Trent Sainsbury

Trent Lucas Sainsbury (born 5 January 1992) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Qatar Stars League club Al-Wakrah and the Australia national team.

Sainsbury was born in Thornlie, Perth and played youth football with Perth Glory and the Australian Institute of Sport before starting his professional career with Central Coast Mariners.

Sainsbury began his youth career at Perth Glory in 2008 before moving a year later to the AIS where he was part of their National Youth League squad in the 2009–10 season.

In 2010, Sainsbury was signed by the Central Coast Mariners along with Sam Gallagher.

Trent and Mariners teammate Marc Warren were selected to spend two weeks at Sheffield United's Academy as part of the two clubs' partnership.

His senior debut came for the Mariners on 24 November 2010 in an F3 Derby draw with Newcastle Jets, with Sainsbury earning praise from coach Graham Arnold for his performance.

Trent went on to make a total of nine appearances in the first team that year.

During the successful 2011–12 campaign, it was announced that Sainsbury had signed a two-year contract extension with the club.

The Mariners went on to win the 2011–12 A-League Premiership.

Trent again made nine league appearances for the club in this season.

After breaking into the first team in the 2012-13 A-League season, Sainsbury formed a formidable partnership alongside Dutch defender Patrick Zwaanswijk.

Sainsbury was named the Mariners Player of the Year for the 2012–13 season.

He was also named in the PFA A-League Team of the Season for 2012–13.

After the announcement of the first A-League All Stars match, Sainsbury was considered one of the main contenders for a place in the squad.

He did not end up playing in the match due to international selection.

This unit was central in helping the Mariners secure their maiden A-League Championship against Western Sydney Wanderers in the 2013 A-League Grand Final.

The Mariners won the game 2–0 in front of 42,102 spectators at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Commentator and former Socceroo Mark Bosnich rated Sainsbury as his man of the match.

The official award went to Daniel McBreen.

Following the game, it was speculated that Sainsbury had attracted serious interest from European clubs including Southampton, Roda JC, Basel and Middlesbrough.

In March 2013, Sainsbury was nominated for the NAB Young Footballer of the Year which was eventually won by Marco Rojas.

Sainsbury scored his first competitive goal for the Mariners on 3 April 2013, in a win over Guizhou Renhe in the 2013 AFC Champions League, his header with under ten minutes remaining proving to be the winner.

His first A-League goal for the side came from a corner in a 2–1 win over Perth Glory in December 2013.

The game was played against the same team that PEC defeated to win the KNVB Cup, 2013–14 league champions Ajax.

Sainsbury was part of a defence that kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win, securing PEC's second major trophy in the club's history in the space of 4 months.

Sainsbury retained his place in the starting line-up for the first league game, at home against FC Utrecht.

Lightning would strike again, as Sainsbury was subbed off with an ankle injury after 30 minutes of play, making it the second time in a row Sainsbury was forced out of a league game with an injury, both times against Utrecht.

Sainsbury moved to PEC Zwolle in 2014.

Sainsbury has made over 50 appearances for the Australian national team.

Sainsbury signed for PEC Zwolle in the Dutch Eredivisie on a two and half year deal in January 2014.

Sainsbury was immediately placed in the starting line-up, making his Eredivisie debut on 6 February 2014 in an away game against FC Utrecht.

PEC won the game 2–1, but Sainsbury had to be replaced after 72 minutes after falling on a depressed sprinkler, hurting his knee in the process.

It was discovered after the match that Sainsbury had fractured his kneecap on the sprinkler, an injury that would end up ruling him out for the remainder of the season.

Fellow Australians Tommy Oar and Adam Sarota played in the match for Utrecht.

His club PEC did end the season on a high note when they won their first major trophy in the club's history by defeating league champions Ajax 5–1 in the 2014 KNVB Cup Final, also securing European football for the first time.

Recovered from his knee injury, Sainsbury was reinstated in PEC's starting lineup for their first game of the season - the 2014 Dutch Supercup.

He was a member of the Australia team which won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Sainsbury was born in Thornlie, Perth, Western Australia.

He attended Forest Crescent Primary School and Kelmscott Senior High School.

Trent started playing football at a very early age at Armadale Junior Soccer Club in Armadale, Western Australia.