Jade Bronson North (born 7 January 1982) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played 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 ...

right 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 ...

. He was a member of the Australian national team, and is co-chair of Football Australia's inaugural

National Indigenous Advisory Group Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

Early life

Jade Bronson North was born in

Taree Taree () is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. It and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then it has grown to a population of 26,381, and commands a significant agricultural district. Situ ...

, of

Biripi The Birrbay people, also spelt Birpai, Biripi, Birippi and variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. They share a dialect continuum with the Worimi people. Language The Gathang language (aka Gadjang or Worimi) ...

descent. He lived in New Zealand until the age of 11, then moved back to Australia, taking up residence in the suburb of Sunnybank in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, with his brother Brook North and parents. He attended Sunnybank High School until he was offered a place with the AIS in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

at the age of 15.

Club career

North joined the

Brisbane Strikers Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season. Brisbane Strikers ...

as one of the youngest players to join the

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 ...

and then later moving to the

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

He was named as the captain of the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

for the

2007–08 A-League The 2007–08 A-League was the 31st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the third season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Football Federation Australia hoped to build on the success of the previous two seas ...

season following the departure of

Paul Okon Paul Michael Okon (born 5 April 1972) is a former Australian soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. He previously captained the Australia national team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer ...

. On 9 June 2008, Australian newspapers suggested that North was due to sign with Belgian club,

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

, or with

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

club Mika F.C. However any rumours of offers proved to purely speculative, with North admitting no concrete offers had materialised. On 3 November 2008, he was announced as the inaugural

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from th ...

marquee player for the

2009–10 A-League The 2009–10 A-League was the 33rd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fifth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. The season marked the addition of two new teams from Queensland. Gold Coast United F ...

season, however, after a week of rumours surrounding North's future, on 12 December 2008 it was publicised that

would be releasing him from contract as he signed with South Korean

K-League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League titles, the top conti ...

club

Incheon United Incheon United FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the ...

on a rumoured $2 million contract. North trialled with Swedish side Trelleborg but on 26 February 2010, Norwegian side

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag () is a Norwegian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Tromsø. They play their home games at the Romssa Arena which has a seating capacity of 6,801. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Despi ...

signed the Australian defender from Incheon United. He spent four months in Norway before joining

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

on 30 July 2010 on a one-year deal. On 2 April 2011, he moved from Wellington to Japanese second-tier club

FC Tokyo , commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. From 2025, FC Tokyo is one of the few J.League clubs to be simply called ''Footb ...

. On 8 January 2013, he signed a three-and-a-half-year deal to play with

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

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 ...

, leaving after five years in April 2018. On 15 May 2019, North signed for National Premier League Victoria 2 side Murray United for the remainder of the season. On 7 January 2023, North's 41st birthday, Brisbane Strikers announced a return to the club for the upcoming Football Queensland Premier League season.

International career

North's breakthrough came when he played every game of Australia's runner's up side at the

1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eighth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, and Dunedin in New Zealand from 10 to 27 November 1999. Players born after 1 January 1982 could participate in ...

where his country lost the final to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on penalties. He was also a member of Australia's quarter-final effort at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, five years later. In 2008, prior to the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Qualifier against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, North became the first ever Aboriginal Socceroos captain for the 0–0 Draw with

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 ...

. He participated in the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China.

Other roles

In 2017, North launched a non-for-profit soccer program called "Kickin' With A Cuz" which was designed to reach young boys and girls through soccer, with a vision to create sustainable pathways and outcomes for kids to make better life choices. In November 2021 North was appointed as co-chair of the inaugural

of Football Australia. The group aims at supporting and increasing Indigenous participation in the game.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Newcastle Jets *

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

: 2007–08 Perth Glory * NSL Championship: 2003–04 Sydney Olympic * NSL Championship: 2001–02 Brisbane Roar *

Premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

: 2013–14 Australia *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

: runner-up

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

; runner-up

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Australia U-20 *

OFC U-19 Men's Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, t ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Australia U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

: runner-up

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Individual * A-League All Stars: 2014 * NAIDOC Sportsperson of the Year: 2016

References

External links

Oz Football profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Jade 1982 births Living people Indigenous Australian soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Men's association football central defenders Brisbane Strikers FC players Sydney Olympic FC players Perth Glory FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Incheon United FC players Tromsø IL players FC Tokyo players Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo players Brisbane Roar FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars K League 1 players J1 League players J2 League players Olympic soccer players for Australia Sportspeople from Taree Eliteserien players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Indigenous Australian Olympians 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian men's soccer players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Marquee players (A-League Men) Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Australian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Sportsmen from New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales Brisbane Strikers managers Eastern Suburbs FC players 21st-century Australian sportsmen