Richie Alagich

Football player infobox
playername = Richie Alagich
fullname = Richie Maya Alagich


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1973|10|30
cityofbirth = Adelaide
countryofbirth = Australia
height = height|m=1.77
currentclub = Adelaide United
clubnumber = 2
contractend = 2008
position = Right Back
youthyears =
youthclubs = Port Adelaide
years = 1990-1993
1993-1999
1999-2001
2001-2003
2003-2004
2004
2005-present
clubs = Port Adelaide Lions
Adelaide Sharks
South Melbourne
Brisbane Strikers
Adelaide United
Adelaide Raiders
Adelaide United
caps(goals) = 029 (9)
113 (4)
014 (0)
043 (0)
028 (3)
061 (2)
nationalyears = 1992-1993
1993-1996
nationalteam = flagicon|Australia Australia U-20
flagicon|Australia Australia U-23
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 18 December 2007
ntupdate = 18 December 2007

Richie' Alagich (born October 30, 1973 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) is a retired Australian football (soccer) player. He was a right full back who is mostly known for playing with Adelaide United in the A-League.

Club career

Born in Woodville, Adelaide, South Australia, Alagich played representative football for his home state from 1985 through to 1991. He started his professional football career with the Port Adelaide Lions in the South Australia Super League in 1990 at the age of 16, continuing until 1993. Alagich then moved into the National Soccer League with the Adelaide Sharks, having already represented Australia at schoolboys and under-20 levels. Although he was unable to help West Adelaide reach the finals series that season, [cite web|title=Australia 1993/94|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/aus94.html|work=RSSSF|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] 1993 also marked his debut with the Australian under-23 team (the "Olyroos"). Alagich played regularly with the Olyroos up until 1996, and helped them qualify for the 1996 Olympics but did not play in the actual tournament where Australia were unable to progress past the group stage. [cite web|title=Olyroos Matches for 1996|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Olympics/1996.html|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006]

Domestically, the West Adelaide Sharks finished 5th to qualify for the NSL finals in 1994–95, with Alagich playing in both legs of their elimination final against Sydney United, which the Sharks lost 2-1 on aggregate. [cite web|title=Australia 1994/95|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/aus95.html|work=RSSSF|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] The following season West Adelaide missed the finals by a single point, [cite web|title=Australia 1995/96|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/aus96.html|work=RSSSF|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] and did not qualify for another one up until the club folded prior to the 1999–2000 season. [cite web|title=Australia 1999/2000|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/aus00.html|work=RSSSF|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] The collapse of the Sharks forced Alagich to move to the South Melbourne Lakers, who had won the 1998–99 NSL Championship. [cite web|title=Australia 1998/99|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/aus99.html|work=RSSSF|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] . South Melbourne finished first in the 1999 pre-season Tynan-Eyre Cup (held between Victorian NSL teams), but could not take part in the final of the tournament due to commitments to the 1999 Oceania Club Championship. [cite web|title=1999 Tynan-Eyre Cup|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/MiscGames/1999Misc/99M21.html|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] A win in the Oceania Club Championship put South Melbourne into the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, but they finished a disappointing 10th in the NSL before leaving for Brazil. Alagich played in one match of the tournament, South Melbourne's 1-3 loss to Mexican team Necaxa, [cite web|title=South Melbourne 1 - 3 Necaxa|url=http://users.arsenalfc.net/p_gasston/clubwrld/game8.htm|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] and made only a further two substitute appearances for South Melbourne in 2000–2001 as they finished on top of the table before falling to the Wollongong Wolves in the Grand Final. [cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2000–2001 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20002001/NSL.html|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006]

Alagich then moved to the Brisbane Strikers for the 2001–02 season, playing in 24 matches as the Strikers made it through to the Minor Semifinals. [cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2001–2002 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20012002/NSL.html|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] [cite web|title=Australia 2001/02|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/aus02.html|work=RSSSF|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] He played a further 10 matches for Brisbane in 2002–03, [cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2002–2003 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20022003/NSL.html|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] The withdrawal of Adelaide Force from the NSL and subsequent introduction of Adelaide United FC gave Alagich the opportunity to return to his home city in 2003–04, and he played 28 matches and scored 3 goals for the club, including a crucial 105th-minute penalty to put Adelaide into the preliminary final. [cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2003–2004 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20032004/NSL.html|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] [cite web|title=Australia 2003/04|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/aus04.html|work=RSSSF|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] The season featured Alagich's 200th NSL game, in the finals series against his former club Brisbane and at the end of the year his NSL tally stood at 202 matches for 7 goals. His efforts in the team's inaugural season earned him both the Club Champion and Players' Player awards. The cancellation of the NSL for 2004–05 meant that Alagich was forced to return to South Australian state football, and he played the 2004 season with the Adelaide Raiders.

When the A-League started in 2005–06, Alagich re-signed for Adelaide United, and played in 23 of their 24 matches as they won the inaugural Premiership and fell one game short of the Grand Final. The single match Alagich missed was due to suspension after he had the dubious honour of being the first player to be shown a red card in an A-League match, due to a foul in Adelaide's round 3 win over Melbourne Victory. [cite web|title=A-League Round 4 – Facts & Figures|url=http://sportsaustralia.com/articles/sep05/artid3754.html|work=Sports Australia|accessdate=May 5|accessyear=2006] Despite this, Alagich's solid season was recognised by Australian "FourFourTwo" magazine, as he was selected at right back in their "A-League Dream Team" from the inaugural season. ["A-League Dream Team" "FourFourTwo (Australia)" May 2006: p.82] Alagich will remain with Adelaide United for the 2006–07 season. He will retire from professional football after the 2007-08 season.

He retired from professional football on the 22nd of May 2008. He helped Adelaide reach the quarter finals of the Asian Champions League in his last ever match with a 0-0 draw against Changchun Yatai; a first for any Australian club.

Trivia

Richie is the brother of Matilda, Dianne Alagich. [citeweb|title=2004 Festivals Player Information |url=http://www.wusa.com/festival/team/?id=1305 |work=WUSA.com |accessdate=2007-07-23]

Richie once auditioned for a position with 80's glam metal band Hard Metal

A-League career statistics

("Correct as of 24 April 2008")

Honours

With Adelaide United:
* A-League Premiership: 2005-2006With South Melbourne:
* Oceania Club Championship: 1999Personal Honours:
* Adelaide United Club Champion: 2003-2004

References

External links

* [http://www.adelaideunited.com.au/default.aspx?s=aufc_playerprofile_item&pid=682 Adelaide United profile]
* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/A/AL.html Oz Football profile]
* [http://www.geocities.com/adelaidesharks2001/profile-alagich.html Adelaide Sharks profile]