If you were to rank the greatest defenders in Isuzu UTE A-League history, Alex Wilkinson would be right up there.
Between stints at Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne City and most recently, Sydney FC, Wilkinson’s had one of the great careers as a five-time Premiership and three-time Championship player to go with the myriad of individual accolades that have fallen at his feet.
Wilkinson notched up another milestone in Thursday evening’s Big Blue, becoming one of only five players to make 350 league appearances – joining Andrew Durante, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Leigh Broxham and Liam Reddy.
In fact, he’s one of the few players who have been there almost every step of the way, making his debut in the Mariners’ first ever game back in August 2005 and almost 18 years later – his impact is still being felt on a week-to-week basis when he steps over the white line.
Wilkinson helped Sydney to a come-from-behind road win over old rivals Melbourne Victory on Thursday evening, putting together a solid showing in the heart of defence alongside James Donachie.
The win helped not only breathe some life into Sydney’s stuttering campaign and alleviate some pressure off of head coach Steve Corica, but celebrate the distinguished career of the 38-year-old centre-half – who was unaware of the occasion at hand.
“I didn’t even know it was 350 until you just told me!” Wilkinson told KEEPUP after the game.
It’s been a long one, but an enjoyable one and it seems like a lifetime ago now that the A-League started and I was up at the Mariners but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and still enjoying it.
“That’s I guess, why I’m still playing and I still love the game and still love the competitiveness and hopefully (I can) continue a little bit longer.”
But beating Victory is always that little bit sweeter for Wilkinson and his Sydney team-mates, who exacted some revenge for their round one defeat to Tony Popovic’s side at Allianz Stadium.
Sydney were forced to battle back from a goal down early after Jake Brimmer put the home side into the lead with a wicked free-kick, but goals from Max Burgess and Adam Le Fondre helped complete the fightback.
Wilkinson spoke about the importance of building off the result and going on a “run” in order to get right in the finals mix, as Sydney is still yet to win back-to-back games this season.
“It’s always a big game against these boys,” Wilkinson said.
“We up a great rivalry over the period of the A-League and it’s always a big game and both teams were desperate tonight and really pleased to get the result. To obviously go behind and then show the character we did to equalise and then go ahead in the second half.
It’ll do us a world of good and give us a little bit of confidence and now it’s about going on a run. This league is so tight two or three wins in a row can completely change your position and that’s what we have got to do now.
“We haven’t been consistent enough this year… We’ll play well one game and then we won’t get a result for a couple of weeks and like I said before the table is so tight, you have got to get on a run of consistency and that’s something we’ve got to do better.
“So it’s a huge win for us tonight… real confidence booster and looking forward to next week already.”
It’s been a tough season for Wilkinson who has only featured three times after suffering a pelvic injury in their opening-round loss to Victory. Sydney’s defence has struggled in his absence, conceding 21 of the 23 goals (second worst in the league) with him off the park.
In fact, he’s still yet to play a minute alongside fellow first-choice centre-half Jack Rodwell who has battled injury problems since arriving in the off-season.
When Wilkinson has been on the pitch, Sydney have looked more organised defensively, which was the case on Thursday night. The two goals the Sky Blues have conceded with him on the pitch have only came from set-pieces – none from open play.
Wilkinson spoke about the difficulties of being on the sidelines for over three months but hopes playing his first 90 minutes will put him in good stead going forward.
“It’s been pretty frustrating actually,” Wilkinson said.
“To get injured in the first game after a long pre-season and then have to get an op and watch the boys from the sidelines is not much fun and great to just be back involved with the squad and back on the pitch,
“Obviously, takes a little bit of time for the match fitness to come but tonight will do me the world of good and we’ve got a bit of a longer turnaround now until next Saturday so I’ll enjoy the recovery.”
Corica also paid tribute to Wilkinson, praising his defensive ability along with the way he’s battled back from such a debilitating injury.
“He’s a great professional, fantastic guy and he’s a great leader,” Corica said post-game.
“He’s been around for a long time. I think the last couple of games he’s been back, you’ve seen defensively we look a lot stronger. A couple of worldie goals. Probably the last couple of weeks probably hasn’t helped us, but we’re on the right track defensively, and he’s a big part of that.
“He’s a great communicator as well and yes, it’s a great achievement. 350 games is really amazing and still going very strong… he’s come back well after his injury.
“This is only the second game back he played I think it was… 80 minutes last week and to get 90 minutes this week… we can keep building him stronger and stronger and he’s doing really well.”
