Christopher Naumoff (born 29 June 1995) is a retired Australian professional

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 played as a winger for

Sutherland Sharks Sutherland Sharks Football Club is an Australian Association football club based in the suburb of Sutherland in Sydney New South Wales. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The club's home games are played at Seymour ...

in the NPL and 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

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 competiti ...

. Born in Sydney, Naumoff played youth football for

, eventually playing for the first team in the

National Premier Leagues NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northern ...

before moving to

's senior side in 2014. He made over 50 appearances for Sydney before leaving the club in 2016. Soon after, Naumoff agreed to a deal with Spanish side Numancia, but was found in medical testing to have a heart disease,

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which the heart becomes thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ventricles. This r ...

, which led to the cancellation of the contract and Naumoff's subsequent retirement as a health precaution. Naumoff represented the Australian

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

and under-23 sides on several occasions.

Early life

Naumoff was born to a

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

mother born in

Smilevo Smilevo () is a village in North Macedonia, municipality of Demir Hisar. It is famous for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising which started in the village in the morning of August 2, 1903 (see Battle of Smilevo). The decision for the uprising wa ...

in the

Demir Hisar Municipality Demir Hisar ( mk, Демир Хисар ) is a municipality in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. '' Demir Hisar'', which means "iron fortress" in Turkish, is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. Demir Hisar munici ...

, and a

Macedonian Australian Macedonian Australians ( Macedonian: Македонски Австралијанци) are Australian citizens of Macedonian descent. Many arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, although larger numbers came to Australia after World War II and the Gre ...

father, whose parents hail from

Capari Capari ( mk, Цапари) is a village in North Macedonia. It was formerly a municipality center, but is now within the Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern par ...

near

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

. He is a Macedonian Orthodox Christian.

Club career

Sydney FC

Naumoff joined Sydney FC's youth team from New South Wales Premier League outfit

in 2011 after winning the Under 20s Championship and being crowned the Under 20s Premier League Player of the Year 2012. Having had a strong pre-season under Frank Farina where he scored 5 goals, Naumoff was handed his senior debut at home to the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

in Round 1 of the 2013–14 season where Sydney FC won 2–0. On 15 November 2013, Naumoff made his starting debut for Sydney FC against

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is an outdoor sports stadium on the site of Edwin Flack Field in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the Melbourne central business district. When completed ...

. His first A-League goal was against 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 ...

on 24 January 2015. On 16 March 2016, Naumoff scored the winning goal in a 1–0 against

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The Steelers were founded on 1 A ...

in the Asian Champions League. He has participated in various community activities for the club, including training sessions with local club Curl Curl Acdamy. At the conclusion of the 2015–16 season, Naumoff was not offered a new contract with Sydney FC.

Numancia and retirement

On 16 June 2016, Naumoff agreed to a three-year deal with Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

side Numancia The deal was later cancelled after Naumoff failed a medical examination. Following further testing, Naumoff was diagnosed with

(HCM). On 4 July 2016, he announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 21 for health reasons but stated his wish to stay involved in the game.

Professional Footballers Australia The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), formerly the Australian Soccer Players' Association, is an Australian trade union affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions that represents professional male, female and elite junior so ...

announced that they would continue to support Naumoff.

Management career

Naumoff joined

Rockdale City Suns Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (formerly known as the Rockdale City Suns Football Club from 1992 to 2020) is an Australian Macedonian soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Founded in 1969, the club competes in the highest men's compe ...

as a youth coach in late 2016, and also flagged an intention to start an academy of his own, which he has subsequently done. He also currently coaches Sydney Grammar School.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Sydney FC * National Youth League: 2013–14

Individual

NSW Premier League The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northern ...

Grade 20 Player of the Season: 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naumoff, Christopher 1995 births Living people Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Men's association football wingers A-League Men players National Premier Leagues players Sydney FC players Sutherland Sharks FC players Australian people of Macedonian descent Soccer players from Sydney