Jade Bronson North (born 7 January 1982) is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

former professional footballer who 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 ...

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 ...

. He was a member of the Australian national team, and is co-chair of Football Australia's inaugural

National Indigenous Advisory Group Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

Early life

Jade Bronson North was born in

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distri ...

, of

Biripi The Birrbay people, also spelt Birpai, Biripi, Birippi and variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. They and share a dialect continuum with the Worimi people. Language The Gathang language (aka Gadjang or Wori ...

descent. He lived in New Zealand until the age of 11, then moved back to Australia, taking up residence in the suburb of Sunnybank in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, with his brother Brook North and parents. He attended Sunnybank High School until he was offered a place with the

AIS AIS may refer to: Medicine * Abbreviated Injury Scale, an anatomical-based coding system to classify and describe the severity of injuries * Acute ischemic stroke, the thromboembolic type of stroke * Androgen insensitivity syndrome, an intersex ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

at the age of 15.

Club career

North joined the

Brisbane Strikers Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season and was one of two ...

as one of the youngest players to join 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 then later moving 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 ...

He was named as the captain of the

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 ...

for the

2007–08 A-League The 2007–08 A-League was the 31st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the third season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Football Federation Australia hoped to build on the success of the previous two seas ...

season following the departure of

Paul Okon Paul Michael Okon (born 5 April 1972) is a former Australian soccer player. He has Belgian citizenship. He previously captained the Australian National Team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Ba ...

.Newcastle Jets look North for Captain
. Newcastlejets.com.au. Retrieved on 11 July 2011. On 9 June 2008, Australian newspapers suggested that North was due to sign with

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

club,

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

, or with

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

club

Mika F.C. Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

However any rumours of offers proved to purely speculative, with North admitting no concrete offers had materialised. On 3 November 2008, he was announced as the inaugural

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...

marquee player for the

2009–10 A-League The 2009–10 A-League was the 33rd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fifth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. The season marked the addition of two new teams from Queensland. Gold Coast United F ...

season, however, after a week of rumours surrounding North's future, on 12 December 2008 it was publicised that

would be releasing him from contract as he signed with South Korean

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...

club

Incheon United Incheon United FC is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the city ...

on a rumoured $2 million contract. North trialled with Swedish side Trelleborg but on 26 February 2010,

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

side

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag is a Norwegian professional football club founded in 1920, based in the city of Tromsø. They play their home games at Alfheim Stadion. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Tromsø have won the Norwegian Cup twice, in 1986 and 199 ...

signed the Australian defender from Incheon United. He spent four months in Norway before joining

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 ...

on 30 July 2010 on a one-year deal. On 2 April 2011, he moved from Wellington to Japanese second-tier club

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be si ...

. On 8 January 2013, he signed a three and a half-year deal to play with

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

in the

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 ...

, leaving after five years in April 2018. On 15 May 2019, North signed for National Premier League Victoria 2 side Murray United for the remainder of the season. On 7 January 2023, North's 40th birthday, Brisbane Strikers announced a return to the club for the upcoming Football Queensland Premier League season.

International career

North's breakthrough came when he played every game of Australia's runner's up side at the

1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1999 FIFA U-16 World Championship, the eighth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, and Dunedin in New Zealand between 10 and 27 November 1999. Players born after 1 January 1982 could participate ...

where his country lost the final to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on penalties. He was also a member of Australia's quarter-final effort at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece, five years later. In 2008, prior to the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Qualifier against

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 ...

, North became the first ever Aboriginal Socceroos captain for the 0–0 Draw with

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He participated in the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China.

Other roles

In 2017, North launched a non-for-profit football program called "Kickin' With A Cuz" which was designed to reach young boys and girls through football, with a vision to create sustainable pathways and outcomes for kids to make better life choices. In November 2021 North was appointed as co-chair of the inaugural

of Football Australia. The group aims at supporting and increasing Indigenous participation in the game.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Newcastle Jets *

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

: 2007–08 Perth Glory * NSL Championship: 2003–04 Sydney Olympic * NSL Championship: 2001–02 Brisbane Roar *

Premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

: 2013–14 Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Australia U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

: runner-up

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Individual * A-League All Stars: 2014 * NAIDOC Sportsperson of the Year: 2016

References

External links

Oz Football profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Jade 1982 births Living people Indigenous Australian soccer players Australia international soccer players Association football central defenders Brisbane Strikers FC players Sydney Olympic FC players Perth Glory FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Incheon United FC players Tromsø IL players FC Tokyo players Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo players Brisbane Roar FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players A-League Men players K League 1 players J1 League players J2 League players Olympic soccer players of Australia People from Taree Eliteserien players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Indigenous Australian Olympians Australian expatriate soccer players Australian soccer players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Marquee players (A-League Men) Expatriate footballers in South Korea Expatriate footballers in Japan Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Australian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Sportsmen from New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales