Mitch Duke

Mitchell Thomas Duke (born 18 January 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for J1 League club Machida Zelvia and the Australia national team.

Mitch Duke

Duke training with Western Sydney Wanderers in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Mitchell Thomas Duke[1]
Date of birth	(1991-01-18) 18 January 1991 (age 34)[1]
Place of birth	Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Machida Zelvia
Number	15
Youth career
–2009	Parramatta Eagles
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	Parramatta Eagles
2010–2015	Central Coast Mariners	66	(13)
2011	→ Blacktown City (loan)	21	(4)
2015–2018	Shimizu S-Pulse	89	(3)
2019–2020	Western Sydney Wanderers	37	(18)
2020–2021	Al-Taawoun	12	(0)
2021	→ Western Sydney Wanderers (loan)	17	(6)
2021–2022	Fagiano Okayama	51	(11)
2023–	Machida Zelvia	47	(12)
International career‡
2021	Australia Olympic	4	(1)
2013–	Australia	40	(12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2024

Duke was born in Liverpool, New South Wales and played youth soccer with Parramatta Eagles before starting his professional career with Central Coast Mariners. He joined J-League side Shimizu S-Pulse and Fagiano Okayama in 2015 and 2021 respectively.

He represented Australia at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Australia Olympic at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Duke was born in Liverpool, in Sydney's south-west. He attended All Saints Catholic College, Liverpool and All Saints Catholic Senior College Casula.

Club career

Duke began his career with Parramatta Eagles before moving into the Central Coast Mariners' youth team. On 9 February 2011, Duke made his senior debut for the Mariners and also scored his first goal in a 3–1 win over Gold Coast United.^[2]

Duke playing for Central Coast Mariners in 2010

On 24 January 2012, it was announced he had signed his first senior contract signing a two-year contract with Central Coast Mariners.^[3]

In August 2013, Duke had a two-week trial with English Premier League side West Ham United.^[4]

In the 2012–13 season, Duke scored 6 goals from 21 games. In the 2013–14 season, he was not as prolific, scoring 3 goals in 29 games. In the 2014–15 season, he had 3 goals from 15 games.^[5] The decrease in goals can be attributed to Duke being played increasingly on the right wing by coach Phil Moss rather than the centre forward position he began his career playing.

On 9 February 2015, Duke announced that he was flying to Japan to complete a move to Shimizu S-Pulse.^[6] In April 2016, Duke suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out of football for at least six months.^[7]

Duke left Shimizu in December 2018, after four seasons with the club.^[8]

On 25 January 2019, Duke announced that he had moved back home and signed with Western Sydney Wanderers FC and captained the club.

On 22 August 2020, Duke signed a two-year deal with Al-Taawoun.^[9] He scored the winning goal against Al-Duhail in a AFC Champions League group stage fixture on 25 September 2020 but fell out of favour with the club leadership shortly after, having moved from his forward position to the wing. On 1 February 2021, Duke returned to Australia and signed for his former club Western Sydney Wanderers on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 A-League season.^[10]

On 5 August 2021, Duke joined Fagiano Okayama.^[11]

On 30 December 2022, it was announced that Duke had officially transferred to Machida Zelvia for the upcoming 2023 J2 League season.^[12] He scored 10 goals in the J2 League and helped Zelvia to promotion from the J2 League to the J1 League.^[13]

International career

Duke was included in the Australian national team in July 2013, for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup.^[14] Duke made his international tournament debut against South Korea in the first match of the tournament, in a draw.^[15] He scored his first international goal in the next match, a 3–2 loss to Japan.^[16] Duke scored again in the following match which Australia lost 4–3 to China.^[17]

7 September 2013, Duke next played for the Socceroos in a 0–6 friendly loss to Brazil, at Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha in Brasília. Mitch came on as a second half substitute for Josh Kennedy in the 78th minute.^[18]

Duke qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was included in the Olyroos Olympic squad. They defeated Argentina in their first group match but, unable to win another match, they never were in contention for a medal.^[19]

He featured in Australia's team in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.^[20] In the team's second match against Tunisia on 26 November 2022, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win, Australia's first World Cup win since 2010.^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of the start from 2023 season^[22][23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		AFC		League Cup[b]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Central Coast Mariners	2010–11	A-League	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
	2011–12		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	2012–13		21	6	0	0	7	2	0	0	28	8
	2013–14		29	3	0	0	6	0	0	0	35	3
	2014–15		15	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	18	3
	Total		66	13	3	0	14	2	0	0	83	15
Blacktown City Demons (loan)	2011	NSW PL	21	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	23	5
Shimizu S-Pulse	2015	J1 League	29	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	32	1
	2016	J2 League	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
	2017	J1 League	31	1	1	1	0	0	6	0	38	2
	2018		22	0	1	0	0	0	4	1	27	1
	Total		89	3	2	1	0	0	13	1	104	5
Western Sydney Wanderers	2018–19	A-League	11	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	4
	2019–20		26	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	14
	Total		37	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	18
Al Taawoun	2020–21	Saudi Professional League	12	0	1	0	5	1	0	0	18	1
Western Sydney Wanderers (loan)	2020–21	A-League	17	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	6
Fagiano Okayama	2021	J2 League	14	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	3
	2022		36	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	36	8
	Total		49	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	49	11
Machida Zelvia	2023	J2 League	31	8	2	1	0	0	0	0	33	9
Total			267	51	18	2	19	3	15	2	319	58

1. Includes appearances in the Australian FFA Cup and Japanese Emperor's Cup
2. Includes appearances in the NSW Waratah Cup and Japanese J.League Cup

International

As of match played 2 February 2024

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Australia	2013	4	2
	2019	2	0
	2021	9	5
	2022	8	2
	2023	9	2
	2024	4	1
Total		36	12

As of 6 January 2024^[24]

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Duke goal.

List of international goals scored by Mitchell Duke

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	25 July 2013	Hwaseong Stadium, Hwaseong, South Korea	2	Japan	1–2	2–3	2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
2	28 July 2013	Olympic Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	3	China	3–4	3–4
3	7 June 2021	Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait	8	Chinese Taipei	4–0	5–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
4					5–1
5	2 September 2021	Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar	10	China	3–0	3–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	7 October 2021		12	Oman	3–1	3–1
7	16 November 2021	Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	15	China	1–0	1–1
8	25 September 2022	Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand	21	New Zealand	1–0	2–0	Friendly
9	26 November 2022	Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar	23	Tunisia	1–0	1–0	2022 FIFA World Cup
10	16 November 2023	Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	31	Bangladesh	3–0	7–0	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
11					4–0
12	6 January 2024	Baniyas Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	33	Bahrain	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Honours

Central Coast Mariners

• A-League Championship: 2012–2013

Machida Zelvia

• J2 League: 2023

See also

• List of Central Coast Mariners FC players

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ – Squad List: Australia (AUS)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
2. "Mariners blow Gold Coast away". ABC. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
3. "Mariners re-sign young defender Sainsbury". ABC. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
4. Smithies, Tom (21 August 2013). "Mitchell Duke says experience of training with West Ham will help him in upcoming A-League season with Central Coast Mariners". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 14 October 2014.
5. "Australia - M. Duke - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway.
6. Duke takes J-League opportunity
7. Somerford, Ben (24 April 2016). "Duke suffers long-term injury". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
8. Thomas, Josh. "Mitchell Duke eyes European move after Japanese adventure ends in frustration". Goal.com. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
9. "التعاون يتعاقد مع مهاجم سيدني".
10. "Wanderers announce the return of Duke". Western Sydney Wanderers. 1 February 2021.
11. "ミッチェル デューク選手 加入のお知らせ". Fagiano Okayama. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
12. "ミッチェル デューク選手 完全移籍加入のお知らせ" (Press release). FC町田ゼルビア. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
13. "MVP級」の活躍だった豪代表FWデューク ハードな日程でもタフにプレーし、J2町田の窮地を救う" (in Japanese). Yahoo Sports. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
14. "Socceroos name East Asian Cup squad". St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
15. Strachan, Iain (22 July 2013). "New Socceroo Duke describes 'dream come true'". Goal.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
16. "Japan edge Australia 3–2 in EAFF East Asian Cup". Japan Football Association. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
17. "Socceroos' loss to China leaves them winless in East Asian Cup". The Guardian. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
18. "Socceroos routed 6–0 by Brazil". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
19. "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
20. "SOCCEROOS SQUAD ANNOUNCED: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™". Football Australia. 8 November 2022.
21. "World Cup 2022: Mitchell Duke heads Australia to 1-0 win against Tunisia - highlights". BBC Sport. 26 November 2022.
22. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 114 out of 289)
23. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 139 out of 289)
24. "Matches of M. Duke". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 December 2013.

putting his wood in a minor

External links

• Mitch Duke at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mitch Duke at Soccerway
• Mitch Duke at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
• Profile at Shimizu S-Pulse Archived 14 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine