Gareth Naven (born 3 March 1969
) is an Australian
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
coach and former player. He is currently the development officer at
Football West
Football West is the state governing and censoring body for soccer in Western Australia (WA). It is affiliated with Football Australia (FA), the sport's national governing body, and through FA's affiliation to FIFA. Football West's premier compe ...
and coach of
Bayswater City SC in the
NPL.
Playing career
Naven was born in 1969 in the English town of
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
before his family moved to
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Australia.
He was a junior with
Gosnells but made his initial impact with
Bayswater Inter in 1985. In the same year, he and his twin brother Craig were selected in the
Australia Under-16 national team that reached the quarter-finals of the
World Under-16 championship in China.
In 1986 he received a scholarship to attend the
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
. In 1987, Naven was a member of the Schoolboy Australia team that toured New Zealand.
While still a teenager, Naven moved to South Australia to begin his senior footballing career. He played 11 times for
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 ...
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 ...
and locally for
Birkalla.
He then returned to Western Australia and played with
Perth Italia, winning four State league championships. He also made 20 appearances for WA and was the 1992 Gold Medal winner.
After having a spell with Malaysian side Sarawak, he captained the
Perth Kangaroos team that became champions of the
Singapore League in 1994. That year, he was named West Australian Player of the Year.
Naven was the inaugural captain of
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 ...
when they entered the
NSL in 1996. Over the course of six years, his determined and tough-tackling style of play established himself as one of the club’s truly iconic figures, making more than 140 NSL appearances and taking out the
Most Glorious Player Award in 2000.
Although Naven led the Glory to their first NSL Minor Premiership in 2000, the team suffered defeat in the
2000 NSL Grand Final to
Wollongong Wolves
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...
. His next (and last) chance to become an NSL champion was as an unused substitute in their
2002 Grand Final loss to
Olympic Sharks
Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrant ...
. He announced his retirement from the NSL shortly after.
Naven spent his final year as a player with a return to Perth Italia (at that point, they had changed their name to Perth Soccer Club). By the time he hung up his boots for good, Naven collected seven League medals with Perth as well as a Cup winners’ medal.
In 2004, Naven received the very first Perth Glory Life Membership. He was inducted into the
Football Hall of Fame Football Hall of Fame may refer to:
American football
*College Football Hall of Fame
*Pro Football Hall of Fame, located in Canton, Ohio
Association football
*English Football Hall of Fame
*Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame
*National Soc ...
in 2008, along with his brother Craig. In 2014, Naven was honoured in an
NPL match between Perth SC and Perth Glory, in what was called the "Gareth Naven Cup".
Managerial career
Perth Glory
After concluding his playing career, Naven moved into coaching with
Perth SC
Perth Soccer Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in West Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1987 as the result of a merger between three local sides, though its pre-merger history is regarded to be that of Perth ...
and had roles at various under-age State teams (and a stint with
Cockburn City as the Director of Coaching) before returning to the
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 ...
in 2008 to coach the
youth team
In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future i ...
.
In February 2013, he was promoted to the senior coaching staff at Glory, as assistant to new coach and former Glory teammate,
Alistair Edwards
Alistair Martin Edwards (born 21 June 1968) is a former soccer player and coach. A prominent forward, he made a name for himself with National Soccer League clubs Sydney Olympic and Perth Glory. He was also a favourite with Malaysian League tea ...
. On 17 June 2014, he was axed from Perth Glory, along with
Scott Miller, after a review of the coaching structure.
Perth SC
In September 2015, Naven was appointed as head coach of
Perth SC
Perth Soccer Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in West Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1987 as the result of a merger between three local sides, though its pre-merger history is regarded to be that of Perth ...
.
Melbourne Victory
On 30 May 2016, Naven was appointed as a coach for
Melbourne Victory's NYL/NPL squads with Perth SC's blessing.
He was at Melbourne for three and half seasons.
Bayswater City
In early 2020 Naven returned to Perth
as the newly appointed Youth Development Officer with
Football West
Football West is the state governing and censoring body for soccer in Western Australia (WA). It is affiliated with Football Australia (FA), the sport's national governing body, and through FA's affiliation to FIFA. Football West's premier compe ...
. In October that same year, president Oriani Colli announced that Naven would be
Chris Coyne's replacement as head coach of
Bayswater City.
References
External links
Perth Glory profile
1969 births
Living people
Footballers from Wigan
Australian soccer players
English footballers
Expatriate footballers in Malaysia
National Soccer League (Australia) players
Adelaide City FC players
Perth Glory FC players
Australian twins
Twin sportspeople
Association football midfielders
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