Alexander William Wilkinson (born 13 August 1984) is an Australian international

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

central defender 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 ...

and is the captain for Sydney FC in the A-League. Wilkinson was born in Sydney and made his senior debut for Northern Spirit in 2002. After moving to Ryde City Gunners and

Manly United 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 ...

in 2004, Wilkinson joined A-League club

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 ...

, where he eventually became club captain and made over 200 appearances. After spending time in China on loan to Jiangsu Sainty, Wilkinson played for Korean club

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( ko, 전북 현대 모터스) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Playing at the Jeonju World Cup S ...

for 4 seasons (2012–2015). Wilkinson has made eleven appearances for the Australian national team, including three at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Club career

Alexander's bright career began in Ryde East Primary School and Epping Boys' High School where he showed excellent talents on the field as a sportsman and off the field in his sportsmanship. His main junior football club was North Ryde and then with Gladesville Hornsby/Northern Spirit youth team where he played alongside

Brett Holman Brett Trevor Holman (born 27 March 1984) is a former Australian professional footballer who last played for Brisbane Roar in the A-League as an attacking midfielder. Born in Sydney, Holman played youth football for Northern Spirit before maki ...

. Two years after breaking into the first team of the Northern Spirit, the NSL would be shut down and went back to finding a job, where he would eventually work at a surf shop in his local

Macquarie Centre Macquarie Centre is a shopping centre in the suburb of Macquarie Park on the North Shore of Sydney and is located opposite the main campus of Macquarie University. Transport The Metro North West Line offers frequent services to Macquarie ...

. On Sunday 12 November 2006,

Noel Spencer Noel Spencer (born 26 July 1977 in Wollongong, Australia) is a former Australian football (soccer) player who coaches Dapto Dandaloo Fury in the Illawarra Premier League. Club career NSL Noel played for his hometown of Wollongong from 1996 ...

was dropped from the starting eleven and in his absence Alex Wilkinson was named captain of the team. Spencer was then struck down with injury and Alex filled in as captain until round 18 when Spencer returned. He was named Captain for Season 3 (2007–2008) and only injury has interrupted that (with ex-Socceroo

Tony Vidmar Antony Vidmar (born 4 July 1970) is an Australian soccer coach and former player, who serves as an assistant coach with the Australia national team. He was a member of the Australia national team, competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona ...

and midfielder John Hutchinson filling in). On 17 March 2011 it was announced that Wilkinson had signed a short-term loan deal with Chinese side Jiangsu Sainty. On 18 July he had signed a two and a half-year contract with

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

team

. The reported transfer fee paid to the Mariners upon completion of the deal is $450,000. Following a lengthy and successful stint in Asia, Wilkinson signed with Melbourne City in February 2016, for the remainder of the 2015–16 A-League season.

Sydney FC

After Melbourne City were eliminated from the finals series Wilkinson signed a two-year contract with Sydney FC, rejoining former Mariners manager

Graham Arnold Graham James Arnold (born 3 August 1963) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. Arnold was appointed to work as an assistant coach of the Australian national soccer team in 2000. After head coach Frank Farina was sacked in 2005, Ar ...

In 2017, Wilkinson made sporadic appearances as captain on the pitch with skipper Alex Brosque off and vice-captain

Sebastian Ryall Sebastian "Seb" Ryall (born 18 July 1989) is an Australian professional football (soccer) player who plays as a defender, most recently for Sydney Olympic. Club career Melbourne Victory Ryall played junior football foWest Pymble Football Club ...

injured for the majority of the season. In July 2019, following the retirement of captain Brosque and after spending 3 years as vice-captain, Wilkinson was appointed captain of Sydney FC.

International career

He represented Australia in 2003

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

. In August 2006, Alex was selected for the first time to join the 22-man

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated wit ...

squad, training for the Asian Cup against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

.Mariners youngster added to Socceroos training camp
/ref> He has also joined the 37-man training squad for the

against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. He made his full national team debut against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

in a friendly at

The New Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 5 March 2014. He was a surprise inclusion for Australia's 2014 World Cup squad and started in Australia's 3–1 opening loss to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. After he cleared a certain goal off the line he was the first player in history to be involved in FIFA's new goal line review system which showed he successfully saved a goal. On 30 March 2015 in a friendly match against

FYR Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, at the 72nd minute as captain

Mile Jedinak Michael John "Mile" Jedinak (; ; born 3 August 1984) is an Australian former professional footballer who served as the captain of the Australia national team. He is currently the Loan Player Development Coach at Aston Villa. Jedinak was born a ...

was substituted off the ground, Wilkinson was handed the captain's arm band.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Central Coast Mariners * A-League Premiership: 2007–08, 2011–12 *

A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup The A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup competition was an annual soccer tournament held for all A-League clubs in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. ...

: 2005 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors *

: 2014, 2015 Sydney FC *A-League Premiership: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

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

International

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

* AFC Asian Cup: 2015 *

OFC U-20 Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, ...

: 2002 *

OFC U-17 Championship The OFC U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, w ...

: 2001

Individual

K League Best XI The K League Best XI is an award for the best eleven players in a K League season. K League 1 award (1983–present) Winners Players marked bold won the Most Valuable Player award in that respective year. Appearances by player Appearanc ...

: 2014 * PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 * Sydney FC Player of the Year: 2020–21 Sydney FC season

References

External links

Central Coast Mariners profile

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Alex 1984 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney People educated at Epping Boys High School Australia youth international soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Central Coast Mariners FC players Northern Spirit FC players Jiangsu F.C. players Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players Melbourne City FC players Sydney FC players A-League Men players Chinese Super League players K League 1 players Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Association football central defenders Australian soccer players Australia international soccer players