Adelaide United FC is fast becoming a club of great allure for a host of Australia’s senior national team players with Qantas Socceroos defender Jon McKain penning a three year deal with the Reds.
After awaiting some final documentation to be received following his departure from Saudi Arabian club Al-Nasr, McKain-s move to the Reds is now official.
McKain follows the onset to Adelaide of fellow current Qantas Socceroo Dario Vidosic as well as striker Bruce Djite, who has also represented Australia-s senior team in the past 12 months. Similarly to Vidosic, McKain played in both of Australia-s recent friendlies against New Zealand and Serbia, verifying him as one of the country-s highly regarded defenders.
Despite the delay in McKain-s shift to the Reds, the defender demonstrated his commitment to the club by arriving in Adelaide from his hometown of Brisbane last Wednesday and then turning up for training the following day.
“The last week to 10 days have been a bit frustrating but I knew there would be an end, it wasn-t something we were fighting against, it was just a process we had to go through, so once we cleared all of that it was a pretty straight forward process and quite an easy decision for me,” McKain said on now having his contract with the Reds signed, sealed and delivered.
“There were a couple of options to explore but I was looking to come back to Australia and once I spoke to Rini (Coolen) and Michael (Petrillo) about the plans for the team and what they want to do this season for the future of Adelaide, it was an easy decision.”
“Seeing the squad Adelaide has got together here is something I-m excited to be part of and more importantly it-s something I want to be part of.”
A talented defender with an imposing presence, McKain provides Reds Head Coach Rini Coolen with added depth in defence after experienced duo Iain Fyfe and Robert Cornthwaite exited for Korea last season. Coolen believes McKain “ticks all of the boxes we need”.
“Jon was already on our radar for a number of months. It-s fantastic we can fit him in our squad, first of all because he-s an Australian player with a lot of experience and leadership that we need,” Coolen said.
“He (McKain) is also an excellent communicator on the field, that-s what we were looking for because we lost several defenders last season, so finding out that Jon was available was fantastic.”
“He-s 28 so it-s a good period in his life, he wants to bring some stability into his life and settle in Adelaide for three years with his family, but he still has his challenges, he wants to still play for a spot in the national team and also maybe one day go back to Europe as well, so I think they-re good challenges for a professional player to try and reach, and in that way he fits perfectly into our squad.”
Prior to his time in the Middle East, McKain spent two seasons at the Wellington Phoenix, which followed a stint in Romania. The Queenslander with 16 Qantas Socceroos appearances to his name looks forward to calling Adelaide home but first and foremost he wants to play a role in making the Reds- defence one of the stingiest in the league.
“This year we-ll hopefully see a well organised defence, I know that will be one of my jobs to try and help to organise the backline and make sure we have a tight defence,” McKain said.
“Hopefully myself and the other boys at the back can develop a good partnership because we-ve definitely got attacking capabilities at the front that are going to score goals, so if we can be solid at the back, our football in the front third will really do the talking.”
Jonathon McKAIN
DOB 21 September 1982 (Brisbane, Queensland)
Position Defender
Height 185cm
Club History
2010-2011 Al-Nasr (Saudi Arabia) 21 apps, 2 goals
2008-2010 Wellington Phoenix (Australia) 38 apps, 2 goals
2005-2008 Politehnica Timisoara (Romania) 65 apps, 2 goals
2003-2005 National Bucuresti (Romania) 47 apps, 0 goals
1999-2003 Brisbane Strikers (Australia) 67 apps, 3 goals
Representative Honours
Qantas Socceroos (16 appearances)
Qantas U-23s (4 appearances)
Qantas Young Socceroos (10 appearances)
Additional Information
2007 Romanian Cup winners (Politehnica Timisoara)
