Tim Cahill’s signing for Melbourne City has been hailed by FFA chief executive David Gallop as the biggest in A-League history but will he be able to do the business on the pitch?
Other Socceroos have tried and failed to leave an impact on the local league as their ageing bodies failed them.
Cahill lands at Melbourne City as a 36-year-old, but there are plenty of signs he can buck the trend.
As any Socceroos fan will tell you, there’s been little fall-away from the veteran striker at a national team level.
Cahill claimed the all-time national team scoring record on the way to the World Cup in 2014 and has kept putting them away since then.
He’s scored in national team colours every year since his debut in 2004; netting seven from 14 games in 2014, nine from 12 games in 2015 and twice from three games this year.
The Sydney-born striker has also earned his keep for his clubs.
Since leaving Everton, he’s scored 32 club goals in five seasons spread across the USA’s Major League Soccer and the Chinese Super League.
Can he keep the good times rolling at Melbourne City?
Injuries haven’t played a major part of Cahill’s career to date, though an Achilles complaint kept him from facing Germany last year.
City has a mixed record hosting Socceroos in their twilight of their careers.
John Aloisi, Josip Skoko, Vince Grella, Harry Kewell, Patrick Kisnorbo and Josh Kennedy have all ended their careers in City colours – with various degrees of success.
Craig Moore, Brett Emerton and Carl Valeri have produced the goods on their career-ending stints in Australia.
And Brett Holman could be the next to do so, having been heavily linked with a return home for the upcoming season.
But Cahill’s star burns brighter than all, and hopes are high the forward can help City leave a bigger footprint in the A-League.
A HISTORY OF HOMECOMING SOCCEROOS:
HARRY KEWELL
The prodigal son’s return to Australia didn’t go as planned; Melbourne Victory brought the 33-year-old home but limped to eighth place. Two seasons later, rivals Melbourne Heart brought him out and made him captain but the injury-plagued 35-year-old retired at season’s end as Heart finished last.
JOHN ALOISI
Capped his career by returning to Australia as a 31-year-old and enjoyed stints with three A-League sides; Central Coast, Sydney FC and Heart. Aloisi would go on to manage both Heart and now Brisbane Roar.
CRAIG MOORE
The tough-as-nails centre-back excelled in 14 seasons abroad, winning five titles with Scottish giants Rangers. Landing at Queensland Roar as a 31-year-old, Moore helped the club to two third-place finishes. He now works alongside Aloii at the Roar as a football director.
KEVIN MUSCAT
It could be argued no man has shaped the A-League more than Muscat. The founding captain of Melbourne Victory at age 32, Muscat won two titles as a player before coaching them to a third in 2015.
LUCAS NEILL
Neill’s return on a 10-game guest stint didn’t enhance his hard-won reputation as Socceroos captain. As a 34-year-old, Neill made just three injury-curbed appearances, without winning, for Sydney FC before limping into the sunset abroad.
VINCE GRELLA
The Melbourne boy played two seasons in the now defunct NSL as a teenager. After a decade in Italy and England he signed for Melbourne Heart, then coached by mate John Aloisi, and made one substitute appearance at the age of 33 before a calf injury forced his retirement.
BRETT EMERTON
As a 32-year-old Emerton returned to home-town club Sydney FC in 2011 after a decade in Holland and England. Stayed for three strong seasons but failed to lift any silverware with the Sky Blues.
JOSH KENNEDY
Came full-circle as a 32-year-old when he signed for Melbourne City, 16 years after signing his first professional deal with Carlton in the NSL. Dogged by back injuries, the beanpole striker made a dozen appearances, scoring twice, before retiring.
CARL VALERI
Returned home after a decade in Italy triumphantly in 2014, winning the title with Melbourne Victory as a 29-year-old. After a season of injury woe, Valeri now has the captain’s armband for his third campaign in navy blue.
JOSIP SKOKO
After 15 years abroad, Skoko joined Melbourne Heart as a 34-year-old marquee. Skoko overcame an early hamstring issue, putting in a smart shift for the A-League newcomers before retiring at season’s end.
PATRICK KISNORBO
The lion-hearted defender came home as a 32-year-old, joining Melbourne Heart. He would stay with the club for three years, captaining the club for the last two.
Paul
Guest
The question is not can Cahill succeed in the A league but can the A league succeed at all? It’s just a shame that Brisbane failed to meet payer payments yesterday and several, including Jamie MacLaren, are going to court today to get a release from their contracts. #FFAepicFAIL
Jimmy
Guest
White girls love black men
Evan Askew
Guest
Jason culina. he had two awesome seasons with gold coast united.
Eamonn
Guest
Think Ned played 2 years in Georgia after his Jets spell.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
"Can Tim Cahill succeed in the A-League?" Is the Pope Catholic?
j binnie
Guest
Eamonn - Yours is a report full of shrewd observations. In recent matches with the Socceroos it has been noticeable that Tim is favouring a "target man" role,hanging around the penalty box no doubt hoping that his team-mates will provide an endless supply of quality passes on which his doubtless goal scoring talent can "feed". He cannot under any circumstances be compared to ADP as a player, not from a success factor, but simply for the style of play both provide or provided, they being as different as chalk is to cheese. Will he be the "best ever HAL signing"? Only time will tell and there is little doubt DG has made the statement as part of a promotional build up on TC'c return to Australian football at HAL level.. Cheers jb
Squizz
Guest
Aloisi, Culina, Moore and Muscat all performed well on return to Australia. The rest have had mixed success, some because they didn't realise the standard of the league and others like Emerton and Kewell were hampered by injuries
Amazon
Roar Rookie
What about the money that FFA is contributing? ( yes a former great player) but surely not worth it at his age now. He will never be as good given he'll be 37 soon.
Boban Fett
Guest
I think he went to the wrong club. If JVS is going to use that 3-5-2 system again to accomodate Cahill he will play upfront with Fornaroli but there's no guarantee that they'll be able to work together. I would have thought he'd go to Sydney FC with Smetlz gone and Brosque being ever-more prone to injury. If you take out Brosque (who seems to mostly play at LW these days) the only out and out strikers the Sky Blues have are Blackwood, Simon and Bobo.
asanchez
Roar Guru
Off field it's a great move by City. It's exactly what they needed. And it's also great news for the entire competition. Gallop is licking his lips, as he should be. Cahill isn't the best player to come to the A-league, but he might actually have the biggest impact on the crowds, TV viewers and memberships than ever before, because he's an Australian sporting icon, and Gallop knows that this move might give the sport a bumper next TV deal. If not, at the very least it'll get him a seat at the table with the big boys from the networks. Personally I think the A-league has kept evolving each year, the product, the players, and the games are now better than ever. IMO the next TV rights are worth at minimum 50% more ($60m pa) as the game has grown, and every sport has grown TV rights heavily in the last 5 years, even tough some have gone backwards or stagnated in ratings. This plus inflation alone should mean the sport gets a bigger payday. On field it's a different story for me. Cahill is turning 37 soon, niggling injuries are starting to creep in, and he'll be playing in our summer, on hard pitches, against big strong defenders who are solid in the air. I dont think he'll dominate at all. I actually think this move could backfire on City if they're not careful, as the pressure is all on them and on Tim to deliver, and I don't rate their coach JVS at all. How he gets the best out of Cahill, and his partnership with Fornaroli will dictate how they go this season. To me Cahill is a gun, a legend, but I think if he doesn't play well, set up or score some goals, the fanfare will dissipate quickly. In many ways I hope I'm wrong, but at the same time it's a great thing for the A-league, it's been a long time coming, perhaps too long, but he's home now and it's fantastic. Rumours are that Brisbane are looking at Diego Forlan, and that City have another European marquee ready to go, so it's all great news for the upcoming season. Can't wait!
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Can Tim Cahill succeed in the A-League? Yes. If he is not injured, and not lured away by other contracts, he will be fantastic. He will score plenty of goals and set up plenty of others.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
I see it this way too. Footballing wise Bruno is the main man Timmy is the icing on the cake. If Bruno doesn't fire it sure as hell won't be Timmy scoring 15-20 goals in this season. As far as attracting fans to games, yeah, sure, Timmy has the media profile - one of the most recognisable faces in Australian football and sport generally.
pete4
Guest
Fornaroli is the main man at Melb City Don't get me wrong Cahill has been great for Socceroos over the years but is he an upgrade on Novillo? Not so sure...
Midfielder
Guest
sent from my phone and did not check that the phone had changed letters.
SVB
Guest
Fair enough. I looked up Wikipedia and it said four games. I do remember him trialling and Lawrie McKinna eventually telling him he was not needed anymore. Must have played some A-league games in that period.
Post hoc
Guest
he played maybe half a dozen????Maybe a few less but they were full A League games not pre-season
SVB
Guest
I remember he trialled with the Mariners, but never actually played an A-league game.
AZ_RBB
Guest
He played 4 games for CCM in the PWESFL (Pre-WSW-Eastern-Sydney Football League).
Post hoc
Guest
technically he did, with the Mariners he signed on as a guest player when Vuka was out.
Fadida
Guest
Reading that reminded me of watching 'Allo 'Allo Mid!