Lefteris "Terry" Antonis (; born 26 November 1993) is an Australian

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

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 ...

for

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 ...

side Uthai Thani. Born in Sydney, Antonis played youth football at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

before making his professional debut for

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, ...

at sixteen years of age. Antonis has played for

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 ...

on three occasions and was a member of the squad which won the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

. He previously represented Australia frequently at youth level, including at the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil national under-20 football team, Brazil w ...

. A versatile player, Antonis can play as a

box-to-box 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. ...

, holding or

attacking 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. ...

, though he is best deployed in deeper roles, where he can create play with his extensive passing range.

Early life

Antonis was born in the suburb of

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown region. Bankstown is the administrative centre ...

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 ...

, and is of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

descent. His brother George Antonis is also a professional soccer player. He first received media attention in Australia at the age of 10 by winning a football talent competition on the Channel 7 television show Today Tonight, which resulted in a trip to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

to make a training skills DVD with

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

Frank Farina Frank Farina Order of Australia, OAM (born 5 September 1964) is an Australian Association football, football (soccer) coach and former player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. His playing career spanned Australia, Belg ...

, former Socceroos coach and judge of the Channel 7 competition said: "His juggling is very good, he pulled out a squash ball and started juggling that and didn't drop it once, he is very impressive." He also obtained a sponsorship from

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

because of his exceptional juggling skills. Former Australian international Alex Tobin described him as "one of the most outstanding young players that I have seen" and "of immense talent without a doubt." He has also been touted as natural successor to Tim Cahill and Brett Holman in the Australian national team. Antonis holds both an Australian and Greek passport.

Early career

Antonis began his football career at St Christopher's Soccer Club in Bankstown before moving to Sydney Olympic and Marconi. Antonis signed a five-year contract with Everton at just 14 years of age, but his contract was terminated due to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's rule prohibiting the overseas transfers of players under the age of 18.

Club career

Sydney FC

On 22 June 2010, Antonis made his debut for Sydney in a friendly game against Macarthur Rams at

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Leumeah, a suburb in South Western Sydney, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. Formerly known as Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, it is currently the home ground ...

. On 5 July 2010, Sydney signed him to a three-year contract. Antonis made his competitive debut for Sydney FC in a 2–1 loss to

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 ...

on 11 September 2010. Antonis scored his first goal for Sydney FC on 16 February 2013 against

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 ...

. After rupturing a muscle in his thigh, Antonis was out for 9 months, which thwarted his move overseas. In February 2014, he scored against

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

in his first game since returning from injury.

Speculation and trials

After signing with Sydney FC, he was linked with possible moves to Everton,

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. Much of the speculation was based on his close personal ties with Everton and Socceroo star

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "hi ...

, further sparked by a 25-minute cameo in a friendly match for Sydney FC against Everton at

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

on 10 July 2010. In February 2012, Antonis reiterated his commitment to Sydney FC and the remainder of his three-year contract, stating that he was more than happy being at the club. In April 2012, Antonis travelled to Germany to trial with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

as a potential replacement for Roman Neustadter. but was not signed. At the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, Antonis was approached by Dutch club

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

for a trial, but signed a four-year deal with Italian Serie A club

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

instead after Parma triggered a release clause in his contract with Sydney. However, the deal never went through and Antonis returned to Sydney FC.

PAOK

The 21-year-old returned to Sydney from preseason camp on the Gold Coast with News Corp reporting a $500,000 bid for the midfielder from

PAOK FC PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...

. Greek sources stated that Antonis spoke at length with former Danish international and Technical Director of PAOK

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the director of football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was sporting directo ...

on the prospects of completing the move to his ancestral country and the planning of PAOK's title aspirations that season. Antonis made his debut for PAOK in the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

match away to Chania on 3 December 2015, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Eyal Golasa. He made his Greek Super League debut on 21 February 2016 away to Panathinaikos as an 84th-minute replacement for

Giannis Mystakidis Giannis Mystakidis (; born 7 December 1994) is a Greek former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger. Career Born in Thessaloniki, Mystakidis started his career in Germany playing for ...

Loan to Veria

After failing to break into the starting team at PAOK, Antonis moved to Greek Super League outfit Veria FC, coached by Georgios Georgiadis, a former

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

favourite as a player. Antonis signed a one-year loan deal with Veria on 31 August 2016. He made his first appearance on 16 October 2016 as an 88th-minute substitute for Sisinio González Martínez in an away match at Atromitos.

Loan to Western Sydney Wanderers

As at PAOK, he struggled to break into a starting position, and was returned to PAOK only to be immediately loaned to

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football, association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South W ...

for the remainder of the 2016–17 A-League season. He made his debut for the Wanderers in an away match against the Brisbane Roar on 28 January 2017 as a 77th minute substitute for Mitch Nichols.

VVV-Venlo

After his short-lived loan spell with the Wanderers, PAOK made it clear to Antonis that he wasn't in their plans. On 8 July 2017, it was announced that Antonis had signed with Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

on a two-year deal.

Melbourne Victory

Released by

on 3 January 2018 without having made a single league appearance for the club, Antonis then signed a 2.5-year contract with

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 ...

of the

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 ...

where he made 40 appearances before moving on yet again, to

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

of the

K-League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League titles, the top conti ...

Return to Western Sydney Wanderers

On 25 July 2021, Antonis signed a three-year deal with the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

. His first season he often alternated between starting and coming off the bench. Following the replacement of coach Carl Robinson with Marko Rudan, Antonis was frozen out by club leadership in an effort to force him to agree to leave the club which would free up salary cap room and his squad position. On 24 May 2023, it was announced that his contract with Western Sydney Wanderers had been terminated effective immediately.

Melbourne City

Antonis joined Melbourne City ahead of the 2023–24 A-League season. He became the first player to play professionally for all four Melbourne and Sydney derby teams, beating Josh Brillante by a matter of days

International career

Antonis was part of the final squad for the

but he did not get any actual game time during the tournament. On 23 December 2015, Antonis was included to Australia U-23 national team manager's

Aurelio Vidmar Aurelio Vidmar ( ; born 3 February 1967) is an Australian association football manager and former player, currently manager of Melbourne City. He is a former captain of the Australia national team and former coach of the Australia U23 nati ...

selections for Olympic Games 2016 qualifiers, which took place in Doha.

Career statistics

Honours

Melbourne Victory * A-League Championship: 2017–18 Suwon Samsung Bluewings *

Korean FA Cup The Korea Cup (), formerly the Korean FA Cup, is a national Association football, football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the competition was established in 1996, two simil ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 ...

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 ...

Australia U-20 * AFC U-20 Asian Cup: runner-up

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonis, Terry Living people 1993 births Australian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian men's soccer players Soccer players from Sydney Australia men's international soccer players Australia men's youth international soccer players Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Men's association football midfielders AFC Asian Cup–winning players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players A-League Men players Super League Greece players K League 1 players Terry Antonis Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Sydney FC players PAOK FC players Veria F.C. players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players VVV-Venlo players Melbourne Victory FC players Suwon Samsung Bluewings players Melbourne City FC players Terry Antonis Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand 21st-century Australian sportsmen