Brendon James Santalab (; born 9 September 1982) is an Australian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a striker for Victorian State League Division 1 side FC Strathmore.

Club career

Santalab originally started out as an apprentice at Parramatta Power before moving to Sydney United under the tutelage of Branko Culina. At the end of the 2003–04 National Soccer League season, he moved to K.V. Oostende in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

. After a brief stint, he moved to another Belgian First Division club, Sint-Truidense V.V. before moving to Hungary for a six-month period with Újpest FC. On 23 June 2007, Santalab was signed by

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

on a two-year contract, thus reuniting him with Branko Culina. Santalab made 23 appearances for Sydney FC between 2007 and 2009, scoring four goals. During a game against Adelaide United, Santalab scored a goal from outside the box, that curled into the top corner – a goal that was later ruled the 2007–08 season A-League goal of the year. He scored another goal against Adelaide in the 2008–09 season at the Sydney Football Stadium, when he took a shot from 35 metres out, that slammed into the top corner. Sydney won the match 3–0. His fourth goal came during Sydney's 2–1 upset loss against Perth Glory. On 14 November 2008, it was announced that Santalab had signed a two-year contract with then-new

side the North Queensland Fury for the 2009–10 season. It was announced by North Queensland, that Chinese Super League club Chengdu Blades may make an offer to him, before the start of the season. North Queensland accepted an offer from Chengdu on 21 July. He scored 9 goals during his 12 appearances with the Chengdu Blades. Brendon Santalab -11

In 2012, Santalab signed with Chongqing Lifan for one season before signing with the

Western Sydney Wanderers. Santalab scored his first goal for Western Sydney Wanderers in the 7th round of the 2013–14 A-League season, losing to Brisbane Roar 3–1 at

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

. On 14 May 2014, in the Asian Champions League game against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

with 5 minutes to go, Santalab scored the equalising goal that sent Western Sydney Wanderers into the quarter finals of the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

. In the 16th round of the 2014–15 A-League season during a home game at

Penrith Stadium Penrith Stadium, currently known as BlueBet Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. The 22,500 capacity venue is the home ground for the Penrith Panthe ...

against Wellington Phoenix, Santalab scored the second goal in a 2–0 win for his first of the season. During Santalab's five seasons with the Western Sydney Wanderers he was awarded the Western Sydney Wanderers Player of the Year in the 2016/17 and received two of the Club's Golden Boot Awards in 2015/16 and 2016/17. He is also the Western Sydney Wanderers highest goal scorer of all time. In June 2018, Santalab signed a one-year deal with Perth Glory, reuniting with former coach and mentor, Tony Popovic. Santalab won the minor premiership with the Glory, but missed a penalty in the shoot-out in the 2019 A-League Grand Final and subsequently lost the final. In May 2019, Santalab signed for semi-professional side Dandenong City who compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. When he joined City, they were in 13th place. Santalab ended the season with 8 goals in 13 games, propelling the club to 7th place. In September 2019, Caroline Springs George Cross FC announced that Santalab would be joining the club for the 2020 season, also appointing him as the "Commercial & Football Sales Manager".

Honours

Western Sydney Wanderers *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Perth Glory *

Premiership: 2018–19 Individual * Western Sydney Wanderers Golden Boot Winner: 2015–16 * Western Sydney Wanderers Player of the Year: 2016–17 * Western Sydney Wanderers Golden Boot Winner: 2016–17

References

External links

Brendon Santalab's Official WebsiteBrendon Santalab writes on PlayersVoice
at Aussie Footballers {{DEFAULTSORT:Santalab, Brendon Living people 1982 births Soccer players from Wollongong Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Australian men's soccer players Australian people of Croatian descent A-League Men players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Australian expatriate men's soccer players National Soccer League (Australia) players Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Belgian Pro League players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Northern Fury FC players Parramatta Power SC players Sydney FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Újpest FC players Perth Glory FC players Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. players Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in China Geylang International FC players Singapore Premier League players Chinese Super League players China League One players Caroline Springs George Cross FC players AFC Champions League Elite–winning players 21st-century Australian sportsmen