Introduction
Alexander William "Alex" Wilkinson (born 13 August 1984) is an Australian international football (soccer) player who plays as a central defender for Sydney FC in the A-League.
Wilkinson was born in Sydney and made his senior debut for Northern Spirit in 2002. After moving to Ryde City Gunners and Manly United in 2004, Wilkinson joined A-League club Central Coast Mariners, where he eventually became club captain and made over 200 appearances. After spending time in China on loan to Jiangsu Sainty, Wilkinson played for Korean club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors for 4 seasons(2012-2015).
Wilkinson has made eleven appearances for the Australian national team, including three at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Alexander's bright career began in Ryde East Primary School and Epping Boys' High School where he showed excellent talents on the field as a sportsman and off the field in his sportsmanship. His main junior football club was North Ryde and then with Gladesville Hornsby/Northern Spirit youth team where he played alongside Brett Holman. Two years after breaking into the first team of the Northern Spirit, the NSL would be shut down and went back to finding a job, where he would eventually work at a surf shop in his local Macquarie Centre.
On Sunday 12 November 2006, Noel Spencer was dropped from the starting eleven and in his absence Alex Wilkinson was named captain of the team. Spencer was then struck down with injury and Alex filled in as captain until round 18 when Spencer returned. He was named Captain for Season 3 (2007–2008) and only injury has interrupted that (with ex-Socceroo Tony Vidmar and midfielder John Hutchinson filling in). On 17 March 2011 it was announced that Wilkinson had signed a short-term loan deal with Chinese side Jiangsu Sainty. On 18 July he had signed a two and a half year contract with K-League team Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. The reported transfer fee paid to the Mariners upon completion of the deal is $450,000. Following a lengthy and successful stint in Asia, Wilkinson signed with Melbourne City in February 2016, for the remainder of the 2015–16 A-League season.
Sydney FC
After Melbourne City were eliminated from the finals series Wilkinson signed a two-year contract with Sydney FC, rejoining former Mariners manager Graham Arnold
In 2017, Wilkinson was vice-captain
International career
He represented Australia in 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. In August 2006, Alex was selected for the first time to join the 22 man Socceroos squad, training for the Asian Cup against Kuwait. He has also joined the 37 man training squad for the Socceroos against Qatar. He made his full national team debut against Ecuador in a friendly at The New Den in London on 5 March 2014.
He was a surprise inclusion for Australia's 2014 World Cup squad and started in Australia's 3–1 opening loss to Chile. After he cleared a certain goal off the line he was the first player in history to be involved in FIFA's new goal line review system which showed he successfully saved a goal.
On the 30th March, 2015 in a friendly match against FYR Macedonia , at the 72nd minute as captain Mile Jedinak was substituted off the ground, Wilkinson was handed the captain's arm band.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Northern Spirit | 2002–03 | National Soccer League | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Total | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | ||
| Ryde City Gunners | 2004 | NSW Super League | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 |
| Manly United | 2004–05 | NSW Premier League | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 2005–06 | A-League | 25 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| 2008–09 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | ||
| 2010–11 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2011–12 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
| Total | 172 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 203 | 3 | ||
| Jiangsu Sainty (loan) | 2011 | Chinese Super League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 2012 | K League | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2013 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 2 | ||
| 2014 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| Total | 86 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 110 | 2 | ||
| Melbourne City | 2015–16 | A-League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Sydney FC | 2016–17 | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |
| Career total | 386 | 7 | 28 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 444 | 8 | ||
Honours
Club
Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners
- A-League Premiership: 2007–08, 2011–12
- A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup: 2005
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
- K League Classic: 2014, 2015
Sydney FC !Sydney FC
- A-League Premiership: 2016–17
- A-League Championship: 2016-17
International
Australia
- AFC Asian Cup: 2015
- OFC U-20 Championship: 2002
- OFC U-17 Championship: 2001
Individual
- K League Best XI: 2014
- PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2016–17