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Gareth Naven

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Gareth Naven
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-03-03) 3 March 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Wigan, England
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Bayswater City SC
Youth career
1985 Bayswater Inter
1986 AIS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1989 Adelaide City 11 (0)
1994 Perth Kangaroos 10 (0)
1995 Sarawak FA
1996–2002 Perth Glory 143 (6)
2003 Perth SC
International career
1985 Australia U17
Managerial career
2008–2013 Perth Glory Youth
2013–2014 Perth Glory (assistant)
2015–2016 Perth SC
2016–2020 Melbourne Victory Youth
2020– Bayswater City SC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gareth Naven (born 3 March 1969[1]) is an Australian football coach and former player. He is currently the development officer at Football West and coach of Bayswater City SC in the NPL.

Playing career

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Naven was born in 1969 in the English town of Wigan before his family moved to Perth, Western Australia.

He was a junior with Gosnells but made his initial impact with Bayswater Inter in 1985. In the same year, he and his twin brother Craig were selected in the Australia Under-16 national team that reached the quarter-finals of the World Under-16 championship in China.

In 1986 he received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport. In 1987, Naven was a member of the Schoolboy Australia team that toured New Zealand.

While still a teenager, Naven moved to South Australia to begin his senior footballing career. He played 11 times for Adelaide City in the National Soccer League and locally for Birkalla.

He then returned to Western Australia and played with Perth Italia, winning four State league championships. He also made 20 appearances for WA and was the 1992 Gold Medal winner.

After having a spell with Malaysian side Sarawak, he captained the Perth Kangaroos team that became champions of the Singapore League in 1994. That year, he was named West Australian Player of the Year.

Naven was the inaugural captain of Perth Glory when they entered the NSL in 1996. Over the course of six years, his determined and tough-tackling style of play established himself as one of the club's truly iconic figures, making more than 140 NSL appearances and taking out the Most Glorious Player Award in 2000.

Although Naven led the Glory to their first NSL Minor Premiership in 2000, the team suffered defeat in the 2000 NSL Grand Final to Wollongong Wolves. His next (and last) chance to become an NSL champion was as an unused substitute in their 2002 Grand Final loss to Olympic Sharks. He announced his retirement from the NSL shortly after.

Naven spent his final year as a player with a return to Perth Italia (at that point, they had changed their name to Perth Soccer Club). By the time he hung up his boots for good, Naven collected seven League medals with Perth as well as a Cup winners' medal.

In 2004, Naven received the very first Perth Glory Life Membership. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2008, along with his brother Craig. In 2014, Naven was honoured in an NPL match between Perth SC and Perth Glory, in what was called the "Gareth Naven Cup".

Managerial career

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Perth Glory

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After concluding his playing career, Naven moved into coaching with Perth SC and had roles at various under-age State teams (and a stint with Cockburn City as the Director of Coaching) before returning to the Perth Glory in 2008 to coach the youth team.[2][3][4]

In February 2013, he was promoted to the senior coaching staff at Glory, as assistant to new coach and former Glory teammate, Alistair Edwards.[5] On 17 June 2014, he was axed from Perth Glory, along with Scott Miller, after a review of the coaching structure.[6]

Perth SC

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In September 2015, Naven was appointed as head coach of Perth SC.[7][8]

Melbourne Victory

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On 30 May 2016, Naven was appointed as a coach for Melbourne Victory's NYL/NPL squads with Perth SC's blessing.[9][10] He was at Melbourne for 3+1⁄2 seasons.

Bayswater City

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In early 2020 Naven returned to Perth[11] as the newly appointed Youth Development Officer with Football West. In October that same year, president Oriani Colli announced that Naven would be Chris Coyne's replacement as head coach of Bayswater City.

References

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  1. ^ "Australian Player Database - NA". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  2. ^ Ormond, Aidan (17 November 2008). "Naven's New Era". Four Four Two. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  3. ^ "FIFA Player Statistics - Gareth Naven". FIFA. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  4. ^ "Aussie Footballers - Gareth Naven". OzFootball. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Miller signs as Glory go back to the future". thewest.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Perth Glory axe Scott Miller and Gareth Naven". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2014.
  7. ^ "Perth SC League Coach 2016". Perth SC. 16 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Naven takes over at Perth SC". Fox Sports. 17 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Statement re: Gareth Naven". Perth SC. 23 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Victory appoints Gareth Naven as NPL/NYL Head Coach". Melbourne Victory. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Gareth Naven returns to Perth". Melbourne Victory FC. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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