Andrew Durante

Andrew Durante

Durante with the Wellington Phoenix
Personal information
Full name	Andrew James Durante
Date of birth	(1982-05-03) 3 May 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Central defender
Youth career
	Sydney Olympic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	Sydney Olympic	53	(1)
2003–2004	Parramatta Power	6	(0)
2004	Balestier Khalsa	8	(0)
2004–2005	Sydney United	4
2005–2008	Newcastle Jets	40	(0)
2008–2019	Wellington Phoenix	273	(4)
2011	→ Sydney FC (loan)	5	(0)
2019–2021	Western United	45	(2)
International career‡
2013–2017	New Zealand	24	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 June 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 June 2017

Andrew James Durante (born 3 May 1982) is a retired New Zealand international footballer who played as a defender. He is currently the Western United 1st team Assistant & Development Coach. Durante is also the clubs Player Welfare and Development Manager. ^[1] In 2023, Durante was appointed as Assistant Coach of the Philippines women's national football team.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Durante played youth football with Sydney Olympic before making his senior debut at the club. He also played for Parramatta Power before moving to Singapore to play for Balestier Khalsa. After returning to Australia to play for Sydney United, Durante joined Newcastle Jets in the newly formed A-League. Durante joined Wellington Phoenix in 2008 and was given the captaincy and is currently the player with the most appearances for the club. He has also spent time on loan at Sydney FC for the Asian Champions League in 2011.

Durante became eligible to play for New Zealand in 2013, having lived in the country for five years.

Football career

Club career

Newcastle Jets

Durante with the Newcastle Jets.

Durante won the A-League Grand Final with the Jets in 2008 and was awarded the Joe Marston Medal in a man-of-the-match performance. ^[2]

Wellington Phoenix

Durante joined the Phoenix in as captain at the start of the 2008–09 season and made an instant impact helping them make the final of the Pre-Season cup against Melbourne Victory, only narrowly losing 7–8 on penalty kicks.

In October 2009 Durante extended his contract with Wellington Phoenix until the end of 2011–12 season. Durante played every minute of the 2009–10 season for the Phoenix and along with Ben Sigmund for most of the season and utility Jon McKain, helped Wellington to their best defensive season in their history, conceding just 29 goals in 27 league matches of the regular season.^{[ citation needed ]}

Durante led the Phoenix to a first-ever A-League finals appearance at the conclusion of the 2009–10 season after finishing in 4th place, earning them a home playoff match against 5th placed Perth Glory. ^[2]

In March 2010, Durante scored his first ever A-league and Wellington Phoenix goal against Sydney FC in the preliminary final. ^[2]

On 21 February 2011, Durante and the Phoenix announced that he would be loaned to Sydney FC for their Asian Champions League campaign. ^[3] He made 5 appearances for Sydney FC during the campaign.

In January 2012 Durante extended his contract with Wellington by a further two years keeping him at the club until at least 2015. ^[4]

On 5 November 2016 Durante reached 250 A-league appearances, the first outfield player to do so in the league. ^[5]

On 2 February 2018 Durante broke the all-time A-League appearance record playing his 279 game in a loss to Sydney FC. Breaking goalkeeper Danny Vukovic record of 278 appearances. ^{[6] [7]}

On 11 June 2019 it was announced that Durante would be leaving the Wellington Phoenix after 11 seasons. ^[8]

Western United

On 17 June 2019, it was announced Durante had signed for Western United for the 2019/20 Hyundai A league season. ^[9]

On 19 May 2021, Durante announced that he would retire at the conclusion of the season. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

International career

Durante in action during the 2017 Confederation Cup

Durante was selected in Pim Verbeek's Socceroo squad in February 2010 for Australia's 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Indonesia. Durante became a New Zealand citizen on 6 March 2013 ^[13] and the next day was named in his first All Whites squad. ^{[14] [15]} He made his international debut for New Zealand in their World Cup Qualifier against the Solomon Islands in Honiara.

Durante made nine appearances for the national team before stepping aside from international football in 2015. In September 2016, he made himself available again for national team selection and was subsequently named in the team to tour the United States to play USA and Mexico in October 2016. In June 2017 he played in all 3 games at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, playing against the hosts Russia, Mexico and Portugal. Durante went on to make 24 appearances for the national team before announcing his full retirement from international football in November 2017 after the loss to Peru in the 2nd leg of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification Intercontinental Playoff.

International career statistics

^[16]

New Zealand national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2013	6	0
2014	3	0
2015	0	0
2016	4	0
2017	11	0
Total	24	0

Coaching career

- Western United FC Youth Senior Assistant Coach

- On 24 August 2023, Durante was appointed as the Assistant Coach of the Philippines women's national football team. ^[17]

- Western United FC 1st Team Assistant & Development Coach

Personal life

In 1999, Durante was shot in the chest after being substituted during a trial match for Sydney Olympic's reserve team. The incident occurred in Mahoney Park of Sydney. After teammates noticed that he had been shot, the match was immediately abandoned and all the players ran into the change rooms. Durante's injury was not serious and he returned to the pitch just weeks later. The perpetrator was never found. ^[18]

A-League career statistics

A-League career statistics

Club	Season	A-League		Finals series		Asia		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Newcastle Jets (A-League)	2005–06	0	0	0	0			0	0
	2006–07	19	0	2	0			21	0
	2007–08	15	0	4	0			19	0
Club total	34	0	6	0			40	0
Club	Season	A-League		Finals series		Asia		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Wellington Phoenix (A-League)	2008–09	16	0					16	0
	2009–10	27	0	3	1			30	1
	2010–11	27	0	1	0			28	0
	2011–12	26	1	2	0			28	1
	2012–13	26	0					26	0
	2013–14	26	1					26	1
	2014–15	27	1	1	0			28	1
	2015–16	24	0					24	0
	2018–19
	Club total	199	3	7	1			206	4
Club	Season	A-League		Finals series		Asia		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Sydney FC (A-League) on loan from Wellington Phoenix	2010–11					5	0	5	0
Club total					5	0	5	0
Career totals		233	3	13	1	5	0	251	4
Last updated 22 April 2016

Honours

Club

Sydney Olympic

• NSL Championship: 2001–02

Newcastle Jets

• A-League Championship: 2008

Individual

• Joe Marston Medal: 2008
• Wellington Phoenix Player of the Year: 2009–10, 2012–13
• PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2011–12, 2014–15

References

1. "Western United announces senior academy coaching structure". Western United. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
2. Worthington, Sam (12 November 2010). "Durante, the defender of the Phoenix's faith". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 28 February 2018.
3. "News Display". Archived from the original on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
4. "Durante commits to Phoenix". footballaustralia.com.au. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
5. Tito, Clement. "DURANTE: 250 NOT OUT". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
6. Kay, Simon (2 February 2018). "Football: Defensive gaffes haunt Wellington Phoenix in 4-0 thrashing to Sydney FC". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
7. "Hyundai A-League milestones: Durante on verge of history". A-League. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
8. Rollo, Phillip (11 June 2019). "Wellington Phoenix captain Andrew Durante set to leave the club". Stuff.co.nz .
9. "Signing news: Durante joins Western United". 17 June 2019.
10. Larkin, Steve (19 May 2021). "Phoenix legend Andrew Durante announces retirement from football ahead of Wellington homecoming". Stuff. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
11. Monteverde, Marco (19 May 2021). "A-League: Veteran defender Andrew Durante to retire at end of the season". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
12. "A-League's highest appearance-maker Andrew Durante announces retirement from football". A-League. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
13. "Durante closer to All Whites honours". The New Zealand Herald . 5 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
14. "After Socceroos dreams fade, Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante becomes All White". The Australian . 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
15. "All Whites named for March qualifiers". NZ Football. 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
16. "New Zealand (2013)".
17. "Wellington Phoenix legend to assist Football Ferns' FIFA Women's World Cup nemesis". www.thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
18. "Wellington Phoenix captain Andrew Durante recalls the day he was shot on the pitch". The New Zealand Herald . 12 March 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2021.

External links

• Andrew Durante profile OzFootball.net
• Andrew Durante at Soccerway
• Andrew Durante – FIFA competition record (archived)