Adrian Leijer (born 25 March 1986) is an Australian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Leijer played on one occasion for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and made over 100 appearances for

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

Club career

Early years

Leijer was born, and largely grew up in, the New South Wales town of

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

to a family of Dutch and English heritage. He played from Under 10 - Under 14 with SASS Strikers Junior Soccer Club in the Dubbo & District Soccer Association. Whilst with SASS, he represented Western New South Wales and New South Wales Country in football. In 1998, Leijer was a co-captain of Orana Heights Public School in Dubbo. When Leijer was 15 years old his family moved south to Jan Juc on Victoria's surf coast and attended Belmont High School where he joined Geelong SC and represented the U-15's Victorian Country team. Ian Greener, then Head of Coaching & Development at the Victorian Soccer Federation, spotted his talent and recommended him to the head coach of the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

Football program,

Ernie Merrick Ernest Merrick Order of Australia, OAM (born 15 January 1953) is a Scottish-Australian coach, who last managed A-League soccer club Newcastle Jets FC, Newcastle Jets. He was released on 6 January 2020. He was the former head coach of the Hong Ko ...

. Leijer spent two years at the

and then moved on to the

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

for the last season of the now defunct

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

, where he made 18 appearances during a season where the club finished second last in the competition. While still training at the VIS, Leijer and his future teammate Kristian Sarkies were selected to trial with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Everton Football Club for three weeks. However, they both failed to impress and returned home to Australia.

Melbourne Victory

Upon his return to Australia, he was signed by

, a team in the new

competition. His former VIS coach

, who had taken the reins at Melbourne Victory, stated; "Adrian is a reliable and uncompromising defender with a football maturity beyond his years. He is already part of the senior leadership group within the club and is the second youngest player in the squad," The club's first season was reminiscent of Leijer's time at the Melbourne Knights as Melbourne Victory finished second last overall. Leijer, however, played 20 games for the club, only missing their final game against the New Zealand Knights through suspension. At the end of the season he was awarded the Players' Player of the Year and Clubman of the Year awards. Melbourne Victory's second season was more successful, starting with seven straight wins and culminating in a 6–0 victory over

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

in the Grand Final. At the A-League's end of season awards, Leijer won Young Player of the Year.

Fulham

On 2 August 2007, Melbourne Victory confirmed that English

club

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

had made a bid for the then 21-year-old. Leijer accepted and signed a 3-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Leijer consistently played for the Fulham reserve team throughout the 2007–2008 season and was also included in the squads to face both

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, but stayed on the bench both times. Following Adrian's return to Fulham after an unsuccessful Olympic campaign with the Australian U/23's team, Leijer returned without having played any games in the Olympic tournament. Whilst tipped by Fulham reserve coach Billy McKinlay to make a greater impact in the first team that season, Adrian missed most of the club's pre-season due to the Olympic tournament and only made the bench once, in a League Cup defeat to Burnley.

Norwich

On 2 February 2009, it was announced that Leijer has moved on loan to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

until the end of the 2008–09 season, becoming Norwich City's 40th loan signing since they were relegated in their 2004–2005 season. This loan spell was mostly unsuccessful for Leijer, since it did not result in him seeing a great deal of first team action.

Melbourne Victory

It was announced that Leijer would return again to Australia during their 2009-10 season, after being re-signed by his former

for three years. Melbourne had suffered shallow defensive stocks with numerous key players unavailable prior to the announcement. After a promising start, slotting straight back in to the side hours after landing, former captain

Kevin Muscat Kevin Vincent Muscat (born 7 August 1973) is an Australian former association football player and he is the currently head coach of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port. As a player, he played as a defender, and represented the Australia n ...

commented on his potential to be a key figure in the club. In February 2011, Adrian Leijer was appointed the captain of Melbourne Victory. Leijer was formerly the captain of Melbourne Victory from February 2011 to September 2013. On 17 September 2013, Leijer was replaced by Mark Milligan as Melbourne Victory's captain.

Chongqing Lifan

On 25 February 2015, Leijer transferred to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side

Chongqing Lifan Chongqing Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the Central People's Government, along with Beijing, Shanghai ...

Suwon FC

On 2 February 2016, Leijer transferred to

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

side

Suwon FC Suwon FC (; Hanja: 水原 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Suwon, that competes in the K League 1, the South Korea's top professional league. They play their home games at Suwon Stadium. History Early years: semi-profes ...

. Leijer retired from football in January 2019 to take up a position with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

Dandenong City SC

During the 2019 mid season transfer window Adrian signed with

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league syst ...

side

Dandenong City SC Dandenong City Soccer Club, commonly as Dandenong City Hajduk and formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian soccer club based in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria. The club's home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the s ...

and made his first appearance at the round 14 clash against Avondale FC.

International career

Adrian Leijer's first taste of the senior international scene was when he was selected by

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

to train with the Socceroos before the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

in Germany. After his short training stint with the senior team he continued being selected for Young Socceroos squads. He had previously been a regular member of the Australia national under-23 football team, the Olyroos. Leijer earned his first cap for the senior Australian national team against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 22 March 2008.

Career statistics

Honours

Championship: 2006–07 *

Premiership: 2006–07 * A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup Championship:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Individual * A-League Young Footballer of the Year: 2006–07 *

Players Player of the Year: 2005–06 *

Clubman of the Year: 2005–06

References

External links

* * * * *
Melbourne Victory profile

FFA - Olyroo profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leijer, Adrian 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Dubbo Men's association football fullbacks Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Melbourne Knights FC players Melbourne Victory FC players Fulham F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players Suwon FC players Australian people of Dutch descent Australian people of English descent Australia men's international soccer players A-League Men players K League 1 players K League 2 players Chinese Super League players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for Australia Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea National Soccer League (Australia) players Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Sportsmen from New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales English Football League players 21st-century Australian sportsmen