Charlie Egan

NSL Career: South Melbourne, Brunswick 178 (83) / 1982 - 1988

Socceroos Career: 2 (0) A Internationals / 17 (5) B Internationals

Charlie Egan was a nippy forward who constantly tested opposition keepers and formed a devastating strike partnership at South Melbourne with fellow Scot Doug Brown. After failing to reach his potential in the UK, Egan moved to Australia and became one of the best strikers in the country during the 1980s.

A Glaswegian born to Scottish forward John Egan, who played for English Third and Fourth Division sides Halifax Town and Accrington Stanley respectively, Charlie Egan started his football journey in the North Lanarkshire school system. Egan started his competitive junior career with Kilsyth Rangers before joining the junior ranks of Scottish First Division side Dumbarton as a 16 year old to gain experience with a professional club. Egan signed for junior league club Kirkintilloch Rob Roy (a Rangers feeder club) from amateur side Campsie Black Water where he piqued the interest of both Rangers and Celtic.

Celtic gave Egan a month-long trial that went unrewarded when Celtic's 1967 European Cup-winning captain Billy McNeill replaced club legend Jock Stein as coach for the 1978/79 season and didn't include the young forward in his plans for the upcoming season. Egan signed his first professional contract with First Division side Berwick Rangers in the 1979/80 season and made his first team debut at the age of 20. Egan trialled with English First Division side Aston Villa but decided to return to Berwick where he would be guaranteed first team action and scored his first goal for the club the following season in a Scottish League Cup loss to Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen.

Egan scored his first league goal against Motherwell but was released during the season after making 13 league appearances and briefly joined Second Division side Albion Rovers before being offered the opportunity to play in Australia by Frankston City coach and UK recruiter John Pryde. The Scottish striker scored on his Victorian State League debut against George Cross before becoming the most dominant player in the league, finishing the season as the league's top scorer and player of the year.

Egan joined NSL club South Melbourne for the 1982 season where he played alongside former Liverpool and Aston Villa forward Alun Evans, Australian 1974 World Cup striker Branko Buljević and Aberdeen's youngest-ever debutant George Campbell (record broken by Fraser Fyvie in 2009). 

Egan scored 20 goals in 30 league games in his debut season, finishing just two goals behind Golden Boot winner John Kosmina. Following his rich vein of form in front of goals, Egan made his full international debut against Thailand during Australia's 1982 Merlion Cup-winning campaign. 

With the losses of Evans and Campbell at the end of the season - South signed star Preston forward Doug Brown for the 1983 season who formed a strong partnership with Egan. The new South strike partnership combined for 27 league games, with Brown claiming the NSL Golden Boot.

South lost their NSL Cup Semi-Final to Heidelberg after finishing fourth in the league as the Len McKendry era began to take shape. The partnership of Egan and Brown continued to flourish during the 1984 season as the pair scored a combined 31 goals, with Brown winning his second NSL Golden Boot. In form for the Southern Conference's best team, Egan earned a re-call to national team and played in a number of B internationals during 1984, including games against clubs that he had previously trialled with in Rangers and Aston Villa.

Egan was one of the key figures in South winning their first NSL trophy, setting up John Yzendoorn and Oscar Crino in the Southern Conference Major Semi-Final and Final respectively. Egan scored two goals in the first leg of the NSL Grand Final, including a brilliant lob after running on to a long pass from Alan Davidson as South went on to win the grand final four-two on aggregate.

During the 1985 season, the pendulum between the South strikers swung towards Egan who outscored Brown for the first time and won the NSL Golden Boot after resigning from the national team. South reached the preliminary final where Egan scored a hat-trick in a four-all draw with Preston that ended in a penalty shoot-out in which Egan converted South's second penalty as they lost the shoot-out five-four.

Former South coach John Margaritis returned to the club to replace McKendry for the 1986 season and the side struggled to find the consistency that made them a force during the previous two seasons as Brown moved to Heidelberg early in the season. Egan was joined in attack by fellow Scots Danny Crainie, a former Celtic and Wolverhampton Wanderers winger, and striker Stuart Stevenson. Egan scored just five goals in 21 league games during the season as South finished seventh, their lowest league placing since 1979. 

South brought in talented Queensland forward Danny Wright for the 1987 season and the club tried a number of attacking combinations during the season. Egan scored a hat-trick in South's four-one NSL Cup Semi-Final win over Marconi before the side lost two-nil on aggregate in the final to Sydney Croatia.

Egan was transfer-listed at the end of the season and joined Brunswick in a $32,000 package deal with South team mate Gary McDowall. Egan had a strong season in front of goals playing alongside Andrew Zinni and Scott Patterson, scoring 10 goals in 25 league games, and scored a penalty in Brunswick's NSL Cup Final penalty shoot-out loss to APIA but was unable to help the club avoid relegation.

The 29 year old stayed with the club as the competed in the Victorian State League and scored 17 goals in 50 league games between 1989 and 1990, helping the side finish runners-up in both seasons. Egan joined Altona Gate for the 1991 season before finishing his career at the end of the 1992 season with Werribee City in Division One, hanging up his boots at the age of 34.