Collette McCallum

Personal Details Date of Birth: 26 March 1986 Place of Birth: Glasgow, Scotland Height: 165cm (5' 5") Position: Midfield Club Summary Club Games Goals Joondalup (junior) Belmont (junior) Manly Warringah New South Wales Sapphires (2000-2002) Northern Redbacks (2003, 2004) Adelaide Sensation (2003/04) 3 0 Western Waves (2004) 0 0 Adelaide Sensation Pali Blues (2008) 8 5 Perth Glory (2008-2011) 24 5 New Jersey Blue Sky (2009) 20 0 Lincoln Ladies (2012) 8 1 Perth Glory (2012/13) Total International Summary Games Goals Australia 'A' (2005-) 75 12 Australia 'B' (2005-2011) 7 1 Australia Under-20 (2001-2006) 25 13

Career Brief

Collette McCallum is arguably the most technically gifted female footballer to come out of Western Australia. Born in Scotland, she moved to Perth as a toddler and played juniors amongst the boys at Joondalup. The family moved again when McCallum was a teenager, this time to New South Wales where by the time she was 15 McCallum had entered the national league with New South Wales Sapphires. Her potential was further recognised with the Most Valuable Player award at the 2001 National Youth Championship.

McCallum's star continued its' rise across the opening half of 2002. In March she was part of the Sapphires side which went down 1-0 to Canberra Eclipse in the Women’s National Soccer League Grand Final. A month later she hit three goals in four outings to book the Young Matildas' place at the inaugural Under-19 Women's World Championship. However, fate denied McCallum a chance to play at the tournament after suffering a cruciate ligament injury while in camp with the national youth team.

McCallum worked her way back to full fitness with Northern Redbacks and in September 2003 was part of the State squad which played four games against Women’s National Soccer League opposition during a whirlwind tour of the eastern states. This in turn led to her being picked up by Adelaide Sensation but after just three outings she was sidelined by another cruciate ligament injury, this time to the opposite knee.

McCallum, who had now endured two knee reconstructions and was yet to turn 18, adopted a central midfield role on making a tentative return with the Redbacks. Although selected in the Western Waves squad for their national league debut, McCallum didn't play for her hometown club after being called up for the Young Matildas. It was at the November 2004 Under-20 World Cup that she completed her comeback with two goals against Thailand and another against Canada.

In January 2005 McCallum gained an 'A' international debut by coming off the bench against China. Her first Matildas start arrived two months later in a friendly with Japan and by the end of the year she had also faced Russia, China, South Korea and the United States of America. McCallum was an integral part of the Matildas engineroom at the 2006 Asian Cup finals where Australia swept past Myanmar, North Korea, Thailand and Japan before out-shot on penalties by China in the final.

In August 2006 McCallum was rewarded for her glittering performances at the Under-20 Women's World Cup - where she scored twice against New Zealand - with a place in the tournament All-Stars. Further outings with the senior national team against the Netherlands, the United States of America, Denmark and Japan rounded out what had been a very busy year for the talented midfielder.

There was hardly time for McCallum to catch her breath before she was back in national team colours. Her first international goals arrived off the bench against Uzbekistan in March 2007 and a few weeks later she put away a hat-trick in a big win over Hong Kong in Australia's unsuccessful bid to make the following years Olympic Games. In september McCallum played every minute of Australia's Women's World Cup campaign in which they played Ghana, Norway, Canada and Brazil. 2007 ended with McCallum being shortlisted for the AFC Women's Player of the Year.

McCallum headed to the United States in March 2008 to take up a professional deal with Pali Blues, who won the W-League championship by beating FC Indiana in the season finale. Over the months that followed she wore the green and gold in friendlies with New Zealand, the United States of America, Canada and Brazil; at the Asian Cup finals against South Korea, Japan and North Korea. For the second time inside twelve months McCallum was nominated for the AFC Women's Player of the Year.

After a couple of games with Italy early in 2009, McCallum returned to the United States to play for New Jersey Sky Blue. She featured regularly throughout the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer league season which Sky Blue won by downing Los Angeles Sol in the season finale. On coming back to Australia McCallum signed with Perth Glory Women where she has been a key figure in the centre of the park over the first three W-League seasons.

February 2010 saw McCallum appointed vice-captain of Australia just days before gaining her 50th cap for the nation in New Zealand. Three months later she starred at the Asian Cup finals, orchestrating wins over South Korea and Japan before playing her part in the Matildas lifting their first major international trophy with a penalty shoot-out victory against North Korea. The year was rounded out with friendly outings against Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea and Germany.

Another friendly outing with New Zealand in May 2011 preceded McCallum's selection in Australia's squad for the Women's World Cup in Germany.

Matildas Game by Game

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This page was last updated on the 23rd November, 2012