Gareth Naven
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 3 March 1969 | ||
| Place of birth | Wigan, England | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Bayswater City SC | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1985 | Bayswater Inter | ||
| 1986 | AIS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1989 | Adelaide City | 11 | (0) |
| 1994 | Perth Kangaroos | 10 | (0) |
| 1995 | Sarawak FA | ||
| 1996–2002 | Perth Glory | 143 | (6) |
| 2003 | Perth SC | ||
| International career | |||
| 1985 | Australia U17 | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2008–2013 | Perth Glory Youth | ||
| 2013–2014 | Perth Glory (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2016 | Perth SC | ||
| 2016–2020 | Melbourne Victory Youth | ||
| 2020–2023 | Bayswater City SC | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gareth Naven (born 3 March 1969[1]) is an Australian football coach and former player. He is the development officer at Football West and coach of Bayswater City SC in the NPL.
Naven was born in 1969 in the English town of Wigan before his family moved to Perth, Western Australia.
He was a junior with Gosnells but made his initial impact with Bayswater Inter in 1985. In the same year, he and his twin brother Craig were selected in the Australia Under-16 national team that reached the quarter-finals of the World Under-16 championship in China.
In 1986 he received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport. In 1987, Naven was a member of the Schoolboy Australia team that toured New Zealand.
While still a teenager, Naven moved to South Australia to begin his senior footballing career. He played 11 times for Adelaide City in the National Soccer League and locally for Birkalla.
He then returned to Western Australia and played with Perth Italia, winning four State league championships. He also made 20 appearances for WA and was the 1992 Gold Medal winner.
After having a spell with Malaysian side Sarawak, he captained the Perth Kangaroos team that became champions of the Singapore League in 1994. That year, he was named West Australian Player of the Year.
Naven was the inaugural captain of Perth Glory when they entered the NSL in 1996. Over the course of six years, his determined and tough-tackling style of play established himself as one of the club's truly iconic figures, making more than 140 NSL appearances and taking out the Most Glorious Player Award in 2000.
Although Naven led the Glory to their first NSL Minor Premiership in 2000, the team suffered defeat in the 2000 NSL Grand Final to Wollongong Wolves. His next (and last) chance to become an NSL champion was as an unused substitute in their 2002 Grand Final loss to Olympic Sharks. He announced his retirement from the NSL shortly after.
Naven spent his final year as a player with a return to Perth Italia (at that point, they had changed their name to Perth Soccer Club). By the time he hung up his boots for good, Naven collected seven League medals with Perth as well as a Cup winners' medal.
In 2004, Naven received the very first Perth Glory Life Membership. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2008, along with his brother Craig. In 2014, Naven was honoured in an NPL match between Perth SC and Perth Glory, in what was called the "Gareth Naven Cup".