Daniel John Mullen (born 26 October 1989) is an Australian

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 last played for

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 ...

. He played as a

centre back 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 a

right back 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 ...

. Daniel is the cousin of Matthew Mullen and son of

Joe Mullen Joseph Patrick Mullen (born February 26, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins betwee ...

, a former

Socceroo 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 wi ...

Club career

Adelaide United

Mullen joined United for the

2008–09 A-League The 2008–09 A-League was the 32nd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fourth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Two new clubs, North Queensland Thunder and Gold Coast Galaxy had received tentativ ...

season. On 26 July 2008 he made his debut 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 ...

in a 0–0 against

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 the Pre-Season Cup. He has since gone on to win a place in the team in the league and also featured against

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

. He played in Adelaide's Champions league semi final's 1st leg 3–0 victory over Uzbekistan outfit

Bunyodkor The Swallows uz, Osiyo BarselonasiAsian Barcelona , shortname = , image = Bunyodkor logo.png , image_size = 200px , founded = , ground = Milliy Stadium , capacity = 34,000 , chairman = , ceo = , mgrtitle = Ma ...

and was surely the best game in his short career. In November 2008 Daniel signed a new two-year deal with Adelaide keeping him at the club until the end of the 2010–11 season. Mullen began to hold down a regular starting spot at

for Adelaide including starting the inaugural

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

game for the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n team in which he scored the equalising goal against

Waitakere United Waitakere United was a football club based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. They were one of the franchises in the ISPS Handa Premiership. They played their home games at Fred Taylor Park in Kumeu and The Trusts Arena. History Waitakere Uni ...

. Mullen scored his first league goal for Adelaide with a powerful header in the 3–2 victory over North Queensland Fury in Townsville in Round 4. He had some trouble holding a spot the first team squad with Robert Cornthwaite and Iain Fyfe regularly used at centre back.

Dalian Aerbin

In July 2012 Mullen signed a two-year deal with

Dalian Aerbin Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sports Ce ...

in the

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 ...

Melbourne Victory

Daniel Mullen Joined

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 ...

on loan for the second half of the 2012–13 season.

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 3 February 2014 he signed, along with Golgol Mebrahtu, with

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 ...

. However, since there were no spaces remaining in the club's A-League squad, Mullen was only eligible to participate in Western Sydney Wanderers'

2014 AFC Champions League The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the defe ...

campaign during the 2013–14 season. On 18 March 2014, following a long-term injury to Golgol Mebrahtu, Mullen was added to Western Sydney Wanderers' A-League squad. Mullen parted ways with the Wanderers on 30 January 2015.

Newcastle Jets

On 31 January 2015, Mullen joined

. On 10 May 2017, he was released by Newcastle Jets, along with another seven off-contract players.

Wellington Phoenix

On 9 August 2017, Mullen joined

on a one-year deal.

International career

Mullen debuted for the Australian national team in a qualifying match for the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

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 ...

in March 2009.Mullen: A young Aussie on Chinese shorts
FIFA.com In 2021, he fully retired his soccer career to teach Physical Education at St Peter's College, Adelaide, Australia

Honours

;

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

Adelaide United profile

FFA – Young Socceroos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullen, Daniel 1989 births Australian soccer players Australian people of Irish descent Australia international soccer players A-League Men players Chinese Super League players Adelaide United FC players Dalian Professional F.C. players Melbourne Victory FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Campbelltown City SC players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Expatriate footballers in China Soccer players from Adelaide Living people Association football defenders Para Hills Knights players Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand People educated at Marcellin College, Bulleen