Jason van Blerk (born 16 March 1968 in Sydney, Australia) is a former Australian

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 ...

. He played primarily as a midfielder, but could also play in defense. He played for clubs, both overseas and locally. He also represented Australia both at youth and senior level.

Club career

Van Blerk started his club career at

Blacktown City Demons Blacktown City Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Blacktown, New South Wales. Founded in 1953, the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW. Blacktown City's home ground is Blacktown City ...

in Australia. He made his first move to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

when he signed for Sint Truiden in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1990. He then made subsequent moves to Go Ahead Eagles in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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, eas ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was then brought to Manchester City on a free transfer at the start of their 1997–98 campaign by Frank Clark. However, he struggled there and only lasted seven months.

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

then bought him for £250k in March 1998. He ended up playing 109 games for them (scoring three goals). He left

in 2001. He then played for

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

(where he scored once against Rushden & Diamonds),

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

(where he scored twice against Rochdale in the league and Barrow in the FA Cup),

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

and

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

, before returning home to Australia, where he signed for Wollongong City in 2003. He left Australia again briefly to play for Runcorn F.C. Halton in

, before returning home again to play for

APIA Leichhardt APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed ...

. He then retired in 2006.

International career

Jason played for the senior national team 33 times. He scored his first international goal against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in 1992. He made his national team debut against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

after coming on for Tom McCulloch in the 46th minute at the

Senayan Stadium Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium ( id, Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno; literally "Bung Karno Sports Arena Main Stadium"), formerly Senayan Main Stadium and Gelora Senayan Main Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located at the center of the Ge ...

, Jakarta. He did not play any games between 1996 and 1999, mostly due to lack of game time at club level (while he was at

Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club are an English football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Association Football ...

). He got his last four caps (against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

) in 2000 after regaining form at

. Van Blerk also represented Australia at youth level when played in the 1987

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

. He was also an Australian Schoolboy International player in 1986.

Managerial career

In November 2008, Van Blerk was appointed the new coach of GHFA Spirit FC for the club's first season in the NSW Super League in 2009. In October 2013, Van Blerk was announced as the new head coach for

National Premier League The National Premier League, also known for sponsorship purposes as the Red Stripe Premier League, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the top division for men's association football in Jamaica. Contested between 12 clubs, it ...

side

Central Coast Mariners Academy The Central Coast Mariners Academy (CCMA) is the youth system of Central Coast Mariners FC based in , Australia. The academy teams play the Y-League and the National Premier Leagues, the highest level of youth football in Australia. Senior p ...

under the guidance of technical director

Phil Moss Phil Moss (born 5 October 1971) is an English-born Australian association football manager and former player who was most recently assistant coach of Sydney FC. Early life Moss was born in London, England to Jewish parents and arrived in Aust ...

who also works as assistant coach for the Mariners A-League squad.

Trivia

Jason van Blerk is the son of former Socceroo

Cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

References

External links

Aussie Footballers
Ubogagu to Van Egmond {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Blerk, Jason Living people 1968 births Soccer players from Sydney Australian people of Dutch descent Men's association football midfielders Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australia men's international soccer players Altrincham F.C. players APIA Leichhardt FC players Blacktown City FC players Colwyn Bay F.C. players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles players Hull City A.F.C. players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Manchester City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Australian soccer players