Mitch Austin

Mitchell Gregory Reginald "Mitch" Austin (born 3 April 1991)[5] is an English born Australian professional association footballer who plays as a winger.

Mitch Austin

Austin playing for Melbourne Victory in a friendly match against Port Melbourne, 9 August 2016
Personal information
Full name	Mitchell Gregory Reginald Austin[1]
Date of birth	3 April 1991
Place of birth	Rochdale, England
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s)	Left Winger[3][4]
Youth career
	Manly United
2009–2010	Rotherham United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2013	Stalybridge Celtic	69	(10)
2013–2015	Cambridge United	9	(0)
2014	→ Lincoln City (loan)	6	(0)
2014	→ Brackley Town (loan)	9	(2)
2014	→ Southport (loan)	8	(0)
2015–2016	Central Coast Mariners	23	(5)
2016–2018	Melbourne Victory	24	(4)
2018–2019	Newcastle Jets	5	(0)
2019	Sydney FC	2	(0)
2019–2020	Partick Thistle	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:10, 21 March 2020 (UTC) (UTC)

Early life

Mitch Austin was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester on 3 April 1991. He has a twin sister named Brittany. His father is the Australian rugby league, and rugby union footballer Greg Austin.[6][7] He left England at the age of eight when his father retired from playing professional rugby and moved the family back to Australia.

Club career

Youth football

Mitch Austin was a Manly United junior in Sydney, Australia. He was spotted by the scouts of Rotherham United in 2009 whilst on a tour of the UK with Manly United and was offered a scholarship with the youth academy.

Stalybridge Celtic

In 2010, he joined Conference North team Stalybridge Celtic.[8]

Cambridge United

After making 71 league appearances, in 2013, he joined Conference team Cambridge United.[9]

In 2014, he was loaned to Lincoln City to get more first team opportunities.[10] But Cambridge soon recalled Austin, & declined Lincoln’s request for an extension to the loan. Though weeks later he signed for Brackley Town again on loan. On 31 January 2014, his loan was extended till March.[11]

On 13 September 2014, he made his professional debut for Cambridge United against Dagenham and Redbridge[12]

In May 2015, Cambridge United announced, that Austin was one out of 12 players, who would leave the club in the summer 2015 expressing his wish to return to Australia .[13]

Central Coast Mariners

On 1 June 2015, Central Coast Mariners announced that they had signed Austin to a two-year contract.[14] After making 23 appearances in the first year of his contract, Austin asked to terminate his second year and was released by Central Coast Mariners.[15]

Melbourne Victory

On 17 June 2016, Melbourne Victory confirmed the signing of Austin as a straight swap for winger Connor Pain.[16]

He made an outstanding start to his Victory career, earning Man of the Match honours in the club's pre-season friendly win over Juventus at the MCG.

Austin suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in training in November 2017, ruling him out for several months.[17]

On 1 February 2018, Austin was selected to represent Melbourne Victory in the E-League's inaugural season, alongside Mouad Zwed, becoming one of a handful of professional football players to compete in e-sports as well.[18]

Partick Thistle

Austin signed with Scottish Championship club Partick Thistle in July 2019 on a one year deal.[19] Austin chose kit number 77 for the 2019/20 season.[20] On 11 January 2020 Austin finally made his first team debut for The Jags after suffering an unfortunate injury in July 2019.[21] Therefore, Austin spent the majority of his short spell on the sidelines, and only made 2 appearances for The Jags before the season was cut short due to the Corona virus pandemic. Austin left Thistle in March 2020 during the pandemic to return home to his family in Australia.[22]

Career statistics

As of 6 February 2019

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stalybridge Celtic	2010–11	Conference North	5	0	2	0	0	0	7	0
	2011–12		27	1	7	1	0	0	34	2
	2012–13		37	9	7	2	0	0	44	11
	Total		69	10	16	3	0	0	85	13
Cambridge United	2013–14	Conference Premier	8	0	3	0	0	0	11	0
	2014–15	Football League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		9	0	3	0	0	0	12	0
Lincoln City (loan)	2013–14	Conference Premier	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Brackley Town (loan)	2013–14	Conference North	5	1	0	0	0	0	5	1
	2014–15		4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1
	Total		9	2	0	0	0	0	9	2
Southport (loan)	2014–15	Conference Premier	8	0	8	0	0	0	16	0
Central Coast Mariners	2015–16	A-League	23	5	1	0	0	0	24	5
Melbourne Victory	2016–17		19	3	3	0	0	0	22	3
	2017–18		5	1	2	1	0	0	7	2
	Total		24	4	5	1	0	0	29	5
Newcastle Jets	2018–19	A-League	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Sydney FC	2018–19		2	0	0	0	2	0	4	0
Partick Thistle	2019–20	Scottish Championship	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Career total			156	21	34	4	2	0	192	25

References

1. "The Football League Retained List". The Football League. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
2. "Mitch Austin". melbournevictory.com.au. Melbourne Victory FC. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
3. "Mitch Austin". Central Coast Mariners FC. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
4. Windley, Matt. "Mitch Austin will play his first game for Melbourne Victory against Juventus at the MCG". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
5. "Mitchell Austin". FDB. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
6. Prichard, Greg. "Austin's inherited powers a big plus for the Mariners". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
7. Smithies, Tom. "A-League: Central Coast Mariners signing Mitch Austin excited by opportunity". The Daily Telegraph. News Corporation. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
8. "Mitchell Austin". Stalybridge Celtic. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
9. "Wing wizard of Aus joins Cambridge United". Cambridge News. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
10. "Lincoln sign Delano Sam-Yorke and Mitch Austin from Cambridge". BBC. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
11. "Transfer Deadline Day: Crewe's Audel loaned to Lincoln". BBC. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
12. "Dagenham and Redbridge vs Cambridge United". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
13. "Cambridge United announce mass clearout: Luke Chadwick, Tom Elliott and more among those leaving". cambridge-news.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
14. "Mariners sign Mitch Austin". Football Federation Australia. 1 June 2015.
15. "Mariners lose star winger". Football Federation Australia. 16 June 2016.
16. "Mitch Austin joins Melbourne Victory, who send Connor Pain to Central Coast". Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
17. "Mitch Austin suffers season-ending injury". FourFourTwo. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
18. "Victory locks in E-League team". Melbourne Victory. 1 February 2018.
19. https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/signing-news-mitch-austin-signs-one-year-deal/
20. https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-team/mitch-austin/
21. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50990654
22. https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/mitch-austin-leaves-the-club/

External links

• Mitch Austin at Soccerway