Mark Milligan will be hanging up his boots at the end of the current A-League season as he has announced his decision to retire.
The current captain of Macarthur FC, Milligan will remain at the club once the campaign is over, though, as he will look to learn the coaching side of the game and try to guide some of the younger members of the squad with the experiences he has picked up in the game.
Indeed, Milligan has been around the world playing football and had managed to build a formiddable career for himself over a number of years, including the fact that he managed to captian his national side, something that those using maxfreebets.co.uk would have been pleased with when choosing Australia as a team to bet on when looking for bonuses available.
Having made 80 appearances for the Socceroos before retiring from Australian duty in 2019, the defensive midfielder (who could also be rather verstaile and play the centre-back role rather well) managed to play club football in each of the corners of the globe as he played in China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Suadi Arabia, Scotland and England before coming back to the A-League to finish off his career in a league where it all started.
The 35-year-old managed to play over 330 games across his career with clubs such as Northern Spirit, Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets, Shanghai Shenhua, JEF United Chiba, Melbourne Victory, Baniyas SC, Al Ahli, Hibernian and Southend United before returning to Australia to join the recently formed expansion side Macarthur FC.
He will join Ante Milicic’s coaching staff as an assistant following the conclusion of this campaign, where the club will hope he can lean on the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup experiences he had, as well as the 2015 Asia Cup winning campaign.
“I have been so fortunate to have the career I’ve had,” Milligan said.
“Through my journey I have been lucky enough to play with some wonderful players, coaches, clubs and in some fantastic parts of the world.
“So many people gave up so much for me to achieve my dreams of a being a professional footballer, none more so than my family.
“I have decided that now is the time for me to not only give back to them, but to the game that has given me so much.”
Indeed, there will be plenty of hope that Milligan can be as an effective leader in the backroom team as he was on the field for so many including his country. Although many would be looking forward to a rest, it would seem life’s just going to get a little busier once the playing is done.
