Connor Thomas Pain (born 11 November 1993) is an Australian professional football (soccer) player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Western United. He signed his first professional contract in March 2013 for Melbourne Victory. Pain has made one appearance for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, in 2013 against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Early life

Pain's grandfather Tommy Casey played in

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

's 1955 FA Cup Finalwinning team and for the Northern Ireland team which reached the quarter finals of the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

. His father, Craig Pain, was a rugby union player who played in the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby Tournament between 1987 and 1993 and coached Hong Kong in the 2002 tournament. Pain went to Beaumaris Primary School.

Club career

Melbourne Victory

Pain made his

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

debut for Melbourne Victory in a Melbourne Derby against Melbourne Heart on 2 February 2013. He made his first start for the club a week later, against Central Coast Mariners. In 2013, he was singled out for praise by then- Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers after a friendly match at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

Central Coast Mariners

Pain moved to the Central Coast Mariners in June 2016 in a swap deal for Mitch Austin. Pain made his debut for the Mariners against

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

on 8 October 2016, putting on a man of the match performance in an eventual 3–3 draw. He scored his first goal for the club in a win over Adelaide United one month later with a powerful strike from outside the area.

Western United

On 14 April 2019 Pain signed for new

club, Western United.

International career

Youth

Pain was first called up to the Australian under-20 side for a tour of Europe in May 2013. He made his debut for the Young Socceroos in that tour, starting in a loss to the Netherlands in Emmen. He was subsequently selected in the squad for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

. Pain played in all three of Australia's games in the tournament as they were eliminated in the group stage. Pain was named in the Australia under-23 squad for the

2013 AFC U-22 Championship The 2013 AFC U-22 Championship (also known as the 2013 AFC U-22 Asian Cup) was the first edition of the AFC U-22 Championship. The hosting rights for the tournament was awarded to Oman. It was set to take place between 23 June and 7 July 2013 but ...

. He played his first game for the Olyroos in a group stage win over Iran. In March 2016, Pain scored a double for the team in a win over Hong Kong in

2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament. A ...

. He was later named in the squad for the final tournament.

Senior

Following the

, in July 2013 Pain received his first call up for

for the

2013 EAFF East Asian Cup The 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup was the 5th edition of this regional competition, the football championship of East Asia. Two preliminary competitions were held during 2012. Mongolia were suspended from the EAFF and could not compete in any EAFF co ...

in South Korea. He and Melbourne Victory teammate

Nathan Coe Nathan Coe (born 1 June 1984) is an English–Australian goalkeeper who currently plays for Australian club Bentleigh Greens. Club career The son of former National Soccer League and Australian under 23 goalkeeper Martin Coe, he was educa ...

left the squad midway through the tournament for a club friendly against Liverpool. Nonetheless, Pain returned for the final game of the tournament against

and made his debut as a second-half substitute in a 4–3 loss.

Personal life

Pain is currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce at Deakin University.

Honours

Club

Melbourne Victory: * A-League Championship: 2014–2015 * A-League Premiership: 2014–2015 * FFA Cup:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Western United * A-League Men Championship: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pain, Connor 1993 births Living people Association football forwards Australian soccer players Hong Kong footballers A-League Men players Victorian Premier League players Melbourne Victory FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Western United FC players Australian people of English descent Australian people of Northern Ireland descent Australia international soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players