Mike Petersen

NSL Career: Heidelberg, Brunswick, South Melbourne 272 (19) / 1983 - 1996/97

Socceroos Career: 32 (1) A Internationals / 18 (2) B Internationals

Dutch culture in Australian football has been prevalent for decades - in clubs, coaching and players. Mike Petersen, son of a Dutch footballer who played in a B international for Australia in 1959, was one of the classiest Australian footballers of the 1980s and 1990s. 

A technician who was tactically astute, Petersen could do just about anything with the ball and was the man of the match on many occasions in the NSL. Petersen's talent took him to one of Europe's most famous clubs, Ajax, and made him a regular at international level for Australia during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Petersen came up through the junior ranks of Port Melbourne before making his first team debut as a 16 year old in the Victorian Metropolitan League Division Three. After becoming the stand out player in the league, Petersen signed for Heidelberg in 1983, making his NSL debut at the age of 18.

The young midfielder became a key member of the side that reached the NSL Southern Conference Final in 1984, scoring the opening goal in Heidelberg's loss to South Melbourne. His early potential earned him a move to Eredivisie side Roda JC, becoming the first Australian to do so, however, Petersen failed to break in to the first team and returned to the NSL to play for Brunswick.

The midfield maestro took his game to another level in 1985 as he made his Socceroos B debut against Serie A side Udinese, scoring the winner off the bench. At Brunswick, Petersen played alongside former Port Melbourne team mates - Mehmet Duraković, Andrew Zinni and Joe Palatsides - and scored in the Southern Conference Final, defeating Preston to reach the NSL Grand Final. 

Petersen was player of the match in the second leg of the grand final as Brunswick became champions in only their second season in the NSL, defeating four-time champions Sydney City two-nil on aggregate. Petersen played his part in the first half of the 1986 season as Brunswick stayed among the top sides before being loaned to Dutch giants Ajax, who were then coached by their greatest ever player and revolutionary coach Johan Cruyff.

In a side that included some of Netherlands's greatest players such as Frank Rijkaard, Dennis Bergkamp, Danny Blind and Marco van Basten - The 21 year old performed well in the reserves and made a single appearance for the first team in their three-one victory over Fortuna Sittard before returning to Australia due to home-sickness. Petersen returned to Brunswick for the 1988 season but couldn't help them avoid relegation to the Victorian Premier League.

Petersen made his full international debut in 1988 after previous disagreements with coach Frank Arok and was part of Australia's 1988 Seoul Olympics team that reached the quarter-finals. Petersen moved to South Melbourne in 1989 and formed a formidable midfield partnership with Socceroos and former Brunswick team mate Paul Wade. Petersen scored in South's 1989/90 NSL Cup Final victory over Sydney Olympic before playing a key role in South's first NSL Championship side in the 1990/91 season.

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With South, Petersen went on to play in three preliminary finals between 1992 and 1995 (missed the preliminary final in 1993) before winning the 1995/96 NSL Cup. Petersen spent the 1992/93 off-season with Malaysian club Pahang in the Malaysian Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1, helping the side finish fourth before Divisyen 1 and 2 merged to form the fully professional Liga Perdana.

After making just six appearances for South in the 1996/97 season, Petersen hung up his boots at the age of 31 and stayed on as assistant to coach Ange Postecoglou as the club won back-to-back championships. Petersen later became South's head coach, leading them to the 2000/01 NSL Grand Final and winning the NSL Coach of the Year award before having a short stint as Football Kingz coach at the start of the 2001/02 season. Petersen was selected as a substitute in South Melbourne's Team of the Century.