Josip Skoko
Skoko playing for Wigan Athletic in 2007
Personal information
Full name Josip Skoko[1]
Date of birth (1975-12-10) 10 December 1975
Place of birth Mount Gambier, Australia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Youth career
1991 North Geelong Warriors
1992–1993 AIS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1995 North Geelong Warriors 32 (8)
1995–1999 Hajduk Split 97 (20)
1999–2003 Genk 100 (8)
2003–2005 Gençlerbirliği 58 (4)
2005–2008 Wigan Athletic 45 (0)
2006 → Stoke City (loan) 9 (2)
2008–2010 Hajduk Split 52 (1)
2010–2011 Melbourne Heart 22 (0)
Total 415 (43)
International career
1993–1995 Australia U20 11 (3)
2000 Australia Olympic (O.P.) 3 (0)
1997–2007 Australia 51 (9)
Managerial career
North Geelong Warriors (youth)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Josip Skoko (born 10 December 1975) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder for North Geelong Warriors, Hajduk Split, Genk, Gençlerbirliği, Wigan Athletic, Stoke City and Melbourne Heart. Skoko has been described as a central midfielder with "superb on-ball ability, inch perfect passing, and his ability to turn defence to attack in an instant."[3] Skoko is currently the Director of Football at North Geelong Warriors FC.[4]

Club career

Early career

Skoko was born in Mount Gambier, to a Croatian family.[5] He played for Mt Gambier Croatia until he was 9 years old when he and his family moved to Geelong. Skoko played for North Geelong Warriors before moving to Croatian side Hajduk Split in 1995. After four years at Stadion Poljud he signed for Belgium club Genk. At Genk he was made captain and helped the team win the title in 2001–02. He joined Turkish club Gençlerbirliği in 2003 where he spent two years before moving to English football.

Wigan Athletic

Skoko joined Premier League club Wigan Athletic for €1 million at the beginning of the 2005–06 season, although he initially failed to maintain a regular place in the first team. On 7 January 2006 Skoko signed for Football League Championship side Stoke City on loan until the end of the 2005–06 season.[6] He played nine times for Stoke and scored twice against Sheffield United and Crystal Palace.[7][8]

In the 2006–07 season, Paul Jewell showed renewed faith in Skoko giving him an extended run in the side. The transfers of Jimmy Bullard and Graham Kavanagh to Fulham and Sunderland, respectively, in the summer of 2006 left a gap in Wigan's midfield and this led to him becoming a mainstay in the Wigan Athletic midfield, partnering Paul Scharner and Denny Landzaat. He signed a new contract deal keeping him at Wigan until 2008. However, at the end of the season it became clear that Skoko had played his last game for the club. The two main reasons were because he did not play enough games for Wigan to trigger a clause in his contract and also the impossibility of receiving a visa for his stay in England due to his international retirement with Australia.[9] It was decided in May 2008 that Skoko's contract would not be renewed and he was subsequently released by Wigan.

Hajduk Split

Due to various work permit issues when playing in Europe, it took a longer than expected time for Skoko to put pen to paper with a club of his choice. However, on 21 July, and after several weeks of speculation, Skoko had finally signed a two-year deal with former club Hajduk. The decision, he said, took only minutes for the club and himself to agree terms. Skoko is relishing the chance to return to the side he made more than 100 appearances for between 1995 and 1999, with a club he describes as "a second home".[10]

Melbourne Heart

Skoko's return home to Australia to play for A-League newcomers Melbourne Heart was confirmed by the club on 19 May 2010.[11] The club signed the former Socceroo for one season as their inaugural Australian marquee player.[12] He was also named as one of the initial members of the leadership group.[13] In his second game for Melbourne Heart, he suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him out of the side for at least one month.[14] In February 2012, Skoko came out of retirement to take part in the 2012 Hawaiian Island Invitational before retiring for good.

International career

Skoko was a member of the Australia senior team for ten years, from 1997 to 2007. He made his debut for Australia against Macedonia in 1997 and was a mainstay of the Socceroos side from then on, participating in two World Cup qualifying campaigns. He also represented his country at the Olympics in 2000.

In November 2005, Skoko came on as a substitute in Australia's playoff victory over Uruguay to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also captained a weakened Australian side against Bahrain in an Asian Cup qualifier in 2006.

On 25 May 2006, Skoko scored a cracking volley from 25m for Australia in a 1-0 friendly victory over Greece in front of 95,103 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which he regards as "the most legendary moment of all time". He was selected in the squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany but did not play in any of Australia's four games.

After being named in the Australian side for a friendly match against Argentina on 11 September 2007, Skoko stated that the game would be his home farewell from international football.[15] Skoko ended his international career 51 minutes into the match in Melbourne when he was replaced by midfielder Carl Valeri.

Career statistics

Club

Source:[16][17]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
North Geelong Warriors 1993 Victoria Premier League 226——226
1994 Victoria Premier League 102——102
Total 328——328
Hajduk Split 1995–96 1. HNL 141——141
1996–97 1. HNL 2710——2710
1997–98 1. HNL 265——265
1998–99 1. HNL 243——243
1999–2000 1. HNL 61——61
Total 9720——9720
Genk 1999–2000 Belgian First Division 91——91
2000–01 Belgian First Division 293——293
2001–02 Belgian First Division 322——322
2002–03 Belgian First Division 302——302
Total 1008——1008
Gençlerbirliği 2003–04 Süper Lig 282——282
2004–05 Süper Lig 302——302
Total 584——584
Wigan Athletic 2005–06 Premier League 503030110
2006–07 Premier League 2800000280
2007–08 Premier League 1201010140
Total 4504040530
Stoke City (loan) 2005–06 Championship 92000092
Hajduk Split 2008–09 1. HNL 290——290
2009–10 1. HNL 231——231
Total 521——521
Melbourne Heart 2010–11 A-League 220——220
Career total[18] 41543404042343

International

Australia national team[17]
YearAppsGoals
199760
199820
199900
200071
200181
200200
200320
2004104
200581
200662
200720
Total519
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
123 February 2000Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary Hungary0-20-3Friendly
230 May 2001Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, South Korea Mexico2-02-02001 FIFA Confederations Cup
331 May 2004Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia Tahiti2-09-02004 OFC Nations Cup
49 October 2004Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands Solomon Islands0-11-52004 OFC Nations Cup
50-3
616 November 2004Craven Cottage, London, England Norway2-12-2Friendly
715 June 2005Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany Germany1-14-32005 FIFA Confederations Cup
822 February 2006Bahrain National Stadium, Manama, Bahrain Bahrain1-21-32007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
925 May 2006Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia Greece1-01-0Friendly

Honours

Genk

References

  1. ↑ "Josip Skoko". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Player Profile". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Former Socceroo Josip Skoko joins Melbourne Heart". Red & White Unite. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Board of Directors • North Geelong Warriors FC – Official Website". North Geelong Warriors FC – Official Website. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Josip Skoko: Long road to the top". The Independent. 30 December 2006.
  6. ↑ "Skoko signs loan deal with Stoke". BBC Sport. 7 February 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  7. ↑ "Stoke 1-3 Crystal Palace". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Stoke 1-1 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Work permit woe for Wigan star Skoko". UK Daily Mirror. 6 May 2007.
  10. ↑ "Skoko's Hajduk Split Decision". FourFourTwo Australia. 22 July 2008. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  11. ↑ "Skoko confirmed for new club". The Age. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  12. ↑ Lynch, Michael (4 August 2010). "Skoko ready to set beat in Heart's midfield". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  13. ↑ "Colosimo to captain Heart". Herald Sun. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  14. ↑ "Skoko ruled out for a month". Melbourne Heart FC. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  15. ↑ "Skoko Will Quit 'Roos at MCG". FourFourTwo Australia. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  16. ↑ Josip Skoko at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  17. 1 2 Josip Skoko at National-Football-Teams.com
  18. ↑ "Josip Skoko". Soccerbase. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "Belgium Cups 1999/2000". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
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