Adam Mitchell (footballer, born 1996)

Adam Thomas Mitchell (born 1 June 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for ISPS Handa Premiership club Auckland City.[3] Born in Croatia, he plays for the New Zealand national team.

Adam Mitchell
Personal information
Full name Adam Thomas Mitchell[1]
Date of birth (1996-06-01) 1 June 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Vrgorac, Croatia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
Auckland City
Number 3
Youth career
Waitakere City
2013 Central United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Wanderers SC 24 (2)
2015–2016 WaiBOP United 10 (0)
2016 Red Star Belgrade 0 (0)
2016OFK Beograd (loan) 8 (0)
2017 Celje 0 (0)
2017–2018 Bolton Wanderers 0 (0)
2019 Team Wellington 3 (0)
2019– Auckland City 56 (3)
International career
2013 New Zealand U17 8 (0)
2014–2015 New Zealand U20 5 (0)
2018– New Zealand 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 August 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 February 2019

Club career edit

Born in Vrgorac, Croatia, to a New Zealand father and Bosnian Croat mother, thus having both New Zealand and Croatian citizenship.[4] He grew up in Hobsonville in West Auckland, and began playing for Waitakere City before later moving to Central United (2013[5]), starting as a midfielder before becoming a centre back. He was also a member of Wynton Rufer's Wynrs academy as a youngster.[4]

Mitchell played three seasons in the New Zealand Football Championship, two seasons with Wanderers SC and one with WaiBOP United.[6] Mitchell captained the Wanderers SC team that was formed to give the under-20s regular game time in the NZFC.[4] He was also team-captain at WaiBOP United.[7]

In summer 2016, he moved abroad, to Europe, where after trials, he signed a contract with Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade. He signed on 25 May 2016, a 1+2 years contract with Red Star.[8] Due to his young age, in order to increase his chances to play, at final days of the Serbian 2016 summer transfer-window, he was loaned to OFK Beograd.[9] He debuted with OFK in the 2016–17 Serbian First League on 10 September, in a home game against Inđija, a 1–0 win.[6]

On 13 February 2017, he moved to Slovenian side NK Celje.[10]

In the 2017–18 season he was a regular in the U23 squad of the Football League Championship side Bolton Wanderers. Following his release at the end of the season and a period training with Walsall and Swedish club Kalmar FF, on 12 February 2019 Mitchell signed with New Zealand club Team Wellington until the end of the season.[11][12]

International career edit

Mitchell represented New Zealand at U-17 and U-20 levels.[6] He was part of the squad that won the 2013 OFC U-17 Championship,[6] and was part of New Zealand's squad for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[4]

Mitchell was called up to the New Zealand national team twice in 2015 under Anthony Hudson as an injury replacement.[4] He made his debut under Fritz Schmid on 24 March 2018 in a friendly game against Canada.

Career statistics edit

Club edit

As of 20 November 2016[6]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wanderers SC 2013–14 Premiership 12 1 12 1
2014–15 12 1 12 1
Total 24 2 24 2
WaiBOP United 2015–16 Premiership 10 0 10 0
OFK Beograd (loan) 2016–17 First League 8 0 0 0 8 0
Red Star Belgrade 2016–17 SuperLiga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 42 2 0 0 0 0 42 2

Honours edit

New Zealand U-17

References edit

  1. ^ "Mitchell, Adam Thomas". srbijafudbal.com (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Adam Mitchell". Auckland City FC. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Navy Blues homecoming for Adam Mitchell". Auckland City FC. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e Adam Mitchell living his dream after joining Serbian club Red Star Belgrade at stuff.co.nz, 1 June 2016, Retrieved 25 October 2016
  5. ^ Adam Mitchell at Worldfootball
  6. ^ a b c d e f Adam Mitchell at Soccerway
  7. ^ NZ teen Mitchell signs with Serbian giants Archived 25 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine at msn.com, Retrieved 25 October 2016
  8. ^ Mičel potpisao za Zvezdu, došao bez obeštećenja, uskoro dobija hrvatski pasoš ("Mitchell signed with Red Star, came as free-agent, soon will obtain Croatian citizenship") at Sportski žurnal, 25 May 2016, Retrieved 25 October 2016 (in Serbian)
  9. ^ Adam Mičel na dvojnoj registraciji u OFK Beogradu ("Adam Mitchell on double-registration at OFK Belgrade") at mozzartsport.com, 7 September 2016, Retrieved 25 October 2016 (in Serbian)
  10. ^ Uredništvo (13 February 2017). "V Celju paket treh tujcev" [Three new foreign players in Celje] (in Slovenian). Nogomania.com. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Beslut taget gällande provspelare" [Decision made regarding test players] (in Swedish). 29 January 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  12. ^ @TeamWelly (12 February 2019). "TEAM NEWS" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links edit