Paul Okon
Encyclopedia
Paul Okon is a former Australian football (soccer)
player who retired after playing with Australia
n side Newcastle United Jets
.
He previously captained the Australian National Team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics
in Barcelona
. Okon's career began at Marconi Stallions
in the old NSL
in Australia
. He then went on to play at many European clubs including S.S. Lazio
and Fiorentina
in Italy
's Serie A
, Vicenza Calcio
in Serie B
, Middlesbrough F.C.
and Leeds United F.C. in the English Premiership
, Club Brugge
, K.V. Oostende
in Belgium's Jupiler League
and APOEL FC
in the Cypriot First Division
. Okon was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2009, for his services to football in Australia. During his time in Belgium
, Okon acquired citizenship of the country.
suburb of Bossley Park. He is of German and Italian descent. He represented his high school, Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield during his time as a teenage schoolboy and featured prominently in all teams including the A Grade squad. However, his abilities did not stop at the football pitch. He set the record for high jump at the College's annual Athletics Carnival in the under 16s age group which was not broken until 2004.
Okon left Marconi Stallions
in 1991 for Club Brugge
, and due to a series of excellent performances at sweeper won the Belgian Golden Shoe (95/96), the Belgian Jupiler league (95/96) and two Belgian Cups (94/95 and 95/96). These performances captured the attention of some of Europe's biggest clubs, and in 1996 Dino Zoff
- then coach of Italian giants SS Lazio - flew out to Belgium to personally sign the Australian, stipulating in his contract that Okon would play sweeper and promising 1st team football. However, with the departure of Roberto Di Matteo
to Chelsea
- forcing him to play in midfield - and a succession of knee injuries (a problem caused by a misaligned pelvis, the result of a childhood car-crash) resulted in game-time being limited. While he did return for the 1999 Scudetto decider (playing in one of the final games of the season against Juventus, which Lazio lost, handing the title to AC Milan) that summer he departed the Roman club.
This began a turbulent chapter of Okon's career, with spells at Fiorentina (99/00), Middlesbrough
(00/02), Leeds United (02/03) & Vicenza
(03/04) before returning to the country where he made his name with Oostende in 2004. After a brief spell with APOEL FC
in Cyprus, Okon returned to Australia after missing out on selection for the 2006 World Cup, a victim of the change of system which resulted in their qualification.
He signed with A-League
club Newcastle United Jets for the 2006-07 season. Okon fit into a well constructed Jets side and helped then make the playoffs in 2007. Due to injury concerns, Okon decided to retire from professional football in June 2007. Okon played for amateur team West Ryde Rovers's Over 35 Division 1 team in the GHFA.
, Alistair Edwards
and Nicola Williams
, Okon was a recipient of an inaugural three year scholarship under the Elite Coaching Development Program led by the FFA
. As part of the program, Okon spent time at Coverciano
with the Italian U-23
side under Pierluigi Casiraghi in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games, and spent a stint studying the youth setup of PSV Eindhoven.
On 2 September 2008 Okon was appointed assistant coach to Miron Bleiberg
at Gold Coast United for their inaugural season. Before taking up his new role he took up an interim coaching role at APIA Leichhardt for their 2009 NSW Premier League season.
On 30 October 2008 Okon was appointed to lead the Australian U-18 side at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in the month of January, aimed as part of a long term view towards establishing the team for the 2012 Olympic Games.
On 23 February 2010, Gold Coast United announced that Okon's contract would not be renewed, following the team's loss in the first round of the A-league finals. Since then he has gone away on tour with the Australian Olympic under 23 squad for a tournament in Vietnam where he was assistant coach to Aurelio Vidmar.
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:
With Club Brugge
: Belgian League Championship: 1995-1996
Belgian Cup
: 1994-1995, 1995–1996
Personal Honours:
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player who retired after playing with Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n side Newcastle United Jets
Newcastle United Jets
Newcastle United Jets Football Club is a professional football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. The club competes in the A-League and plays its home games at Ausgrid Stadium . The Jets have won one A-League championship, defeating arch rivals the 1–0 in the 2007–08 Grand Final...
.
He previously captained the Australian National Team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. Okon's career began at Marconi Stallions
Marconi Stallions
The Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian football club located in Sydney, Australia. The club won the National Soccer League title a record four times, along with South Melbourne FC and Sydney City SC...
in the old NSL
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He then went on to play at many European clubs including S.S. Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
and Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
, Vicenza Calcio
Vicenza Calcio
Vicenza Calcio is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. The club was formed in 1902 and currently plays in Italy's Serie B, having spent the entire 1960s and a large part of the 1990s in Serie A...
in Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
, Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
and Leeds United F.C. in the English Premiership
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
, Club Brugge
Club Brugge
Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging is a football club from Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and is one of the top clubs in Belgium. Its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,472....
, K.V. Oostende
K.V. Oostende
K.V. Oostende is a Belgian association football club, from the municipality of Ostend, West Flanders. It was created in 1904 as V.G. Oostende and it has the matricule n°31.- History :...
in Belgium's Jupiler League
Jupiler League
The Belgian Pro League is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Belgian Second Division...
and APOEL FC
APOEL FC
APOEL F.C. is a professional football club based in Lefkosia , Cyprus and they are one of the founding members of the Cyprus Football Association. APOEL is one of the most popular football teams in Cyprus and they are the most successful with an overall tally of 21 championships, 19 cups and 12...
in the Cypriot First Division
Cypriot First Division
The Cypriot Championship First Division is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus. As of 2007 it is sponsored by Marfin Popular Bank and is hence officially known as Marfin Laiki League .-Format:...
. Okon was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2009, for his services to football in Australia. During his time in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Okon acquired citizenship of the country.
Club career
Okon grew up in the SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Bossley Park. He is of German and Italian descent. He represented his high school, Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield during his time as a teenage schoolboy and featured prominently in all teams including the A Grade squad. However, his abilities did not stop at the football pitch. He set the record for high jump at the College's annual Athletics Carnival in the under 16s age group which was not broken until 2004.
Okon left Marconi Stallions
Marconi Stallions
The Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian football club located in Sydney, Australia. The club won the National Soccer League title a record four times, along with South Melbourne FC and Sydney City SC...
in 1991 for Club Brugge
Club Brugge
Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging is a football club from Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and is one of the top clubs in Belgium. Its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,472....
, and due to a series of excellent performances at sweeper won the Belgian Golden Shoe (95/96), the Belgian Jupiler league (95/96) and two Belgian Cups (94/95 and 95/96). These performances captured the attention of some of Europe's biggest clubs, and in 1996 Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff is an Italian former football goalkeeper and is the oldest winner ever of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian team in the 1982 tournament in Spain, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days.Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability and has a place in the...
- then coach of Italian giants SS Lazio - flew out to Belgium to personally sign the Australian, stipulating in his contract that Okon would play sweeper and promising 1st team football. However, with the departure of Roberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo is a Swiss-born Italian former professional footballer and the current assistant manager of Chelsea. As a midfielder, he enjoyed spells at Schaffhausen, Zürich Aarau, Lazio, and Chelsea. He was capped by Italy 34 times, scoring two goals for the Italian national team, and played...
to Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
- forcing him to play in midfield - and a succession of knee injuries (a problem caused by a misaligned pelvis, the result of a childhood car-crash) resulted in game-time being limited. While he did return for the 1999 Scudetto decider (playing in one of the final games of the season against Juventus, which Lazio lost, handing the title to AC Milan) that summer he departed the Roman club.
This began a turbulent chapter of Okon's career, with spells at Fiorentina (99/00), Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
(00/02), Leeds United (02/03) & Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
(03/04) before returning to the country where he made his name with Oostende in 2004. After a brief spell with APOEL FC
APOEL FC
APOEL F.C. is a professional football club based in Lefkosia , Cyprus and they are one of the founding members of the Cyprus Football Association. APOEL is one of the most popular football teams in Cyprus and they are the most successful with an overall tally of 21 championships, 19 cups and 12...
in Cyprus, Okon returned to Australia after missing out on selection for the 2006 World Cup, a victim of the change of system which resulted in their qualification.
He signed with A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
club Newcastle United Jets for the 2006-07 season. Okon fit into a well constructed Jets side and helped then make the playoffs in 2007. Due to injury concerns, Okon decided to retire from professional football in June 2007. Okon played for amateur team West Ryde Rovers's Over 35 Division 1 team in the GHFA.
Managerial career
On 24 June 2008, along with Alex TobinAlex Tobin
Alexander Hugh Tobin is a former Australian football player. Tobin is the second most capped player for the Australia national football team with 87 'A' appearances, including many as captain...
, Alistair Edwards
Alistair Edwards
Alistair Edwards is a former professional soccer player from Australia. A prominent forward, he made a name for himself with National Soccer League clubs Sydney Olympic and Perth Glory...
and Nicola Williams
Nicola Williams
Nicola Williams is an Australian Association football coach and former player.-Career:Williams played for the Western Waves during their primary seasons in the Australian Women's National Soccer League....
, Okon was a recipient of an inaugural three year scholarship under the Elite Coaching Development Program led by the FFA
FFA
FFA is a three-letter acronym that may stand for:-Aviation and the military:* First Flight Airport, IATA code for the tiny airstrip in Kitty Hawk where the first flight occurred in 1903.* Free-fire area, in U.S...
. As part of the program, Okon spent time at Coverciano
Coverciano
Coverciano, also known as Casa Italia, located in the quartiere of Florence with the same name, is the central training ground and technical headquarters of the FIGC, the Italian Football Association. The complex covers technical and training events associated with various Italian national football...
with the Italian U-23
Italy national under-21 football team
The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years...
side under Pierluigi Casiraghi in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games, and spent a stint studying the youth setup of PSV Eindhoven.
On 2 September 2008 Okon was appointed assistant coach to Miron Bleiberg
Miron Bleiberg
Miron Bleiberg is an Israeli-Australian football manager, currently the head coach and director of football operations at A-League club Gold Coast United.-Biography:...
at Gold Coast United for their inaugural season. Before taking up his new role he took up an interim coaching role at APIA Leichhardt for their 2009 NSW Premier League season.
On 30 October 2008 Okon was appointed to lead the Australian U-18 side at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in the month of January, aimed as part of a long term view towards establishing the team for the 2012 Olympic Games.
On 23 February 2010, Gold Coast United announced that Okon's contract would not be renewed, following the team's loss in the first round of the A-league finals. Since then he has gone away on tour with the Australian Olympic under 23 squad for a tournament in Vietnam where he was assistant coach to Aurelio Vidmar.
National team statistics
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Honours
With AustraliaAustralia national football (soccer) team
The Australia national association football team represents Australia in international association football competitions. Its official nickname is the "Socceroos"...
:
- OFC Nations CupOFC Nations CupThe OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the Oceania Football Confederation member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name Oceania Nations Cup...
: 20002000 OFC Nations CupSolomon Islands and Vanuatu* qualified for Oceania Nations Cup 2000* Fiji were replaced by Vanuatu .-Polynesia Cup 2000:--------------------------------------------...
With Club Brugge
Club Brugge
Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging is a football club from Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and is one of the top clubs in Belgium. Its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,472....
: Belgian League Championship: 1995-1996
Jupiler League 1995-96
Club Brugge won the title of the 1995/96 season.-Relegated teams:These teams were relegated to the second division at the end of the season:*R.F.C. Seraing*K.S.K. Beveren*K.S.V. Waregem-Final league table:-Top goalscorers:...
Belgian Cup
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgian Football Association. The first cup was held in 1911-12. The most successful cup club is Club Brugge KV with 10 titles followed by RSC Anderlecht and R Standard de Liège...
: 1994-1995, 1995–1996
Personal Honours:
- Belgian Golden ShoeBelgian Golden ShoeIn association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws....
: 1995-1996 - NSLNational Soccer LeagueThe National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
Papasavas Medal (U-21): 1989-1990, 1990–1991 - Oceania Footballer of the YearOceania Footballer of the YearThe Oceania Footballer of the Year award is presented to the best football player from the Oceania region. The winner is chosen by a forum of journalists. The award is dominated by Australian players, though New Zealand's Wynton Rufer is tied with Harry Kewell for the most titles with 3...
: 1996