.jpg) Arnold managingAustralia at the2023 AFC Asian Cup | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graham James Arnold[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1963-08-03)3 August 1963 (age 61) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1980–1981 | Canterbury-Marrickville | ||||||||||||||||
| 1981–1990 | Sydney United | 178 | (69) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Roda JC | 61 | (22) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Liège | 60 | (23) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Charleroi | 16 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | NAC Breda | 63 | (35) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 28 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Northern Spirit | 47 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 453 | (161) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | Australia B | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1985–1997 | Australia | 56 | (19) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1990 | Sydney United | ||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Northern Spirit | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2006 | Australia (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Australia (caretaker) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Australia U23 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Australia (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Central Coast Mariners | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Vegalta Sendai | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Sydney FC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | Australia U23 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2024 | Australia | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Graham James Arnold (born 3 August 1963) is an Australianprofessional football manager and former player who most recently coached theAustralia national team. Arnold was first appointed to work as a head coach of the Australian national soccer team in 2000. After head coachFrank Farina was sacked in 2005, Arnold worked withGuus Hiddink for the2006 FIFA World Cup campaign, in which they made the second round of the finals. After Hiddink left, he became interim coach of theSocceroos. Arnold went on to qualify Australia's U23 men's national soccer team (nicknamed the Olyroos) for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Arnold then went on to assist Pim Verbeek for qualification of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.[2] Arnold's next move was to take the manager role at struggling A-League club theCentral Coast Mariners between 2010 and 2013, where he guided the club to a Premiership and a Championship. He is a member of theFootball Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame. Arnold went on to win two Premierships, one Championship and an FFA Cup with Sydney FC. In August 2018, Arnold was appointed head coach of the Socceroos - Australia's senior men's national soccer team.
In 2018, Arnold replacedBert van Marwijk as Australian coach after the2018 FIFA World Cup.[3] Under Arnold, Australia qualified for the2022 FIFA World Cup, during which Australia achieved their most successful World Cup campaign: after recording multiple group stage wins for the first time, with their only group stage loss being to eventual runners-upFrance, Australia qualified for the Round of 16 for the second time in their history, where they narrowly lost to eventual championsArgentina. He resigned from the role in September 2024.
Arnold holds a number of A-League records: he has managed the fourth most games of any manager in the A-League (211), he has achieved the third most wins in the competition's history (116), he has the third-best career winning percentage of any A-League manager with 30+ games managed (54.9%), he has the best career unbeaten percentage of any A-League manager (81.5%), and he is one of just three managers to have won multiple A-League championships.[4] Arnold also holds the records for most games coached, and most games won, as manager of Australia.[5]
Arnold Place in the Sydney suburb ofGlenwood is named for him.[6]
In July 2024, with the support of theSutherland Shire Council and Gwawley Bay Football Club, the Canberra Road Oval inSylvania, New South Wales was renamed the Graham Arnold Oval in honour of Arnold's career and achievements.[7][8] The oval is the home ground of Gwawley Bay Football Club, which Arnold and his family had a strong connection to; the club was Arnold's first football club, with Arnold's parents and brother all serving as dedicated volunteers at the club over the years.[9][10]
His daughter, Elissa Arnold, was as of February 2017 partner ofTrent Sainsbury, a Socceroo player.[11]
Arnold was a striker who started his career at Gwawley Bay in 1969. He played for them and Sutherland representative teams concurrently until 1979 when he moved to Canterbury-Marrickville in theNew South Wales Premier League. He then moved toSydney Croatia in Australia's now defunctNational Soccer League, where he was both the league's top goal scorer and player of the year in 1986. This was followed by a move overseas, where he made a name for himself in the Netherlands, playing forRoda JC Kerkrade andNAC Breda. He also spent time in Belgium withR.F.C. de Liège andR. Charleroi S.C. He went on to play forSanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan towards the end of his career, before finally returning home to play for theNorthern Spirit FC.
Graham Arnold has represented Australia's senior national team 56 times in 'A' international matches, scoring 19 goals (85 caps, 33 goals including unofficial matches and 'B' internationals). He was given his full debut byFrank Arok in aWorld Cup Qualifier againstTaiwan atAdelaide'sHindmarsh Stadium on 23 October 1985. He scored on his debut as the "Socceroos" went on to record a 7–0 victory. His international playing career came to a sad end on 29 November 1997 in aWorld Cup Qualifier againstIran at theMCG when the score ended 2–2 and Australia was eliminated on theaway goals rule after leading 2–0.
Arnold had a cameo role as a coach very early on in his career. He was coach for 2 games while he was a player atSydney Croatia during the 1989/90 season. However, his proper coaching career started in 1998, when he was appointed player/manager of theNorthern Spirit FC. He was the coach for 2 seasons, making the playoffs in their debut season.
He was then appointed to the position of Australian assistant coach in 2000, becoming interim coach in July 2006.
On 6 September 2006 Australia was defeated 2–0 in anAsian Cup qualifying game againstKuwait. TheFFA confirmed Arnold would remain head coach through to the end of 2007 Asian Cup campaign.
Australia started their Asian Cup campaign drawing withOman in its opening group stage game in Bangkok. On 13 July 2007 Australia were beaten 3–1 by the eventual winnersIraq in the2007 Asian Cup. Australia lost to Japan in penalty shootout in the Quarter Finals and Arnold then continued in the role as manager of the Australian U-23 side, qualifying through to the 2008 Olympics.
He was also linked with the manager's position atBolton Wanderers andNorwich City in England but lost out toGary Megson andGlenn Roeder respectively. With the appointment of DutchmanPim Verbeek as the Australian manager, Arnold along withHenk Duut served as his assistant to the national side during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
On 9 February 2010, it was announced that Arnold will take on the position of head coach for theCentral Coast Mariners until the end of the 2012–2013 season.[12][13][14] Arnold is recognised as one of the A-League's greatest ever managers, in part due to his contribution to theCentral Coast Mariners Football Club between 2010 and 2013. At the conclusion of the 2011–12 A-League season he rejected a lucrative contract fromSydney FC and decided to stay on with the Mariners signing a one-year extension to his original contract with the club.[15] In his three full seasons with the Mariners, Arnold guided the club to twoA-League Grand Finals (winning one), as well as the 2011–12 A-League Premiership. On 21 April 2013, he guided the Mariners to a 2–0 victory overWestern Sydney Wanderers to win the A-League Championship for the first time in the club's history.[16][17][18] This success in Australia's top flight ensured that the Mariners secured three successive qualifications for theAFC Champions League in2012,2013, and2014. In 2013, Arnold guided the Mariners to the knockout phase of Asia's premier club competition, in part thanks to a stunning1–0 win away toSuwon Bluewings in Suwon, Korea Republic just 48 hours after their 2013 A-League Grand Final victory in Sydney, Australia.[19][20]
Arnold is also recognised for having developed many young Australian talents during his time with the Mariners. Australian internationalsTom Rogic,Trent Sainsbury,Mathew Ryan,Mitchell Duke,Mustafa Amini,Bernie Ibini, andOliver Bozanic all developed their game under Arnold at the Mariners, and went on to enjoy great careers abroad.[21] Some of Arnold's tenure at the Central Coast Mariners is highlighted in the 2013 fly-on-the-wall sports documentary'The Code: Life with the Mariners'. The documentary charts the team's 2013 A-League Grand Final winning season, showcasing the culture and unity of the club under Arnold, as well as other characters and contributors at the club.
In the month of November 2013 Graham was a target for a few clubs in Asia, especiallyVegalta Sendai in Japan'sJ1 League. Although interest again raised from the Australian Football Federation to make Graham the national team coach, he always wanted to stay in club football over the national team setup and within weeks agreed terms with Sendai to be the first Australian coach to coach at the highest level in Japanese football.[22] Graham recruited his assistant from the Central Coast MarinersAndrew Clark to join him in Japan. On 9 April 2014, it was announced by Vegalta Sendai that Arnold had mutually terminated his contract.[23]
Arnold was appointed as the new head coach ofSydney FC on 8 May 2014.[24] In his first season with the Sky Blues, they were runners-up in the2014–15 A-League season, finishing second behind Melbourne Victory, and losing the2015 A-League Grand Final to them.
After the successful 2014–15 season, they saw an unsuccessful 2015–16 A-League season, finishing in 7th place and missing out on the Finals Series. He was, however, able to lead the team to a top place finish in Group H for their2016 AFC Champions League campaign. They were eventually knocked out by Chinese teamShandong Luneng 3–3 on aggregate in the Round of 16.
Arnold started his revamp of the squad by releasing 13 players in the pre-season. To solve the teams goalscoring issues, he bought in Brazilian strikerBobô as their new marquee to play alongside former teammateFilip Hološko under the new 2 marquee rule. In addition to this, he also brought in 5 Australian players, includingBernie Ibini on loan,SoccerooAlex Wilkinson (two whom have worked with Arnold at the Central Coast) andDanny Vukovic from rival clubMelbourne Victory. The season started off with a bang, with Sydney FC defeating their rivals Western Sydney Wanderers 4–0 in round 1. He led the team to a runners-up finish after being defeated 1–0 in the FFA Cup Final by Melbourne City.
Into the January transfer window, fan favouriteMatthew Jurman joined K-League clubSuwon Samsung Bluewings, while keeperVedran Janjetović swapped withAndrew Redmayne to cross city rivals,Western Sydney Wanderers after a dispute about not playing after being displaced by Vukovic. To replace Jurman, Dutch defenderJordy Buijs signed. The team was able to go on undefeated for 19 games in the league before eventually being defeated 1–0 in a controversial game against the Wanderers. This defeat only made the team stronger, as they went the remainder of the season undefeated, gaining 19 points out of a possible 21 for the remaining 7 games. His team was eventually crowned premiers after Melbourne Victory was unable to defeat Brisbane Roar, while Sydney had 4 games remaining. Arnold's 3rd season with Sydney proved fruitful, in addition to winning the premiership, the squad had broken multiple records, including the most points in a single season, breaking Brisbane Roar's 2010–11 season of 65 points in 3 fewer games with 66 points, as well as being the only top-flight football team in Australia to stay outright 1st throughout the whole season. Arnold was also named Coach of the Year at the Dolan Warren Gala Night. He ended the season with a 1–1 in the Grand Final, winning 4–2 on penalties against Melbourne Victory, becoming the first manager to win the championship with more than one club.
Arnold went on to win the 2017-2018 Premiership, becoming the first coach in A League history to win back to back Premierships.
One of the highlights of Arnold's tenure at Sydney FC was his ability to recruit impactful foreign players to the club. Arnold signed the likes ofMilos Ninkovic,Bobo,Filip Holosko,Adrian Mierzejewski, andMarc Janko to the Sky Blues, each of whom made telling contributions to Sydney's success between 2014 and 2018 alongside a raft of key Australian players includingBrandon O'Neill,Rhyan Grant,Andrew Redmayne, andJoshua Brillante.
On 8 March 2018, after a vigorous search, it was announced that he would replaceBert van Marwijk as Australian coach after the2018 FIFA World Cup following his notable success withA-League clubSydney FC,[3] as well as also taking charge of theOlyroos. Almost immediately after Australia's uninspired performance at the tournament reached its climax, Arnold officially took the reins in the box seat of the national team. He opened his account strongly, with his team executing a comprehensive 4–0 win away toKuwait national football team. In November 2018, Arnold's men were given their first genuine test of what was proclaimed by Australian media as the 'new era' of the Socceroos, drawing 1–1 against rivals South Korea in front of 32,922 fans at Brisbane'sLang Park in a friendly on 18 November 2018. On the day prior to the match, Arnold announced thatSocceroos veteranMark Milligan would be appointed captain for an indefinite period.
His first tournament on his second stint was the2019 AFC Asian Cup, where Australia, as the defending champions, unexpectedly lost their quarter-finals game toJordan 0-1 before ending the campaign with the same scoreline, this time to thehosts on thesame stadium, thus suffered criticisms for the team's poor form in the tournament.[25] Despite criticisms, he was able to guide the Olyroos to a third-place finish in2020 AFC U-23 Championship, thus qualifying for the2020 Summer Olympics (delayed a year due to theCOVID-19 pandemic), as well as achieving for the first-time ever a straight eight wins in thesecond round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to reach thethird round.[26][27]
In June 2022, Arnold guided Australia to its fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup Finals appearance, leading the Socceroos to play-off wins over UAE on 7 June, andPeru on 13 June in Doha, Qatar. In thesecond play-off against Peru, Arnold made a key decision prior to the penalty shoot-out, substituting goalkeeper captainMathew Ryan forAndrew Redmayne. Redmayne performed strongly in the shoot-out, saving a decisive penalty to help lift Australia to another World Cup; Arnold himself had been subjects of heavy criticism for Australia's under-performance at the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[28][29]
In the2022 FIFA World Cup, Arnold defied all odds and criticism aimed against him, leading Australia to the round of 16 for only the second time after 2006 when he was an assistant coach, following 1–0 wins overTunisia andDenmark in the last two group stage matches, making him the first Australian-born manager to achieve this feat, as well as the first Australia manager to win multiple matches in the same FIFA World Cup tournament.[30][29] Australia were later eliminated by Argentina after a thrilling 2–1 defeat, despite theSocceroos putting up late scare to equalize.[31][32] Following the tournament, Arnold was named the best coach at the 2022 World Cup by French sports newspaperL'Équipe and had his contract extended to the2026 FIFA World Cup, as he urged Australian officials to do more to promote football across the country.[33][34][35]
In thethird round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, Australia had a bad start, with the first game losing toBahrain at home soil 0–1, followed by a scoreless draw againstIndonesia. On 20 September, Arnold decided to resign as the Socceroos head coach, he became the longest-serving coach in Socceroos history for 6 years.[36]
| Club | Season | League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sydney Croatia | 1985 | National Soccer League | 28 | 11 |
| 1986 | 25 | 12 | ||
| 1987 | 24 | 17 | ||
| 1988 | 23 | 7 | ||
| 1989 | 27 | 10 | ||
| 1989–90 | 26 | 6 | ||
| Total | 153 | 63 | ||
| Roda | 1990–91 | Eredivisie | 28 | 8 |
| 1991–92 | 33 | 14 | ||
| Total | 61 | 22 | ||
| Liège | 1992–93 | Belgian First Division | 32 | 16 |
| 1993–94 | 28 | 7 | ||
| Total | 60 | 23 | ||
| Charleroi | 1994–95 | Belgian First Division | 16 | 1 |
| NAC Breda | 1994–95 | Eredivisie | 15 | 10 |
| 1995–96 | 30 | 16 | ||
| 1996–97 | 18 | 9 | ||
| Total | 63 | 35 | ||
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1997 | J1 League | 18 | 6 |
| 1998 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Total | 28 | 7 | ||
| Northern Spirit | 1998–99 | National Soccer League | 28 | 5 |
| 1999–2000 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | 13 | 0 | ||
| Total | 47 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 428 | 156 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1985 | 2 | 1 |
| 1986 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1987 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1988 | 16 | 4 | |
| 1989 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1991 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 7 | 3 | |
| Total | 54 | 19 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 August 1985 | St George Stadium, Banksia, Australia |  Red Star Belgrade | 4–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 9 August 1985 | Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia | Red Star Belgrade | 1–4 | 1–4 | Friendly |
| 3 | 11 August 1985 | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia | Red Star Belgrade | 4–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 4 | 25 September 1985 | St George Stadium, Banksia, Australia |  China | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 5 | 23 October 1985 | Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia |  Chinese Taipei | 6–0 | 7–0 | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 3 August 1986 | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia |  Czechoslovakia | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 7 | 25 October 1986 | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand |  New Zealand | 1–0 | 1–1 | Trans-Tasman trophy |
| 8 | 2 November 1986 | Parramatta Stadium, Australia | New Zealand | 1–0 | 2–0 | Trans-Tasman trophy |
| 9 | 23 November 1986 | Canton, China | China | 2–0 | 2–0 | Ampol Cup Trophy |
| 10 | 11 June 1987 | Kyong Ju, South Korea |  Chile | 2–0 | 2–0 | Korea Cup |
| 11 | 15 June 1987 | Suwon, South Korea |  South Korea | 4–0 | 5–0 | Korea Cup |
| 12 | 21 June 1987 | Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul, South Korea | South Korea | 1–1 | 1–1 | Korea Cup |
| 13 | 15 November 1987 | Taipei, Taiwan |  Taiwan | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 14 | 2–0 | |||||
| 15 | 3 February 1988 | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia | GNK Dinamo Zagreb | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 16 | 26 February 1988 | Bruce Stadium, Canberra, Australia | Taiwan | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1988 Olympic Games Qualifying |
| 17 | 2–0 | |||||
| 18 | 27 March 1988 | Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand | Taiwan | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1988 Olympic Games Qualifying |
| 19 | 3 December 1988 | Macquarie Field |  Fiji | 4–0 | 5–1 | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 20 | 22 February 1989 | Parramatta Stadium, Australia |  Malmö FF | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 21 | 12 March 1989 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia | New Zealand | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 22 | 3–0 | |||||
| 23 | 2 February 1990 | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia |  FC Torpedo Moscow | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 24 | 3–0 | |||||
| 25 | 10 June 1991 | Taegu, South Korea |  United States | 2–2 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 26 | 12 June 1991 | Pohang, South Korea | South Korea | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 27 | 26 February 1993 | Papendaal, Netherlands |  Vitesse Arnhem | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 28 | 16 July 1993 | Bersenberg, Germany |  MSV Duisburg | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 29 | 30 May 1993 | Auckland, New Zealand | New Zealand | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) |
| 30 | 18 June 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia |  Ghana | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 31 | 13 June 1997 | Parramatta Stadium, Australia |  Tahiti | 4–0 | 5–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 32 | 17 June 1997 | Parramatta Stadium, Australia |  Solomon Islands | 2–0 | 6–2 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 33 | 6 July 1997 | Parramatta Stadium, Australia | New Zealand | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Australia |  | 21 July 2006 | 6 December 2007 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 040.00 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 1 June 2010 | 14 November 2013 | 114 | 55 | 30 | 29 | 048.25 | |
| Vegalta Sendai[39] |  | 1 February 2014 | 9 April 2014 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 000.00 |
| Sydney FC | | 8 May 2014 | 14 July 2018 | 142 | 81 | 34 | 27 | 057.04 |
| Australia U23 | 16 July 2018 | 28 July 2021 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 055.56 | |
| Australia | 16 July 2018 | 20 September 2024 | 57 | 37 | 7 | 13 | 064.91 | |
| Total | 345 | 184 | 81 | 80 | 053.33 | |||
Individual
Central Coast Mariners
Sydney
Individual
Australia (Assistant Manager)
Australia U23
Record
Graham Arnold has enjoyed a long association with the Olympic Games, having attended four Men's Football Tournament hailing back to Seoul 1988.
...streets are named after well known football identities...
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