Jonathan "Jon" McKain (born 21 September 1982) is a

Scottish Australian Scottish Australians ( sco, Scots Australiens, gd, Astràilianaich Albannach) are ‌‍‍‍‍residents of Australia who are fully or partially of Scottish descent. According to the 2021 Australian census, 130,060 Australian residents were ...

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 ...

player who retired from professional football in 2016 after a long and successful career. He played in countries including Romania, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia and was a fan favourite for his whole harted displays and football abilities. After professional retirement, he played for the

Rochedale Rovers Rochedale Rovers are a semi-professional football club which plays at Underwood Park in Priestdale, Queensland, Australia and competes in the Football Queensland Premier League with junior teams competing in both Football Queensland and Fo ...

in FQPL. He is generally a defender but can also play as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was a forceful ball playing center back or midfielder who was recognised for his work rate and discipline

Club career

McKain was educated at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, ...

, and he joined

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

club FC Politehnica in the summer of 2005, from fellow

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

club

FC Naţional București FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...

. He had enjoyable success in Romanian and was very well regarded throughout the league by players, coaches, media and fans. He was approached to seek his interest to play for Romania National team after his first season but his heart was always with Australia. He has also played for 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 ...

in Australia prior to his time in Romania McKain signed for the

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 ...

for the 2008–2009 A-League season and became a pivotal part of the sides most recognisable period. Despite several injuries McKain maintained excellent form when fit which spark several offers from other A-League clubs and overseas interest. On 14 June 2010, McKain signed a one-year renewable contract for

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

to be added to

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian manager (association football), football manager and former player who last managed Serie A club Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari. He was a long-time Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for In ...

squad. A

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.5 million transfer fee was paid. After his successful stint in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

with Saudi Arabia club

, McKain returned to Australia, and signed an undisclosed contract with

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 August 2011, McKain was named as Adelaide United's captain ahead of the 2011–12 A-League season after impressing in pre-season friendlies and coaching staff. and played for the club for 3 seasons. In October 2014, McKain signed for

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...

club

Kelantan FA Kelantan Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bola Sepak Kelantan) is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The club plays in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football since 2023. Founded in 1946, the ...

. He quickly impressed the fans with a goal he scored during a match with LionsXII that ended up in 2–0 win in their homeground stadium and went on to play for 2 successful seasons for the Red Warriors

Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium The Sultan Muhammed IV Stadium ( ms, Stadium Sultan Muhammed IV) is a stadium in the state of Kelantan. It is located on Jalan Mahmood, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, and the home of Kelantan FC and Kelantan United, a Malaysia football team. T ...

Kota Bharu Kota Bharu, colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mouth of the Kelantan River. The t ...

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...

in 2015 McKain announce his retirement from professional football on his Twitter account in 2016, after a 17 year career. He continued to play semi-professional football in Brisbane for Souths United in the FQPL and then for two seasons for Rochedale Rovers before finishing playing in 2019.

International career

McKain has represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and made three appearances at the

2005 Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winners B ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He also represented Australia at the

2004 Olympics 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), ...

and the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar

Career statistics

National team statistics

Honours

With

: *

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 ...

With

: *

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

(runner up)

References

External links

Adelaide United profile
*

at Aussie Footballers {{DEFAULTSORT:McKain, Jonathan 1982 births Living people Soccer players from Brisbane Australian soccer players Adelaide United FC players Australian expatriate soccer players Australian people of Scottish descent Olympic soccer players of Australia Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Australia international soccer players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Brisbane Strikers FC players FC Progresul București players FC Politehnica Timișoara players A-League Men players Wellington Phoenix FC players Expatriate footballers in Romania Australian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Liga I players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand National Soccer League (Australia) players Al Nassr FC players Kelantan FA players People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School Association football defenders Saudi Professional League players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia