Danny Allsopp
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Lee Allsopp
Date of birth	10 August 1978 (1978-08-10) (age 31)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Al-Rayyan
Number	8
Youth career
1991–1993 1994 1995	Knox City Monbulk Croydon City Arrows
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–1997 1997–1998 1998 1998–2000 1999 1999 2000 2000–2003 2003–2005 2005–2009 2009–	South Melbourne Carlton Port Melbourne Sharks Manchester City → Notts County (loan) → Wrexham (loan) → Bristol Rovers (loan) Notts County Hull City Melbourne Victory Al-Rayyan	020 00(2) 015 00(3) 014 00(9) 030 00(4) 003 00(1) 003 00(4) 006 00(0) 102 0(39) 064 0(22) 089 0(36) 0012 00(6)
National team2
1994–1995 1996–1997 1997–2000 2007–2008	Australia U-17 Australia U-20 Australia U-23 Australia	011 0(10) 006 00(3) 008 00(3) 003 00(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 September 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Daniel Allsopp better known as Danny Allsopp (born on 10 August 1978 in Melbourne) is an Australian football (soccer) player who currently plays as a striker for Al-Rayyan Sports Club in Qatar. He is currently Melbourne Victory's and the A-League's second highest all-time goalscorer, behind former team mate Archie Thompson.

Club career

Allsopp started his professional football career with Croydon City F.C. in the Victorian Premier League competition, having been selected from the Victorian Institute of Sport in 1999

Allsopp then moved to England to trial for Second Division club Manchester City, and after scoring in City's first friendly match against Newquay as well as some reserve team matches, he was signed for the club for the 1998–99 season. Allsopp's four goals in 25 games saw Manchester City promoted to the First Division, but he struggled to find a regular place in the team as the team in the 1999–2000 season, and was loaned out to Notts County.

He was loaned to Wrexham in early 2000, and scored four goals in just three league matches by end of the 1999–2000 season. The following season he went on loan to Bristol Rovers, where he failed to score a goal in his four league appearances. Allsopp returned on loan to Notts County, and scored four goals in three matches before being bought for £300,000 by the club. In a three-season career, he scored 50 goals in 111 appearances (in all matches) before signing with Hull City for 2003–04. The move provided more success for Allsopp, as he scored 15 goals in his first season and seven in 2004–05 as a regular in the line-up.

Allsopp negotiated an early release from Hull, and decided to return to Australia to play for new club Melbourne Victory under Ernie Merrick, who had coached Allsopp during his time at the VIS.^[1] Despite making 20 starts in the 2005–06 season, Allsopp was not nearly as prolific as at his previous clubs, and only managed three goals for the year. The season featured Allsopp's 250th match in all league competitions.^[2]

The 2006–07 season saw a remarkable turnaround in Allsopp's scoring record at Melbourne. He finished the season as the league Golden Boot winner as highest scorer in the home and away fixtures. His tally of 11 made him the first A-League player to score a double figure tally and was one goal more than second place, teammate Archie Thompson. His 35 shots on target was also the equal highest with Newcastle Jets midfielder Nick Carle.

During the 2009–10 A-League season it was confirmed that Allsopp had signed with Qatari side, Al-Rayyan Sports Club, for an undisclosed fee.^[3] He had less than a year left on his contract with Victory.

On 22 September 2009, Allsopp made his debut for Al-Rayyan against Al-Kharatiyat, providing an assist for Amara Diane's goal.

International career

In 1995 he made his name in the under-17 World Championship, where he was tied top scorer with five goals, including one in Australia's 3–1 loss to eventual runners-up Brazil. His performance opened the door for his entrance into the Australian National Soccer League, signing with South Melbourne. He stayed with the club until 1997, having scored two goals in his 20 appearances.

Allsopp represented Australia again, this time at under-20 level in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia, with Australia making it through to the second round before being knocked out by Japan.^[4] On his return he was signed for Carlton SC, but was loaned out to VPL club Port Melbourne Sharks.

Meanwhile, Allsopp had become a regular member of Australia's under-23 national team (the "Olyroos") in 1999,^[5] and played three matches for one goal in 2000,^[6] but was not selected in the squad for the 2000 Summer Olympics.^[7]

Allsopp finally earned his first call-up to the Australia senior squad for a friendly match against Uruguay on June 2007 and came on as a 78th minute substitute in the 2–1 defeat by the South Americans. On May 23 he got his second international appearance for Australia when he came on as a substitute for James Troisi in a friendly against Ghana. ^[8]

National coach Pim Verbeek described Allsopp's performance against Indonesia in February 2009 as "absolutely hopeless".^[9]

A-League career statistics

(Correct as of 6 October 2008)

Honours

With Melbourne Victory:

• A-League Championship: 2006-2007, 2008-2009
• A-League Premiership: 2006-2007, 2008-2009

Personal Honours:

• 1995 Fifa under 17 World Cup Golden Show Winner
• A-League Golden Boot: 2006-2007 with Melbourne Victory - 11 goals
• Melbourne Victory Victory Medal: 2006-2007
• Melbourne Victory Player's Player of the Year: 2006-2007, 2008-2009

References

External links

• Melbourne Victory Profile
• FFA - Socceroo profile
• OzFootball profile
• Manchester City profile
• Danny Allsopp career stats at Soccerbase