Jonathan "Jon" McKain (born 21 September 1982) is a Scottish Australian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who retired from professional football in 2016 after a long and successful career. He played in countries including Romania, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia and was a fan favourite for his whole hearted displays and football abilities. After professional retirement, he played for the Rochedale Rovers in FQPL. He is generally a defender but can also play as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He was a forceful ball playing centre back or midfielder who was recognised for his work rate and discipline

Club career

McKain was educated at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in ...

, and he joined

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

club FC Politehnica in the summer of 2005, from fellow

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

FC Naţional București FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

. He had enjoyable success in Romanian and was very well regarded throughout the league by players, coaches, media and fans. He was approached to seek his interest to play for Romania National team after his first season but his heart was always with Australia. He has also played for the Brisbane Strikers in Australia prior to his time in Romania McKain signed for the

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 ...

for the 2008–2009 A-League season and became a pivotal part of the sides most recognisable period. Despite several injuries McKain maintained excellent form when fit which spark several offers from other A-League clubs and overseas interest. On 14 June 2010, McKain signed a one-year renewable contract for Al-Nassr to be added to

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently club manager at Serie C club Siracusa. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best ...

squad. A

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.5 million transfer fee was paid. After his successful stint in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

with Saudi Arabia club Al-Nassr, McKain returned to Australia, and signed an undisclosed contract with

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 August 2011, McKain was named as Adelaide United's captain ahead of the 2011–12 A-League season after impressing in pre-season friendlies and coaching staff. and played for the club for 3 seasons. In October 2014, McKain signed for

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

club

Kelantan FA Kelantan Football Club () was a Malaysian professional football club based in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Founded in 1946, the club had a long-standing rivalry with Terengganu. The two east coast clubs were involved in the East Coast Derby. Their ...

. He quickly impressed the fans with a goal he scored during a match with

LionsXII LionsXII ("Lions Twelve"), also known as Singapore LionsXII, was a Singaporean youth football club founded in 2011 that played in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football, from their inaugural season until their dissolutio ...

that ended up in 2–0 win in their homeground stadium and went on to play for 2 successful seasons for the Red Warriors Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium,

Kota Bharu Kota Bharu ( Kelantanese: ''Koto Baghu''), colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mout ...

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

in 2015 McKain announce his retirement from professional football on his Twitter account in 2016, after a 17-year career. He continued to play semi-professional football in Brisbane for Souths United in the FQPL and then for two seasons for Rochedale Rovers before finishing playing in 2019.

International career

McKain has represented

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 three appearances at the 2005 Confederations Cup in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He also represented Australia at the

2004 Olympics 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 ...

and the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar

Career statistics

National team statistics

Honours

Kelantan FA *

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup () is an annual association football, football competition in Malaysia, established in 1990. It was previously managed by the Football Association of Malaysia, before being transferred to the Football Malaysia LLP, Malaysian ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

(runner up) 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 ...

References

External links

Adelaide United profile
*

at Aussie Footballers {{DEFAULTSORT:McKain, Jonathan 1982 births Living people Soccer players from Brisbane Australian men's soccer players Adelaide United FC players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian people of Scottish descent Olympic soccer players for Australia Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Australia men's international soccer players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Brisbane Strikers FC players FC Progresul București players FC Politehnica Timișoara players A-League Men players Wellington Phoenix FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Australian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Liga I players Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand National Soccer League (Australia) players Al-Nassr FC players Kelantan F.C. players People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School Men's association football defenders Saudi Pro League players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 21st-century Australian sportsmen