Nathaniel Atkinson

Nathaniel Atkinson
Atkinson with Melbourne City in 2019
Personal information
Full name Nathaniel Caleb Atkinson[1]
Date of birth (1999-06-13) 13 June 1999 (age 25)[1]
Place of birth Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Melbourne City
Number 13
Youth career
Riverside Olympic
FFT NTC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Melbourne City NPL 32 (8)
2017–2022 Melbourne City 75 (4)
2022–2024 Heart of Midlothian 52 (2)
2024– Melbourne City 0 (0)
International career‡
2018 Australia U20 3 (1)
2019–2022 Australia U23 7 (0)
2022– Australia 13 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 March 2024

Nathaniel Caleb Atkinson (born 13 June 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a right-back for Melbourne City and the Australia national team.

Club career

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Early career

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Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Atkinson was part of the youth setup at Riverside Olympic before joining the NTC program at Football Tasmania.[2] In 2016, Atkinson joined the Melbourne City academy after a successful trial with the club.[3] He played with the Melbourne City NPL side in the NPL Victoria from 2016 to 2017.[3] Towards the end of the 2016–17 season, Atkinson began training with the Melbourne City first team.[4]

Melbourne City

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Going into the 2017–18 season, Atkinson was given the 37 shirt.[5] He made his competitive debut for the first team in a FFA Cup match against Peninsula Power at Dolphin Oval on 1 August 2017. He came on as a late stoppage time substitute for Bruno Fornaroli as Melbourne City won the match 2–0.[6] On 10 December 2017, due to the suspension of Melbourne City's regular right-back Manny Muscat, Atkinson made his A-League debut for the club against the Central Coast Mariners. Despite being named as a right back before the match, Atkinson played the match as a right winger as Melbourne City managed to win 1–0.[7] After the match, Melbourne City head coach Warren Joyce praised Atkinson, saying "I thought he took his opportunity well. He’s one that caught my eye as soon as I came to the club."[7]

On 12 January 2018, after a promising start, Atkinson signed a two-year senior contract with Melbourne City.[8]

In September 2020, Atkinson signed a two-year contract with Perth Glory.[9] However, three weeks later, his contract was terminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation,[10] allowing him to sign another two-year contract with Melbourne City.[11]

Heart of Midlothian

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On 24 December 2021, Atkinson signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, with the deal going through on 10 January 2022.[12]

Return to Melbourne City

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Atkinson re-joined Melbourne City on a three year contract ahead of the 2024-25 season.[13]

International career

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In January 2017, Atkinson was selected to train with the Australia U20 side.[14]

In November 2019 he was one of four players suspended by the Australia U23 due to "unprofessional conduct".[15]

Atkinson qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was part of the Olyroos Olympic squad. The team beat Argentina in their first group match but were unable to win another match. They were therefore not in medal contention.[16]

He was called up to the senior Australia squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 24 and 29 March 2022.[17]

Atkinson was named in Australia's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November 2022.[18]

Honours

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Melbourne City

Individual

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 5 May 2024[19][20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Melbourne City NPL[21] 2017 NPL Victoria 2 32 8 — — — 32 8
Melbourne City 2017–18 A-League 17 0 1 0 — — 18 0
2018–19 17 0 3 0 — — 20 0
2019–20 23 1 0 0 — — 23 1
2020–21 14 2 — — — 14 2
2021–22 4 0 — — — 4 0
Total 75 3 4 0 — — 79 3
Heart of Midlothian 2021–22 Scottish Premiership 15 1 5 0 — — 20 1
2022–23 18 1 3 0 5 1 — 26 2
2023–24 19 0 3 0 4 0 — 26 0
Total 52 2 11 0 9 1 — 72 3
Career total 159 5 15 0 9 1 – 183 6

International

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Australia
Year Apps Goals
2022 6 0
2023 2 0
2024 5 0
Total 13 0

Notes

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  1. ^ Includes the FFA Cup

References

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  1. ^ a b c "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Former Launceston Player to Trial for Melbourne City". NTJSA. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Talented teenager motivated by soccer-mad family". Examiner. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ Cooling, Andrew (16 March 2017). "Atkinson Trains With Melbourne City First Team". Slice of Cheese. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Melbourne City Squad 2017–18". worldfootball.net. 10 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Peninsula Power 0–2 Melbourne City". Soccerway.
  7. ^ a b Windley, Matt (10 December 2017). "Young gun Nathaniel Atkinson praised by coach Warren Joyce after starring in Melbourne City win". Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  8. ^ Lynch, Michael (12 January 2018). "Nathaniel Atkinson gets two-year deal with Melbourne City". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. ^ "Glory sign Nabbout on two-year deal". The World Game. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  10. ^ Morgan, Gareth (23 September 2020). "Squad Update". Perth Glory.
  11. ^ "Melbourne City re-signs Atkinson, Berenguer and Griffiths". Melbourne City. 23 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Match made in heaven for Nathaniel | Heart Of Midlothian Football Club". www.heartsfc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Double signing boost as fan favourite returns". Melbourne City FC. 16 September 2024.
  14. ^ Shaw, Rob (31 January 2017). "Riverside Olympic's Nathaniel Atkinson called up by Young Socceroos". Examiner. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Four Australia Under-23 players banned after complaint from woman". BBC Sport. 19 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  17. ^ "CONFIRMED: Fresh faces & experienced Socceroos named as Australia gets set for Japan and Jeddah". Socceroos. Football Australia. 17 March 2022.
  18. ^ "SOCCEROOS SQUAD ANNOUNCED: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™". Socceroos. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Nathaniel Atkinson » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  20. ^ Nathaniel Atkinson at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Player statistics for Nathaniel Atkinson". GameDay. SportsTG. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
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