Craig Alexander Goodwin (born 16 December 1991) is an Australian 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 ...

who plays for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

and the Australian national team. He is Adelaide United's all-time leading goalscorer.

Club career

Early career

He started his career playing for amateur club Munno Para City Football Club. He later signed for one of the top local

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

sides Adelaide Raiders who play in the

South Australian Super League The National Premier Leagues South Australia (often abbreviated to NPL South Australia or NPL SA) is a semi-professional football competition in the Australian state of South Australia. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National Pre ...

. After being cut during the

youth team trials he moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

where he signed with

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

side

Oakleigh Cannons Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The ...

Melbourne Heart

On 2 September 2011 it was announced he had signed with the

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 ...

youth team who play in the National Youth League. He made his senior professional debut for

during the

2011–12 A-League The 2011–12 A-League was the 35th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the seventh season of the Australian A-League soccer competition since its establishment in 2004. At the end of the previous season, the North Queensland Fury wer ...

campaign in a round 19 fixture against

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), Victory e ...

in which he received the man of the match award.

Newcastle Jets

On 7 May 2012 it was announced he had signed a two-year contract with

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 ...

club

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 ...

. At Newcastle, Goodwin was known for his finishing and accurate crossing, which benefited strikers

Emile Heskey Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women. Playing as a striker, he made more than 500 appearances in the Foo ...

and

Ryan Griffiths Ryan Griffiths may refer to: *Ryan Griffiths (guitarist) Ryan Griffiths (born 14 February 1978) is an Australian musician. From March 2002 to December 2011 he was a member of garage rock band, The Vines. Craig Nicholls, who founded the group, ...

. He scored his first

goal against

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 ...

on 13 October 2012. His goal proved to be the winner in a 3–2 victory. Due to his consistent amazing performances Craig was nominated for NAB Young Footballer of the Year in October. On 8 April 2013 Goodwin joined English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

on trial for two weeks.

Adelaide United

On 7 September 2014 it was announced that Goodwin had signed with hometown

club

, ending a two-year stay with Newcastle Jets.

Sparta Rotterdam

On 5 May 2016, it was announced that Goodwin had signed with Dutch club

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

four days after Adelaide United's A-League Championship Grand Final victory against the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

. He made his debut on 7 August 2016 against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, coming on as a substitute for Iván Calero in the 68th minute. Goodwin scored his first goal for the club a week later, scoring the second goal for Sparta Rotterdam in their 3–0 victory over

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

. On 1 May 2018, Goodwin and Sparta Rotterdam mutually agreed to prematurely end his contract after struggling for game time.

Return to Adelaide United

It was announced on 25 May 2018 that Goodwin had returned to

on a 3-year contract. On 30 October 2018, he scored both of Adelaide United's goals in their FFA Cup Final victory over

and won the Mark Viduka Medal, making him the first Australian to win the award.

Al-Wehda

On 15 July 2019, it was announced that Goodwin's buyout clause was met by

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

side Al-Wehda for an estimated $450,000. On 17 July 2019, it was officially announced via the club's Twitter that he had signed on a two-year deal. Al-Wehda underwent a managerial change which saw a new player come in and replace Goodwin in the starting lineup, Goodwin signed a one-year contract extension and was immediately loaned out to

Abha Abha ( ar, أَبْهَا, ') is the capital of 'Asir Region in Saudi Arabia, with a population of 1,093,705 as of 2021. It is situated above sea level in the fertile Asir Mountains of south-western Saudi Arabia, near Asir National Park. Abha' ...

. Goodwin mutually terminated his loan with

over difficulties with himself and his partner living in the new city. Goodwin then returned to Adelaide United in February 2021, on a loan deal until the end of the

2020–21 A-League The 2020–21 A-League was the 44th season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 16th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The season was started on 28 December 2020 and concluded with the Grand Final on 27 June 2021. The st ...

season. Goodwin's loan was then extended until the end of the 2021–22 A-League season.

Permanent return to Adelaide United

After two successive seasons on loan, Goodwin signed for Adelaide United on a permanent basis in July, signing a 3 year contract. On 30 October in a match 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 ...

, Goodwin scored his 45th goal for Adelaide United which made him take the club's all-time goalscoring record outright.

International career

On 7 March 2012, Goodwin 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 ...

. Goodwin made his international debut for

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 ...

on 26 July 2013, coming on as a late substitute in a loss to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

at the

2013 EAFF East Asian Cup The 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup was the 5th edition of this regional competition, the football championship of East Asia. Two preliminary competitions were held during 2012. Mongolia were suspended from the EAFF and could not compete in any EAFF co ...

. He started the next match of the tournament, playing a full game in a 4–3 loss to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He was named in Australia's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in November 2022. On 22 November 2022, Goodwin scored Australia's first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

goal from open play since the

2014 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 righ ...

, in a 1–4 loss against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In the last sixteen, his deflected strike, ultimately credited as an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

own goal, halved the deficit in a 1–2 loss against eventual champions Argentina in Australia's round of 16 match.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Adelaide United *

Championship: 2015–16 *

Premiership: 2015–16 *

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 Australia ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual * Adelaide United All-time leading goal scorer * PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2021–22 *

Player of the Year: 2015–16 * Mark Viduka Medal:

* A-Leagues All Star:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Craig 1991 births Living people Soccer players from Adelaide Australian soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Association football defenders Association football forwards Australia international soccer players Croydon Kings players Melbourne City FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Adelaide United FC players Sparta Rotterdam players Al-Wehda Club (Mecca) players Abha Club players A-League Men players Saudi Professional League players FFSA Super League players Eredivisie players Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 2022 FIFA World Cup players