Robert Middleby (born 9 August 1975) is an Australian former football player who as a right-back or right midfielder. He was the CEO of the Newcastle Jets FC until 2015. He played for Sydney FC after earlier stints at Newcastle United Jets, Wollongong Wolves (twice), Carlton, Football Kingz and the Newcastle Breakers. He won the 2001 NSL title with the Wolves and the 2006 A-League title with Sydney FC and also spent time overseas with German outfit KFC Uerdingen 05.
 Middleby playing for Sydney FC in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Middleby | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 9 August 1975 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Newcastle, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right-back, right midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | AIS | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Newcastle Breakers | ||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | Adamstown Rosebud | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Wollongong Wolves | 35 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | KFC Uerdingen 05 | 27 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Auckland Kingz | 21 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Cringila Lions | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Carlton SC | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Wollongong Wolves | 19 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Newcastle United Jets | 62 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2009 | Sydney FC | 67 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | North Queensland Fury | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Green Suburbs | 25 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Valentine Eleebana | ||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Australia U-20 | 10 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Australia | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Career
editSydney FC
editMiddleby was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. He saw little game time under coach Pierre Littbarski in his first season at the club, playing only 212 minutes in 16 appearances despite scoring in Sydney FC's 3–1 victory against New Zealand Knights early in the campaign. He gained favour, though, under Littbarski's replacement Terry Butcher and was a regular starter in the 2006–07 season. Despite missing part of the season with a broken collarbone after a controversial off-the-ball incident involving Melbourne Victory FC defender Adrian Leijer,[2][3] Middleby was voted Sydney FC Players' Player of the Year for the season.[4]
Middleby accidentally broke David Beckham's rib, when Sydney FC played the Los Angeles Galaxy at ANZ Stadium in November 2007. Middleby also scored in this match.
North Queensland Fury
editIn November 2008, Middleby signed a contract with North Queensland Fury. He has been used in his more preferred role of right back, as well as being used in central midfield under coach Ian Ferguson. On 11 February 2010, he announced his retirement from professional football at the end of the 2009–10 season[5] Middleby played his last game against Gold Coast United FC, which North Queensland won 2–1.
Newcastle Jets
editMiddleby resigned as CEO for the Newcastle Jets FC in the A-League in January 2015. Upon retiring, Middleby said "I will use the next few weeks to support the mid-season review process".[6]
Career statistics
edit| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2002 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 0 | |
Honours
editSydney FC
Wollongong Wolves
- NSL Championship: 2000–2001
- Oceania Club Championship: 2000–01
Australia
- OFC Nations Cup: runner-up 2002[8]
Individual:
References
edit- ^ "FIFA Club World Championship Japan 2005 – Official Rosters". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 December 2005. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005.
- ^ "Record crowd sees Victory down 10-man Sydney". ABC Victoria. 2 September 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "Butcher wants justice". Fox Sports. 2 September 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "Middleby takes top honour". a-league.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 March 2011.
- ^ "Middleby moves on". bigpondnews.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
- ^ "Robbie Middleby & Ray Baartz Step Down". a-league.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "Middleby, Robbie". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ "Oceania Nations Cup 2002". Retrieved 14 October 2024.