Paul Michael Okon (born 5 April 1972) is a former Australian
soccer player who played as a
defender or
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
.
He previously
captained the
Australia national team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
in Barcelona. Okon's career began at
Marconi Stallions in the old
NSL in Australia. He then went on to play at many European clubs including
Lazio
Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
and
Fiorentina in Italy's
Serie A,
Vicenza in
Serie B,
Middlesbrough and
Leeds United in the English
Premiership,
Club Brugge,
Oostende in Belgium's
Jupiler League and
APOEL in the
Cypriot First Division
The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...
. Okon was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2009, for his services to football in Australia. During his time in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, Okon acquired citizenship of the country.
Club career
Okon grew up in a Sydney suburb of
Bossley Park. He is of
German and
Italian descent. He represented his high school,
Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield during his time as a teenage schoolboy and featured prominently in all teams including the A Grade squad. However, his abilities did not stop at the football pitch. He set the record for high jump at the college's annual athletics carnival in the under 16s age group which was not broken until 2004.
Okon left
Marconi Stallions in 1991 for
Club Brugge, and due to a series of excellent performances at sweeper won the Belgian Golden Shoe (95/96), the Belgian Jupiler league (95/96) and two Belgian Cups (94/95 and 95/96). These performances captured the attention of some of Europe's biggest clubs, and in 1996
Dino Zoff – then coach of Italian giants
Lazio
Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
– flew out to Belgium to personally sign the Australian, stipulating in his contract that Okon would play sweeper and promising first team football. However, with the departure of
Roberto Di Matteo to
Chelsea – forcing him to play in midfield – and a succession of knee injuries (a problem caused by a misaligned pelvis, the result of a childhood car-crash) resulted in game-time being limited. While he did return for the 1999 Scudetto decider (playing in one of the final games of the season against
Juventus, which Lazio lost, handing the title to
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
), that summer he departed the Roman club.
This began a turbulent chapter of Okon's career, with spells at
Fiorentina,
Middlesbrough,
Leeds United and
Vicenza before returning to the country where he made his name with Oostende in 2004. After a brief spell with
APOEL in Cyprus, Okon returned to Australia.
He signed with
A-League club
Newcastle United Jets for the
2006–07 season. Okon fit into a well-constructed Jets side and helped then make the play-offs in 2007. Due to injury concerns, Okon decided to retire from professional football in June 2007. Okon played for amateur team West Ryde Rovers' over-35 Division 1 team in the GHFA.
Managerial career
On 24 June 2008, along with
Alex Tobin,
Alistair Edwards and
Nicola Williams, Okon was a recipient of an inaugural three-year scholarship under the Elite Coaching Development Program led by the
FFA. As part of the program, Okon spent time at
Coverciano with the
Italian U-23 side under
Pierluigi Casiraghi in the lead up to the
2008 Olympic Games, and spent a stint studying the youth setup of
PSV Eindhoven.
On 2 September 2008, Okon was appointed assistant coach to
Miron Bleiberg at
Gold Coast United for their inaugural season. Before taking up his new role he took up an interim coaching role at
APIA Leichhardt for their 2009
NSW Premier League season.
On 30 October 2008, Okon was appointed to lead the Australian U-18 side at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in the month of January, aimed as part of a long-term view towards establishing the team for the
2012 Olympic Games.
On 23 February 2010, Okon did not renew his contract with Gold Coast United, following the team's loss in the first round of the A-league finals. Since then, he has gone away on tour with the Australian Olympic under-23 squad for a tournament in Vietnam, where he was assistant coach to Aurelio Vidmar.
On 19 April 2012, it was announced he was appointed head coach of the
Australia U20 national team and assistant coach of the
Australia Olympic soccer team.
On 29 August 2016, Okon was appointed the new manager of the
Central Coast Mariners, signing a two-year contract. Okon replaced
Tony Walmsley who was sacked following Central Coast's
FFA Cup elimination at the hands of
National Premier Leagues Victoria team
Green Gully.
In Okon's debut as Central Coast manager, the Mariners drew 3–3 with
Perth Glory at
Nib Stadium, after coming back from 3-0 down at half time. Okon achieved his first win as Central Coast manager in his fifth game in charge: a 2–1 win over defending champions
Adelaide United at
Hindmarsh Stadium on 6 November 2016.
On 20 March 2018, with the Mariners being at the bottom of the A-League, it was announced that Okon had resigned from his position as manager of the
Central Coast Mariners.
On 30 September 2024,
Football Australia announced that Okon would replace
René Meulensteen as the assistant manager of the
Socceroos.
Personal life
Okon's son,
Paul Junior, is also a footballer, and currently plays in the academy of Portuguese side
Benfica.
Career statistics
Managerial statistics
Honours
Club Brugge
*
Belgian Supercup: 1991, 1992, 1994
*
Belgian Pro League:
1995–96
*
Belgian Cup: 1994–95,
1995–96
Lazio
*
Coppa Italia:
1997–98
*
Supercoppa Italiana:
1998
*
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
1998–99
APOEL
*
Cypriot Cup: 2005–06
Australia
*
FIFA Confederations Cup: 3rd place,
2001
*
OFC Nations Cup:
2000
Australia U20
*
OFC U-20 Championship:
1990
Individual
*
NSL Papasavas Medal (U-21): 1989–1990, 1990–1991
*
Belgian Golden Shoe:
1995–1996
*
Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1996
* The Best Golden Shoe Team (2011)
References
External links
Oz Football profile*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okon, Paul
1972 births
Living people
People educated at Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield
Sportsmen from New South Wales
Australian people of German descent
Men's association football defenders
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football utility players
Australian expatriate men's soccer players
Australian expatriate sportspeople in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
Australia men's international soccer players
Australia men's under-20 international soccer players
Olympic soccer players for Australia
A-League Men players
Premier League players
Serie A players
Serie B players
ACF Fiorentina players
APOEL FC players
Club Brugge KV players
K.V. Oostende players
Leeds United F.C. players
Marconi Stallions FC players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Newcastle Jets FC players
SS Lazio players
LR Vicenza players
Watford F.C. players
Belgian Pro League players
Challenger Pro League players
National Soccer League (Australia) players
Cypriot First Division players
Naturalised citizens of Belgium
Belgian people of Australian descent
Belgian people of German descent
Soccer players from Sydney
Central Coast Mariners FC non-playing staff
Marquee players (A-League Men)
Australian men's soccer players
Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
2000 OFC Nations Cup players
OFC Nations Cup–winning players
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Australian people of Italian descent
Sportspeople of Italian descent
Central Coast Mariners FC managers