Aussies Abroad

[LeungKen]

O.K. let me first say I'm staggered !! - I never realised there were so many.

I was replying to a thread to Mr.Toad about a young Aussie lad due to join Bristol City soon, when I thought I should do a little research into how many lads from Oz were currently in the U.K. The following is a list of only those who currently have a contract with an English or Scottish club. Hopefully later I will list those who are currently playing for clubs in Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany. Finland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

This is in no way to be seen as crowing as I have always respected and felt for the quiet achievers - however as a country whose population is probably about 21 million it certainly compares well against somewhere like Thailand (Pop about 60 mill perhaps) who are probably hard pressed to name but one player playing in Europe.

Dean Bouzanis ... Liverpool ... G.Keeper

Oliver Bozanic ... Reading ... M.F. 8/1/89

Marc Bresciano ... Manchester City ... M.F. 11/2/80

Tim Cahill ... Everton ... M.F. 6/12/79

Shane Cansdell-Sherriff ... Tranmere Rovers ... Def 10/12/82

David Carney ... Sheffield Utd ... M.F. 30/11/83

Chris Coyne ... Luton Town ... Def 28/12/78

Aaron Downes ... Chesterfield ... Def 15/5/85

Gareth Edds ... Milton Keynes Dons ... M.F. 3/2/81

Brett Emerton ... Blackburn Rovers ... M.F. 22/2/79

Adam Federici ... Reading ... G.K. 31/1/85

Richard Garcia ... Hull City . .. M.F 9/4/81

Andreas Govas ... Portsmouth ... M.F. 21/7/89

Rostyn Griffiths ... Blackburn Rovers ... M.F. 10/3/88

Brent Griffiths ... " "... Def 24/3/90

Scott Guyett ... Yeovil Town ... Def 20/1/76

Paul Henderson ... Leicester City ... G.K. 22/4/76

Chris Herd ... Aston Villa ... Striker

Shane Huke ... Dagenham & Red ... M.F. 2/10/85

Danny Invincible ... Kilmarnock ... M.F. 31/3/79

Daniel Ireland ... Coventry City ... G.K. 20/1/89

Scott Jamieson ... Bolton Wanderers ... M.F. 13/1/88

Brad Jones ... Middlesbrough ... G.K. 19/3/82

Ryan Jones ... Chesterfield ... M.F. 11/10/90

Harry Kewell ... Liverpool ... M.F./Striker 22/9/78

Neil Kilkenny ... Oldham Athletic ... M.F. 19/12/85

Patrick Kisnorbo ... Leicester City ... Def 24/3/81

Adrian Leijer ... Fulham ... Def 23/5/86

Daniel McBreen ... Scunthorpe utd. .. Striker 23/4/77

Trent McLenahan ... Hereford Utd ... Def 4/2/85

Scott McDonald ... Celtic ... Striker 21/8/83

Michael McEntagert ... Everton ... G.K. 17/1/90

Ryan McGowan ... Hearts ... Def

Lucas Neil ... West Ham Utd ... Def 9/3/78

Kyle Nix ... Bradford City ... M.F. 21/1/86

Erik Paartalu ... Gretna ... M.F. 3/5/86

Matthew Park ... Hearts ... M.F

Allan Picken ... Walsall ... Def 7/9/81

Les Pogliacomi ... Oldham Athletic ... G.K. 3/5/76

Joel Porter ... Hartlepool ... Striker 25/12/78

Paul Reid ... Brighton & Hove Alb ... Def 6/7/79

Mark Schwarzer ... Middlesbrough ... G.K. 9/9/82

Andrew Shephard ... Cheltenham Towwn ... Striker 26/9/88

Josip Skoko ... Wigan Athletic ... M.F. 10/12/75

Robert Stambolziev ... Bristol City ...

Simon Storey ... Partick Thistle ... Def 6/5/82

James Troisi ... Newcastle Utd ... Striker 3/7/88

Mark Viduka ... " " .. . " 9/10/75

Rocky Visconte ... Hearts ... " 22/4/90

Nick Ward ... Q.P.R. ... M.F. 24/3/85

James Wesolowski ... Leicester City ... M.F. 25/8/87

Rhys Williams ... Middlesbrough ... Def 14/7/88

Ricky Woodward ... Morecambe ... 30/4/90

Over 50 players - I wonder how this affects young Brits trying to score a contract ?

Anyway more to follow later and I trust this brings a bit of interest - any comments ?

Even if it's only to remark on the best named footballer in Scotland - Danny Invicible !!

[mrtoad]

Good stuff Ken. I had a breif look, and noticed there are significant amount playing throughout Europe. Around 12 of the present national squad are based in England at present as well.

I'm not suprised wither, as I think that in general the Aussie adpat well to the British game based on culture, physical aspects,attitude, language etc, hence the lack of Asian players in England. At present there are three Thai's at Man City, although I suspect that this is more about PR than any substance, and I'm not even sure if they have been given WP's, based on current rules they shouldn't be. Funnily enough, that seems to have a gone a bit quiet after the big press conference here in BKK 8 weeks ago. I think anyone with a brain would have seen it for what it was - a sham.

The point that you make about younger British lads coming through is a good one, clubs have been forced to look overseas because of some of the ridiculous rules of only signing young players from local areas etc, so if you want the best then you have to go looking in alternative areas, and funnily enough overseas doesn't count. If you look at some of the youth teams at some clubs now, they are filled with overseas players. Still the smaller clubs are churning out some good players, but because of vastly over inflated prices for domestic born players, managers in higher leagues are reluctant to splash 500,000-1,000,000 on a lad with potential, when they can sign a good quality overseas international for half the price. I think in the next few years we will se even more players from overseas in the English leagues, even further down the pyramid, especially with the expansion of the EU. Wether it's good for the game in general is anyones guess, but the popularity of the EPL worlwide remains high. As for the national team, I think the next 4 years will be crucial, and if Capello can't get results then we seriously have a big, big problem.

[mrbojangles]

Marc Bresciano ... Manchester City ... M.F. 11/2/80

Don't know where you got the info Ken but I think Bresciano still plays for Palermo. We looked at him in August but as far as i'm aware nothing came of it.

[Jockstar]

Gotta be better than playing in the Oz league. Not the highest standard i must say. I have said it before and i will say it again. The Ozzies know fuc_k all about football(soccer as the call it). Some good players from Oz playing in Europe. But the grass roots level is all wrong. From April to end of August. Kids/adults can play as the goals are up.I i know i play) Then after August the local councils take them down to make way for cricket. But if you walk/drive around. There is not much cricket getting played. When the goals are up. There are 100's of kids playing in my local park. When they go down. There is not much action happening. These are issues that must be addressed.

[LeungKen]

Qantas Socceroo David Carney made a significant return to the Sheffield United first team, with the only goal in its 1-0 win over Premier League side Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup Third Round on Saturday.

Carney, rested over the Christmas/New Year break under the rotation policy at United, hit a low shot past Oman keeper Ali Al Habsi just before half time that eventually tied the game up in his side's favour.

United's victory was one of several upsets, with Brett Emerton's Blackburn Rovers humiliated at home by Coventry City to the tune of 4-1. Emerton was replaced in the 61st minute. Another to lose was Tim Cahill's Everton, beaten 1-0 by League One side Oldham Athletic. Cahill was rested for this game and clearly his goalscoring instincts of late were missing.

Overall its wasn't a good round for the Aussies with Paul Reid's (full game) Brighton beaten 2-1 at home against Mansfield; Richard Garcia came on at half time, as Hull City lost 3-2 away at Plymouth Argyle; Paul Henderson, Patrick Kisnorbo and James Wesolowski all played full games, as Leicester City lost 2-0 away at Southampton; while Lucas Neill was replaced at half time, as West Ham drew 0-0 at home with Manchester City. It was square between Shane Cansdell-Sherriff (Tranmere) and Trent McClenahan (Hereford), finishing 2-2.

The only other players to have success along with Carney, were Mark Schwarzer, who played a full game in a 2-1 away win against Bristol City and Josip Skoko, who got a rare start for Wigan Athletic in a 3-0 win over Sunderland.

[Jared]

But the grass roots level is all wrong. From April to end of August. Kids/adults can play as the goals are up.I i know i play) Then after August the local councils take them down to make way for cricket. But if you walk/drive around. There is not much cricket getting played. When the goals are up. There are 100's of kids playing in my local park. When they go down. There is not much action happening. These are issues that must be addressed.

Yeah that is a big problem, its the same where i grew up. When the football goals are up its fine but as soon as there taken down you have to find other places to play. This usually ends up with most of the kids climbing over the local school gates and playing in the schools which can lead to all sorts or trouble. Once when I was about 13 we was playing down our local field with jumpers as goal posts when someone noticed that the football cabin was unlocked. To cut it short we took out the 5 aside goals and some corner flags and even the stretcher (dont know why) We set up the pitch was playing for about half an hour when the police turned up arrested us all and we all spent a good 4/5 hrs in a police cell.

[LeungKen]

Marc Bresciano ... Manchester City ... M.F. 11/2/80

Don't know where you got the info Ken but I think Bresciano still plays for Palermo. We looked at him in August but as far as i'm aware nothing came of it.

Apparantly it was almost a done deal, then Palermo stopped the deal going through.

Scicilians !

Now it looks like Bresciano will head for Inter Milan, but this time I will wait for the ink to dry on the contract.

[LeungKen]

A well-timed second half goal from Socceroo Scott McDonald helped Celtic cruise into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup with a 3-0 win over Stirling Albion.

The Hoops took the lead in the 37th minute when Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink fired home a powerful header.

It then wasn't until well into the second half that McDonald was able to lengthen Celtic's lead after having earlier squandered a series of chances.

Lee Naylor pushed into Stirling's box before making a slick pass back to McDonald who tapped the ball home in the 70th minute, bringing Celtic fans to their feet.

McDonald has enjoyed a debut stunning season with Celtic, notching up 18 goals in the Scottish Premier League alone plus a handful of others in the Cup competition and European Champions League.

Celtic sealed victory with a shot from the edge of the box by Japan international Shunsuke Nakamura.

[LeungKen]

Qantas Socceroo Mile Sterjovski has completed his move to English Premier League side Derby County, after been handed a work permit, following an appeal heard yesterday.

Sterjovski initial permit was not granted, because the British Home Office said he had not met the required number of national team appearances for Australia in the past year.

However the Rams, represented by manager Paul Jewell, managed to present enough documentation that saw the case through successfully.

Jewell, now hopes that his transfer and required clearance from Turkish side Genclerbirligi OFTAS can be sorted by noon Friday, so he can play in the 4th round FA Cup tie against Preston.

Sterjovski last played for Australia during the AFC Asian Cup against Oman and has since been unavailable for the last two matches against Argentina and Nigeria. He has signed an 18-month deal with the Rams.

Derby currently sit bottom of the Premier League and face a tough road ahead to escape the drop back to The Championship next season.

[chavy]

Qantas Socceroo Mile Sterjovski has completed his move to English Premier League side Derby County, after been handed a work permit, following an appeal heard yesterday.

Sterjovski initial permit was not granted, because the British Home Office said he had not met the required number of national team appearances for Australia in the past year.

However the Rams, represented by manager Paul Jewell, managed to present enough documentation that saw the case through successfully.

Jewell, now hopes that his transfer and required clearance from Turkish side Genclerbirligi OFTAS can be sorted by noon Friday, so he can play in the 4th round FA Cup tie against Preston.

Sterjovski last played for Australia during the AFC Asian Cup against Oman and has since been unavailable for the last two matches against Argentina and Nigeria. He has signed an 18-month deal with the Rams.

Derby currently sit bottom of the Premier League and face a tough road ahead to escape the drop back to The Championship next season.

The clubs badge must have attracted him, perhaps he thought it was the club pin up girl

[Jockstar]

Sterjovski initial permit was not granted, because the British Home Office said he had not met the required number of national team appearances for Australia in the past year.

Read in the paper today that he has had more caps than Vaduka.