Vince Lia (born 18 March 1985) is an Australian professional

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays for Altona Magic in the

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer lea ...

. Born in Shepparton, Lia played youth football in Victoria before making his senior debut with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

in the National Soccer League. He spent one season with Fawkner-Whittlesea Blues in 2005 before joining

Melbourne Victory 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), Victor ...

in 2005 to play in the newly-formed A-League. Lia next spent a decade at

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 ...

, making over 200 appearances for the club in all competitions. He returned to Australia in 2017, signing with

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

. He had a brief spell at Perth Glory in 2020. Lia represented Australia numerous times at youth level, including at the

2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

and

2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

Club career

Melbourne Victory

Lia spent the early stages of his professional career in the NSL at

. He then moved on to

where he spent two years as a fringe player, albeit winning a championship.

Wellington Phoenix

Lia moved to the

in 2007. Lia scored his first ever A-League goal in a 1–1 draw against his former club,

, in the 58th minute on 24 November 2007. Lia missed the entire 2008–09 A-League Season due to a knee injury suffered in pre-season, requiring a full reconstruction. On 20 October 2009, Lia extended his contract with the Wellington Phoenix until the end of 2012.

Adelaide United

After a successful trial, Lia was given a one year deal with Adelaide United for the 2017–18 season. He made his A-League debut for the club on 13 October 2017 in a 2–1 win over

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 ...

. A week later, Lia scored both goals for Adelaide in a 2–2 draw against Melbourne Victory, his former club.

Perth Glory

Following a number of injuries to Perth Glory's defence, the club signed Lia for the remainder of the

2019–20 A-League The 2019–20 A-League, also known as the 2019–20 Hyundai A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 43rd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 15th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced ...

season. Lia was released by Perth Glory at the end of the

Altona Magic

In February 2021, Lia joined Altona Magic.

International career

Lia captained the Australian U-20's at the 2005

FIFA World Youth Championship 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 wh ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;

* A-League Championship: 2006–07 * A-League Premiership: 2006–07 ;

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austral ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

International

; Australia *

OFC U-20 Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, ...

: 2002, 2005

References

External links

Aussie Footballers
Lawrie to Lia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lia, Vince 1985 births Living people People from Shepparton Australian people of Italian descent Australian soccer players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players Melbourne Victory FC players South Melbourne FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Adelaide United FC players Perth Glory FC players Altona Magic SC players Australian people of Chinese descent Association football midfielders