John Aloisi

Early years and England

Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Aloisi attended Rostrevor College (92'). Aloisi arrived from Adelaide City in Europe aged 16. He signed with Belgian club Standard Liège. He did not appear in any official games for the club, and played sparingly for his next team, fellow top division outfit Royal Antwerp F.C. Then in November 1995, Aloisi signed for Italian side US Cremonese and on the 25th, after two minutes on the pitch, he scored in a 2–1 home win against Calcio Padova, becoming the youngest foreign player ever to score in a Serie A match. By the time he departed Lombardy, they suffered two consecutive relegations. Aloisi arrived in English football early in the 1997–98 season, signing for Portsmouth in the Division One, under the chairmanship of Australia national football team manager Terry Venables. He scored 12 goals in his first season in England as Portsmouth narrowly avoided relegation, bettering that total to 13 in the following campaign. On 17 December 1998, Aloisi moved to the Premier League with Coventry City, who paid £650,000 for his services. He made his Sky Blues debut in a 1–1 home draw against Derby County, appearing as a late substitute; also coming from the bench, he netted in the next match, 1–1 against Tottenham Hotspur. Aloisi scored twice in a 4–1 win against Aston Villa at Villa Park, which was Coventry's first ever away victory in the league against their West Midlands rivals on 27 February 1999. Starting in the…

Aloisi made his debut for the Australian national team in 1997. Also in that year, he was selected to the FIFA Confederations Cup, scoring in a 3–1 group stage win against Mexico for the eventual runners-up. After representing Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics as one of the three overage players, scoring three goals in an eventual quarterfinal exit, Aloisi finished second in the scoring charts at the 2005 Confederations Cup, netting braces against Germany and Argentina as the Socceroos did not manage one single point in three games. On 16 November 2005, Aloisi scored the decisive penalty against Uruguay in the 2006 FIFA World Cup playoffs, after a 1–1 aggregate tie. That goal meant Australia qualified to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974. He was selected in the squad for the final stages in Germany and, on 12 June, came off the bench to score the third goal in a 3–1 group stage victory against Japan, thus becoming only the second Australian to score a goal at the World Cup finals, after teammate Tim Cahill. On 21 July 2007, Aloisi scored in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup's quarterfinal match against Japan (1–1), in an eventual penalty shootout exit in Australia's first ever participation in that tournament. It would be the last of his 27 international goals, second-best behind Damian Mori at the time of his retirement. After his return to the A-League, Aloisi ceased to be recalled by the national team. In early 2008, his penalty kick against Uruguay which took the…

Melbourne Heart

After retiring, Aloisi started a coaching career, being appointed youth manager at Melbourne Heart. On 8 May 2012, it was announced that he had accepted a three-year contract to be the manager of Melbourne Heart. On 5 October 2012, he got his first win as manager as Melbourne Heart beat rivals Melbourne Victory 2–1. Aloisi struggled in his first season as head coach, with Melbourne Heart coming ninth in the 2012–13 season and winning only one away game all season. The 2013–14 season did not start any better with the Heart managing 0 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses from 10 starts. On 28 December 2013, Aloisi was sacked as the manager of Melbourne Heart following the club's seventeenth competitive match without a win.

Melbourne Victory

On 9 February 2015, Aloisi joined Melbourne Victory FC as the development coach of its National Youth League and National Premier League sides.

Brisbane Roar

On 26 May 2015, Aloisi was named manager of Brisbane Roar. In both of his first two seasons at the club, the Roar achieved a top 4 finish in the league, and made it to the semi-finals. In May 2017, Aloisi signed a new three-year contract to stay on as manager of Brisbane. On 28 December 2018, Aloisi resigned as manager of Brisbane Roar following the club's poor start to the season, with the Roar second-last on the A-League ladder with just 1 win in 9 matches at the time of his departure. He left as Brisbane Roar's longest serving manager.

Western…

Aloisi is of Italian descent through his grandparents, who are from Calabria. His older brother Ross, was also a professional footballer, and has served under him as an assistant coach. A devout Catholic, Aloisi is married to Angela and has daughters: Alisia, Katia and Amaya. Aloisi appeared on the cover of the Australian version of Pro Evolution Soccer 6. In addition to his native English, Aloisi also speaks Italian and Spanish. In 2020, Aloisi successfully underwent surgery to fix a tear in his mitral valve.