John Kosmina

Kosmina's father was from Poland and came to Australia after World War II. Kosmina's family lived in Port Adelaide, in a heavily Polish community. Kosmina was pushed into football by his father who worked in football. Kosmina is of Polish Australian ethnicity. He played for Polonia and then West Adelaide. The move offended some people in the community but Kosmina had wanted to play at a higher level. He then played for the English club, Arsenal in February 1978. However, he only played one first-team league game for the Gunners (as a substitute against Leeds United on 19 August 1978), along with 3 appearances (2 as a substitute) in that season's UEFA cup. He was the first Australian to play for Arsenal. He returned to Australia in May 1979 as he said he was feeling homesick and felt like a novelty. On his return, he went on to become one of the National Soccer League's most prolific scorers, with stints at Adelaide City, West Adelaide (for a second time), Sydney City, Sydney Olympic and A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers before retiring in 1989. The most successful of these was with Sydney City, being part of their 1981 and 1982 championship winning teams, as well as being the league's top scorer in 1982. Kosmina was captain of the Australian national football team, and helped the team win the Merlion Cup twice. He cited Peter Wilson as a player who had influenced his work as a captain. During the 1985 season, CR Vasco da Gama toured Australia, playing against various teams in a…

After retiring, he began coaching the Warringah Dolphins in the New South Wales state leagues, before coaching NSL side Newcastle Breakers, followed by a stint at the Brisbane Strikers. Both stints were largely unsuccessful, his sides reaching the finals only once.

Adelaide United

In 2003, he became the inaugural coach of Adelaide United. Kosmina coached United to an impressive 3rd in the final season of the NSL. Maintaining his job for the inaugural season of the A-League, Kosmina led his side to the Minor Premiership but a poor finals series saw them finish 3rd overall. The next season saw mixed results for Kosmina and Adelaide United. Finishing 2nd on the table behind Melbourne Victory, Adelaide managed to reach the grand final, only to be thrashed 6–0. Kosmina's criticism of the refereeing of that match, coupled with the devastating loss and a touchline ban earlier during the season for a scuffle with Victory captain Kevin Muscat, saw him forced to resign by the Adelaide board. Kosmina said that he felt that Muscat had thrown an elbow at him and said he had "lost it". He was then appointed by Socceroos coach Graham Arnold as his assistant for the 2007 Asian Cup.

Sydney FC

After the sacking of Branko Culina by the Sydney Football Club Board, Kosmina was confirmed on 24 October 2007 as the new Sydney FC coach. Since signing with Sydney FC Kosmina made an immediate impact; winning his first game with Sydney 3–2 against rivals Central Coast Mariners at…

Player

Sydney City

NSL Championship: 1981, 1982 NSL Cup: 1986 Individual

FFA Hall of Fame: 1999 NSL Top Scorer: 1982 NSL Under 21 Player of the Year: 1977

Manager

Adelaide United

A-League Premiership: 2005–2006 Awards and laurels

Kosmina Street in the Sydney suburb of Glenwood is named for him, along with Kosmina Crescent in the northern Adelaide suburb of Hillbank. John Kosmina Medal — The award given to the player of the match in the National Premier Leagues Grand Final each year is named in his honour.