It was a significant weekend for milestones in Newcastle on Sunday. Most noteworthy was the achievement of Nikolai Topor-Stanley, who became only the third player to notch up 300 A-League appearances.

His 145th appearance for the Jets comes alongside 155 matches accumulated with Sydney FC, Perth Glory and the Western Sydney Wanderers across almost 13 seasons in the A-League.

The Jets welcomed Steven Ugarkovic to the 100-appearance club, the tenth player from the club to reach the milestone in only his fourth full season after playing 50 domestic league matches with NK Osijek and HNK Gorica over a similar period of time in Croatia.

Also joining the 100 club was Matthew Ridenton, who made his 28th appearance for the Jets to back up the 72 previously made with the Wellington Phoenix.

Melbourne City forward Jamie Maclaren brought up a unique milestone of his own, becoming the fastest A-League player to 10 goals when he scored City’s fourth and final goal in what was just his sixth match this season.

Socceroos legend Gary Cole achieved the feat in the NSL era in 1980, when he scored ten goals in the first six rounds for Heidelberg United, scoring three separate hat-tricks in the process.

Melbourne City’s Uruguayan connection also became the first duo from that nation to score in a single match, Adrián Luna and Javier Cabrera bagging three goals between them. City also handed an A-League debut to Tom Glover, the former Mariner keeping a clean sheet as City consolidated second position on the league table.

On Saturday night, Sydney FC edged out the Central Coast Mariners by the single goal, Andrew Redmayne starring in his 150th A-League match and keeping his 30th clean sheet in the process.  

Chris Harold became Perth Glory’s A-League games record holder, eclipsing Josh Risdon with his 143rd appearance for the club on Saturday night. He still has some way to go to catch the all-time record of Jamie Harnwell, who sits pretty atop the Glory list with 256 matches across twelve seasons in the NSL and A-League.

For the Wanderers, Keanu Baccus played his 50th A-League match for the club.

Allira Toby notched up her 50th W-League appearance, appearing as a second-half substitute for the Brisbane Roar in their thrilling encounter with Adelaide United on Saturday night. Toby played a pivotal role in Hayley Raso’s match-winner seven minutes from full-time. 

Upcoming Milestones 

  • Kyah Simon is set to make her 100th W-League appearance on Thursday evening as Melbourne City tackle Perth Glory at ABD Stadium. 
  • Ellie Carpenter will also play her 50th W-League match
  • Curtis Good is set to play his 50th A-League match for Melbourne City in the Christmas Derby on Saturday night
  • Nathan Konstandopoulos is due to play his 50th A-League match on Sunday evening, as Adelaide United travel to Central Coast Mariners.