Perth Glory have confirmed English central defender Mark Beevers has signed a two-year deal with the club, the 32-year-old expressing his excitement for a new challenge after a 15-year stint in the UK.
Beevers, who stands at 193cm, has spent the past three years with Peterborough United; he was named in the English League One Team of the Year in 2020-21 as he skippered the club to promotion to the Championship.
Beevers has accrued 557 senior appearances across his career thus far, scoring 26 goals. But now it’s time for a new challenge, says Beevers, whose decision to head Down Under was aided by the experiences of a number of star Englishman currently thriving in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
“It’s an idea I’ve been exploring for a while now,” Beevers told club media. “It’s something that I really want to do and I’m really excited about it.
“It’s a brand new challenge and completely different to what I’ve been used to over the last 15 years in the UK.
“It kind of all fell into place with Andy Keogh retiring and becoming Head of Recruitment at the club, so I had a direct point of contact with Andy.
“I’ve looked at some clips and I know a few people who are playing out there (in the A-League Men’s), like Adam Le Fondre, Craig Noone, Jay O’Shea, David Ball and Zach Clough and they’re really enjoying it.
“I’ve had a good chat with the manager (Ruben Zadkovich) and he kind of laid down what he expects from me and what he’s seen in me and in terms of ambition, it’s as simple as winning games.
“Purple’s not a colour I’ve played in before, but it looks great and everything about the club looks great!”
Prior to Peterborough, Beevers played 140 times for Sheffield Wednesday, enjoying loan spells to MK Dons and Millwall before joining the latter on a permanent contract in 2013. Five years spent at Millwall preceded a move to Bolton Wanderers, where was named in the PFA League One Team of the Year for the first time in a promotion season.
He repeated both achievements with Peterborough in 2020-21 after joining the club in 2019.
Now, as Beevers prepares to link up with Perth ahead of the 2022-23 A-League Men’s campaign, Glory head coach Zadkovich is eager to see what the experienced centre-back can bring to his defensive line, with the prospect of a partnership with Darryl Lachman in the heart of defence sure to excite the club’s fans.
“Beevers will bring a wealth of experience and quality to our defensive structures,” he said.
“He has a very commanding presence, is a natural leader and is very tough in the contest.
“He has captained clubs at Championship level and played pivotal roles in successful teams.
“Mark knows the sacrifices and effort it takes to be successful at an elite level and he will be a great character to have in the dressing room and more importantly, out on the grass in the heat of battle.”
