Sydney FC’s midfielder Luke Brattan has been revealed as the winner of the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) 2020 Community Medal, for his contribution to the Leukaemia Foundation.
During the 2019/20 season, Brattan raised $30,000 for the national charity to support his 23-year-old sister Holli-Mia, who was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukaemia, through the World’s Greatest Shave initiative.
Despite a season of success on the pitch; the 30-year-old midfielder secured a Premiers Plate and A-League Championship double with the Sky Blues, was voted the club’s Player of the Year and was selected by his peers in the PFA’s A-League Team of the Season, Brattan experienced significant challenges off it.
“It has been a tough year,” Brattan said. “There have been a couple of big things that have happened off the field that have affected my family. From the outside looking in, you couldn’t really tell what was going on behind the scenes because I tried to work as hard as I could on the field and do all the right things and hopefully just make my family proud.
“I can’t thank everyone enough for donating and everyone that was involved. Hopefully, they understand how big a deal it is to me.
“My teammates were huge; a lot of them donated a lot of money to the cause as well, and not just them, but a lot of players around the league – which was pretty incredible. I’ve got some pretty incredible friends around the league that have supported me through a tough time.”
PFA President, Alex Wilkinson, said his Sydney FC teammate had demonstrated immense courage and resilience to perform consistently at a high level in the A-League, while supporting his family outside of football.
“What Bratts has managed to achieve on and off the field has been absolutely inspiring,” Wilkinson said. “He has been an absolute professional and one of the league’s leading midfielders, all while facing a really challenging and emotional situation with his loved ones.
“Bratts is fully deserving of this award and we hope he continues to be able to help and support not just his sister, but thousands of other Australians who are struggling, while inspiring other footballers to give back to their communities.”
Brattan joins the inaugural PFA Community Medal recipient Robbie Cornthwaite, who was awarded the PFA Community Medal for his charity work with Beards of Hope in 2017, and Nigel Boogaard for his support of Hunter Life Education’s Ocsober campaign in 2018.
The PFA Community Medal recognises the outstanding contribution PFA members are making within their communities and reflects the PFA’s commitment to ensuring football creates positive social impact.
Similarly to the 2020 PFA Player Awards, the PFA engaged a football designer, Victorian-based 3032.fc, to create an illustration of the PFA Community Medallist to celebrate the winner and promote Australian football culture.
Brattan was nominated by the PFA Executive alongside Kaine Sheppard, Ally Green and Alex Chidiac for their work within the community in Australia and abroad and will receive a grant of a further $2500 to donate to the Leukaemia Foundation.
The nominees for the 2020 PFA Community Medal were voted on by all PFA members.
