Robert Middleby (born 9 August 1975) is an Australian former football player who as a

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 ...

right 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 the CEO of the

Newcastle Jets FC 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 Australian ...

until 2015. He played for Sydney FC after earlier stints at Newcastle United Jets,

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 ...

(twice), Carlton, Football Kingz and the Newcastle Breakers. He won the 2001 NSL title with the Wolves and the 2006 A-League title with Sydney FC and also spent time overseas with German outfit

KFC Uerdingen 05 KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the fifth-level Oberliga. History Th ...

Career

Sydney FC

Middleby was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. He saw little game time under coach

Pierre Littbarski Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder or ...

in his first season at the club, playing only 212 minutes in 16 appearances despite scoring in Sydney FC's 3–1 victory against

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-Leagu ...

early in the campaign. He gained favour, though, under Littbarski's replacement

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

and was a regular starter in the 2006–07 season. Despite missing part of the season with a broken collarbone after a controversial off-the-ball incident involving

Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

defender Adrian Leijer, Middleby was voted Sydney FC Players' Player of the Year for the season. Middleby accidentally broke David Beckham's rib, when Sydney FC played the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

in November 2007. Middleby also scored in this match.

North Queensland Fury

In November 2008, Middleby signed a contract with

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 ...

. He has been used in his more preferred role of right back, as well as being used in central midfield under coach Ian Ferguson. On 11 February 2010, he announced his retirement from professional football at the end of the 2009–10 season Middleby played his last game against

Gold Coast United FC Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Un ...

, which North Queensland won 2–1.

Newcastle Jets

Middleby resigned as CEO for the

in the A-League in January 2015. Upon retiring, Middleby said "I will use the next few weeks to support the mid-season review process".

Career statistics

Honours

Sydney FC *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2005–06 * Oceania Club Championship: 2004–05 Wollongong Wolves * NSL Championship: 2000–2001 * Oceania Club Championship: 2000–01 Individual: * Sydney FC Player of the Year: 2006–07

References

External links

North Queensland Fury profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleby, Robbie 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales Australian soccer players Association football defenders Association football midfielders Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australia international soccer players Australia youth international soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players A-League Men players 2. Bundesliga players National Soccer League (Australia) players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Newcastle Breakers FC players Wollongong Wolves FC players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Football Kingz F.C. players Carlton S.C. players Newcastle Jets FC players Sydney FC players Northern Fury FC players Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Soccer players from New South Wales