![]() Cavallo with Adelaide United in 2021 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Joshua John Cavallo | ||
Date of birth | 13 November 1999 | ||
Place of birth | Bentleigh East, Victoria, Australia | ||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [1] | ||
Position(s) | Left back, central midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Peterborough Sports | ||
Youth career | |||
Melbourne Victory | |||
Melbourne City | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2017–2019 | Melbourne City NPL | 54 | (6) |
2019–2021 | Western United | 9 | (0) |
2021–2025 | Adelaide United | 49 | (0) |
2025– | Peterborough Sports | 0 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2018 | Australia U20 | 1 | (0) |
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23 March 2020 |
Joshua John Cavallo (born 13 November 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for English National League North club Peterborough Sports. Cavallo has represented the Australian under-20 national team.
Joshua John Cavallo [2] was born on 13 November 1999 in Bentleigh East, Victoria. [3] He is of Italian and Maltese descent. [4]
He says that he was initially more into playing tennis, but his brother encouraged him to kick a ball around in the backyard and it was not long before he "fell in love" with the game. [5]
Cavallo was scouted by a national program at the age of 15, and later offered a scholarship by Melbourne Victory. [5] He represented both Melbourne Victory FC Youth and Melbourne City FC Youth. [6]
On 15 April 2019, Melbourne City announced that Cavallo would leave the club at the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season. [7]
On 24 June 2019, new A-League side Western United, [8] representing western Melbourne suburbs and western Victorian regional towns, [9] announced that Cavallo would join the club ahead of its inaugural season. [8] He made his debut on 3 January 2020 in a 3–2 loss at his previous club. On as a 71st-minute substitute for Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, he earned a penalty when fouled by goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis, which was converted by Besart Berisha. [10]
Western United announced that Cavallo was leaving the club on 10 February 2021 [11] to seek more playing time with another A-League club.
On 18 February 2021, Cavallo signed a short-term contract to play for Adelaide United. [12] After a successful stint in the 2020–21 A-League, he signed a two-year contract extension on 11 May. [13] He was rewarded with Adelaide United's A-League Rising Star award after a successful 2020–21 campaign, in which he started 15 games and made 18 appearances. [14]
He plays as a left back and central midfielder for the club. [15]
During the 2024-25 season, Cavallo failed to make a single appearance for Adelaide, only making the bench eight times throughout the season. He departed the club at the season's end. [16]
On 11 July 2025, Cavallo joined English National League North side Peterborough Sports. [17]
Cavallo was in the Australian under-19 national team which played in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship in October–November 2018, starting with a game against Korea Republic. [18]
Cavallo has represented the Australian under-20 national team. [19] [20]
Cavallo hoped to make the team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, [21] but was not selected to play. He was disappointed at FIFA's decision to ban players from wearing "OneLove" armbands at the tournament [22]
He came out as gay in October 2021. [23] [5] At the time, there were no other openly gay male footballers playing professional top-flight football. He said in a statement, "I hope that in sharing who I am, I can show others who identify as LGBTQ+ that they are welcome in the football community". [24] Cavallo said he had "never smiled so much in my life" and had "the best night's sleep" after his announcement. [25] He was fully and explicitly supported by Adelaide United management and fellow players. [26] [27] The announcement was widely reported in the international press, [28] and Cavallo received messages of support from many football players, including Gerard Piqué, Marcus Rashford, Antoine Griezmann, [5] Jordan Henderson, [25] Gary Lineker, [5] and Lionel Messi, as well as fans, strangers, and celebrities such as Lil Nas X and Ellen DeGeneres. [26]
Cavallo was the first high-profile player to come out during their career since English footballer Justin Fashanu made a similar announcement in 1990. Fashanu faced widespread homophobia after the announcement. [26] [a] In May 2022 English footballer Jake Daniels came out, aged 17, becoming the UK's only male professional footballer to be publicly out at the time, and the first since Fashanu. [31] He cited Cavallo among those who had helped him to come out. [32]
In March 2024, Cavallo proposed to his partner Leighton Morrell on the pitch at Coopers Stadium, Adelaide United's home ground. [33] He posted three photos on Instagram, one of which showed Morrell wearing an engagement ring, and thanked his club for their support and encouragement to live his life authentically. [34]
He won Adelaide United's Rising Star award for the 2020–21 season. [5]
In 2022, Cavallo received an honorary doctorate from Flinders University in Adelaide, in recognition of "his exceptional contributions as a role model in elite men's sport and as a champion for equality". [20]
Cavallo was nominated as 2023 SA Young Australian of the Year. [20]
Club | Season | League | Cup | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Western United | 2019–20 | A-League | 9 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |
2020–21 | A-League | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | ||
Total | 9 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |||
Adelaide United | 2020–21 | A-League | 19 | 0 | – | 19 | 0 | |
2021–22 | A-League Men | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
2022–23 | A-League Men | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
2023–24 | A-League Men | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
2024–25 | A-League Men | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 49 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 55 | 0 | ||
Career total | 58 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 64 | 0 |