Australia: Premier League Nations
Continuing our alphabetical world tour, next up is Australia. Arguably England’s fiercest rivals in sports like Rugby and Cricket, there is much less animosity between the footballing nations. According to the Premier League website an impressive 48 Australians have played in the Premier League over the years, starting with…
First Player – Mark Bosnich (Aston Villa, Chelsea, Manchester United; 1992-2002)
Perhaps remembered for the wrong reasons, goalkeeper Mark Bosnich’s career is very much a tale of two decades. In the 90s, he racked up 178 Premier League appearances for Villa and earned a return to Manchester United, who he briefly played for between 1988 and 1991.
But with the turn of the millennium came a complete career collapse. He would last only two seasons at Old Trafford, making no appearances in the second, before a move to Chelsea that was intended to resurrect his career.
That it did not. Injury issues limited Bosnich to five appearances in his first 21 months at Stamford Bridge, before he failed a drugs test and was sacked. He would never play in England again, but turned his life around after addiction to briefly resume his career back in Australia.
Most Appearances: Mark Schwarzer – 514 (Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea, Leicester; 1997, 1998-2016)
A stalwart of the Premier League for the best part of two decades, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made a mammoth 514 top-flight appearances for Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea and Leicester.
Schwarzer joined Middlesbrough during 1996/97 but was unable to help Boro avoid relegation. They bounced back immediately however and Schwarzer remained in the Premier League for the rest of his career.
He played in two UEFA Cup/Europa League finals with Middlesbrough and Fulham, losing both. While at Chelsea and Leicester, both clubs won the League title, though Schwarzer had not made enough appearances to receive a medal on either occasion.
Top scorer: Mark Viduka – 92 (Leeds, Middlesbrough, Newcastle; 2000-09)
A regular source of goals during his time in England, Mark Viduka joined Leeds in 2000 after a lethal spell in Scotland with Celtic.
He was a key part of the Leeds side that reached the Champions League semi-finals in his first campaign, but also suffered relegation with the Whites three years later.
After further spells with Middlesbrough and Newcastle (including another European adventure with Boro), Viduka retired in 2009 with 92 Premier League goals to his name.
Current Players
Brighton regulars Aaron Mooy and Mat Ryan are the only Australians to have appeared in the Premier League in 2019/20 so far.
Trivia
- Two Australians have won the Premier League – Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater.
- Mark Viduka’s 92 Premier League goals put him joint 34th in the all-time scoring list.
- Mark Schwarzer was with two different Premier League title-winning teams in consecutive seasons (Chelsea 2014/15, Leicester City 2015/16) but made no league appearances in either campaign.