David Stuart Mitchell (born 13 June 1962) is a former professional

association footballer 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 most recently worked as head coach of Malaysian Premier League club

Kedah FA Kedah Darul Aman Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bola Sepak Kedah Darul Aman) is a football club based in Alor Setar, Kedah, that competes in the Malaysia Super League. They are the only team in the history of Malaysian football to have won two tr ...

. A powerful striker, he is remembered as one of the pioneers for Australian players in Europe, appearing in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

, as well as the top-flight and second tier in England. In Asia, he played for clubs in Hong Kong and Malaysia. Mitchell played for overseas clubs for more than a dozen years before returning to Australia to coach

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

and

Parramatta Power Parramatta Power Soccer Club were a professional association football club who were based in the Western Sydney city of Parramatta. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999-00 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were ...

in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

. Born in Scotland, he represented the Australia national team at international level. He played 44 times for the national team, scoring a total of 14 goals and a number of assists, and appearing in the 1988

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in Seoul. He was the assistant manager to Ron Smith at

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

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 ...

before taking the top position after Smith's sacking, helping the club end its winless streak.

Playing career

Mitchell was born in Glasgow, but moved to Adelaide as a young child. He bought out his own contract at

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was known historically as Juventus — the original name given to the club by its founders in Adelaide's Italian community. Adelaide City is one of Aust ...

so he could join Rangers, the club that his family supported, in 1983. He broke into the first team at the same time as acclaimed Scotland striker

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland i ...

. Both he and McCoist scored their first goals for the club in the same

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

game and he also represented the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

club on the European stage. In 1985, Mitchell became the first Australian to feature in the Bundesliga, playing for two seasons for

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. He also played for Dutch football club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

—appearing in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

—before securing a move to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the top flight of English football. He also played – and scored – on-loan for

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 ...

becoming first Aussie to play and score for the famous North-East club. Playing in the second-tier of English football, he had spells at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

where he played with

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and Swi ...

and helped them earn promotion to the

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 Fo ...

and

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

where he scored 15 league goals in 55 games. He then moved to Malaysia and scored the winner in the 1995 Malaysia Cup final; this was a

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

, the first golden goal to be scored in a Malaysia Cup final. Mitchell finished his career with Australian clubs

and

as he transitioned into coaching.

Managerial career

Mitchell's coaching career in the NSL spanned six seasons and 154 matches, in which he recorded 68 wins, 31 draws and 55 losses. When he returned from playing in Europe he was a player/coach for clubs

and

. Some of his coaching achievements include a Grand Final appearance in 1998–99 with Sydney United and also being the inaugural coach of

in 1999–2000. Mitchell was appointed interim head coach of

after the sacking of Ron Smith in November 2007 and was then given a contract until March 2009. It was further extended to the end of the 2010–11 season in November 2008. Some of his major achievements while manager of Perth Glory was to sign key international players including

Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League. As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history ...

and Andy Todd. Mitchell stepped down as Perth Glory coach during the 2010–11 A-League season after an unbeaten run of five games until his side conceded four consecutive losses. He decided to move to the role of Director of Football. Mitchell then moved Ian Ferguson to the head coaching role to replace himself. Both positions were for the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. On 4 March 2011, Mitchell was released from his contract from the club after the role was deemed redundant after an independent review of football operations at Perth Glory. In November 2013, Malaysian Premier League club

announced on its website that Mitchell had been appointed head coach and was preparing for the 2014 Premier League season. But despite the Red Eagles' solid start to the 2014 campaign and a Malaysia FA Cup quarterfinal appearance, he was sacked in April due to political in-fighting within the club. 2014 worked as a pundit for Astro TV for the EPL in Malaysia and also for the Brazil World cup 2014 2015 he was engaged by Mike Charlsworth the owner of Central Coast Mariners FC in the Australian A League as GM of Asia. This was for possible connections and joint ventures in the growing Asia market. Worked with Frenz United in Malaysia with ex Liverpool legend Steve McMahon to help bring the under 19's of Frenz United to the final of the Asian Championship trophy where they were defeated by a robust and tough Japanese team Kashima Antlers in the final. 2015 – 2016 in the past Mitchell has also work as a scout for

Rotterdam and is currently their Asian Ambassador for the club. 2016 worked for Astro TV as a pundit for the EPL 2017 worked for ESPNFC as a pundit for Australia's 2018 World Cup playoff against Syria.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list goal tally first.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Rangers *

: 1984–85 ;Seiko * Hong Kong League: 1984–85 *Hong Kong Cup: 1984–85 ;Swindon Town * First Division Play-Off Final:

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

;Selangor *

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...

: 1995 ;Australia *

Trans-Tasman Trans-Tasman is an adjective used primarily to signify the relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The term refers to the Tasman Sea, which lies between the two countries. For example, ''trans-Tasman commerce'' refers to commerce betwee ...

: 1983 *

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup was an invitational football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and club teams. After the 1986 tour ...

: 1982 ;Individual * FFA Hall of Champions: 2006 Inductee * NSL U21 Player of the Year: 1980–81 (Papasavas Medal)

Manager

; Sydney United * NSL Premiership: 1998–99 ; Individual: * NSL Coach of the Year: 1998–99

References

External links

*
OZ Football profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Dave 1962 births Living people Australian soccer players Australian soccer coaches Rangers F.C. players Eintracht Frankfurt players Feyenoord players Chelsea F.C. players NEC Nijmegen players Newcastle United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Altay S.K. footballers Millwall F.C. players Seiko SA players Sydney Olympic FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Perth Glory FC managers Scottish footballers Scottish Football League players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players Hong Kong First Division League players Australia international soccer players Olympic soccer players of Australia Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Sydney Olympic FC managers Central Coast Mariners FC non-playing staff British expatriates in Hong Kong Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Australian expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Australian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate footballers in Malaysia Footballers from Glasgow Scottish emigrants to Australia Scottish expatriate football managers Australian expatriate soccer coaches National Soccer League (Australia) players A-League Men managers Sydney United 58 FC managers Association football forwards Australian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Soccer players from Adelaide