As the 2017/18 Hyundai A-League season draws closer, we continue our search for the best players in Hyundai A-League history.
Today we ask, who is the competition’s greatest ever goalkeeper?
We’ve picked our top five stoppers from the first dozen seasons, but left it to you to tell us who has been the best.
Cast your vote at the bottom of the page!
Who is the Hyundai A-League’s best-ever striker?
Who is the Hyundai A-League’s best-ever midfielder?
Who is the Hyundai A-League’s best-ever defender?
Danny Vukovic
He left the Hyundai A-League having played more games (277) than any other player during stints with the Mariners, Phoenix, Glory, Victory and Sydney FC.
No-one has kept more Hyundai A-League clean sheets than Vuka’s 85 and his performances in the Sky Blues record-breaking 2016/17 campaign were astonishing – he conceded just 13 goals in 29 matches, earning the Goalkeeper of the Year award.
One of the most popular and likeable men in Australian football, his consistency on home soil was rewarded with Caltex Socceroos selection and a move to Belgian side Genk.
Eugene Galekovic
He began his career at Victory, but with his opportunities limited across three seasons there, made the move to Adelaide United.
Over nine years at the Reds, he became a cult hero, playing 227 games and leading the side to a coveted Premiership / Championship double in 2015/16.
A record four-time winner of the Goalkeeper of the Year gong, his off-season move to Melbourne City should see him pass Vukovic as the leading goalkeeping appearance-maker in Hyundai A-League history.
Michael Theo
He spent four seasons at Melbourne Victory, twice winning the Goalkeeper of the Year award before a move to Brisbane Roar, where he’s remained ever since, racking up 226 all-time Hyundai A-League appearances.
He’s kept 68 clean sheets in his career at the rate of around one every three games and his distribution in Brisbane’s famous possession-based system was key to their success.
Here’s the kicker though; Theo has played in five Grand Finals – two for Victory and three for Brisbane – and won every single one.
Ante Covic
Across eight Hyundai A-League campaigns, he represented Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory, Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory, starting 184 games and still playing after he’d turned 40.
His greatest season though was 2012/13 when as the last line of defence in Western Sydney’s inaugural season he was sublime, winning the Goalkeeper of the Year award.
His athleticism, sharp reflexes and penalty area management have always been the hallmarks of this top-class goalkeeper.
Clint Bolton
The former Caltex Socceroos custodian was the first ever recipient of the Goalkeeper of the Year award as Sydney FC claimed the inaugural Hyundai A-League Championship.
He had five excellent seasons with the Sky Blues before a move to Melbourne Heart where he had a further three years before hanging up his gloves.
Across 179 Hyundai A-League games Bolton was a commanding presence between the sticks, giving huge confidence to the defences playing in front of him.
