Nathaniel Atkinson

Nathaniel Atkinson (born 13 June 1999) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a right back for Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian.

Nathaniel Atkinson
Atkinson with Melbourne City in 2019
Personal information
Full name Nathaniel Caleb Atkinson
Date of birth (1999-06-13) 13 June 1999
Place of birth Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Height 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Right back
Club information
Current team
 Heart of Midlothian
Number 12
Youth career
Riverside Olympic
FFT NTC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Melbourne City NPL 32 (8)
2017–2022 Melbourne City 75 (4)
2022– Heart of Midlothian 12 (1)
National team‡
2018 Australia U-20 3 (1)
2019– Australia U-23 7 (0)
2022– Australia 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 April 2022
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 April 2022

Club career

Early career

Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Atkinson was part of the youth setup at Riverside Olympic before joining the NTC program at Football Tasmania.[2] In 2016, Atkinson joined the Melbourne City academy after a successful trial with the club.[3] He played with the Melbourne City NPL side in the NPL Victoria from 2016 to 2017.[3] Towards the end of the 2016–17 season, Atkinson began training with the Melbourne City first team.[4]

Melbourne City

Going into the 2017–18 season, Atkinson was given the 37 shirt.[5] He made his competitive debut for the first team in a FFA Cup match against Peninsula Power at Dolphin Oval on 1 August 2017. He came on as a late stoppage time substitute for Bruno Fornaroli as Melbourne City won the match 2–0.[6] On 10 December 2017, due to the suspension of Melbourne City's regular right-back Manny Muscat, Atkinson made his A-League debut for the club against the Central Coast Mariners. Despite being named as a right back before the match, Atkinson played the match as a right winger as Melbourne City managed to win 1–0.[7] After the match, Melbourne City head coach Warren Joyce praised Atkinson, saying "I thought he took his opportunity well. He’s one that caught my eye as soon as I came to the club."[7]

On 12 January 2018, after a promising start, Atkinson signed a two-year senior contract with Melbourne City.[8]

In September 2020, Atkinson signed a two-year contract with Perth Glory.[9] However, three weeks later, his contract was terminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation,[10] allowing him to sign another two-year contract with Melbourne City.[11]

On 24 December 2021, Atkinson signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, with the deal going through on 10 January 2022.[12]

International career

In January 2017, Atkinson was selected to train with the Australia U20 side.[13]

In November 2019 he was one of four players suspended by the Australia U23 due to "unprofessional conduct".[14]

Atkinson qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was part of the Olyroos Olympic squad. The team beat Argentina in their first group match but were unable to win another match. They were therefore not in medal contention.[15]

He was called up to the senior Australia squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 24 and 29 March 2022.[16]

Honours

Melbourne City

Individual

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 19 May 2021[17][18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] Asia Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Melbourne City NPL[19] 2017 NPL Victoria 2 328———328
Melbourne City 2017–18 A-League 17010——180
2018–19 17030——200
2019–20 23100——231
2020–21 142———142
2021–22 40———40
Total 75340——793
Career total 107340––1113

International
Appearances and goals by national team, year and competition
Team Year Competitive Friendly Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Australia U20 2018 3[lower-alpha 2] 1 0 0 3 1
Australia U23 2019 2[lower-alpha 3] 0 2 0 4 0
Total 5 1 2 0 7 1

Notes
  1. Includes the FFA Cup
  2. Appearances in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship
  3. Appearances in the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship qualification

References
  1. "Squad list - Men's Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  2. "Former Launceston Player to Trial for Melbourne City". NTJSA. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Talented teenager motivated by soccer-mad family". Examiner. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. Cooling, Andrew (16 March 2017). "Atkinson Trains With Melbourne City First Team". Slice of Cheese. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Melbourne City Squad 2017–18". worldfootball.net.
  6. "Peninsula Power 0–2 Melbourne City". Soccerway.
  7. Windley, Matt (10 December 2017). "Young gun Nathaniel Atkinson praised by coach Warren Joyce after starring in Melbourne City win". Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  8. Lynch, Michael (12 January 2018). "Nathaniel Atkinson gets two-year deal with Melbourne City". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. "Glory sign Nabbout on two-year deal". The World Game. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  10. Morgan, Gareth (23 September 2020). "Squad Update". Perth Glory.
  11. "Melbourne City re-signs Atkinson, Berenguer and Griffiths". Melbourne City. 23 September 2020.
  12. "Match made in heaven for Nathaniel | Heart Of Midlothian Football Club". www.heartsfc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  13. Shaw, Rob (31 January 2017). "Riverside Olympic's Nathaniel Atkinson called up by Young Socceroos". Examiner. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  14. "Four Australia Under-23 players banned after complaint from woman". 19 November 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  15. "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  16. "CONFIRMED: Fresh faces & experienced Socceroos named as Australia gets set for Japan and Jeddah". Socceroos. Football Australia. 17 March 2022.
  17. "Nathaniel Atkinson » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  18. Nathaniel Atkinson at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  19. "Player statistics for Nathaniel Atkinson". GameDay. SportsTG. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
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