John Filan
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| John Filan | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Richard Filan | |
| Date of birth | February 8, 1970 | |
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | |
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | none | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1989-1991 1991-1992 1992 1992-1993 1993-1995 1995 1995-1997 1997-2001 2001-2007 2006 |
St George Saints Wollongong Wolves St George Saints Wollongong Wolves Cambridge United → Nottingham Forest (loan) Coventry City Blackburn Rovers Wigan Athletic → Doncaster Rovers (loan) |
52 (0) 23 (0) ? (?) 6 (0) 68 (0) 0 (0) 16 (0) 64 (0) 184 (0) 3 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1991-1997 |  Australia |
3 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
John Filan (born February 8, 1970 in Sydney) is an Australian football (soccer) goalkeeper.
He joined Wigan in December 2001 for £600,000 from Blackburn. He has a wealth of experience in the top-flight from his time with Rovers and with Coventry (from 1995-1997) that has proved to be priceless for the Latics. Before playing for Coventry, he played for Cambridge from 1992 to 1995. Filan was a member of the Australian team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Before joining Cambridge, he played for St George and Wollongong Wolves in the old National Soccer League in Australia.
Prior to the start of Wigan's debut season in the Premiership he had missed only one match for the club but was injured at the start of the 2005-06 season with Wigan's new signing Mike Pollitt taking his place in the side. Filan, however signed a new contract which kept him at the club until 2007. Seeing out his contract with Wigan, he was released at the end of the season.
Filan returned to Australia in semi-retirement, resettling in his home town of Sydney. In August 2007 agreed terms with A-League side Sydney FC as backup to Clint Bolton,[1] however the deal fell through citing outside issues.[2]
As he has an Irish passport through his ancestry, he once sought to play the international football for Ireland. However, FIFA ruled against it in February 1999 because he had played for the Australian Olympic team. [3][4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Oh what a Filan: Sydney get their hands on veteran keeper", Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-08-28. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
- ^ "Filan's about-face puts Sydney on spot", Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-08-31. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
- ^ Soccer News, February 24, 1999
- ^ FIFA rule Leeds must free players / Soccer / Sports Extra / ireland.com
