Griffin McMaster (born 2 June 1983) is an Australian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for FC Bulleen Lions in the National Premier Leagues Victoria.

Griffin McMaster
Personal information
Full name Griffin McMaster
Date of birth (1983-06-02) 2 June 1983 (age 40)
Place of birth Gold Coast, Australia
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Fitzroy City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001 Palm Beach Sharks 12 (0)
2002 Surfers Paradise 25 (0)
2003–2004 Queensland Lions 15 (0)
2005–2006 Brisbane City 33 (0)
2007 Mt Gravatt 16 (0)
2007–2010 Brisbane Roar 16 (0)
2010 Oakleigh Cannons 16 (0)
2010 Wellington Phoenix 0 (0)
2011 Heidelberg United 19 (0)
2012 Moreland Zebras 19 (0)
2012 Bentleigh Greens 4 (0)
2012–2013Wellington Phoenix (loan) 0 (0)
2013 Oakleigh Cannons 18 (0)
2014–2015 Heidelberg United 25 (0)
2016 FC Bulleen Lions 25 (0)
2017 Northcote City 21 (0)
2019 Altona City 7 (0)
2019 Northcote City 13 (0)
2020–2021 Altona Magic 6 (0)
2021– Fitzroy City 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 September 2021

Club career edit

McMaster started playing for the Palm Beach Sharks and Surfers Paradise before moving to the Queensland Lions. In 2005, the A-League was formed and Queensland Roar (now Brisbane Roar) were given a license to be a part of the new 8-team competition. McMaster trained with the club under then coach Miron Bleiberg and played in the Brisbane state league for Brisbane City and Mt Gravatt. In July 2007, McMaster signed as a replacement for injured goalkeeper Matt Ham under new coach Frank Farina. He was understudy to Liam Reddy.[1] [citation needed]

Following an injury (broken thumb) to keeper Liam Reddy, McMaster made his A-League debut on 5 January 2008 against Melbourne Victory and was named man of the match.[citation needed] McMaster played another man of the match performance in that season in a finals game against Sydney FC. He was replaced by Reddy for the following match, however he re-signed for two more seasons.

McMaster received limited game time under coach Farina before the sacking of Farina in October 2009. Ange Postecoglou was appointed the new coach and Reddy succumbed to another injury. McMaster played 12 games under Postecoglou before he was released by Brisbane Roar in March 2010 and joined Victorian Premier League club Oakleigh Cannons.[2][3] In August 2010, McMaster was signed by Wellington Phoenix on an injury replacement deal for injured goalkeeper Reece Crowther.[4]

McMaster signed for Heidelberg United to play in the 2011 season and won Victorian Premier League keeper of the year.[5]

Towards the end of the 2011 Victorian Premier League season, McMaster was trialing with Melbourne Heart. He fractured his tibia in round 19 of the Victorian Premier League against Northcote City and was sidelined for 10 months.

In March 2012, McMaster signed with sport marketing company Upper90 Sports[6] for 2 years. He also made a successful recovery from his broken leg for Moreland Zebras against South Melbourne in the Victorian Premier League. He left Moreland Zebras at the end of round 19 to join Bentleigh Greens for the remainder of the season.

On 30 November 2012, McMaster joined the Wellington Phoenix for a second injury replacement stint this time as cover for Glen Moss.[7]

In 2014, McMaster made a return to Heidelberg United in the inaugural NPL season in Victoria. He has been making consistent appearances under coach George Katsakis. He has made a number of occasions on SEN radio on the football segment with Mark Fine.[citation needed]

In February 2016, it was confirmed that McMaster had left the Bergers to join the newly promoted FC Bulleen Lions.[8]

Adam Goodes Twitter Incident edit

On 29 July 2015, McMaster attracted negative attention and criticism following a series of racist tweets which were directed at indigenous Australian AFL player Adam Goodes. In McMaster's tweets, he criticised Goodes' view of Australia Day as "Invasion Day" (a term used by some Indigenous figures and their supporters to refer to 26 January), attacked Goodes for "not celebrating Australia Day", and called for the Aboriginal Australian to be "deported" from Australia.[9] He soon deleted the tweets, in the face of significant controversy and criticism, followed by an apology.[9]

McMaster was subsequently omitted from a FFA Cup game on the evening of 29 July. The following statement was made by Football Federation Australia (FFA), as reported by ABC news: "Football Federation Australia (FFA) applauds Heidelberg United Football Club for standing goalkeeper Griffin McMaster down from tonight's FFA Cup match following a series of offensive tweets this afternoon".[10]

A-League statistics edit

Club Season League1 Cup International2 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brisbane Roar 2006–07 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2007–08 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
2008–09 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
2009–10 12 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Wellington Phoenix 2010–11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2012–13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 20 0 20 0

1 - includes A-League final series statistics
2 - includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. ACL and A-League seasons etc.)

References edit

  1. ^ "McMaster Steps Up for Roar". The World Game. SBS. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. ^ McMaster given nod as Roar lead ladder
  3. ^ McMaster handed Roar debut
  4. ^ "McMaster rises again". SBS The World Game. 18 August 2010. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  5. ^ "McMaster surprise poll leader". NZ Football News. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  6. ^ "Upper90 Sports signs our 2nd player from Australia, Griffin McMaster". u90sports. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Phoenix have another barrier to jump". NZ Herald. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  8. ^ "McMaster becomes Bulleen's first major signing". MFootball. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  9. ^ a b Liam Mannix (30 July 2015). "Griffin McMaster calls for Adam Goodes to be 'deported'". theage.com.au. The Age. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Griffin McMaster stood down from Heidelberg United's FFA Cup clash after calling for Adam Goodes to be deported". ABC News. ABC. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.

External links edit