Memories linger from a golden age

THE turn of the century will go down as the greatest period for Australians in the global juggernaut that is the English Premier League.

Mark Viduka’s four-goal haul against Liverpool made him the talk of the world, Leeds United teammate Harry Kewell won the Young Player of the Year award and Mark Bosnich was No. 1 goalkeeper for title winner Manchester United.

Mark Schwarzer was one of the top tier’s most consistent keepers at Middlesbrough, where Paul Okon was in midfield and Luke Wilkshire on the fringes, winger Danny Tiatto was a regular for Manchester City and John Aloisi was scoring for Coventry City.

Jacob Burns (Leeds), Hayden Foxe (West Ham), Richard Johnson (Watford), Richard Garcia (Hull City) and Con Blatsis (Derby County) also featured in the top flight.

“I could actually assemble a whole team of Australians I played with, let alone against,’’ former Coventry, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Hull City star George Boateng said.

Stan Lazaridis (West Ham), Kevin Muscat (Wolverhampton) and John Filan (Blackburn) were among the most highly rated players in the second tier, and young pair Tim Cahill and Lucas Neill were making a name for themselves as they guided Millwall to a third-tier title.

Last season was the first time in the Premier League era that no Australian was a regular, but Brighton’s Mat Ryan, who makes his debut at home to Manchester City tomorrow morning, and Huddersfield’s Aaron Mooy (away to Crystal Palace tonight) have swung the pendulum.

Boateng, who started with Aloisi at Coventry and finished with Garcia at Hull, said Australians had always made a good impression on him and the league.

“Mark Viduka was maybe the best striker I played with in my time,’’ he said.

“When he came to Boro we struggled a bit, we were used to through passes.

“We changed our style of play and got the ball to his feet on the edge of the box.

“We knew when we got it to his feet, there was an 80 per cent chance of a goal. He could play the runners in or twist the defender and put it in.

“Once we figured it out, we were fantastic. He scored 19 goals one season.

“Mark [Schwarzer] was one of the hardest-working keepers I saw. He would do gym work before training.

“After training I stuffed my belly and went home and I would see Mark in the gym doing more core work.

“I played with other keepers who lost concentration, but he was always focused. He never made stupid fouls or mistakes, that’s when I realised how good he was.

“John [Aloisi] was a rare talent. Laid-back but calculated, good left foot, good goalscorer.’’

Boateng joined Villa the year Bosnich left for Old Trafford, and he rated the keeper and Kewell highly.

I could actually assemble a whole team of Australians I played with, let alone against