Bernie Alpha Ibini-Isei (born 12 September 1992), also known simply as Bernie Ibini, is a professional

soccer player 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 winger and a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in Nigeria, he represented

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 ...

internationally.

Early life

Bernie Ibini-Isei immigrated to Australia from Nigeria when he was a child, and grew up in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

's Canterbury-Bankstown region. His passion for soccer was obvious from a very young age, and at the age of six years old he was registered to play for his local club Earlwood Wanderers. He has a sister, Princess Ibini-Isei, who is also a soccer player, playing for

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

in the W-League and the Australian team.

Club career

Ibini started playing soccer for New South Wales Premier League club

Blacktown City Blacktown City Council is a local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1906 as the Blacktow ...

at youth level. He was immediately recognized as a player with immense potential and was selected to join

Westfields Sports High School , motto_translation = Courage and Valour , established = , location = 406A Hamilton Road, Fairfield West, Western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , type = Government-funded co-educational comprehensive a ...

Central Coast Mariners

In 2009, he was signed by the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

to join their youth team in the A League competition. In 2009, he received the Golden Boot Award in the National Youth League and was quickly promoted to the senior team, where he made his debut on 12 February 2010, in their round 27 clash against

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

at Westpac Stadium in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Ibini-Isei made his starting debut for the Mariners against the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and scored in a 3–1 win. After just his third start for the Central Coast Mariners Ibini-Isei scored the second goal for the Central Coast Mariners against Perth Glory. His speed and skill quickly gained the attention of the Australian under 20 National Team coach to play a key role in the U20 World Cup. His consistent development and performances earned Bernie a two-year contract extension with the club, and on 1 February 2012 it was announced that he had signed a two-year contract extension with

Shanghai East Asia

On 4 June 2013, after his superb performances in the 2012/2013 Asian Champions League round of 16 clash against Guangzhou Evergrande, Central Coast Mariners received a record bid for Ibini from Shanghai East Asia FC who were keen to add to their squad list for the Chinese Super League. Three days later his move to newly promoted

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

side

Shanghai East Asia Shanghai Port FC (), previously named Shanghai SIPG, is a professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Pudong, Shanghai, and their home sta ...

, was complete with Ibini signing a three-year contract. This move made Ibini one of the most expensive under 21 players 21 in Asia. Bernie made an immediate impact in the Chinese Super League with his speed and skill playing as a wide striker. However, in November 2013, due to the unexpected tragic death of his father Ibini gained permission to return to the Australian A League, and previous club Central Coast Mariners on loan on compassionate grounds. The loan move took effect on 8 January 2014 and was until 31 May 2014 after which he was then to return to Shanghai.

Loan to Sydney FC

In May 2014 Ibini signed for

on loan, making his debut in round 1 of the

A League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

season against Melbourne City. Ibini scored his first goal in the Sydney Derby in a 1–1 draw. In the last three rounds of the A league season Ibini scored three goals: a contender for goal of the season against

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

, a lob over the goalkeeper against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and a solo goal against

. Although Sydney wanted to keep Ibini, he was recalled by Shanghai on 3 June 2015 Ibini played in every A-League fixture for Sydney during the 2014–15 season.

Club Brugge

Following his release from Sydney, due to his contract ending on 1 May, Ibini missed out on playing against

2014–15 Premier League The 2014–15 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...

champions Chelsea in a friendly at ANZ Stadium. It was shortly announced thereafter that Ibini had gained permission from Shanghai East Asia to travel to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

for a medical with

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

with Shanghai unlikely to retain him due to their foreign player quota already filled. He signed a three-year deal with the club on 5 June 2015. It was announced that Ibini would wear the number 11 shirt.

Second loan to Sydney FC

After being ruled out for the 2015–16 Belgian Pro League season due to a broken leg he suffered in his first training session with

, it was announced on 21 July 2016 that Ibini would return to

on a loan deal once again. He made his return from injury in an FFA Cup semi-final against

Canberra Olympic Canberra Olympic FC is an Australian semi-professional Association football club based in the suburb of O'Connor in the north of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The club was founded in 1956, and currently competes in the National Premi ...

on 19 October 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute and scoring a late goal in a 3–0 win.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 9 May 2017, Ibini signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

on a one-year deal with an option to make it a two-year deal. On 8 August 2018, the Whitecaps announced that they and Ibini-Isei had "mutually agreed to a contract termination" to allow him to sign with Emirates Club of the UAE Pro League.

Jeonbuk Hyundai

In January 2019 Ibini signed with Korean side

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 ...

. He left Jeonbuk, and arranged a transfer to Esteghlal only for the contract to be rescinded after Ibini failed a medical clearance at the club.

International career

Ibini made his debut for the Australian U-20 team in 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 win against Germany U-20. On 7 March 2011, he was selected to represent the

Australia Olympic football team The Australia national under-23 soccer team represents Australia in international under-23 soccer and at the Olympic Games. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which is currently a membe ...

in an Asian Olympic Qualifier match against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. On 10 October 2014, he made his debut for the Australian senior team, starting in a friendly match against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

in preparation for the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

: * A-League Premiership: 2011–12 *

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 ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* A-League Premiership: 2016–17

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 ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual

* Y-League Golden Boot:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* A-League All Star:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibini-Isei, Bernie 1992 births Living people Australian soccer players Australia youth international soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players Australia international soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Blacktown City FC players Sydney FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Shanghai Port F.C. players Club Brugge KV players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Emirates Club players Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players Newcastle Jets FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players A-League Men players Chinese Super League players UAE Pro League players K League 1 players Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Australian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Sportspeople from Port Harcourt Nigerian emigrants to Australia Association football wingers Major League Soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate footballers in South Korea Nigerian footballers Soccer players from Sydney People educated at Westfields Sports High School