 Birighitti playing forAdelaide United Youth in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Romano Birighitti[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-04-17)17 April 1991 (age 34) | ||
| Place of birth | Perth, Western Australia | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Perth Glory | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| ECU Joondalup | |||
| Perth | |||
| 2006–2007 | WA NTC | ||
| 2007–2008 | AIS | ||
| 2008–2009 | Adelaide United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008 | AIS | 18 | (0) |
| 2008–2012 | Adelaide United | 8 | (0) |
| 2012–2016 | Newcastle Jets | 77 | (0) |
| 2015 | →Varese (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Swansea City | 0 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | NAC Breda | 16 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Melbourne City | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Central Coast Mariners | 79 | (0) |
| 2022–2024 | Dundee United | 26 | (0) |
| 2024 | →Kilmarnock (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2025 | Perth SC | 10 | (0) |
| 2025– | Perth Glory | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007 | Australia U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2008–2011 | Australia U20 | 33 | (0) |
| 2012 | Australia U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 2013 | Australia | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 9 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 15 November 2017 | |||
Mark Romano Birighitti (Italian:[roˈmaːnobiriˈɡitti];[2] born 17 April 1991) is an Australian professionalfootballer who plays as agoalkeeper forA-League Men sidePerth Glory.
Born in Perth, Birighitti played youth football at theAustralian Institute of Sport before making his professional debut forAdelaide United. In 2012, he moved toNewcastle Jets and spent time on loan to Italian clubVarese in 2015. In 2016, Birighitti left Newcastle to again move to Europe, firstly withSwansea City and thenNAC Breda. He returned to theA-League in 2018 withMelbourne City before moving toCentral Coast Mariners a year later. He then signed for Dundee United in 2022.
Birighitti has played once for theAustralian national team, at the2013 EAFF East Asian Cup. He has also represented Australia's youth teams on many occasions, including at the2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and winning the2010 AFF U-19 Youth Championship.
Birighitti started his career at theAIS before moving toAdelaide United in 2008. He made his first team debut againstQueensland Roar on 17 October 2008 helping Adelaide to a 1–0 win.[3]Aurelio Vidmar praised the young goalkeeper after the match saying "I think Birighitti played well he's got a really good future, he had big shoes to fill and I think he did an outstanding job tonight."[4]
His second successiveA-League start came againstPerth Glory atHindmarsh Stadium after Adelaide's number one goalkeeper, 28-year-oldEugene Galekovic, was injured during theAsian Champions League match againstFC Bunyodkor.[5] Despite conceding the match's first goal at the near post, Birighitti played his part in the 2–1 win taking Adelaide to the top of the league table.[6]
With Galekovic again ruled out with injury Birighitti started the second leg of the2008 AFC Champions League Final againstGamba Osaka on 12 November 2008; Adelaide lost the match 2–0.[7] He injured his ankle after falling awkwardly in a training session on 17 December 2008 ruling him out of the remainingA-League 2008-09 season.[8]
On 17 January 2012 it was announced he had signed a two-year contract withA-League clubNewcastle Jets starting post the2012 AFC Champions League group stage.[9]He quickly became the first choice goalkeeper for the Newcastle Jets, edging outBen Kennedy andJack Duncan. In late 2013 he signed a contract extension with the Jets until the end of the 2015–16 season.[10]
On 24 March 2014, Birighitti flew to Germany to discuss a possible transfer toBundesliga clubBayer Leverkusen.[11][12] After failing to secure a contract with Bayer Leverkusen he then came back to the Jets for the 2014–15 season.
In October 2015, Birighitti was involved in an on-field collision withSydney FC strikerShane Smeltz. Birightitti suffered multiple broken teeth and required facial surgery after the incident.[13] He returned to action within weeks, missing only oneA-League game.[14]
On 27 January 2015, Birighitti joinedSerie B clubVarese on a six-month loan deal.[15] He made his league debut for Varese in a 1–0 away loss toVicenza on 25 April 2015.[16]
On 18 July 2016, Birighitti joinedPremier League sideSwansea City on a two-year deal.[17] After the2016–17 season, Birighitti went on trial at Dutch sideWillem II, following a lack of opportunities at Swansea.[18]
On 1 September 2017, Birighitti joinedEredivisie sideNAC Breda on a two-year deal[19] and played the full 90 minutes in NAC Breda's first ever away win in an Eredivisie match againstFeyenoord, in which he also stopped a penalty. He departed in the summer of 2018.
On 11 September 2018, Birighitti joined AustralianA-League sideMelbourne City on a three-year deal.[20] Playing the majority of the season as understudy to Eugene Galekovic, he negotiated a mutual release from the remainder of his contract.[21]
In August 2019, Birighitti joinedCentral Coast Mariners on a one-year contract.[22]
On 21 July 2022, Dundee United announced the signing of Mark Birighitti on a two-year deal, a decision now regarded as one of the great mysteries of modern football. He made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Kilmarnock, where the main highlight was that he didn’t accidentally throw the ball into his own net.
His European debut came in a 1–0 win over AZ Alkmaar, a result that briefly fooled fans into thinking they’d signed a real goalkeeper. The illusion ended a week later in the infamous 7–0 second leg, where Birighitti appeared to be conducting a social experiment on the limits of defensive trauma. Commentators ran out of synonyms for “disaster.”
The lowlights continued domestically. Against St Johnstone, he produced the howler now etched in Dundee United folklore: a harmless backpass turned into a goal after he mishandled it with the elegance of a man catching a soap bar in the shower. It was later voted “Most Predictable Tragedy of the Season.” Other highlights included a fumbled cross against Ross County that turned into an assist for the opposition, a clearance against Celtic that traveled six yards sideways, and a save attempt versus Hearts that resembled a trust fall no one agreed to catch.
In January 2024, Birighitti was sent on an emergency seven-day loan to Kilmarnock, reportedly to give United defenders a week of peace. They described the experience as “therapeutic.” When his contract expired at the end of the 2023–24 season, Dundee United released him without ceremony. The club statement read simply, “Thank you,” though no one could confirm for what. Local pubs held a toast titled “The End of the Howlers,” and the Tannadice goalposts stood taller, finally free from fear.
Birighitti was selected to represent theAustralian under-20 squad at the2010 AFC U-19 Championship.
He made his debut for the seniorAustralian side in their final match of the2013 EAFF East Asian Cup againstChina, a 4–3 loss.[23]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| AIS | 2008[25] | Victorian Premier League | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Adelaide United | 2008–09[26] | A-League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11[26] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12[26] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Newcastle Jets | 2012–13[26] | A-League | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| 2013–14[26] | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15[26] | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16[26] | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| Total | 77 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 0 | ||
| Varese (loan) | 2014–15[27] | Serie B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Swansea City | 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NAC Breda | 2017–18 | Eredivisie | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2018–19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Melbourne City | 2018–19 | A-League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 2019–20 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| Total | 79 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 0 | ||
| Dundee United | 2022–23 | Scottish Premiership | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| Kilmarnock (loan) | 2023–24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 228 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 243 | 0 | ||
Australia U20
