Connor Thomas Pain (born 11 November 1993) is an 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 plays as a forward for

Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...

. He signed his first professional contract in March 2013 for

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...

. Pain has made one appearance for Australia, in 2013 against China.

Early life

Pain's grandfather

Tommy Casey Thomas Casey (11 March 1930 – 13 January 2009) was a Northern Ireland international footballer, coach and football manager, whose career in professional football spanned 30 years. In 1965, he played abroad in the Eastern Canada Professional ...

played in Newcastle United's 1955 FA Cup Finalwinning team and for the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

team which reached the quarter finals of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. His father, Craig Pain, was a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who played in the

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

Rugby Tournament between 1987 and 1993 and coached

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in the 2002 tournament. Pain went to Beaumaris Primary School.

Club career

Melbourne Victory

Pain made his A-League debut for

in a Melbourne Derby 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 ...

on 2 February 2013. He made his first start for the club a week later, against

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 ...

. In 2013, he was singled out for praise by then-

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

after a friendly match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Central Coast Mariners

Pain moved to the

in June 2016 in a swap deal for

Mitch Austin Mitchell Gregory Reginald Austin (born 3 April 1991) is a professional association football player who plays as a winger. Born in England to an Australian father, Austin began his senior career at Stalybridge Celtic in 2010. Three years later, ...

. Pain made his debut for the Mariners against Perth Glory on 8 October 2016, putting on a man of the match performance in an eventual 3–3 draw. He scored his first goal for the club in a win 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 ...

one month later with a powerful strike from outside the area.

Western United

On 14 April 2019 Pain signed for new A-League club,

International career

Youth

Pain was first called up to the Australian under-20 side for a tour of Europe in May 2013. He made his debut for the Young Socceroos in that tour, starting in a loss to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in Emmen. He was subsequently selected in the squad for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

. Pain played in all three of Australia's games in the tournament as they were eliminated in the group stage. Pain was named in the Australia under-23 squad for the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship. He played his first game for the Olyroos in a group stage win over

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. In March 2016, Pain scored a double for the team in a win over

2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament. A ...

. He was later named in the squad for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Senior

Following the

, in July 2013 Pain received his first call up for Australia for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. He and

teammate Nathan Coe left the squad midway through the tournament for a club friendly against

. Nonetheless, Pain returned for the final game of the tournament against China and made his debut as a second-half substitute in a 4–3 loss.

Personal life

Pain is currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

Honours

Club

: *

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 ...

: 2014–2015 * A-League Premiership: 2014–2015 *

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 ...

: 2015

* A-League Men Championship: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pain, Connor 1993 births Living people Association football forwards Australian soccer players Hong Kong footballers A-League Men players Victorian Premier League players Melbourne Victory FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Western United FC players Australian people of English descent Australian people of Northern Ireland descent Australia international soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players