Scott Chipperfield

Football player infobox
playername = Scott Chipperfield
fullname = Scott Chipperfield


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1975|12|30
cityofbirth = Sydney
countryofbirth = Australia
height = height|m=1.80
currentclub = Basel
clubnumber = 11
position = Left Back
Left Winger
youthyears =
youthclubs = Bellambi Rosellas
Tarrawanna
Fernhill
years = 1996–2001
2001–"present"
clubs = Wollongong
Basel
caps(goals) = 131 (50)
202 (43)
nationalyears = 1998–"present"
nationalteam = Australia
nationalcaps(goals) = 057 (12)
pcupdate = 5 October 2008
ntupdate = 15 September 2008

Scott Chipperfield (born December 30, 1975 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian football (soccer) left midfielder, who currently plays for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League. He has dual Australian-Swiss citizenship.

Club career

Chipperfield began his professional career at Wollongong Wolves in 1996 and was a vital member of the team that won the National Soccer League twice in a row, in 2000 and 2001, and the Oceania Club Championship in 2001. He scored the winning goal in the final of the Oceania Club Championship, as Wollongong Wolves defeated nu-Vanatu side Tafea F.C. 1-0. He twice won the Johnny Warren Medal for the most outstanding player in the Australian Domestic Season and started to gain some interest from European clubs. He had an unsuccessful trial at English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers in Winter 2000 before joining Swiss Super League club FC Basel in the Summer of 2001. He helped Basel win the league title (their first in 22 years) and the Swiss Cup in his first season in Switzerland. The following season, he was an important member of the team as Basel reached the Second Group Stage of the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League, notching up wins against MŠK Žilina, Celtic, Spartak Moscow, Deportivo de La Coruña and Juventus on the way. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he played an integral role in the Australian midfield and defence, and was considered one of Australia's best players at the tournament. Soon afterwards he was subject to an unsuccessful bid by Charlton Athletic and in July 2006, FC Basel announced that he had signed a three-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until June 2009. When Basel qualified for the UEFA Champions League, after a six-year absence, in 2008, Chipperfield was one of only three survivors of the squad that competed in the competition in 2003, the other two being Ivan Ergić and Benjamin Huggel. On 13 September 2008, he came on as a substitute for Orhan Mustafi during Basel's 2-0 defeat of FC Lucerne at St. Jakob-Park, to make his 200th league appearance for Basel. He also scored the second goal of the match.

He has said that he would be willing to return to Wollongong to play in the future, should a bid to gain a Wollongong team in the A-League be successful. [cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/ffa-plan-to-entice-socceroos/2006/05/26/1148524892023.html|title=FFA plan to entice Socceroos|date=2006-05-27]

International career

He is perhaps best known in Australia for his loyal and somewhat unexpected appearance at the 2002 Oceania Nations Cup in New Zealand, a tournament which was marred by the financial turmoil of the then Soccer Australia. The non-existent financial contribution meant that the Australian players had to pay their own way to get to New Zealand. Chipperfield became the only one of Australia's large European contingent to answer the call and perform for his country in their time of need.

Chipperfield was selected to represent Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and was part of the team that successfully defeated Uruguay in a playoff in November 2005 to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Honours

With Australia:
* OFC Nations Cup: 2000With FC Basel:
* Swiss Super League: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008
* Swiss Cup: 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008
* Uhren Cup: 2003, 2006, 2008With Wollongong Wolves:
* National Soccer League: 2000, 2001
* Oceania Club Championship: 2001Personal Honours:
* Johnny Warren Medal: 1999-2000, 2000-2001 with Wollongong Wolves
* Joe Marston Medal: 1999-2000 with Wollongong Wolves

References

External links

* [http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/Socceroos/default.aspx?s=soc_player_profile&pid=74&tid=23 FFA - Socceroo profile]
* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/C/CH.html Oz Football profile]
* [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=182002/index.html FIFA profile]
* [http://www.fcb.ch/sport/show/playerDetailByID//26259/72/9/36 Profile at FC Basel] de icon
* [http://www.football.ch/sfl/777819/de/Kader.aspx?pId=523199 Profile at Swiss Football League Website] de icon