Richie Alagich

{{short description|Australian footballer (born 1973)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Richie Alagich | fullname = Richie Maya Alagich | image = Richie Alagich - 20071121.jpg | alt = A blond Caucasian man wearing red football kit with his right knee raised. | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1973|10|30}} | birth_place = [[Adelaide]], [[Australia]] | height = {{height|m=1.77}} | currentclub = | clubnumber = | position = [[Defender (football)|Right back]] | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = [[Port Adelaide Pirates|Port Adelaide]] | years1 = 1990–1993 | years2 = 1993–1999 | years3 = 1995 | years4 = 1997 | years5 = 1999–2001 | years6 = 2001 | years7 = 2001–2003 | years8 = 2003 | years9 = 2003–2008 | years10 = 2004 | years11 = 2008–2010 | clubs1 = [[Port Adelaide Pirates|Port Adelaide Lions]] | clubs2 = [[West Adelaide SC|West Adelaide]] | clubs3 = → [[Port Adelaide Pirates|Port Adelaide Lions]] (loan) | clubs4 = → [[Port Adelaide Pirates|Port Adelaide Lions]] (loan) | clubs5 = [[South Melbourne FC|South Melbourne]] | clubs6 = [[Adelaide Galaxy]] | clubs7 = [[Brisbane Strikers]] | clubs8 = [[Port Adelaide Pirates|Port Adelaide Lions]] | clubs9 = [[Adelaide United FC|Adelaide United]] | clubs10 = → [[Adelaide Raiders]] (loan) | clubs11 = [[Adelaide Raiders]] | caps1 = 56 | caps2 = 117 | caps3 = 12 | caps4 = 5 | caps5 = 14 | caps6 = 7 | caps7 = 43 | caps8 = 6 | caps9 = 89 | caps10 = 16 | caps11 = 44 | goals1 = 10 | goals2 = 4 | goals3 = 2 | goals4 = 0 | goals5 = 0 | goals6 = 1 | goals7 = 0 | goals8 = 1 | goals9 = 5 | goals10 = 5 | goals11 = 14 | totalcaps = 414 | totalgoals = 42 | nationalyears1 = 1996 | nationalteam1 = [[Australia men's national under-23 soccer team|Australia U-23]] | nationalcaps1 = 4 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | manageryears1 = 2008–2009 | manageryears2 = 2009–???? | managerclubs1 = [[Adelaide United]] ''(W-League Asst.)'' | managerclubs2 = [[South Australian Sports Institute Football Program|SASI]] ''(Asst.)'' | pcupdate = 23 August 2011 | ntupdate = 23 August 2011 | caption = Alagich in 2010 }}

'''Richie Alagich''' (born 30 October 1973) is an Australian retired [[Football (soccer)|footballer]].

==Club career== ===Early career=== Born on 30 October 1973, in [[Woodville, 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 Pirates|Port Adelaide Lions]] in the [[South Australia Super League]] in 1990 at the age of 16, continuing until 1993.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

===West Adelaide=== Alagich then moved into the [[National Soccer League]] with [[West Adelaide SC]], having already represented Australia at schoolboys and [[Australia national under-20 football team|under-20]] levels. Although he was unable to help West Adelaide reach the finals series that season,<ref>{{cite web|title=Australia 1993/94|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/aus94.html|work=[[RSSSF]]|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref> 1993 also marked his debut with the [[Australia men's national under-23 soccer team|Australian under-23]] team (the "Olyroos"). Alagich played regularly with the Olyroos up until 1996, and helped them qualify for the [[Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Olympics]] but did not play in the actual tournament where Australia were unable to progress past the group stage.<ref>{{cite web|title=Olyroos Matches for 1996|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Olympics/1996.html|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Australia 1994/95|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/aus95.html|work=[[RSSSF]]|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref> The following season West Adelaide missed the finals by a single point,<ref>{{cite web|title=Australia 1995/96|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/aus96.html|work=[[RSSSF]]|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref> and did not qualify for another one up until the club folded prior to the 1999–2000 season.<ref>{{cite web|title=Australia 1999/2000|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/aus00.html|work=[[RSSSF]]|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref>

===South Melbourne=== The collapse of the Sharks forced Alagich to move to the [[South Melbourne FC|South Melbourne Lakers]], who had won the 1998–99 NSL Championship.<ref>{{cite web|title=Australia 1998/99|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/aus99.html|work=[[RSSSF]]|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref> 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 [[Oceania Club Championship 1999|1999 Oceania Club Championship]].<ref>{{cite web|title=1999 Tynan-Eyre Cup|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/MiscGames/1999Misc/99M21.html|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref> A win in the Oceania Club Championship put South Melbourne into the [[FIFA Club World Championship 2000|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]],<ref>{{cite web|title=South Melbourne 1 – 3 Necaxa|url=http://users.arsenalfc.net/p_gasston/clubwrld/game8.htm|accessdate=5 May 2006|archive-date=28 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928184228/http://users.arsenalfc.net/p_gasston/clubwrld/game8.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2000–2001 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20002001/NSL.html|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref>

===Brisbane Strikers=== 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2001–2002 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20012002/NSL.html|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Australia 2001/02|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/aus02.html|work=[[RSSSF]]|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref> He played a further 10 matches for Brisbane in 2002–03,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2002–2003 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20022003/NSL.html|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref>

===Adelaide United=== The withdrawal of [[Adelaide City|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 kick (football)|penalty]] to put Adelaide into the preliminary final.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Australian National League – The 2003–2004 Season|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20032004/NSL.html|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Australia 2003/04|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/aus04.html|work=[[RSSSF]]|accessdate=5 May 2006}}</ref> 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 [[List of A-League premiers|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]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A-League Round 4 – Facts & Figures|url=http://sportsaustralia.com/articles/sep05/artid3754.html|work=Sports Australia|accessdate=5 May 2006 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060213173102/http://sportsaustralia.com/articles/sep05/artid3754.html  |archivedate = 13 February 2006}}</ref> Despite this, Alagich's solid season was recognised by Australian ''[[FourFourTwo (Australia)|FourFourTwo]]'' magazine, as he was selected at right back in their "A-League Dream Team" from the inaugural season.<ref>"A-League Dream Team" ''FourFourTwo (Australia)'' May 2006: p.82</ref>

[[A-League 2006–07|2006–07]] saw Alagich play 21 games for United including the preliminary final at [[Hindmarsh Stadium]] against [[Newcastle Jets]] in which he scored in Adelaides penalty shootout win.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.footballnews.com.au/reports.php?id=71 |title=Hyundai A-League Preliminary Final |publisher=Football News |date=2 November 2007 |accessdate=1 February 2009 }}</ref> He helped Adelaide reach the quarter-finals of the [[AFC Champions League 2008|2008 Asian Champions League]] in his last ever match with a 0–0 draw against [[Changchun Yatai]]; a first for any Australian club before he retired from professional football on 22 May 2008 after playing over 100 games for Adelaide United over his four-year spell.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/champion-richie-says-goodbye-110049|title=Champion Richie Says Goodbye|first=Jon|last=Ritson|newspaper=FTBL|date=5 May 2008}}</ref>

====Club statistics==== (''Correct as of 2 January 2009'')

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !rowspan="2" |Club !rowspan="2" width="80" |Season !colspan="2" width="105"|League1 !colspan="2" width="105"|Cup !colspan="2" width="105"|International2 !colspan="2" width="105"|Total |- !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals |- |rowspan="4" valign="center"|[[Adelaide United]] |[[A-League 2005–06|2005–06]] |23||0||3||0||0||0||29||0 |- |[[A-League 2006–07|2006–07]] |21||0||6||0||0||0||27||0 |- |[[A-League 2007–08|2007–08]] |21||2||5||1||6||0||32||3 |- |[[A-League 2008–09|2008–09]] |0||0||0||0||4||1||4||1 |- !colspan="2"|Total ! !! !! !! !! !! !92!!4 |} 1 – includes [[A-League]] final series statistics 2 – includes [[FIFA Club World Cup]] statistics; [[AFC Champions League]] statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)

==Coaching career== Alagich took up the role of [[Adelaide United FC (W-League)|Adelaide United women]] assistant coach working with [[Michael Barnett (footballer)|Michael Barnett]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,,24210487-12428,00.html |title=Tony Vidmar joins reunion |publisher=AdelaideNow |date=20 August 2008 |accessdate=1 February 2009 |first=Val |last=Migliaccio}}</ref> and has also been used as a scout during Adelaide's successful [[Asian Champions League]] campaign looking at teams such as Japan's [[Kashima Antlers]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24123525-5006373,00.html |title=Adelaide United's Champions League travel chaos |publisher=AdelaideNow |date=8 April 2008 |accessdate=1 February 2009 |first=Val |last=Migliaccio}}</ref> His first year of coaching saw Adelaide United ladies finish last in the W-League after failing to win any of the last 7 games.

==Personal life== Richie is the brother of [[Australia women's national soccer team|Matilda]], [[Dianne Alagich]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adelaideunited.com.au/news/alagich-not-surprised-w-leagues-growth|title=Alagich not surprised by W-League's growth|first=Gianluca|last=Filosi|publisher=[[Adelaide United FC|Adelaide United]]|date=26 January 2018}}</ref> His son [[Ethan Alagich|Ethan]] also plays for Adelaide United.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/adelaide-united-youngsters-shine-against-para-hills-in-a-league-preseason-match-571533|title = Adelaide United youngsters shine against Para Hills in A-League preseason match}}</ref>

== Honours == '''Adelaide United''' * [[List of A-League champions|A-League Premiership]]: [[A-League 2005–06|2005–2006]]

'''South Melbourne''' * [[OFC Men's Champions League|Oceania Club Championship]]: [[Oceania Club Championship 1999|1999]]

'''Individual''' * [[Adelaide United]] Club Champion: [[Adelaide United season 2003–04|2003–04]]

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.adelaideunited.com.au/default.aspx?s=aufc_playerprofile_item&pid=682 Adelaide United profile] * [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/ABB.html#RichardAlagich Richard Alagich] at Aussie Footballers * [https://archive.today/20240524140902/https://www.webcitation.org/5kn9IirGy?url=http://www.geocities.com/adelaidesharks2001/profile-alagich.html Adelaide Sharks profile]

{{s-start}} {{s-ach|aw}} {{succession box|title=[[Adelaide United]] Club Champion Award|before=Inaugural Recipient|after=[[Carl Veart]]|years=2003/04}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alagich, Richie}} [[Category:1973 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Soccer players from Adelaide]] [[Category:Men's association football full-backs]] [[Category:Australian men's soccer players]] [[Category:A-League Men players]] [[Category:National Soccer League (Australia) players]] [[Category:FFSA Super League players]] [[Category:Adelaide United FC players]] [[Category:Brisbane Strikers FC players]] [[Category:South Melbourne FC players]] [[Category:West Adelaide SC players]] [[Category:Sportsmen from South Australia]]