Charlie Yankos

Charlie Yankos
OAM

Personal information
Date of birth	(1961-05-29) 29 May 1961 (age 64)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Sweeper
Youth career
1978–1979	Heidelberg United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1979–1985	Heidelberg United	136	(6)
1986	West Adelaide
1987–1988	APIA Leichhardt	44	(0)
1988–1989	PAOK Salonika	7	(0)
1989–1990	Blacktown City
1990–1992	Wollongong City
1992	Canterbury-Marrickville	15	(2)
1992–1994	Wollongong City		(7)
International career‡
1983–1989	Australia [1]	49	(7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 February 2008 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 February 2008

Charlie Yankos OAM (born 29 May 1961) is an Australian former footballer who played for the Australian national team 49 times and scored 7 international goals. He captained the national team on 30 occasions between 1986 and 1989.

Charlie Yankos started his local football career with former NSL club Heidelberg United in 1979 and became one of the greatest players to wear the gold and black colors. He was also an important part of APIA Leichhardt's 1987 NSL title victory. ^[2]

International career

Charlie Yankos represented the Australian national team on 49 times including 13 world cup qualifiers, captaining the side on 30 occasions and scoring 7 international goals. He participated in the 1985 and 1989 World Cup qualifying campaigns, and also played in the Seoul Olympics in 1988 where Australia made the quarterfinals.

Yankos scored a long range goal from over 30 yards in the 1988 Australian Bicentennial Gold Cup against then-World Champions Argentina. ^[3] In a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification away match against Israel, he scored an equaliser for Australia, again with a long range free kick. ^[4]

After retirement

Following his retirement from football, Yankos moved into a successful career in business. He was inducted into the Football Australia Hall of Fame in 1999.

Charlie Yankos Street in the Sydney suburb of Glenwood is named for him. ^[5]

Career Statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[6]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Australia	1983	6	0
	1984	1	0
	1985	8	0
	1986	6	0
	1987	6	0
	1988	17	5
	1989	4	2
Total		48	7

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yankos goal.

List of international goals scored by Charlie Yankos

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	6 March 1988	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Israel	1–0	2–0	1988 Summer Olympics qualification	[7]
2	14 July 1988	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Argentina	2–1	4–1	Friendly	[8]
3				3–1
4	3 December 1988	Macquarie Field, Lake Macquarie, Australia	Fiji	1–0	5–1	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification	[9]
5				3–0
6	12 March 1989	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia	New Zealand	4–1	4–1	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification	[10]
7	19 March 1989	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	1–1	1–1	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification	[11]

References

1. "Australia - Record International Players". RSSSF .
2. "Historic NPL club APIA goes back to its roots with major re-brand". Topics.
3. "Greatest Socceroos moments in Australia - Yankos's free kick". Socceroos. 19 July 2012.
4. "Socceroos Greats - Where are they now: Charlie Yankos". Topics.
5. O'Maley, Christine (20 January 2010). "Park is a goner". Blacktown Advocate. Cumberland Newspapers. p. 14. ...streets are named after well known football identities...
6. "Charlie Yankos". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
7. "Australia vs. Israel". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
8. "Australia vs. Argentina". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
9. "Australia vs. Fiji". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
10. "Australia vs. New Zealand". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
11. "Israel vs. Australia". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 June 2025.

External links

• Oz Football profile