KEEPUP’s series of taking a look at the best international signings in the history of the Isuzu UTE A-League wraps up with a number of superstar players – including Johnny Warren Medallists, Golden Boot and Championship winners.
PART ONE OF THE BEST FOREIGNERS TO PLAY IN THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE: ARGENTINA-GEORGIA
PART TWO OF THE BEST FOREIGNERS TO PLAY IN THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE: GERMANY-NORTH MACEDONIA
Poland
One of the great one-season wonders, Adrian Mierzejewski bagged 13 goals in 25 games on his way to the 2017-18 Premiership with Sydney FC, and the Johnny Warren Medal to boot.
The Polish forward, who has amassed career transfer fees in excess of $15m, also swept up the Mark Viduka Medal as Man of the Match in Sydney’s 2017 FFA Cup Final triumph over Adelaide United, scoring a brace in a 5-0 win.
It was a blistering start to life Down Under – but his departure just one season into a three-year deal for a lucrative deal in China cut what might have been a legendary stint at the Sky Blues prematurely short.
Adrian Mierzejewski
- Clubs: Sydney FC
- League games: 25
- Goals: 13
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2017-18 Premiership (Sydney FC)
- 2017-18 Johnny Warren Medal
- 2017-18 Alex Tobin Medal
- 2017-18 Team of the Season
Honourable Mentions
- Filip Kurto (Wellington Phoenix, Western United, Macarthur)
Portugal
Arriving in Australia in early 2021, Nuno Reis has gone on to become a key cog in Melbourne City’s transformation into an Isuzu UTE A-League juggernaut.
The Portuguese central defender has clocked 47 appearances across two-and-a-half seasons, and albeit experiencing an injury-interrupted start to the 2022-23 campaign, the 31-year-old has provided steel to the City backline along the club’s charge to collecting silverware in the men’s competition for the very first time.
Reis has played a pivotal role in back-to-back Premierships with City, as well as the 2020-21 Championship.
Nuno Reis
- Clubs: Melbourne City
- League games: 47
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2020-21 Premiership/Championship (City)
- 2021-22 Premiership (City)
Honourable mentions
- Nani (Melbourne Victory)
- Roderick Miranda (Melbourne Victory)
Scotland
His managerial stint at Melbourne Victory was one to forget – but throughout his playing days, Grant Brebner made himself a club legend.
A veteran of 119 games, the central midfielder won two titles at Victory under Ernie Merrick, and was a key contributor to both championship doubles in 2006/07 and 2008/09.
Grant Brebner
- Clubs: Melbourne Victory
- League games: 119
- League goals: 6
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2006-07 Premiership/Championship (Victory)
- 2008-09 Premiership/Championship (Victory)
Honourable mentions:
- Tom Aldred (Brisbane Roar)
- Steven McGarry (Perth Glory)
- Nick Montgomery (Central Coast Mariners)
Serbia
One of the longest honour sheets in Isuzu UTE A-League history belongs to Milos Ninkovic, who in seven seasons at Sydney FC won three championships, three premierships, an FFA Cup and two Johnny Warren Medals in a decorated stint in Sky Blue.
He’s since defected to Sydney FC’s bitter rivals Western Sydney; a move which incensed the fanbase who sung his name in adoration for seven long years. But when the 38-year-old does choose to call time on his decorated career, you would hope those same fans would remember the Serbian for his contribution to the club and Australian football.
Milos Ninkovic
- Clubs: Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers
- League games: 188
- League goals: 35
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2016-17 Premiership/Championship (Sydney FC)
- 2016-17 Johnny Warren Medal
- 2017-18 Premiership (Sydney FC)
- 2018-19 Championship (Sydney FC)
- 2019 Joe Marston Medal
- 2019-20 Premiership/Championship (Sydney FC)
- 2020-21 Johnny Warren Medal
- PFA Team of the Season (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21)
- 2022 A-Leagues All Star
Honourable mentions
- Aleksandar Prijovic (Western United)
- Nebojsa Marinkovic (Perth Glory)
Spain
A player who consistently features in the Isuzu UTE A-League GOAT debate, Diego Castro arrived in Western Australia as an exciting marquee for Perth Glory, and departed the club six years later as a legend.
Castro landed Down Under as a 33-year-old in 2015. What he managed to achieve through his 136-game stint at Glory – including the 2018-19 Premiership and the Johnny Warren Medal in 2016 – speaks volumes of the ability for overseas recruits to make an impact in the league through the latter years of their career.
Diego Castro
- Clubs: Perth Glory
- League games: 136
- League goals: 49
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2015-15 PFA Team of the Season
- 2015-16 Johnny Warren Medal
- 2018-19 Premiership (Glory)
Honourable mentions
- Isaias (Adelaide United)
- Oriol Riera (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Sweden
Just two seasons spent in Australia produced goals aplenty for former Sweden international Ola Toivonen, who bagged 25 league strikes in 40 appearances in Melbourne victory’s navy blue.
A successful maiden season in 2018-19 which garnered 15 goals led to Toivonen’s appointment as captain for the following campaign. Toivonen was Victory’s first non-Australian captain, and only the fifth skipper in club history in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
In March of 2019, Toivonen earned a slice of history by bagging the 5000th A-League Men goal with a sensational free-kick against Perth Glory in the West.
Ola Toivonen
- Clubs: Melbourne Victory
- League games: 40
- League goals: 25
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2018-19 A-League Men Team of the Season
Trinidad and Tobago
A player whose name is forever synonymous with the birth of the Isuzu UTE A-League, Dwight Yorke came, saw and conquered at Sydney FC in a 22-game stint which helped the Sky Blues become the very first champions of the new competition.
Yorke collected the Joe Marston Medal as best afield in Sydney’s Grand Final clash with Central Coast, setting Steve Corica into the box to score the all-important goal in a 1-0 win.
Yorke first foray into coaching came to an end last Saturday, mutually parting with Macarthur FC after less than a year in charge.
Dwight Yorke
- Clubs: Sydney FC
- League games: 22
- League goals: 7
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2005-06 Championship (Sydney FC)
- 2005-06 Joe Marston Medal
- Sydney FC Hall of Fame
Tunisia
A century of Isuzu UTE A-League appearances for Fahid Ben Khalfallah garnered 13 goals, a Premiership at Melbourne Victory and the club’s best and fairest award in the same season (2014-15).
Khalfallah followed a successful spell at Victory with one season at Brisbane Roar, ending his four-season stint in 2018. His achievements over 100 league games are yet to be topped by another Tunisian in the A-League Men, although a bright start to life at Perth Glory by Salim Khelifi has offered encouraging signs for the future as Ben Khalfallah’s compatriot looks to make his mark Down Under.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah
- Clubs: Melbourne Victory, Brisbane Roar
- League games: 100
- League goals: 13
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- 2014-15 Premiership/Championship (Victory)
- 2014-15 Victory Medal
- 2014-15 PFA Team of the Season
Uruguay
He’s now a Socceroo, but it would be remiss to leave Bruno Fornaroli off the list.
Uruguayan-born Fornaroli took the league by storm within moments of touching down in the Isuzu UTE A-League in 2015, scoring 25 goals in his first season as part of the box-office Melbourne City side of the 2015-16 season and 51 overall during his initial Melbourne stay.
His time at City came to a disappointing end after a falling out with former coach Warren Joyce a few seasons later, joining Perth Glory and notching up another 34 goals in 79 games.
Now, Fornaroli plies his trade for Melbourne Victory and hasn’t reached the same levels of seasons prior – but his impact on the competition over the last seven and a half seasons can’t be understated.
Bruno Fornaroli
- Clubs: Melbourne City, Perth Glory, Melbourne Victory
- Games: 141
- Goals: 82
Isuzu UTE A-League honours
- Melbourne City Player of the Year: 2015-16
- PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2015-16
- A-League Golden Boot: 2015-16
- Mark Viduka Medal: 2016
- FFA Cup: 2016
- Quickest to reach 30 goals in A-League Men’s history
Vanuatu
Just the second Vanuatuan to play in the Isuzu UTE A-League after Mitch Cooper, Brian Kaltak is relishing his first season at Central Coast – and what a graft it was for the Vanuatu captain to get there.
Kaltak spent a decade trying to break into the professional game, playing at Auckland City and trialing at both Wellington Phoenix and the Mariners, with an injury during a trial run at the latter preventing him from earning a contract last season.
The 29-year-old earned his first opportunity ahead of the 2022-23 season and hasn’t looked back, performing as one of the best signings of the off-season league-wide in a brilliant introduction to the A-League Men.
Brian Kaltak
- Clubs: Central Coast Mariners
- League games: 12
