Mark Daniel Milligan (born 4 August 1985) is an Australian former professionalfootballer and the current head coach ofNewcastle Jets.
Starting his career as adefender, Milligan has spent much of his later career playing as amidfielder.[3] Milligan represented theAustralia men's national soccer team eighty times, including at fourFIFA World Cup tournaments. During a 19-year professional career, he also played abroad for clubs in China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Scotland and England.
Mark started his grassroots football career at his local club, Birrong Sports Football club in the Bankstown District in 1991 and 1992, and he quickly moved onto representative football as a junior footballer.
FourFourTwo magazine revealed on 28 July 2007 that after the Asian Cup Milligan had gone withoutSydney FC's permission to trial for teams in Europe.[4] Milligan was linked with French sidesFC Metz andRC Lens. The following day Milligan reportedly walked out on Metz just before a scheduled trial game appearance againstStandard Liège, allegedly out of frustration at the right-back position he would be trialled in.[5] The following day it was reported that Milligan would return home to play for Sydney FC after all.[6][7]
On 19 May, Milligan scored his first goal for Shanghai Shenhua in their 1–1 draw in theAFC Champions League group stage match againstKashima Antlers.
Milligan finalised his switch from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua to Japanese sideJEF United Chiba, who were relegated to the second division.[9]
When the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, Milligan decided to flee the country, fearing for the safety of not only himself, but his wife and child.[10] With theJ2 League suspended until further notice, JEF United Chiba gave permission for Milligan to train in a bid to keep his fitness up with his former A-League clubSydney FC.[11]
On 23 January 2012 it was reported thatMelbourne Victory was to secure Milligan on loan until the end of theregular season.[12] It was confirmed on 24 January that Milligan signed for a loan deal to Melbourne Victory until the end of the 2011–12 A-League season, becoming the firstSydney FC player to switch to Melbourne Victory.[13] He returned to Japan in March.[14] In July 2012, Milligan was released fromJEF United Chiba and returned to Melbourne Victory by signing a three-year contract.[15]
Milligan starred for Melbourne Victory during their 2012–13 season, moving from centre-back to play as a defensive midfielder, and quickly established himself as one of the best players in the league. Although he has never been a prolific goal scorer, Milligan scored 8 goals in this season, a number of them being clutch goals in important games, including a penalty equaliser in an elimination final againstPerth Glory that Melbourne Victory went on to win in extra time. To cap off his season, Milligan won theVictory Medal, awarded to the club's player of the season.
On 17 September 2013, Milligan was rewarded for his performances by being appointed the captain of Melbourne Victory, replacingAdrian Leijer. He was also rumoured to be leaving Melbourne Victory to join fellow national team midfielderMile Jedinak at newly promotedPremier League clubCrystal Palace, however Melbourne Victory rejected a rumoured£2m offer for the defensive midfielder.[16][17]
Milligan, after a trial at Crystal Palace, stayed on at Melbourne Victory as captain in the 2013–14 season.[18] He sustained an injury halfway through the season,[19] and the team suffered for this and other reasons such as losing their coach, an injury to Adrian Leijer (ex-captain and central defender) and four players (including three defenders) going to the Under 21 World championships (Jason Geria, Connor Pain, Scott Galloway and Nick Ansell). However, Victory improved after this period to finish fourth in the A-League. Milligan played every minute of all but one ACL match, only missing the final away match of the ACL Asian Champions League match through suspension.
At the end of the 2014–15 season it was announced thatUAE Pro-League sideBaniyas SC had triggered the release clause of Milligan's contract with a $1 million transfer fee, and he signed with them on a two-year contract.[20]
On 28 January 2018, Melbourne Victory sold Mark Milligan to Al-Ahli for $1 million.[22] He was assigned the number 5 shirt. On 4 February, he made his debut for Al-Ahli in a league game againstAl Ittihad FC. He played at centre-half, with the game finishing 0-0. He got good response from the fans, playing the full 90 minutes in theJeddah derby.
On 18 August 2018, Milligan signed a two-year contract withScottish Premiership clubHibernian.[23] Milligan played regularly for Hibernian during the 2018–19 season, after which he left the club.[24] Hibernian head coachPaul Heckingbottom said that he had opted to exercise a break clause in Milligan's contract as he wanted to "recruit something different to play in that position".[25]
On 1 July 2019, Milligan signed forSouthend United.[26] Milligan was released by Southend United on 19 June 2020, after the team's relegation from League One.[27]
On 30 July 2020, following his release from Southend, Milligan returned home to Australia to join newly formedA-League clubMacarthur FC, signing a two-year deal.[28] On 22 October, he was named the club's captain for their inaugural campaign in the A-League.[29] In the club's first match, a local derby againstWestern Sydney Wanderers on 30 December, Milligan scored the club's first goal which secured a first-ever win.[30]
On 2 June 2021, Milligan announced that he would be retiring from football at the end of the2020–21 season and would join the coaching staff at Macarthur.[31][32]
He made his senior international debut againstLiechtenstein on 7 June 2006, coming off the bench in the 85th minute of Australia's last warm-up game before the World Cup. He did not play in any of Australia's four World Cup games in Germany. His first start came againstKuwait in anAsian Cup qualifier on 16 August 2006. His next appearance was on 7 October 2006 in a friendly againstParaguay as a late substitute.
In February 2007, Milligan was named as captain of theAustralian U-23 side, the 'Olyroos', for two Olympic qualifying games againstChinese Taipei. He sustained a broken nose in an 'off-the-ball' incident during the second qualifier. He led the Olyroos to Olympic qualification and was the key influential figure in their final games againstIraq andNorth Korea, scoring in each game and taking the man of the match award in both.
Milligan was selected in the Australian squad for the2007 Asian Cup. During the tournament, Milligan was selected to play in the starting line-up for Australia against co-host nationThailand in the final game of the group matches. Australia won 4–0 and advanced to the quarter finals of the competition with Milligan putting in what was widely regarded as a Man of the Match performance in the centre of a three-man defence. On 21 July 2007, in the quarter-final againstJapan, Milligan was unfortunate in failing to clear a ball from the penalty area that saw strikerNaohiro Takahara pounce and score an equaliser. The game ended 1–1 and Australia was eliminated from the Cup on penalties.
Milligan scored his first international goal for the Socceroos againstIndonesia in a 2011 Asian Cup Qualifiers played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. This being the only goal in the match with Australia winning 1–0 and then qualifying for the 2011 competition.
He was named in the 31 man squad named byPim Verbeek for the2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. His2010 FIFA World Cup profile described him as "[a] mobile defender with good ball skills and an ability to play a raking pass."[33]
Milligan was selected for the 30-man preliminary2014 FIFA World Cup squad, alongside seven other A-League players.[34] Three from Melbourne Victory (Milligan, James Troisi & Tom Rogic) were among the final selection.[35] He played alongside James Troisi and captain Mile Jedinak in a three-man midfield in the Socceroos warm-up match vs Croatia.[36] He played only one game in the 2014 World Cup, a 3–1 defeat againstChile in their opening match.
In 2015, he was a key member ofAustralia who won the2015 AFC Asian Cup. He didn't play in the opening game. After this game, he played in all the next 5 matches, including the final againstSouth Korea. In the second game, he scored the goal againstOman national football team. Australia won the match by 4-0. After the Asian Cup success, he played 7 games out of 8 in second round of2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification. He scored his fourth and fifth international goals againstTajikistan.
Milligan captained Australia at the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, and scored from the penalty spot in the 60th minute in a 1-1 draw againstCameroon.
In thethird round of qualification, he played 8 games out of 10. Australia finished third in the table and failed to qualify directly to the World Cup. He played on the winning side in the two-leg tieAsian play-off againstSyria. The match ended 3-2 on aggregate afterextra time. He also played in the second leg game of2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF–AFC play-off) againstHonduras. This was the match which decided the last spot of2018 FIFA World Cup. The match ended in favour of Australia by 3-1. With that, Australia qualified in the World Cup finals for the fourth time in a row. In May 2018 he was named in Australia's 23-mansquad for the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[37] Milligan played in central defence during the tournament, alongsideTrent Sainsbury.
Milligan captained Australia at the2019 AFC Asian Cup, in which they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage.[38]
He retired from international football in December 2019.[39]
Ahead of the2025–26 A-League season, Milligan took on his first professional senior coaching role, at one his former clubs from his playing days,Newcastle Jets.[41]
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