Mitchell Gregory Reginald Austin (born 3 April 1991) is an Australian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a winger and is currently a free agent. Born in England to an Australian father, Austin began his senior career at Stalybridge Celtic in 2010. Three years later, he joined

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

and, after loans to Lincoln City, Brackley Town and

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

in 2014, Austin moved to Australian side Central Coast Mariners in 2015. He remained in Australia for four more years, playing at Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets and

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 2019 Austin moved to Scotland, playing one year for Partick Thistle.

Early life

Mitch Austin was born in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

on 3 April 1991. He has a twin sister named Brittany. His father is the Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

, and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer Greg Austin. He left England at the age of eight when his father retired from playing professional rugby and moved the family back to Australia.

Club career

Youth football

Austin was a Manly United junior in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. He was spotted by the scouts of Rotherham United in 2009 whilst on a tour of the UK with Manly United and was offered a scholarship with the youth academy.

Stalybridge Celtic

In 2010, he joined Conference North team Stalybridge Celtic.

Cambridge United

After making 71 league appearances, in 2013, he joined Conference team

. In 2014, he was loaned to Lincoln City to get more first team opportunities. But Cambridge soon recalled Austin, and declined Lincoln’s request for an extension to the loan. Though weeks later he signed for Brackley Town again on loan. On 31 January 2014, his loan was extended till March. On 13 September 2014, he made his professional debut for Cambridge United against Dagenham and Redbridge. In May 2015, Cambridge United announced, that Austin was one out of 12 players, who would leave the club in the summer 2015 expressing his wish to return to Australia.

Central Coast Mariners

On 1 June 2015, Central Coast Mariners announced that they had signed Austin to a two-year contract. After making 23 appearances in the first year of his contract, Austin asked to terminate his second year and was released by Central Coast Mariners.

Melbourne Victory

On 17 June 2016, Melbourne Victory confirmed the signing of Austin as a straight swap for winger Connor Pain. He made an outstanding start to his Victory career, earning Man of the Match honours in the club's pre-season friendly win over Juventus at the MCG. Austin suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in training in November 2017, ruling him out for several months. On 1 February 2018, Austin was selected to represent Melbourne Victory in the E-League's inaugural season, alongside Mouad Zwed, becoming one of a handful of professional football players to compete in e-sports as well.

Partick Thistle

Austin signed with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club Partick Thistle in July 2019 on a one-year deal. Austin chose kit number 77 for the 2019–20 season. On 11 January 2020, Austin made his first team debut after suffering an injury in July 2019. Austin only made two appearances for Partick Thistle before the season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Austin left Thistle in March 2020 during the pandemic to return home to his family in Australia. Since his departure from Thistle, Austin has been in a state of free agency for more than five years due to an injury necessitating two cartilage transplants, during which time he has awaited suitable donors for the surgical procedures. In May 2025, Austin played a friendly match for Huddersfield Town as a trialist, in the hope of returning to professional football.

Career statistics

Honours

Cambridge United * FA Trophy: 2013–14

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Mitch 1991 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportsmen A-League Men players Men's association football wingers Australian men's soccer players Brackley Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Central Coast Mariners FC players English Football League players Lincoln City F.C. players Melbourne Victory FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Sydney FC players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Footballers from Rochdale English emigrants to Australia Australian YouTubers Australian TikTokers