Andrew Bernal (born Andrés Bernal; 16 May 1966 in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Australia) is a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender, and later football agent and personal manager for

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

. In 2021 he wrote and released his autobiography Riding Shotgun – The Original Wizard of Oz. He currently works for the A-League football club Central Coast Mariners as Vibe Manager and Head of Athletic Development.

Playing career

Club career

After graduating from the Australian Institute of Sport Bernal became the first Australian to sign for a La Liga club when he joined Sporting Gijon. He went onto play almost 100 games of Spanish club football whilst on loan to

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

and

Xerez Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

. He played most of his club football at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in England becoming the first Australian to ever captain an English football association club. He was part of the team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in the 1994–95 season.

International career

Bernal has also played for the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

national team on 21 occasions between 1989 and 1996.

References

External links

OzFootball profile

1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Canberra Soccer players from the Australian Capital Territory Australian people of Spanish descent Association football defenders Australian soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players La Liga players National Soccer League (Australia) players Albacete Balompié players Ipswich Town F.C. players Reading F.C. players Sporting de Gijón players Sydney Olympic FC players Xerez CD footballers Australian Institute of Sport soccer players {{Australia-footy-defender-stub