Joel Griffiths
| Joel Griffiths | ||
 Griffiths during a training session
with the Newcastle Jets (2008) |
||
| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Joel Michael Griffiths | |
| birthday | August 21, 1979 | |
| place of birth | Sydney , Australia | |
| size | 181 cm | |
| position | Midfield , storm | |
| Juniors | ||
| Years | station | |
| Menai | ||
| Sutherland Sharks | ||
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| 1998-1999 | Sydney United | 28 (8) |
| 1999-2001 | Parramatta power | 51 (15) |
| 2001-2003 | Newcastle United | 46 (25) |
| 2003-2006 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 72 (4) |
| 2006 | Leeds United | 2 (0) |
| 2006-2010 | Newcastle United Jets | 60 (28) |
| 2008 | → Avispa Fukuoka (loan) | 9 (3) |
| 2009 | → Beijing Guoan (loan) | (8th) |
| 2010-2011 | Beijing Guoan | |
| 2012 | Shanghai Shenhua Liansheng | |
| 2013 | Sydney FC | |
| 2013 | Qingdao Jonoon | |
| 2014– | Newcastle Jets | |
| National team | ||
| Years | selection | Games (goals) |
| 1999 | Australia U-20 | 5 (1) |
| 2005-2008 | Australia | 3 (1) |
|
1 Only league games are given. As of January 15, 2013 |
||
Joel Michael Griffiths (born August 21, 1979 in Sydney ) is an Australian football player . Griffiths played in the course of his professional career for clubs in Switzerland, England, Japan and China and, like his two brothers Adam and Ryan , played for the Australian national team.
Club career
Career start in Australia (until 2003)
Griffiths played in the adult division from 1997, first for the reserve team of Sydney United in the New South Wales Premier League and moved up to the first team for the 1998/99 season. Immediately he established himself in the team and came regularly to appearances in the National Soccer League at the side of the same age Mile Sterjovski . After first place in the regular season, the play-offs made it into the championship finals. In the local 2-3 loss to South Melbourne Griffiths was only used as a substitute for just under 30 minutes.
In the summer break of 1999 he moved with almost the entire team to the newly founded and also Sydney-based league competitor Parramatta Power , where he was the team's most successful goalscorer with eleven goals this season together with Sterjovski, but clearly missed the play-offs as eleventh in the table . After the play-offs were missed again in 2000/01 and Griffiths only managed four disappointing goals this season, he moved to Newcastle United within the league . Griffiths, who was his team's best scorer in the following two seasons, moved the team into the finals twice, but missed the championship finals. In the summer of 2003, he decided to move to Europe and signed a contract with the Swiss premier league club Neuchâtel Xamax .
Mixed years in Europe (2003-2006)
His time at Xamax was mixed. While the club was eligible to start with its 3rd place in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup pre -season and failed there in the first round at the French club AJ Auxerre , they narrowly escaped relegation in the championship in the barrage games against FC Vaduz into the Challenge League . In the following season, the team was able to stay in midfield and managed to qualify for the UI Cup 2005 , in which Griffiths scored three goals in a 9-1 overall win against Armenian representatives Ararat Yerevan , before another French with AS St. Etienne Club ensured the elimination. Used as a striker in Australia, he was mostly used in the right midfield in Switzerland, which also had a noticeable effect on his goal rate. Until his departure in January 2006, when the club was again in relegation battle, he had scored only four goals in 72 league games.
After a move from Griffiths to Leicester City failed in the summer of 2005 due to Neuchatel's transfer request, his move to the sonorous English second division Leeds United also ended up on the transfer posse, as Neuchâtel refused to allow international clearance despite the transfer conclusion. Leeds was only allowed to play for Griffiths after a lawsuit with the world governing body FIFA , who signed an 18-month contract. Under Leeds coach Kevin Blackwell , who Griffiths later accused of lacking confidence in his abilities, the striker only made two short appearances and terminated his contract after six months.
Return and guest performances in Asia (since 2006)
He returned to Australia to Newcastle, who now played as Newcastle United Jets in the A-League created in 2005 , the successor to the 2004 National Soccer League. Under coach Gary van Egmond he gradually found his strength back and reached the play-offs with the team in the 2006/07 season . There they first prevailed in the minor semi-final against Sydney FC , but then failed in the preliminary final on penalties to Adelaide United .
After the departure of the offensive trio Nick Carle , Milton Rodriguez and Vaughan Coveny , the Jets were given little chance in the 2007/08 championship season , but thanks to Griffith's outstanding offensive performance, which van Egmond built up as a key player, the team around Jade North succeeded in Matt Thompson and twin brother Adam Griffiths made it to the play-offs. There they were initially defeated by the Central Coast Mariners in the major semi-final , but after a 3-2 win over Queensland Roar they made it to the final and won the first championship title in club history with a 1-0 win over the Mariners . Joel Griffiths had previously been voted the best player of the season by the A-League players and was therefore awarded the Johnny Warren Medal , with twelve goals of the season he was also top scorer. Griffiths' season almost ended in October 2007 when he hit a line judge in the groin after a refused free kick. Surprisingly, he only received a yellow card from referee Matthew Breeze , avoiding a suspension that lasted several months.
After the league title, he was loaned to the Japanese club Avispa Fukuoka for a few months before returning to the Jets for pre-season preparation in June 2008. The 2008/09 season was disappointing for the reigning champions and ended in last place in the table. Griffiths was still the best scorer of his team with seven goals this season and was loaned to Asia again after the end of the season. This time the target was the Chinese club Beijing Guoan , with whom his brother Ryan was also on loan. Unlike the loan to Avispa, he stayed with the Chinese capital club for the entire season and was only due to return to the Jets in January 2010.
He made his debut for Beijing against his regular club Newcastle on Matchday 1 in the 2009 AFC Champions League . The two Griffiths brothers scored eight league goals each over the course of the season, helping Guoan to the first championship in the club's history. In addition to his athletic achievements, Joel was also noticed by unsportsmanlike conduct. In the early stages of the season he was banned for five games because of an elbow strike against an opponent, three game days before the end of the season he was suspended for seven games after showing the home fans with both hands after a late equalizer against championship rivals Henan .
In January 2013 he moved back to Australia, to Sydney FC . In mid-2013 he went to China again, this time to Qingdao Jonoon . After a season he returned to his homeland in Australia and is now playing for the Newcastle Jets again .
National team
Their performances at Sydney United earned Griffiths and Sterjovski a nomination for the Australian U-20 squad for the 1999 Junior World Cup in Nigeria, after neither were considered during qualifying. At the World Cup finals, Griffiths came in as a substitute in all three preliminary round games, but remained without his own goal and could not prevent the early exit of the Australian team.
In 2005, Griffiths made his debut under national coach Guus Hiddink in the Australian senior team . In a friendly in London against the selection of Jamaica, he came on after 70 minutes for Archie Thompson . In the 85th minute he scored the 5-0 final score and then celebrated his goal by imitating a hopping kangaroo. For his second assignment he came in August 2006 under Hiddink's successor Graham Arnold in a qualifier for the 2007 Asian Cup against Kuwait. His third and so far last international match was in May 2008 in a friendly against Ghana.
successes
at club level:
- Australian champion: 2007/08
- Chinese champion: 2009
- Australian runner-up: 1998/99
Individually:
- A-League top scorer : 2007/08
- Johnny Warren Medal : 2008
Web links
- Profile at the Australian Association
- Entry at ozfootball.net
- Joel Griffiths in the weltfussball.de database
Individual evidence
- ↑ smh.com.au: Griffiths riding new wave of success (Aug. 3, 2005)
- ↑ a b dailytelegraph.com.au: Griffiths - I was so humiliated (Feb. 20, 2008)
- ↑ a b ESPN : Jet Joel ready for Socceroo takeoff (English). Retrieved January 22, 2008.
- ↑ abc.net.au: Griffiths wins Johnny Warren Medal (Feb. 27, 2008)
- ↑ smh.com.au: Fair play mocked by flick of a wrist (Oct. 11, 2007)
- ↑ Video of the incident on youtube.com
- ↑ au.fourfourtwo.com: Joel Set To Debut Against The Jets (Feb. 18, 2009)
- ↑ sports.sina.com.cn: [1]
- ↑ au.fourfourtwo.com: Joel Hit With Lengthy Ban (April 24, 2009)
- ↑ theherald.com.au: Joel Griffiths fights seven-game ban for rude gesture (Oct. 15, 2009)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Griffiths, Joel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Griffiths, Joel Michael (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 21, 1979 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sydney , Australia |