like many Victorians I have been mentally impacted by the long and harsh lockdown being imposed on us. Other than the inability to physically attend a football game and provide a service to players to help their bodies perform to the best of their abilities, it is also the lack of social interaction that I miss. Humans benefit from social interactions, and the fact that I have been unable to have that interaction has had a significant negative mental effect. I have seen many people being negatively affected by lockdown, many have lost their businesses, homes and some have even taken their lives out of desperation and depression. Families who haven't seen each other for months reduced to tears upon reunion is a clear reminder that we are all living through this unprecedented and unfortunate time. I empathise with all people that are being negatively impacted and I hope that I can offer some relief by providing them a safe place to express their feelings. 

Football is. What have you learned about yourself during this period?

Bryan I feel that it’s helped me a lot in reaching out and connecting with people. Whereas pre-pandemic, I thought that this was part of my job. I thought that speaking to the technical director, at many clubs and the teacher in charge of sport and many schools was part of my job. And we used to call it contract management. Now, it's just nice to talk to people and to have a reason to call them and see how they're doing and touch base with them.

It's yeah been really interesting. So keeping in touch with the players at Bentleigh. A lot of them have gone to state league one teams and a few others to other NPL teams and they would ring me and they'd be like, hey, Brian, you know, how are you? This is the physio for this club. Can you keep in touch with them? I'd ring them checking on their niggles or injuries. And yeah, just having that kind of extended network. It's been very helpful. 

Johnie This experience has taught me to be grateful and appreciative for every blessing that I have and never to take things for granted. Although certain things are out of my control and external forces are at play, I have learnt to be more resilient and weather the storms, always remembering that there is  sunshine after a storm. I have become more empathetic and sensitive towards other souls and I do my very best to inject positivity into people's lives and to provide some light in people's darkness.

Football is. How do you think this this year will end?

Bryan Rob  Laughs! that's a very interesting question. How will this year and it'll end better than it's started, that's for sure. I don't see it getting any worse say, I think it will end better. Because, you know, even if gets worse, like let's say if we get to the United States level of pandemic, I think people will have had seven or eight months of experience of going through a pandemic and you know, social distancing will be normal. wearing a mask in public will be normal. washing hands and hand hygiene and all of that for the greater community will be normal. So, I feel like we'll slip into this kind of new normal and people will start looking at positive things, you know, especially if we can get the borders to open up. I mean, How many holidays have we been on in the last 10 years that just looking back on it and taken it completely for granted? Right. So we, we just got back from our honeymoon at the start of this year, so January 4, we got back from our honeymoon. And we were able to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, where I would spend a week at a five star resort in Zanzibar. We went on safari in South Africa, we visited Cape Town for the Rugby Sevens, like, you look back at all that stuff now, and it's like, Ah, what I would give to be able to do that again. So I feel like, by the end of this year, borders open a simple camping trip or like a simple trip to the beach. People are gonna be like, this is the best thing since sliced bread.  I feel like that's how this year is gonna end. People will be much more tolerant and much more open minded and much more positive compared to the past.

Johnie Unfortunately the only winner this year is COVID! Starting at the Seniors level, to the Women's right down to the Juniors where we all need to stay safe, adhere to social distancing, wash our hands, get tested for COVID and wear a mask when we are in the community. 

As a consequence of this I believe that COVID has not only decimated the option to play, it has the potential to negatively affect soccer clubs. Soccer clubs rely heavily on sponsorship to assist with the running of the club and all its expenses. Without ticket sales, the canteen, merchandise, juniors, social dinner nights with entertainment , fundraising nights and sponsorship many of these clubs may not be financially able to continue within the competition in the future. It is unknown what repercussions COVID has had on businesses of major sponsors etc, and it is unknown whether those businesses are suffering due to the restrictions of COVID. It may be that players will have to play for less money, that the clubs will need to have an increase in volunteers and they will need to find other ways to minimise expenditure. Time will tell, however the financial repercussions of COVID  will be felt for some time in the future and some clubs may never recover from this. 

Football is. Where do you see yourself this time next year?

Bryan Hopefully, pitch side at an NPL game. Hopefully back in community sport, and yeah, not many restrictions. That's that's what I really hoped for.  I just want to go back to football.

Johnie I see myself sitting on the bench with my gloves, face mask and hand sanitiser ready to run out to help treat the boys who have not only played a phenomenal NPL season but they have also played in the Dockerty Cup and FFA Cup. I really hope to be back out there with the boys and the football community enjoying the fantastic game that is FOOTBALL, albeit with some social changes that will become the new normal. WE ARE ALL FOOTBALL.

Looking back on these interviews I can’t help feeling that COVID-19 has proved to be a catalyst for people to sit down and reflect on what is important to them and how important it is to not take things for granted and to never underestimate the importance of those big moments in out lives. After all with all this uncertainty you never know where life will take you and when that next big moment will come your way. It has certainly made a lot of us aware about the importance of being connected and the sense of connectedness we have in not only life but also in Football. 

If you’d like to read further interviews with Johnie and Bryan see these links. Here is the link Football is. Isolation Immediate Impact [3:0]

• Please note these interviews were recorded in July 2020.