Robert Cornthwaite (soccer)

Robert Cornthwaite

Cornthwaite playing for Western Sydney Wanderers in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Robert Richard Cornthwaite [1]
Date of birth	(1985-10-24) 24 October 1985 (age 38)
Place of birth	Blackburn, England
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) [2]
Position(s)	Centre back
Youth career
2003	Adelaide City
2004	Enfield City
2005	White City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003	Adelaide City	21	(0)
2004	Enfield City	19	(1)
2005	White City	3	(2)
2005–2011	Adelaide United	103	(4)
2006	→ Adelaide Olympic (loan)	8	(0)
2011–2014	Jeonnam Dragons	90	(7)
2015–2016	Selangor	23	(4)
2016–2018	Western Sydney Wanderers	30	(2)
2018	Perak	11	(1)
Total		308	(21)
International career‡
2007	Australia U-23	6	(1)
2009–2013	Australia	7	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 February 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 May 2016

Robert Richard Cornthwaite (born 24 October 1985), nicknamed "Cornflakes", is an Australian former soccer player. Alongside Eli Babalj and Sasa Ognenovski, Cornthwaite, at 1.95 m is the joint third tallest player to have represented the Australia national association football team, behind Zeljko Kalac (2.02 m) and Harry Souttar (1.98 m). ^[3]

Club career

Adelaide United

Cornthwaite with Adelaide United in 2009

Cornthwaite signed for United for the inaugural A-League season and spent the majority of his first two seasons starting on the bench. In the 2007–08 he started all of his 19 league appearances; he scored the opening goal in just the third minute against Pohang Steelers in Adelaide United's opening game of the 2008 Asian Champion League. ^[4]

As of half time of Adelaide United's away game against J League 5-time champions Kashima Antlers in the quarter finals of the 2008 AFC Champions League, Robert scored an accidental own goal to put Kashima level with Adelaide 1–1 after a spectacular goal from Adelaide captain Travis Dodd which came after a cross from vice-captain Lucas Pantelis in the 38th minute. The match being the first leg of the 2 teams Quarter finals match dated on Wednesday 17 September in Japan. He redeemed himself though in the second leg where he scored the winner in the 73rd minute with the game locked at 0–0. Adelaide went on to win 2–1 on aggregate and advance to the semi-finals. ^[5]

Robert Cornthwaite made his 50th A-League appearance in the 1–0 win over Perth Glory on 27 December 2008. ^{[6] [7]} Cornthwaite signed a new three-year contract with Adelaide United in October 2009. ^[8]

Jeonnam Dragons

On 8 March 2011, Cornthwaite announced that he had signed for Jeonnam Dragons in the Korean K-League on a 2-year contract. ^{[9] [10]}

Selangor

Robert joined the Malaysian Super League outfit Selangor in early 2015 and scored a few goals for the club. He was selected to play for Malaysian XI in a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur in July 2015.

In January 2016 his contract with Selangor was continued after Selangor fans forced the Football Association of Selangor to continue his contract by using the social media.

On 9 July 2016, Cornthwaite was released by Selangor. ^[11]

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 14 July 2016, Cornthwaite joined Western Sydney Wanderers on a two-year deal. ^[12]

Perak

On 16 January 2018, Cornthwaite signed a contract with Malaysia Super League club Perak on a one plus one-year deal. ^[13]

Cornthwaite announced his immediate retirement from football on 4 June 2018, halfway through his Perak contract. ^[14]

International career

Cornthwaite made his first senior international debut for the Socceroos on 4 March 2009 in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match versus Kuwait. He scored his first international goal in against South Korea in a 2012 friendly. ^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 October 2017

Club	Season	League1		Cup		International2		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Adelaide City	2003	21	0	0	0	0	0	21	0
Total		21	0	0	0	0	0	21	0
Enfield City	2004	19	1	0	0	0	0	19	1
Total		19	1	0	0	0	0	19	1
White City	2005	3	2	0	0	0	0	3	2
Total		3	2	0	0	0	0	3	2
Adelaide United	2005–06	12	–	–	–	–	–	12	–
	2006–07	8	1	6	–	–	–	14	1
	2007–08	19	–	5	–	1	–	25	–
	2008–09	20	2	3	–	13	2	36	4
	2009–10	19	–	–	–	–	–	19	–
	2010–11	25	1	–	–	6	2	31	3
Total		103	4	14	0	20	4	137	8
Jeonnam Dragons	2011	17	1	4	2	0	0	21	3
	2012	31	3	1	0	0	0	32	3
	2013	22	1	1	0	0	0	23	1
	2014	20	2	0	0	0	0	20	2
Total		90	7	6	2	0	0	96	9
Selangor	2015	15	4	2	0	0	0	17	4
	2016	8	0	0	0	3	0	11	0
Total		23	4	2	0	3	0	28	4
Western Sydney Wanderers	2016–17	19	2	0	0	2	0	21	2
	2017–18	11	0	3	1	0	0	14	1
Total		30	2	3	1	2	0	35	3
Total career		289	20	25	3	25	0	339	23

¹ – includes A-League final series statistics
² – includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)

International

As of 15 November 2017 ^[16]

Australia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	1	0
2012	4	2
2013	2	1
Total	7	3

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	14 November 2012	Hwaseong Stadium, Hwaseong, South Korea	South Korea	1–2	1–2	International Friendly
2.	9 December 2012	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong, Hong Kong	Chinese Taipei	2–0	8–0	2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
3.	6 February 2013	Estadio Municipal de Marbella, Marbella, Spain	Romania	2–1	2–3	Friendly

Honours

Club

Adelaide United

• A-League Premiership: 2005–06

Selangor

• Malaysia Cup: 2015

Personal life

Cornthwaite was born in Blackburn, England and was brought up in Adelaide, South Australia. ^[17]

Cornthwaite has a wife, Nel, a son and a daughter, Sahara. ^[18]

References

1. "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 Presented By TOYOTA – List Of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008.
2. "Robert Cornthwaite". Selangor FA. Selangor FA. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
3. Smithies, Tom. "World Cup qualifiers: Harry Souttar poised to become second-tallest Socceroo in clash against Kuwait". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
4. Parry, Martin (13 March 2008). "Australia, China, Japan all winners". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
5. Earle, Richard (24 September 2008). "Adelaide United beat Kashima Antlers". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
6. "Adelaide in search of Boxing day Glory". Adelaide United FC. 24 December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
7. "Reds take glory in tough Boxing Day clash". Adelaide United FC. 27 December 2008. Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
8. "Cornthwaite signs new Adelaide deal". Ontheminute.com, 30 October 2009. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
9. "News Display". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
10. "Cornthwaite Flies Out to Korea – Australian FourFourTwo – the Ultimate football Website". Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
11. Zainal, Zulhilmi (9 July 2016). "Aussie defenders released, Turtles sign towering striker". Goal.
12. "Wanderers sign former Socceroos defender". Football Federation Australia. 14 July 2016.
13. Smithies, Tom (16 January 2018). "A-League: Western Sydney Wanderers release skipper Robbie Cornthwaite". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney.
14. "Ex-Wanderers skipper announces retirement". A-League. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
15. "Robert Cornthwaite strikes late to lift Socceroos to 2-1 win against South Korea". The Australian. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
16. "Robert Cornthwaite". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
17. Dasey, Jason (8 July 2017). "Former Socceroo Robbie Cornthwaite brings scoring boots to Selangor in Malaysia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
18. Prichard, Greg. "Wanderers the right choice for Cornthwaite". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 23 July 2016.

External links

• Adelaide United profile Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• FFA – Olyroo profile Archived 27 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• Robert Cornthwaite – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)