John Filan

John Filan

Personal information
Full name	John Richard Filan
Date of birth	8 February 1970 (1970-02-08)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Sydney FC (Manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989–1991	St. George Saints	52	(0)
1991–1992	Wollongong Wolves	23	(0)
1992	St. George Saints	0	(0)
1992–1993	Wollongong Wolves	6	(0)
1993–1995	Cambridge United	68	(0)
1995	→ Nottingham Forest (loan)	0	(0)
1995–1997	Coventry City	16	(0)
1997–2001	Blackburn Rovers	64	(0)
2001–2007	Wigan Athletic	184	(0)
2006	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	3	(0)
2008	Sydney FC	0	(0)
–	Total	416	(0)
National team‡
1991–1997	Australia	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 03:19, 31 August 2007 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 03:19, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

John Richard Filan (born 8 February 1970 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) manager and former player. Filan played as a goalkeeper and is best known for his six-year spell at English club Wigan Athletic. He currently manages Sydney FC.

Club career

He played for St. George Saints and Wollongong Wolves in the old National Soccer League in Australia before moving to England to join Cambridge United in 1993, after an unsuccessful trial at Southampton. In 1995 he signed for Coventry City, then moved on to Blackburn Rovers in 1997.

He joined Wigan Athletic in December 2001 for £600,000. Prior to the start of Wigan's debut season in the Premier League he had missed only one match for the club but was injured at the start of the 2005–06 season with Wigan's new signing Mike Pollitt taking his place in the side. Filan, however signed a new contract which kept him at the club until 2007. Seeing out his contract with Wigan, he was released at the end of the season. Whilst at Wigan he appeared as a substitute in the 2006 Football League Cup Final when Pollitt had to come off early in the first half with an injury.

Filan returned to Australia in semi-retirement, resettling in his home town of Sydney. In August 2007 agreed terms with A-League side Sydney FC as backup to Clint Bolton, however the deal fell through citing outside issues.

Filan is currently employed with Sydney as their Goalkeeper Coach and briefly came out of retirement to provide goalkeeping cover during the 2008 season.

International career

Filan was a member of the Australian team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

As he has an Irish passport through his ancestry, he once sought to play international football for Ireland. However, FIFA ruled against it in February 1999 because he had played for the Australian Olympic team.

Honours

Blackburn Rovers

Runner-up: 2000–01

Wigan Athletic

Champion: 2002–03 Runner-up: 2004–05 Runner-up: 2006

External links

• Sydney FC profile
• John Filan career stats at Soccerbase