Adam Thomas Mitchell (born 1 June 1996) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

ISPS Handa Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

club

Auckland City Auckland City was a territorial authority with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Auckland R ...

. Born in Croatia, he plays for the

New Zealand national team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Club career

Born in

Vrgorac Vrgorac (, it, Vergoraz) is a town in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. Demographics The total population of Vrgorac is 6,572 (census 2011), in the following settlements: * Banja, population 202 * Dragljane, population 52 * Draževiti� ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, to a New Zealand father and

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs of Bosnia and H ...

mother, thus having both New Zealand and Croatian citizenship.Adam Mitchell living his dream after joining Serbian club Red Star Belgrade
at stuff.co.nz, 1 June 2016, Retrieved 25 October 2016 He grew up in

Hobsonville Hobsonville is a suburb in West Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The area was administered by Waitakere City Council until the council was amalgamated into Auckland Council in 2010. Hobsonville Point, formerly the location of the ...

in West Auckland, and began playing for Waitakere City before later moving to Central United (2013), starting as a midfielder before becoming a centre back. He was also a member of

Wynton Rufer Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werd ...

's Wynrs academy as a youngster. Mitchell played three seasons in the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

, two seasons with Wanderers SC and one with WaiBOP United. Mitchell captained the Wanderers SC team that was formed to give the under-20s regular game time in the NZFC. He was also team-captain at WaiBOP United. In summer 2016, he moved abroad, to Europe, where after trials, he signed a contract with Serbian giants

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

. He signed on 25 May 2016, a 1+2 years contract with Red Star. Due to his young age, in order to increase his chances to play, at final days of the Serbian 2016 summer transfer-window, he was loaned to

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...

. He debuted with OFK in the

2016–17 Serbian First League The Serbian First Football League (Serbian: Prva liga Srbije) is the second-highest football league in Serbia. The league is operated by the Serbian FA. 16 teams competed in the league for the 2016–17 season. Two teams were promoted to the Serb ...

on 10 September, in a home game against Inđija, a 1–0 win. On 13 February 2017, he moved to Slovenian side

NK Celje Nogometni klub Celje ( en, Celje Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Celje or simply Celje (), is an association football club from Celje, Slovenia. They play in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. Together with Maribor, they are the only club that h ...

. In the 2017–18 season he was a regular in the U23 squad of the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

side

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. Following his release at the end of the season and a period training with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and Swedish club Kalmar FF, on 12 February 2019 Mitchell signed with New Zealand club Team Wellington until the end of the season.

International career

Mitchell represented New Zealand at U-17 and U-20 levels. He was part of the squad that won the

2013 OFC U-17 Championship The 2013 OFC U-17 Championship was the 15th edition of the OFC's Under 17 championship, the biennial football championship of the Oceanian Confederation. All matches took place at Chapuis stadium, Luganville in Vanuatu from 17 to 27 April. 6 t ...

, and was part of New Zealand's squad for the

2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fifteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates between 17 October and 8 November. Nigeria won the tournament after defeating Mexico 3–0 in the final, cla ...

and the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

. Mitchell was called up to the

twice in 2015 under Anthony Hudson as an injury replacement. He made his debut under Fritz Schmid on 24 March 2018 in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

game against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;New Zealand U-17 * OFC U-17 Championship:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

(winner)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Adam 1996 births Living people People from Vrgorac Sportspeople from Split-Dalmatia County New Zealand people of Croatian descent Croatian people of New Zealand descent Men's association football central defenders Croatian men's footballers New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's youth international footballers New Zealand men's under-20 international footballers New Zealand men's international footballers Wanderers Special Club players WaiBOP United players Red Star Belgrade footballers OFK Beograd players NK Celje players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Team Wellington FC players Auckland City FC players New Zealand Football Championship players Serbian First League players New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England