John Kosmina
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander John Kosmina | ||
| Date of birth | 17 August 1956 | ||
| Place of birth | Adelaide, Australia | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1973 | Adelaide Polonia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1973–1976 | Adelaide Polonia | ||
| 1977 | West Adelaide SC | 23 | (12) |
| 1978 | Adelaide City | 4 | (0) |
| 1979 | Arsenal | 1 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | West Adelaide SC | 44 | (12) |
| 1981–1986 | Sydney City | 150 | (89) |
| 1987–1988 | Sydney Olympic | 44 | (13) |
| 1989 | APIA Leichhardt | 24 | (6) |
| 1990 | Sutherland Sharks | ||
| National team‡ | |||
| 1976–1988 | Australia | 60 | (25[1]) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1994–1995 | Warringah Dolphins | ||
| 1995–1998 | Newcastle Breakers | ||
| 1999–2003 | Brisbane Strikers | ||
| 2003–2007 | Adelaide United | ||
| 2007–2009 | Sydney FC | ||
| 2010–2011 | Adelaide Raiders | ||
| 2011 | Croydon Kings | ||
| 2011– | Adelaide United (Caretaker) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 August 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alexander John Kosmina (born 17 August 1956), known as John Kosmina, is a former Australian football (soccer) player and manager. He is currently the caretaker coach at Adelaide United. He is a member of the Football Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame.
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[edit] Biography
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[edit] Club career
Kosmina is of Polish Australian ethnicity. He played for Polonia and then West Adelaide, before signing for English side Arsenal in February 1978. However, he only played one first-team league game for the Gunners (as a substitute against Leeds United on 19 August 1978), along with 3 appearances (2 as a substitute) in that season's UEFA cup. He returned to Australia in May 1979.
On his return, he went on to become one of the National Soccer League's most prolific scorers, with stints at Adelaide City, West Adelaide (for a second time), Sydney City, Sydney Olympic and A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers before retiring in 1989. The most successful of these was with Sydney City, being part of their 1981 and 1982 championship winning teams, as well as being the league's top scorer in 1982.
[edit] Managerial career
After retiring, he began coaching the Warringah Dolphins in the New South Wales state leagues, before coaching NSL side Newcastle Breakers, followed by a stint at the Brisbane Strikers. Both stints were largely unsuccessful, his sides reaching the finals only once.
[edit] Adelaide United
In 2003 he became the inaugural coach of Adelaide United. Kosmina coached United to an impressive 3rd in the final season of the NSL. Maintaining his job for the inaugural season of the Hyundai A-League, Kosmina led his side to the Minor Premiership but a poor finals series saw them finish 3rd overall. The next season saw mixed results for Kosmina and Adelaide United.
Finishing 2nd on the table behind Melbourne Victory, Adelaide managed to reach the grand final, only to be thrashed 6-0. Kosmina's criticism of the refereeing of that match, coupled with the devastating loss and a touchline ban earlier during the season for a scuffle with Victory captain Kevin Muscat, saw him forced to resign by the Adelaide board.[2]
He was then appointed by Socceroos coach Graham Arnold as his assistant for the 2007 Asian Cup.
[edit] Sydney FC
After the sacking of Branko Culina by the Sydney Football Club Board, Kosmina was confirmed on 24 October 2007 as the new Sydney FC coach.[3] Since signing with Sydney FC Kosmina made an immediate impact; winning his first game with Sydney 3-2 against rivals Central Coast Mariners at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Sydney FC beat the LA Galaxy 5-3 at Sydney's Telstra Stadium in a friendly, and also won a thrilling 5-4 victory against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium. Following Sydney FC's poor run in the 2008/2009 season (missing the finals for the first time), John Kosmina had his contract terminated in late January 2009.[4]
[edit] Recently
He occasionally appears on Fox Sports as a commentator and football analyst. Kosmina co-hosts a weekly Internet television show about football on Australia Live TV with Ross Aloisi, Two Up Front [5] and the episodes are on AustraliaLiveTV.com.
He was announced the manager of the Adelaide Raiders, a semi-professional club playing in the FFSA Super League.[6] On 1 September 2011, it was announced he had signed as senior coach of FFSA Super League club Croydon Kings after more than 35 years away from the club.[7] It was announced on 18 December 2011 that Croydon Kings had agreed to released Kosmina from his coaching contract so he could accept the Adelaide United manager position.[8]
[edit] Return to Adelaide United
On 18 December 2011 he signed as caretaker coach with Adelaide United for the remainder of the 2011-12 A-League season.[9]
[edit] Honours
[edit] Player
With Sydney City:
NSL Championship: 1981, 1982- NSL Cup: 1986
Personal Honours:
- FFA Hall of Champions Inductee - 1999
- NSL Top Scorer: 1982 with Sydney City - 23 goals
- NSL Papasavas Medal (U-21): 1977
[edit] Manager
With Adelaide United:
Kosmina Street in the Sydney suburb of Glenwood is named for him.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ The Australian National Men's Football Team: Caps and Captains
- ^ David Davutovic (2007-02-22). "Kosmina sacked". Daily Telegraph (Australia). http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21268552-5001023,00.html. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ^ "Sydney FC unveil Kosmina". 24 October 2007. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22640768-5000940,00.html.
- ^ "Kosmina parts ways with Sydney FC". ABC Online. 2009-01-31. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/31/2479144.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ^ "Two Up Front". AustraliaLiveTV.com. http://www.australialivetv.com.
- ^ Kosmina, Aloisi now SA coaches
- ^ http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/soccer/kossies-back-to-where-it-started/story-e6frectc-1226127968772 Kossie's back to where it started
- ^ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/adelaideunited/news-display/Kosmina-takes-over-as-Reds-Coach/43705
- ^ http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1086001/Adelaide-replaces-Coolen-with-Kosmina
- ^ O'Maley, Christine (2010-01-20). "Park is a goner". Blacktown Advocate (Cumberland Newspapers): pp. 14. "...streets are named after well known football identities..."
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Inaugural Recipient |
NSL U21 Player of the Year 1977 |
Succeeded by Ian Souness |
| Preceded by Gary Cole |
NSL Golden Boot 1982 |
Succeeded by Doug Brown |
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- 1956 births
- Living people
- People from Adelaide
- Australian people of Polish descent
- Australian soccer players
- Australian expatriate soccer players
- Australia international soccer players
- Olympic soccer players of Australia
- Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Australian soccer coaches
- Football Hall of Fame (Australia) inductees
- West Adelaide SC players
- Arsenal F.C. players
- Sydney Olympic players
- Adelaide United
- Sydney F.C. managers
- National Soccer League (Australia) players
- Sutherland Sharks FC players
