Welcome to A-Leagues Alumni: A weekly piece that keeps you up to date with the best stories from our products flying the flag abroad. The acronyms of the A-Leagues club(s) each player has represented are in brackets after their name.
Aussies taking over north London after Matilda joins growing contingent
This season’s North London Derby between Tottenham and Arsenal in the Women’s Super League (WSL) will have an added layer to it, with Australians taking over the fixture following the arrival of CommBank Matildas star Hayley Raso (CBR, BRI, MVC) at Tottenham Hotspur.
After leaving Spanish giants Real Madrid, former Manchester City winger Raso has returned to the WSL to team up with fellow Australia international teammates Charli Grant (ADL) and Clare Hunt (WSW). On the men’s side, Ange Postecoglou (BRI, MVC) is head coach and Mile Jedinak (CCM) is part of his coaching staff.
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At Arsenal, Steph Catley (MVC, MCY), Caitlin Foord (CCM, SYD, PER) and Kyra Cooney-Cross (MVC, WSW) all play for the Gunners, while Aaron D’Antino (MVC) is the assistant coach.
The first North London Derby of the WSL season is scheduled for November 18 (AEST).
“I’m absolutely delighted to be here,” Raso said via the club’s official media. “Coming into the facilities, meeting the staff, everything is just expectational.
“I have met a few of the girls already and they are so sweet, I’m looking forward to getting started.
“The WSL is such a competitive league and you saw that with all the games and teams so, for me to come back here was an easy choice, I wanted to be back in this league and at this level – and Spurs was the team I chose to do that with.
“I had a chat with Robert [Vilahamn] and he grave such a good impression and good vibes of the team and then I spoke to ‘Charli’ [Grant] who has been here a while about what she thought of the club and how things have gone.
“For me, after that chat, it was a pretty easy decision to want to come here.”
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Hunt made the move from French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain this off-season, joining fellow A-Leagues graduate Grant at Spurs.
“Having the Aussie girls here is bit of an extra comfort, coming in and already knowing them, I think, it will make my settling in process a little easier,” added Raso, who won the 2021-22 FA Women’s League Cup with City.
Over at Arsenal, Cooney-Cross scored her first goal for the club in their 3-0 pre-season victory over Southampton.
It was a sensation long-range strike from the A-Leagues graduate ahead of the upcoming UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifier against Rangers.
Foord played 45 minutes for Arsenal, while Catley was absent due to injury.
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Vine opens her NWSL account with ‘world-class finish’!
Cortnee Vine (BRI, NEW, WSW, SYD) is up and running in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
On Monday (AEST), the Sydney FC great scored her first goal for North Caroline Courage and it was an unforgettable strike on her home debut.
In the NWSL’s first dose of ‘Vine Time’, the CommBank Matildas star – who left Sydney after winning back-to-back Liberty A-League titles – curled the ball into the back of the net as the Courage edged KC Current 2-1.
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“Haley did a great job of holding up the ball and playing it to me. In the box, everyone is desperate to block a goal, so you have a bit more time than you think,” said Vine, with Charlotte McLean (SYD) an unused substitute.
“Honestly, I feel like in the moment, what you practice in training takes over.”
“It was amazing to get my debut here at home,” she continued.
“It was a bit different to make my debut on the away trip, but having the crowd here and the community around us, hearing the drums and cheering every time we got the ball and went forward really helped. It is a fortress for a reason.”
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Courage head coach Sean Nahas added: “I thought it was a great little finish from Cort.
“It is tough to come back after half-time for a player like Cort because she is a sprinter. You could see her legs were a little bit dead, but I thought her performance overall was dynamic.
“It was a world-class finish and that is why she is with us. A lot for her to build off.”
Elsewhere in NWSL, Emily van Egmond (NEW, CBR, WSW, MCY) played the entire game as San Diego Wave drew 1-1 with Washington Spirit.
Mackenzie Arnold (PER, CBR, WSW, BRI) started in goals for Portland Timbers, who lost 3-1 to Bay FC.
At the Perth International Football Cup, Mary Fowler (ADL) and Alanna Kennedy (SYD, NEW, WSW, PER, MCY) both started as Manchester City lost the pre-season cup final 1-0 to Paris Saint-Germain.
Courtney Nevin (WSW, MVC) came off the bench for Leicester City, who won the third-place play-off 5-2 against West Ham, who were without Katrina Gorry (MVC, ADL, BRI).
A-Leagues Championship winner returns to Scotland
Nectar Triantis (WSW, CCM) has secured another loan move to Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.
Triantis spent the second half of last season on loan at Hibs from EFL Championship side Sunderland, reuniting with former Central Coast Mariners boss Nick Montgomery (CCM), who is now part of Postecoglou’s coaching staff along with Sergio Raimundo (CCM).
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“Nectar is someone we identified early on in the transfer window, and we’ve been working hard to get this deal done,” said Hibernian director of football Malky Mackay as the club also signed former Perth Glory youngster Jack Iredale (PER).
“After spending six months here last season, Nectar has a full understanding of the club and knows the standard of the league, which will help him to hit the ground running.
“We felt it important to add another good professional to an evolving group in the dressing room, and we are delighted to welcome him back.”
Head coach David Gray added: “I’m delighted to bring Nectar back to the club. He’s someone I really enjoyed working with last season and he’s another great character to add to the dressing room.
“Nectar is someone I see as a defensive midfielder who has also played a lot at centre-back, which naturally gives him a strong defensive mindset and discipline to dominate the middle of the pitch. I look forward to working with him once again.”
The 21-year-old Australian defender completed a deadline day return to Hibs on Friday and after one training session, he started as a defensive midfielder in the 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock.
Lewis Miller (CCM) also started for Hibs.
“It was very good (to be back playing for them). Results haven’t been going our way and unfortunate at times, but the fans have always been good to us.” Triantis said.
“Today there were 1,200 singing and chanting all game, which gave us that extra lift.”
Elsewhere in Scotland’s top flight, Josh Nisbet (CCM) started Ross County’s 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen.
After four rounds, Ross County are winless with two points.
Hearts only have one point from four fixtures following their 1-0 loss against Dundee United.
Cam Devlin (SYD, WEL, NEW) came off the bench, while Kye Rowles (BRI, CCM) was an unused substitute.
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Elsewhere abroad…
It was a difficult week for Peter Cklamovski (PER, ADL, MVC) and FC Tokyo in Japan’s J1 League.
A typhoon hit Japan during the week. FC Tokyo travelled early for their matchup against Sanfrecce Hiroshima fixture but it all went downhill from there, according to reports.
The team were stuck on a bullet train for 10 hours. It didn’t move – no food and limited water, with train lines closed. Up until 1am, FC Tokyo were still stranded but were finally allowed to walk off the train and went to a hotel 5km away.
In the middle of nowhere, the team couldn’t travel to Hiroshima the following day as airport, trains and roads were all closed.
FC Tokyo were apparently told by the league they had to travel on matchday and play on the same day (Saturday). No training session either on MD-1. So, they had a two-hour flight to Yamaguchi and a three-hour bus trip to Hiroshima before playing.
FC Tokyo ended up losing 3-2 following a hat-trick from former Melbourne City star Tolgay Arslan (MCY).
After leaving City at the end of 2023-24, Arslan has now scored five goals in five J1 League matches for red-hot Sanfrecce, who are now top of the table.
Mitch Duke (CCM, WSW) came off the bench for Machida Zelvia in their 2-2 draw with Urawa Reds. Machida are adrift of Sanfrecce on goal difference.
Joe Gauci (ADL) was on the bench for Aston Villa in their 2-1 Premier League win over Leicester City, while fellow Subway Socceroos goalkeeper Mat Ryan (CCM) watched from the bench as Roma drew 0-0 with Juventus in Serie A.
Alessandro Circati (PER) and Parma came within a whisker of making it three games without defeat to begin the Serie A season after a last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Napoli.
Parma led 1-0 heading into the 92nd minute before Napoli scored two quick-fire goals to outlast the 10-man visitors.
In Denmark, Mohamed Toure (ADL) and Paul Izzo (ADL, CCM, MVC) both started as Randers beat AaB 1-0. John Iredale (SYD) started for AaB.
Gianni Stensness (CCM, WEL) played another full game for Viking FK in their 2-2 draw with Tromso in the Norwegian Eliteserien.
Max Balard (CCM) and NAC Breda were swept side 4-0 by Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie.
In the Turkish Super Lig, Michael Valkanis (ADL, MCY) and his Adana Demirspor lost 5-1 to defending champions Galatasaray.
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Over in the German Bundesliga, Jackson Irvine (MVC) and Connor Metcalfe (MCY) both played full matches as St Pauli suffered a second straight loss after going down 1-0 a Union Berlin.
In the Belgian Pro League, captain Aiden O’Neill (CCM, BRI, MCY) saw his Standard Liege lost 2-0 to OH Leuven.
Sammy Silvera (CCM, NEW) and Kusini Yengi (ADL, WSW) were both in action for Portsmouth in their 3-1 loss to Championship leaders Sunderland.
