Anthony Kalik (born 5 November 1997) is an Australian 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Hajduk Split. Born in Sydney, Kalik played youth football at

Manly United FC Manly United Football Club is an Australian football club based in the northern beaches area of Sydney. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW and their home ground is Cromer Park, in the suburb of Dee Why, approximately 15 minu ...

and was then offered a 2 year scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport before making his professional debut for

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...

. Kalik has represented Australia at under-20 level.

Early life

Kalik is of Croatian origin. Both of his parents came to Australia from the island of

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

, at time part of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. His father Denis, a former football player for BŠK Zmaj, coming from Blato and his mother Francis coming from

Vela Luka Vela Luka (, it, Vallegrande) is a small town and a municipality in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southern Dalmatia, Croatia. The town is located on the western side of the island of Korčula at the bottom of a wide bay which has many indented cove ...

Club career

Central Coast Mariners

In 2013, Kalik signed a three-year deal with

, making him the youngest professional footballer in Australia. He made his competitive debut for the club in a win over Palm Beach in the

2014 FFA Cup The 2014 FFA Cup was the inaugural season of the FFA Cup, the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 631 teams in total from around Australia entered the competition. Only 32 teams competed in the competition proper (Round o ...

, coming on for Glen Trifiro with ten minutes remaining. Kalik made his A-League debut in a victory over

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

in February 2015.

Hajduk Split

On 1 February 2016 the Mariners announced that Kalik had been loaned to Hajduk Split until at least June 2016. He was recommended to the club by fellow Australian and former Hajduk player

Josip Skoko Josip Skoko (born 10 December 1975) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder for North Geelong Warriors, Hajduk Split, Genk, Gençlerbirliği, Wigan Athletic, Stoke City and Melbourne Heart. Skoko has ...

. He made his first team debut for the club in the controversial 2–1 away loss to

NK Lokomotiva Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the ...

, coming in at half-time for Manuel Arteaga. He managed to get 11 caps for Hajduk that season and make it into the first lineup as well. On 28 May 2016, Hajduk Split bought him for 32,000 euros. For Hajduk, it was the first time since 2012 that they paid a transfer fee for a player.

Loan to Sydney FC

Kalik returned to Australia in September 2017 on loan, to play for Sydney FC in the 2017–18 season. At the end of the season he returned to Hajduk Split.

Loan to NK Rudeš

In July 2018 he joined Croatian Prva HNL club

NK Rudeš Nogometni Klub Rudeš ( en, Football Club Rudeš), commonly referred to as NK Rudeš or simply Rudeš, is a Croatian football club founded in 1957 in Zagreb's neighbourhood of Rudeš. The club competes in Croatia's second division. History B ...

on loan along with Frane Vojković. He had 16 appearances during first part of the season, which

concluded as the last team in the league. During winter break he returned to HNK Hajduk Split.

International career

Kalik was selected for the Australia U-20 squad for 2014 AFC U-19 Championship qualification in October 2013. He made his debut in a win over Chinese Taipei.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

; Hajduk II *

Croatian Third Football League The Treća nogometna liga ( eng, Third football league), commonly Treća NL or 3. NL) is the fourth tier of the football league system. The league was reestablished in 2022 following the reconstruction of league system in Croatia. It is operated ...

South: 2016–17 ; Sydney FC * A-League Premiership: 2017–18 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austral ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Records

* Youngest

player: 16 years, 347 days

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalik, Anthony 1997 births Living people Association football midfielders Australian soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players National Premier Leagues players Central Coast Mariners FC players HNK Hajduk Split players Sydney FC players NK Rudeš players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Second Football League (Croatia) players Australian people of Croatian descent Expatriate footballers in Croatia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Australian expatriate soccer players