Perth Glory have confirmed former Socceroo and Hull City winger Richard Garcia has signed a two-year contract with the club.
Perth Glory have confirmed former Socceroo and Hull City winger Richard Garcia has signed a two-year contract with the club.
Garcia, who was born in Perth, has never previously played for his home-town club, having left Australia at the age of 15 to join West Ham, but will finally pull on the club’s purple shirt in the upcoming Hyundai A-League season.
The Glory confirmed the deal on Tuesday, with Garcia having spent the past two seasons at fellow A-League outfits Melbourne Heart and Sydney FC, scoring 12 goals in 47 matches.
“Richard has shown he is the ultimate professional throughout his career,” Perth coach Kenny Lowe said.
“To have played at the highest level for so long takes hard work and dedication and I’m sure he will be a strong influence in the change rooms as well as on the field.”
Garcia claimed the other players Lowe has lured to Perth – including Youssouf Hersi, Mitch Nichols and Andy Keogh – had inspired him to join the Glory.
“I’ve been really impressed with the recruiting strategy of Kenny Lowe and feel that the squad he has assembled has a real chance of achieving success this season,” Garcia said.
“It will be fantastic to pull on the purple shirt of Perth Glory and represent my hometown club. I can’t wait for the season to start.”
The 32-year-old attacker played 16 Premier League matches for West Ham after coming up through the London club’s academy and, following a stint with Colchester United, made another 41 appearances in England’s top flight with Hull.
Garcia represented Australia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Hull player to appear at on world football’s biggest stage, starting his country’s first match against Germany and coming off the bench versus Serbia.
Since the end of the 2013-14 A-League season, Garcia has been on a short-term contract with NASL club Minnesota United, although he only played two games.
Full name: Richard Garcia
Place of Birth: Perth, Western Australia
Height: 1.80m
Weight: 72kg
Position: Winger/Striker
Previous clubs:
West Ham United
Leyton Orient
Colchester United
Melbourne Heart FC
Sydney FC
Minnesota United FC
Australian National Team:
U23 (2 appearances)
Socceroos (18 appearances 2 goals)
Current Hyundai A-League Contracted Squad for Season 2014/15:
Richard Garcia, Andy Keogh, Dino Djulbic, Ruben Zadkovich, Youssouf Hersi, Mitch Nichols, Diogo Ferreira, Daniel De Silva, Jack Clisby, Brandon O’Neill, Danny Vukovic, Rostyn Griffiths, Michael Thwaite, Cameron Edwards, Nebojsa Marinkovich, Jamie Maclaren, Sidnei Sciola Moreas, Chris Harold, Josh Risdon, Scott Jamieson, Matthew Davies, Riley Woodcock, Harry O’Brien, Jack Duncan, Jordan Thurtell.
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