Michael Theo ( Theoklitos) (born 11 February 1981) is an Australian goalkeeper who is the goalkeeping coach at

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

Western United FC Western United Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit, Victoria, Tarneit, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the wester ...

Career

Early career

Theoklitos began his football journey through the junior ranks at now defunct East Richmond Jaguars. His career as a semi-pro began by playing in the

Victorian Premier League The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...

(VPL) for Bulleen Zebras. He was then picked up by

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional Association football, soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, Victoria, Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club currently competes in the National P ...

but failed to make an impact ahead of number 1 Eugene Galekovic. After 5 appearances for Hellas, he was sold to the Football Kingz FC for the 2001–2002 season where he became a fan favourite making 20 appearances in 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 ...

. During his time with the Kingz he was scouted by Blackpool FC who signed him in 2002. Due to injury he only played in three games, only two of which counted as full representation for Blackpool. He returned to Australia where he rejoined Bulleen. While playing for them in the 2004 VPL final, he saved three of four penalties to help Bulleen to victory.

Melbourne Victory

He joined

Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under North American professional sports leag ...

for their inaugural season in the 2005/06 A-League. In the 2006/07 A-League season, Theoklitos kept ten

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

s from 21 games, attracting interest from both the Australia and Greece national associations. He has not made a senior appearance for either country. In the 2008/09 season, Theoklitos was part of Melbourne Victory's grand-final success, keeping five clean sheets at the end of the season. He earned another call-up to the Australian national squad for the match against Kuwait on 5 March 2009, but did not play. In May 2009, Theoklitos declined a contract extension. In July 2009, it was confirmed that he would be leaving Melbourne Victory, with his contract expiring on 30 July. In early July 2009, he signed a two-year contract with English League One side

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 ...

.Aussie Keeper Joins Canaries
, Norwich City F.C., 8 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-08

Norwich City

In the opening match of the season on 8 August 2009, Theoklitos made his debut for Norwich against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

, conceding five goals before half-time and seven in total. He described the match as "the worst performance I've had in my career" to BBC Radio Norfolk. Despite the performance, Theoklitos still had the support of manager Bryan Gunn, a former goalkeeper himself. However, Gunn did not have the support of the Norwich board, and was replaced by Colchester manager Paul Lambert, who had engineered the 7–1 defeat. Under Lambert, Theoklitos was demoted to third-choice goalkeeper. He was recalled to the first-team bench for a

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

match against Gillingham, but according to the club he failed to show up for the match, causing the club to discipline him. Theoklitos denied the claim, saying "It's not that I did not turn up but I was half an hour late" because "I got my wires mixed up". Lambert confirmed in December 2009 that he expected Theoklitos to be leaving the club. Theoklitos' contract was terminated by mutual consent in March 2010. His debut was the only game he played for the Canaries.Micallef, Phillip
Norwich nightmare spurs on Theoklitos
The World Game (SBS). 4 January 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.

Brisbane Roar

On 14 March 2010, Theoklitos signed with the

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 ...

on a three-year deal. He made his debut in round one of the A league season against Gold Coast United, in a 0–0 draw. Theoklitos registered a second clean sheet against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

in round two. Following the 3–0 loss to

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 ...

, Theoklitos had gone 876 minutes without conceding a goal, setting a new record for the most minutes without conceding a goal in an Australian League—beating former recordholder Jeff Olver's record of 790 minutes.Banking, Ally
Roar keeper sets record
Brisbane Times. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2011. Theoklitos won the Goalkeeper of the Year award for the 2010/11 A-League season. Prior to the 2014/15 season, Theo sustained a wrist injury in pre-season training which ruled him out for half of the season. Theo returned after the January Asian Cup break with a 3–2 home win against 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 ...

, despite conceding a foolish goal which was credited to Kenny Cunningham. Theo went on to play 3 more matches that season, keeping a clean sheet against the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

, before injuring his quad muscle. On 27 March 2018, it was announced that Theo's contract with the Roar would not be renewed after the 2017–18 A-League.

Career statistics

''CS = Clean Sheets'' ¹ – includes

final series statistics
² –

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

statistics are included in season ending during group stages (i.e. ACL 2012 and A-League season 2011–12 etc.)

Personal life

Theoklitos was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia and is of Greek ancestry. The Michael Theo Soccer Academy was established in 2010, running annual clinics during the July school holiday period. Theoklitos married Victoria Curtis in April 2011 and separated in 2019. On 1 August 2012 Theoklitos announced that he had changed his name by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

to Michael Theo. He said of the change:

Honours

''Current as at 15 March 2017'' With

: * A-League Championship (2): 2006–2007, 2008–2009 * A-League Premiership (2): 2006–2007, 2008–2009 With

: *

Premiership (2): 2010–2011, 2013–2014 *

Championship (3): 2010–2011, 2011–2012, 2013–2014 Personal honours: *

Goalkeeper of the Year (3): 2006–2007, 2007–2008, 2010–2011 * Most minutes (876) not conceding a goal in an Australian League (With

, 2010–11) * Third Most clean sheets (68) in

history. * A-League All Star:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

Brisbane Roar profile

Michael Theo Soccer Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theo, Michael 1981 births Australian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars English Football League players South Melbourne FC players Blackpool F.C. players Melbourne Victory FC players Brisbane Roar FC players Brunswick Juventus FC players Men's association football goalkeepers Football Kingz FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Norwich City F.C. players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Soccer players from Melbourne Living people Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Association football goalkeeping coaches 21st-century Australian sportsmen