 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander John Kosmina | ||
| Date of birth | (1956-08-17)17 August 1956 (age 68) | ||
| Place of birth | Adelaide, Australia | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1973 | Polonia Adelaide | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1976 | Polonia Adelaide | ||
| 1977 | West Adelaide Hellas | 23 | (12) |
| 1978 | Adelaide City | 4 | (0) |
| 1978–1979 | Arsenal | 1 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | West Adelaide Hellas | 44 | (12) |
| 1981–1986 | Sydney City | 150 | (89) |
| 1987–1988 | Sydney Olympic | 44 | (13) |
| 1989 | APIA Leichhardt | 24 | (6) |
| 1990 | Sutherland Sharks | ||
| International career | |||
| 1976–1988 | Australia | 60 | (25[1]) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1994–1995 | Warringah Dolphins | ||
| 1995–1998 | Newcastle Breakers | ||
| 1999–2003 | Brisbane Strikers | ||
| 2003–2007 | Adelaide United | ||
| 2007–2009 | Sydney FC | ||
| 2010–2011 | Adelaide Raiders | ||
| 2011 | Croydon Kings | ||
| 2011–2012 | Adelaide United (Caretaker) | ||
| 2012–2013 | Adelaide United | ||
| 2016–2019 | Brisbane City | ||
| 2020–2021 | Brisbane Strikers | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alexander John Kosmina (born 17 August 1956), known asJohn Kosmina, is an Australian formerfootball (soccer) player and manager, most recently being the Senior Head Coach ofBrisbane Strikers. He is a member of theFootball Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame.
Kosmina's father was from Poland and came to Australia after World War II. Kosmina's family lived in Port Adelaide, in a heavily Polish community. Kosmina was pushed into football by his father who worked in football.[2][3]
Kosmina is ofPolish Australian ethnicity. He played forPolonia and thenWest Adelaide. The move offended some people in the community but Kosmina had wanted to play at a higher level.[3] He then played for the English club,Arsenal in February 1978. However, he only played one first-team league game for the Gunners (as asubstitute againstLeeds United on 19 August 1978), along with 3 appearances (2 as a substitute) in that season's UEFA cup. He was the first Australian to play for Arsenal. He returned to Australia in May 1979[citation needed] as he said he was feeling homesick and felt like a novelty.[4]
On his return, he went on to become one of theNational Soccer League's most prolific scorers, with stints atAdelaide City,West Adelaide (for a second time),Sydney City,Sydney Olympic andA.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers before retiring in 1989. The most successful of these was with Sydney City, being part of their 1981 and 1982 championship winning teams, as well as being the league's top scorer in 1982.[citation needed]
Kosmina was captain of the Australian national football team, and helped the team win theMerlion Cup twice. He cited Peter Wilson as a player who had influenced his work as a captain.[2]
During the 1985 season,CR Vasco da Gama toured Australia, playing against various teams in a series of games. Kosmina scored the winning goal in his team's game against Vasco de Gama, which helped Australia win the series and later cited it as one of the best goals he had ever scored.[2]
After retiring, he began coaching the Warringah Dolphins in the New South Wales state leagues, before coachingNSL side Newcastle Breakers, followed by a stint at theBrisbane Strikers. Both stints were largely unsuccessful, his sides reaching the finals only once.
In 2003, he became the inaugural coach ofAdelaide United. Kosmina coached United to an impressive 3rd in the final season of the NSL. Maintaining his job for the inaugural season of theA-League, Kosmina led his side to the Minor Premiership but a poor finals series saw them finish 3rd overall. The next season saw mixed results for Kosmina and Adelaide United.
Finishing 2nd on the table behindMelbourne Victory, Adelaide managed to reach the grand final, only to be thrashed 6–0. Kosmina's criticism of the refereeing of that match, coupled with the devastating loss and a touchline ban earlier during the season for ascuffle with Victory captainKevin Muscat, saw him forced to resign by the Adelaide board.[5] Kosmina said that he felt that Muscat had thrown an elbow at him and said he had "lost it".[4]
He was then appointed bySocceroos coach Graham Arnold as his assistant for the 2007Asian Cup.
After the sacking ofBranko Culina by the Sydney Football Club Board, Kosmina was confirmed on 24 October 2007 as the new Sydney FC coach.[6] Since signing withSydney FC Kosmina made an immediate impact; winning his first game with Sydney 3–2 against rivalsCentral Coast Mariners at theSydney Football Stadium.
Sydney FC beat theLA Galaxy 5–3 at Sydney'sTelstra Stadium in a friendly, and also won a thrilling 5–4 victory against theCentral Coast Mariners atBluetongue Stadium. Following Sydney FC's poor run in the 2008/2009 season (missing the finals for the first time), John Kosmina had his contract terminated in late January 2009.[7]
He was announced the manager of theAdelaide Raiders, a semi-professional club playing in theFFSA Super League.[8] On 1 September 2011, it was announced he had signed as senior coach ofFFSA Super League clubCroydon Kings after more than 35 years away from the club.[9] It was announced on 18 December 2011 that Croydon Kings had agreed to release Kosmina from his coaching contract so he could accept the Adelaide United manager position.[10]
On 18 December 2011 he signed as caretaker coach withAdelaide United for the remainder of the 2011–12 A-League season.[11] On 22 March 2012 it was announced he had signed a one-year contract with the club to stay on for the 2012–13 A-League season.[12] On 28 January 2013 he stood down as manager of Adelaide United, citing a lack of trust at the club.[13]
In August 2015, Kosmina was appointed senior coach and football leader atNational Premier Leagues Queensland clubBrisbane City, signing a three-year contract.[14] In November 2018, it was announced that he would join the coaching staff atSt Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, taking responsibility for the Open First and Second XI teams, as well as the Year 10 and 11 teams, as part of a partnership between the college and Brisbane City.[15]
In November 2020,Brisbane Strikers announced that Kosmina would return to the club as senior coach,[16] 17 years after he last coached the side. After a string of shocking results Kosmina was sacked by the club on Monday 24 May
On 24 May 2021, it was announced via a club statement on the club website that theBrisbane Strikers and Kosmina would be parting ways.[17] This decision came after a poor run of form which saw the Strikers not take a single point from their first ten games in the2021 NPL Queensland Season.[18]
He occasionally appears onFox Sports as a commentator and football analyst. Kosmina co-hosts a weekly Internet television show about football onAustralia Live TV withRoss Aloisi, Two Up Front[19] and the episodes are onAustraliaLiveTV.comArchived 31 May 2019 at theWayback Machine.
Kosmina Street in the Sydney suburb ofGlenwood is named for him,[24] along with Kosmina Crescent in the northern Adelaide suburb of Hillbank.
The award given to the player of the match in theNational Premier Leagues Grand Final each year is named in his honour.
...streets are named after well known football identities...
