Matt Ratana’s influence still felt at East Grinstead as sport’s community role shines through

[ASFN Admin]

There was drizzle in the air on Thursday night at East Grinstead RFC, a chill breeze, mud on the training pitch and winter darkness long since fallen, just the sort of backdrop that Matt Ratana loved. It is not yet three months since the 54-year-old swung out of the car park after finishing a coaching session, telling one of his assistants, Sandy Robertson, that he had to dash as he was due on shift shortly at Croydon Police Custody Centre. “He sent a couple of texts later that night, the last of them about 0130, with a rugby drill he was thinking of using for the next session,” said Robertson. “He was always in touch, constantly involved.” That next session never did take place. Ratana was killed on duty later that night. It was a brutal loss of life. But what resonated beyond the shock of the headline news itself was a vivid sense of the man. Even if you did not know him you felt that you did: warm, busy, engaging, inclusive, large of frame but tender of spirit. The rugby, as well as police, communities have been trying to come to terms with those tragic events since. Even in his absence on Thursday, his presence could be felt, from the bubbly mood of the 30-strong male training group and the 20 or so in the ladies’ section to the poignant sight behind the bar of his police helmet and memorabilia. Ratana had been head coach at East Grinstead for four years, arriving at a time when the club was in crisis mode after the benefactor that had invested thousands to turn them into a semi-professional outfit and rise up through the leagues to National Three withdrew his support and walked away. Those paid players left too. East Grinstead could not fulfil their fixtures and were demoted five leagues down to the bottom rung in Sussex Intermediate League. Into that void stepped Ratana. “The club had lost its mojo,” said East Grinstead prop, Sean Morgan, 45, coaxed back to playing by Ratana. “Tough times.” A former prop himself, Ratana turned to coaching along the coast from where he was based at Hove RFC where Robertson taught him the basics. Ratana then took himself off to East Grinstead, commuting three times a week, paying his own membership subs, initially taking over the colts, several of whom he took through to senior level. One of them, fly-half Ollie Adams, 19, is now in the first team in Sussex One. He is studying graphic design in London. His lifelike drawing of Ratana was presented to the policeman’s partner, Su, and catches the eye in the clubhouse. “Matt believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself,” said Adams. “He always stayed behind to help me with my kicking. A lot of us have struggled to deal with it fully. But you can see from how many turn up here at training just what an impact he made.”

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