37 Facts About Mark Schwarzer

Mark Schwarzer is an Australian former professional football player who played as a goalkeeper.

Mark Schwarzer represented Australia at international level from 1993 to 2013, and was selected for both the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

Mark Schwarzer joined then-second-tier side Bradford City in 1996 and made 16 appearances before joining Premier League club Middlesbrough in February 1997.

Mark Schwarzer made 445 appearances for Middlesbrough, but decided to leave the club in May 2008.

Mark Schwarzer then switched to Premier League side Fulham, and made 218 appearances for the club until he moved to Chelsea in 2013.

Mark Schwarzer became Australia's most capped male player when he surpassed Alex Tobin's appearance record in January 2011.

Mark Schwarzer was born in North Richmond, a semi-rural suburb in north-western Sydney, and attended Richmond North Public School and Colo High School.

Mark Schwarzer played for the local soccer club the Colo Cougars.

In 2009, Mark Schwarzer was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

In June 2007, Mark Schwarzer branched out from his football career and co-wrote "Megs and the Vootball Kids" with Neil Montagnana-Wallace.

Mark Schwarzer was later involved in the network's coverage of UEFA Euro 2020, and regularly appears as a guest on the station's GegenPod podcast.

Mark Schwarzer published non-football article on The Sydney Morning Herald on behalf with other author.

Mark Schwarzer's son, Julian, is a goalkeeper for the Welsh club Newtown AFC.

Mark Schwarzer started his professional career at age 19 with Marconi Stallions in the National Soccer League.

Mark Schwarzer left the Sydney-based club to play in Germany in 1994 with Dynamo Dresden and 1.

Mark Schwarzer then travelled to England to play for Bradford City in 1996, where he eventually joined Middlesbrough in February 1997.

Mark Schwarzer made his debut for Middlesbrough against Stockport County in the League Cup semi-finals on 26 February 1997.

Mark Schwarzer was granted a transfer request by Middlesbrough on 6 January 2006 and sought to join a new club, but he withdrew his request on 20 January 2006, and rejoined the team.

Mark Schwarzer revealed in an interview with The World Game that he had received offers from Bayern Munich and Juventus but declined their offers because they could not guarantee him the position as the number-one goalkeeper.

Mark Schwarzer was named the Premier League's Player of the Month for February 2010, in which he only conceded one goal in his team's two wins and two draws that month, making him the first Australian to do so.

Mark Schwarzer played an important role in Fulham reaching the Europa League final in 2010, but Schwarzer lost his second European final with a narrow defeat to Atletico Madrid.

On 13 August 2010, Fulham manager Mark Hughes revealed that Schwarzer had handed in a transfer request, which Hughes had rejected.

Mark Schwarzer signed a contract extension with Fulham on 18 January 2012, committing himself to the club until at least the summer of 2013.

On 5 June 2013, Mark Schwarzer announced he was leaving Fulham following the arrival of Maarten Stekelenburg.

Mark Schwarzer said, "I've been hearing that for a while," he said of Stekelenburg's arrival.

On 9 July 2013, Mark Schwarzer signed a one-year contract with Fulham's West London rivals Chelsea on a free transfer.

Mark Schwarzer became the oldest player to represent Chelsea in the Premier League when he played against Sunderland on 19 April 2014, aged 41 years and 195 days old.

Mark Schwarzer became the club's oldest ever player by some margin, overtaking Graham Rix, who last played for Chelsea at the age of 37 years and 203 days.

Mark Schwarzer was included on the list of players released by Chelsea at the end of the season, but he eventually signed a new one-year contract with the club, on 30 June 2014.

On 6 January 2015, Mark Schwarzer moved to Premier League side Leicester City on a free transfer as cover for the injured Kasper Schmeichel, after signing an 18-month deal.

Mark Schwarzer made eight appearances in his first season at the King Power Stadium, of which six were in their successful campaign to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Mark Schwarzer made his international debut for Australia against Canada in Edmonton in a 1994 World Cup qualifier in 1993.

Mark Schwarzer came on as a substitute for Milan Blagojevic after first-choice Robert Zabica was sent off 15 minutes into the match.

Mark Schwarzer was instrumental in Australia's qualification for the 2006 World Cup, in the play-off against Uruguay.

Mark Schwarzer played in all of Australia's matches at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

Mark Schwarzer said that the penalty shootout in the Asian Cup quarter-finals was the first penalty shoot-out in his career that he had ever lost.

Mark Schwarzer was the country's first-choice keeper for all three matches of the group stage in the 2010 World Cup in a group composed of Australia, Germany, Ghana and Serbia.