Luke Wilkshire

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Personal information
Luke Wilkshire

Full name	Luke Wilkshire
Date of birth	October 2, 1981 (1981-10-02) (age 26)
Place of birth	Wollongong, Australia
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Central Midfielder
Club information
Current club	FC Twente
Number	14
Youth clubs
1997–1998	Shellharbour Albion Park Wollongong Wolves AIS
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998–2003 2003–2006 2006–	Middlesbrough Bristol City FC Twente	021 0(0) 110 (17) 059 0(5)
National team²
2001 2003–2004 2004–	Australia U-20 Australia U-23 Australia	012 0(3) 017 0(4) 024 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 September 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 11 April 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Luke Wilkshire (born October 2, 1981 in Wollongong, Australia) is an Australian footballer who plays for FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie.

[edit] Club career

Wilkshire played his junior football with his home town club of Albion Park and attended Albion Park High School. He moved on to represent his region by joining the Wollongong Wolves youth setup and spending several seasons there. Wilkshire then travelled to Canberra to spend a year at the AIS football program, Australia's elite sports academy. He then moved overseas and was part of the Middlesbrough's youth system. He made several senior appearances for them in the Premier League, including a sending off against Arsenal, and also started in an FA Cup Semi Final but ultimately never established himself in the first team. In search of regular football, Wilkshire decided on a move to English lower league club Bristol City.

His solid performances at the 2006 World Cup earned him a trial and subsequent three year deal with Dutch top flight club FC Twente despite reported interest from bigger dutch clubs Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eindhoven. His league debut for FC Twente was a nightmarish one with Wilkshire being dismissed. However, Wilkshire would go on to play regularly in the 2006/2007 campaign which saw FC Twente qualify for the UEFA Cup.

[edit] International career

Wilkshire has represented Australia at youth level earlier in his career, playing in the 2001 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina, and in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Three years of regular first-team football for The Robins allowed Wilkshire to mature his game and improve his versatility, so much so that former Australia coach Guus Hiddink described him as a 'modern player', also claiming he was one of the most technically gifted players in the Socceroo side. Luke was selected in Australia's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and started against Japan and Italy.

[edit] External links

v • d • e FC Twente – current squad

1 Boschker • 2 Wielaert • 3 Braafheid • 4 Zomer • 6 Brama • 7 Denneboom • 9 Kufo • 10 Engelaar • 11 Huysegems • 12 Heubach • 13 Mihaylov • 14 Wilkshire • 15 Elia • 16 Paauwe • 17 Hersi • 19 Douglas • 21 Arnautovic • 22 Wellenberg • 23 Gerritsen • 24 El Ahmadi • 25 Rendla • 26 B. Viðarsson • 27 Maaroufi • Coach: Rutten

v • d • e Australia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup

1 Schwarzer • 2 Neill • 3 Moore • 4 Cahill • 5 Culina • 6 Popovic • 7 Emerton • 8 Skoko • 9 Viduka • 10 Kewell • 11 Lazaridis • 12 Covic • 13 Grella • 14 Chipperfield • 15 Aloisi • 16 Beauchamp • 17 Thompson • 18 Kalac • 19 Kennedy • 20 Wilkshire • 21 Sterjovski • 22 Milligan • 23 Bresciano • Coach: Hiddink