Daniel Allsopp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Danny Allsopp
Full name	Daniel Lee Allsopp
Date of birth	August 10, 1978 (1978-08-10) (age 29)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Melbourne Victory
Number	9
Youth clubs
1994	Knox City Monbulk
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–1997 1997–1998 1998 1998–2000 1999 1999 2000 2000–2003 2003–2005 2005–present	South Melbourne Carlton SC Port Melbourne Sharks Manchester City → Notts County (loan) → Wrexham (loan) → Bristol Rovers (loan) Notts County Hull City Melbourne Victory	020 0(2) 015 0(3) 014 0(9) 030 0(4) 003 0(1) 003 0(4) 006 0(0) 102 (39) 064 (22) 061 (22)
National team²
1995 1997 2000 2007	Australia U-17 Australia U-20 Australia U-23 Australia	003 0(1) 002 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 December 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 24 May 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Daniel Allsopp (born on August 10, 1978 in Melbourne) is an Australian football (soccer) player who currently plays as a striker for the Melbourne Victory in the Hyundai A-League. He has two sons with wife Vanessa, Ethan 4 and Joshua 20 months (as of September 2007).

1 Club career
2 International career
3 Honours
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Club career

Danny Allsopp started his professional football career with Croydon City in the Victorian Premier League competition, having been selected from the Victorian Institute of Sport in 1995.

Allsopp then moved to England to trial for Second Division club Manchester City, and after scoring in City's first friendly match against Newquay as well as some reserve team matches, he was signed for the club for the 1998–99 season. Allsopp's four goals in 25 games saw Manchester City promoted to the First Division, but he struggled to find a regular place in the team as the team in the 1999–2000 season, and was loaned out to Notts County F.C..

He was loaned to Wrexham A.F.C. in early 2000, and scored four goals in just three league matches by end of the 1999–2000 season. The following season he went on loan to Bristol Rovers, where he failed to score a goal in his four league appearances. Allsopp returned on loan to Notts County, and scored four goals in three matches before being bought for £300,000 by the club. In a three-season career, he scored 50 goals in 111 appearances (in all matches) before signing with Hull City for 2003–04. The move provided more success for Allsopp, as he scored 15 goals in his first season and seven in 2004–05 as a regular in the line-up.

Allsopp negotiated an early release from Hull, and decided to return to Australia to play for new club Melbourne Victory under Ernie Merrick, who had coached Allsopp during his time at the VIS.^[1] Despite making 20 starts in the 2005–06 season, Allsopp was not nearly as prolific as at his previous clubs, and only managed three goals for the year. The season featured Allsopp's 250th match in all league competitions.^[2]

The 2006–07 season saw a remarkable turnaround in Allsopp's scoring record at Melbourne. He finished the season as the league Golden Boot winner as highest scorer in the home and away fixtures. His tally of 11 made him the first A-League player to score a double figure tally and was one goal more than second place, teammate Archie Thompson. His 35 shots on target was also the equal highest with Newcastle Jets midfielder Nick Carle.

After having a tough time with some parts of his own supporter base in the 2005–06 season, Allsopp has become the cult hero at the Melbourne Victory.

[edit] International career

In 1995 he made his name in the under-17 World Championship, where he was top scorer with five goals, including one in Australia's 3–1 loss to eventual runners-up Brazil. His performance opened the door for his entrance into the Australian National Soccer League, signing with South Melbourne. He stayed with the club until 1997, having scored two goals in his 20 appearances.

Allsopp represented Australia again, this time at under-20 level in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia, with Australia making it through to the second round before being knocked out by Japan.^[3] On his return he was signed for Carlton SC, but was loaned out to VPL club Port Melbourne Sharks.

Meanwhile, Allsopp had become a regular member of Australia's under-23 national team (the "Olyroos") in 1999,^[4] and played three matches for one goal in 2000,^[5] but was not selected in the squad for the 2000 Summer Olympics.^[6]

Allsopp finally earned his first call-up to the Australia senior squad for a friendly match against Uruguay on June 2007 and came on as a 78th minute substitute in the 2–1 defeat by the South Americans. On may 23 he got his second international appearance for Australia when he came on as a substitute for James Troisi in a friendly against Ghana. ^[7]