Simon Jon Miotto (born 5 September 1969) is an Australian former

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 le ...

. He was last contracted to Tranmere Rovers as a

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 ...

, where he was also goalkeeper coach.

Career

Born in Launceston,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Miotto is an Education graduate from the University of Canberra. He was a promising track and field athlete and was part of the national training programme at the Australian Institute of Sport. As a

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

er he attained a high national ranking and was regarded as a potential Olympian for 1992, but in 1990 he suffered an injury that led to him playing football as a

, beginning his career in 1994 with

Riverside Olympic Riverside Olympic Football Club, is a soccer club which represents Launceston in the National Premier Leagues Tasmania. The club also fields 37 teams across all junior divisions. Riverside Olympic play their home games at Windsor Park, in Launce ...

, even though he had strong family ties to

Launceston City FC Launceston City Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Launceston, Tasmania. The club was founded in 1957 and currently participating in the Tasmanian NPL Tasmania since 2013, run by the governing body Football Federation Tasmania ...

. During this time, he put his degree to good use by teaching at St Patrick’s College, Launceston. In 1994, he was signed by

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Sam Allardyce. He spent one season at Bloomfield Road before a serious hand injury threatened his career. He recovered and returned to Blackpool under manager

Gary Megson Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager. He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and ...

18 months later. In July 1998 he moved to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

, for whom he made five appearances in two years, making his professional debut at the age of 29. He joined

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

for a brief period in 2000, and then moved to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

with Raith Rovers in May 2001. He joined

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

in February 2003, proving popular with supporters of the Perthshire club, winning a fans' favourite award without playing a first team game. The following year, West Bromwich Albion manager

signed his former goalkeeper until the end of the 2003–04 season in March 2004. Albion won promotion to the Premier League that season and in the summer, Miotto was given a one-year contract extension at The Hawthorns. That season, working alongside

Russell Hoult Russell Hoult (born 22 November 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He notably spent time playing in the Premier League and played for Leicester City, Derby County and West Bromwich ...

and Tomasz Kuszczak, Miotto's importance in the dressing room was recognised by his playing colleagues by being voted onto the players' leadership group, while he also contributed a regular column to the club's matchday programme, Albion News. His standing at The Hawthorns was further recognised in 2012 when he was asked to contribute to "In Pastures Green" by Chris Lepkowski, a book dedicated to one of Albion's most successful recent eras, from 2000 to 2010. In January 2006, Miotto joined Danish First Division club

Ølstykke FC Ølstykke Fodbold Club ; also known as Ølstykke FC or ØFC) is an association football club based in the town of Ølstykke on Zealand, Denmark. The men's team competes in the Series 1, the sixth tier of the Danish football league system and the ...

in July, helping them avoid relegation. He moved to

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on F ...

in 2007, leaving in June 2008 to sign for

Køge BK Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland, Denmark. In 2022, the urban area had a p ...

in July. The following season he signed for

Herfølge Boldklub Herfølge Boldklub is a Danish football club founded in 1921. It is based in Herfølge, a southern suburb of Køge in the eastern part of Zealand. In 2009, the club shared its licence, and merged its professional football with Køge BK to form ...

in January 2009, seeing the club promoted to the Danish Superliga before departing in June. He joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

team York City on 12 February 2010 as player and goalkeeper coach, providing playing cover for Michael Ingham and Josh Mimms. After the end of the 2009–10 season, shortly after seeing York lose the play-off final to Oxford United at Wembley, Miotto was appointed goalkeeper coach at League One team Tranmere Rovers. At 41, Miotto decided to retire from football and left Tranmere on 2 March 2011 to pursue other business interests. Miotto now owns a successful sports management company and has been responsible for mentoring and developing a number of youth international footballers and has been involved with several international football transfers.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miotto, Simon 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Launceston, Tasmania Soccer players from Tasmania Australian men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Blackpool F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Falcons 2000 SC players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Ølstykke FC players Akademisk Boldklub players Køge Boldklub players Herfølge Boldklub players York City F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Australian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark York City F.C. non-playing staff Tranmere Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Australian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland