Ross County goalkeeper relished the chance to meet Australian legend
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Ross County goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer had the chance to meet one of his heroes earlier this month when Mark Schwarzer came to Dingwall.
Australia’s most-capped player, who made over 550 appearances in the English Premier League for the likes of Chelsea, Leicester City and Fulham and appeared in two World Cups, made the journey to the Highlands to sit down with Maynard-Brewer for streaming platform Optus Sport.
The Staggies stopper, on loan from Charlton Athletic, spent his childhood watching Schwarzer having been born when the Aussie legend was playing for Middlesbrough.
So he relished the chance to pick the brains of the now-retired keeper, and Maynard-Brewer says he was able to take a lot from the conversation – as much about Schwarzer’s off-field approach as tips to follow in his footsteps on the pitch.
“He was someone I looked up to when I was young, and it was nice to have him fly to Dingwall, from wherever he was,” 22-year-old County loanee Maynard-Brewer explained.
“He’s a bloke who has played at a high level for such a long period of time.
“He was literally the bloke I watched when I was younger, so it was a kind of strange one meeting him.
“It was really nice having a chat and picking his brain a bit. He told me his story of how he came over to Germany when he was 18 or 19.
“One thing he said was he moved to teams he did purely based on football, not the outside living bits. When he moved to Bradford he suffered for a few months outside of football, but on the pitch he wanted to play football and put himself in a better place. It was an interesting chat.”
Schwarzer was part of a crop of Australian talent who came to the UK, opening doors for the likes of Maynard-Brewer.
“The club I was at in Western Australia, ECU Joondalup, have had a few come over and do well,” Maynard-Brewer added.
“They might not be well known, but guys like Jordan Lyden, Cameron Burgess and Rhys Williams who came over.
“They are people who I want to follow in the footsteps of. There was a pathway for me to come over to the UK and play.”
