Michael Beauchamp

Michael Francis Beauchamp (born 8 March 1981) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

Beauchamp was substituted off in the 83rd minute of the match, and was replaced by Perth Glory defender Joshua Risdon.

In 2001–02, Beauchamp became a regular in the team, making 24 appearances, including 19 starts as Marconi finished ninth in the league.

Upon signing with Parramatta Power for 2002–03 and beyond, Beauchamp was able to quit his vinyl-laying job to play football full-time, and became a permanent member of the Parramatta starting line-up.

Beauchamp played 33 matches for Parramatta in 2002–03, with the Power finishing the regular season third before coming fourth in the finals series "round-robin".

Beauchamp made a further 24 appearances in 2003–04, including the last NSL Grand Final after the western Sydney club finished second in the league.

The collapse of the NSL forced Beauchamp to move back to the New South Wales Premier League, where he played for Sydney Olympic FC during the 2004–05 season before signing with A-League club Central Coast Mariners.

Beauchamp was a key player for the Mariners in the inaugural A-League season, starting 22 times in central defence.

The Mariners finished third and progressed to the Grand Final, with Beauchamp playing the full 90 minutes in the decider.

Beauchamp received numerous accolades from the press and fans for his impressive season, chosen as "Player of the Year" by Australian football magazine FourFourTwo, and was the most popular selection in the A-League "Fans' Team of the Year", although he was ineligible for the Johnny Warren Medal after receiving a red card in a round 11 clash with Sydney FC.

Beauchamp also collected the inaugural "Mariners Medal" after being voted as the most outstanding Central Coast player by his teammates.

At the end of the season Beauchamp travelled to Germany to trial with 1. FC Nürnberg alongside Mariners teammate Dean Heffernan, with both players signing one-year loan contracts with the Bundesliga club.

Beauchamp began training with Nürnberg shortly after the end of the World Cup, and scored a goal in his first match for the club, a 3–2 win over FSV Erlangen-Bruck.

Beauchamp was called up into the Australian national under-23 squad (the "Olyroos") in January 2004 for the 2004 Summer Olympics qualifying tournament under Frank Farina.

He made his international debut as a substitute, playing the final 34 minutes of Australia's 9–0 victory over Papua New Guinea.

That appearance became Beauchamp's only game for the Olyroos, as he missed selection for the Olympic Games themselves, where the team made the quarter finals before being eliminated by Iraq.

He was a member of the Australian 2006 World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup squads.

Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Beauchamp grew up in Wakeley in Sydney's south-west, and attended Westfields Sports High School until year 8, aged 14.

During his first stint with Marconi, Beauchamp made a living laying vinyl flooring.

After leaving the widely accepted system of progression in Australian youth football, Beauchamp started his career as a part-time professional at age 20 with the Marconi Stallions.

Beauchamp appeared just once for the Stallions in his first season, fighting for a spot ahead of Australian representative Mark Babic.

Beauchamp made his first Bundesliga start for Nürnberg on 4 November 2006 in a 2–1 loss away to Hertha Berlin.

He has since become a regular of the starting first team, occasionally coming off the bench.

At the end of the 2006–07 season, 1.

FCN elected to sign Beauchamp on a full contract.

He scored his first goal against Energie Cottbus on 18 February 2007.

In the summer of 2008, Beauchamp moved to Danish champions AaB Football.

On 17 August, in his first match in the Danish league, he was shown a straight red card 18 minutes into the game.

Precisely one month later he was sent off once more in a UEFA Champions League match against Celtic in Glasgow, though on this occasion it was actually his team-mate Michael Jakobsen who should have received the red card as Beauchamp was not involved in the foul that led to the decision.

Beauchamp signed a two-year deal with Melbourne Heart on 17 May 2010, returning to the A-League following a four-year stint in Europe.

He was the sixteenth player to pledge his future to John van 't Schip's new side.

He featured 23 times for the club, including nineteen starts, in its inaugural season.

He struggled to cement a position in the starting team due to the good form of younger teammate Michael Marrone.

On 20 April 2011 it was announced that Beauchamp had signed for Sydney FC on a multi-year contract.

He had been released a year early from his contract with the Melbourne Heart for the move to take place.

He also joins Jamie Coyne who moved from Perth Glory.

On 30 June 2012, it was officially announced he had joined the newly formed Western Sydney Wanderers club.

On 20 July 2013, Beauchamp started for the A-League All Stars in the inaugural A-League All Stars Game against Manchester United, a match in which the A-League All Stars were thrashed 5–1, courtesy of goals from Danny Welbeck, Jesse Lingard and Robin van Persie.

Beauchamp was released by the Wanderers on 21 May 2014.

In late 2016, Beauchamp returned to Marconi Stallions, the club he left in 2002.