John Kosmina

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John Kosmina
Personal information
Full name	Alexander John Kosmina
Date of birth	17 August 1956 (1956-08-17) (age 52)
Place of birth	Adelaide, Australia
Playing position	Manager (former Striker)
Club information
Current club	Unemployed
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1973–1976 1977 1978 1979 1979–1980 1981–1986 1987–1988 1989 1990	Adelaide Polonia West Adelaide SC Adelaide City Arsenal FC West Adelaide SC Sydney City Sydney Olympic APIA Leichhardt Sutherland Sharks	023 (12) 004 0(0) 001 0(0) 044 (12) 150 (89) 044 (13) 024 0(6)
National team2
1976–1988	Australia	60 (25)[1]
Teams managed
1994–1995 1995–1998 1999–2003 2003–2007 2007–2009	Warringah Dolphins Newcastle Breakers Brisbane Strikers Adelaide United Sydney FC
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 June 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 25 June 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Alexander John Kosmina (born 17 August 1956), known as John Kosmina, is a former Australian football (soccer) player. He was most recently the manager of Australian A-League football club Sydney FC. He is a member of the Football Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Club career 1.2 Managerial career 1.2.1 Adelaide United 1.2.2 Sydney FC 2 Honours 2.1 Player 2.2 Manager 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Club career

He played for Polonia and then West Adelaide, before signing for English side Arsenal in February 1978. However, he only played one first-team game for the Gunners (as a substitute against Leeds United on 18 August 1978), and returned to Australia in May 1979.

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.

[edit] Managerial career

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.

[edit] 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 Hyundai 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.^[2]

He was then appointed by Socceroos coach Graham Arnold as his assistant for the 2007 Asian Cup.

[edit] Sydney FC

After the sacking of Branko Culina by the Sydney Football Club Board, and a few days of speculation, Kosmina was confirmed on 24 October 2007 as the new Sydney FC coach. ^[3] Since signing with Sydney FC John Kosmina has made an immediate impact. Winning his first game with Sydney 3-2 against rivals Central Coast Mariners and the Sydney Football Stadium.

Sydney FC beat the LA Galaxy 5-3 at Sydney's Telstra Stadium and also won a thrilling 5-4 victory Against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.

Following Sydney FC's poor run in the 2008/2009 season, John Kosmina had his contract terminated in late January 2009.^[4]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Player

With Sydney City:

• NSL Championship: 1981, 1982
• NSL Cup: 1986

Personal Honours:

• FFA Hall of Champions Inductee - 1999
• NSL Top Scorer: 1982 with Sydney City - 23 goals
• NSL Papasavas Medal (U-21): 1977

[edit] Manager

With Adelaide United:

• A-League Premiership: 2005-2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FFA - Hall of Fame profile
• Sydney FC profile
• Oz Football profile

Awards
Preceded by Inaugural Recipient	NSL U21 Player of the Year 1977	Succeeded by Ian Souness
Preceded by Gary Cole	NSL Golden Boot 1982	Succeeded by Doug Brown

v • d • e Australia squad – 1988 Summer Olympics 1 Olver • 2 van Egmond • 3 Jennings • 4 Yankos • 5 Dunn • 6 Wade • 7 Farina • 8 Petersen • 9 Arnold • 10 Kosmina • 11 Crino • 12 Davidson • 13 Tobin • 14 Hunter • 15 Koczka • 16 Bozinovski • 17 Slater • 18 Mitchell • 19 Ollerenshaw • 20 Gibson • Coach: Arok

v • d • e Adelaide United FC – Managers Kosmina (2003–07) · Vidmar (2007–)

v • d • e Sydney FC – Managers Littbarski (2005–06) · Butcher (2006–07) · Čulina (2007) · Kosmina (2007–09) · Lavička (2009–Present)