Nicolas Clive Ansell (born 2 February 1994) 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

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 ...

for

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima (, ) is the capital of Nakhon Ratchasima province, the largest city in Isan, Northeastern Thailand and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, third-largest city in Thailand. It is 250 km (1 ...

Thai League 1 The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

Early and personal life

Ansell was born on 2 February 1994 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 ...

to Warren and Andree Ansell. His mother was a former

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

. Raised in

Doncaster East, Victoria Doncaster East is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 20 km east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham Local government areas of Victoria, local ...

Ansell grew up in an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

family. He piqued interest in both Aussie rules and

growing up, playing until he was 12 when he decided to focus on soccer after receiving too many injuries from football. He began playing soccer with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Box Hill United Box Hill United Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football (soccer) club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill. The club currently competes in the Victoria Premier Leagues 2. United is based at Wembley Park in Box Hill Sou ...

, and Bulleen Lions before joining the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

(VIS). Despite choosing soccer, Ansell claimed in an interview to have excelled in football, winning numerous awards including the best-and-fairest league award. Ansell attended

Carey Baptist Grammar School Carey Baptist Grammar School, commonly known as Carey, is an private school, independent, co-educational, Baptists, Baptist day school in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The school has five campuses: Kew, Victoria, Kew (ELC to Year ...

where he played

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

and football. He is close friends with

Jack Viney Jack Viney (born 13 April 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Viney is capable of contributing as both an inside ...

, Kristian Jaksch, Jason Ashby,

Nathan Hrovat Nathan Hrovat (born 7 June 1994) is a former Australian rules footballer who most recently played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the North Melbourne Football Club. He previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2013 to 2016. He ...

and Jackson Macrae, all of whom became professional football players. Ansell is married to Nadene Ansell, whom he tied the knot with in July 2022. The couple was engaged in November 2020. Their wedding was located in

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

where over 150 guests were present. Numerous professional soccer players also attended the ceremony, including former football player and close friend Kristian Jaksch. Outside of soccer, Ansell studied

property development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to oth ...

and real estate at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

Club career

Ansell spent several years in the

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 ...

youth squad before a breakout 2012–13 season, which saw him rewarded with a senior

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 ...

contract. Considered an upcoming future star, he made an immediate impact as a commanding

, playing a key role in Melbourne Victory's 2014/15 Premiership-Championship double. Ansell left the Victory on 12 May 2017. In June 2017, Ansell signed with Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side

Tondela Tondela () is a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, central Portugal, Portuguese subregion of Dão-Lafões. The population in 2011 was 28,946, in an area of 371.22 km2. History Local writer and intellectual Amadeu Ferraz de Carv ...

. In July 2018, Ansell returned to Melbourne to re-join Melbourne Victory. On 31 January 2019, Ansell departed the Victory a second time, joining

K League 2 The K League 2 () is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with K League 1. History In 2011, the or ...

team

Jeonnam Dragons The Jeonnam Dragons () are a South Korean professional football club based in the city of Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. The Dragons play their home matches at the G ...

In October 2020, Ansell returned to Melbourne Victory for a third time. He was released on 11 June 2021. In July 2021, Ansell joined

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 ...

for the 2021–22 A-League season. In May 2024, he was released from Adelaide United after his contract expired.

Career statistics

Honours

;

* A-League Championship: 2014–15 * A-League Premiership: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansell, Nicolas Living people 1994 births Australian men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Australia men's youth international soccer players A-League Men players Victorian Premier League players Melbourne Victory FC players Bentleigh Greens SC players C.D. Tondela players Jeonnam Dragons players Adelaide United FC players K League 2 players Nick Ansell Nick Ansell Australian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Australian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand People educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School Soccer players from Melbourne 21st-century Australian sportsmen