Reece Crowther (born 28 November 1988) is an Australian

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Crowther played all his junior football at

Mulgoa Mulgoa is a village, located in the local government area of the City of Penrith, in the region of western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mulgoa is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district. Mu ...

who play in the Nepean Competition in Sydney before moving onto Representative football with the

Marconi Stallions Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marconi, a social ...

and

Parramatta Eagles Parramatta Football Club, commonly known as Parramatta Melita Eagles or just Melita, are a semi-professional Australian soccer club based in South Granville, New South Wales. The club was established by Maltese migrants in 1956 and played sev ...

. He was part of the Parramatta Eagles side from which James Holland and Adam Biddle also graduated. At 16 he was given the opportunity to move to England to pursue a professional career in

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 ...

. He spent the next three years in England, learning his trade, firstly with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

and then with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Wellington Phoenix

On 26 May 2009, he was signed on a one-year deal by

Wellington Phoenix FC 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 ...

after trialling with the club and impressing the coaching staff. On 30 August 2009, Crowther made his senior debut, starting for the Phoenix in a 2–0 loss against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

. On 1 November 2009, Crowther made his second

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 ...

appearance for

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 ...

against

after

Mark Paston Mark Nelson Paston (born 13 December 1976) is a New Zealand former Goalkeeper (association football), football goalkeeper who most recently played for the Wellington Phoenix FC, Wellington Phoenix in the A-League before announcing his retireme ...

received a suspected hip injury which later proved to be a fractured leg. Crowther continued to start for the Phoenix until

Liam Reddy Liam Rhys Reddy (born 8 August 1981) is an Australian professional football player who plays as a goalkeeper for A-League side Perth Glory. Early life Reddy comes from a successful sports family. His father is Australian former rugby league ...

arrived from

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 ...

as injury cover for Paston. On 19 January 2010, Crowther re-signed with the Wellington Phoenix to keep him at the club until the end of the 2010/2011 season. Fellow Phoenix players

Troy Hearfield Troy Hearfield (born 31 October 1987 in Tamworth, NSW) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays for Sawtell FC. Club career Hearfield signed for Newcastle Jets in 2006. On 2 February 2007, Hearfield made his professional debut in a ...

and

also re-signed with the team. Crowther spent the off season as the first choice goalkeeper on loan to Finnish team EIF Ekenas where he made 25 appearances. The start to the 2010–11 season was not pleasant for Crowther, being ruled out for the opening eight weeks with a cracked rib which he suffered at training.

References

External links

Wellington Phoenix profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowther, Reece Living people 1988 births Association football goalkeepers Crystal Palace F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players English Football League players Australian soccer players Parramatta FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players A-League Men players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Ekenäs IF players