Socceroos hopeful Jack Iredale eyes World Cup qualifying squad after long road from Perth to Hibernian

West Australian

2 days ago

It has been more than a decade since Jack Iredale last stepped foot in an Australian national team camp.
The Scottish-born, Perth-raised defender last donned the green and gold for the Australia under-17's back in 2012.
Now, the Hibernian defender is potentially days away from fulfilling a lifelong dream of representing the Socceroos at international level.
To do it in his hometown, in front of an expected 45,000 at Optus Stadium in a crucial World Cup qualifier no less, would be the cherry on top of a remarkable journey.
'It's the things dreams are made of, isn't it?' Iredale told The West Australian.
'You grow up wanting to play for your country, and if there's a possibility of playing for your country in a massive game, with a win that would send your country to the World Cup in front of all your friends and family, it would be absolutely massive.'
Iredale's spot in Tony Popovic's squad for Australia's last two World Cup qualifiers is not set in stone, with the final squad to be announced on Sunday.
But irrespective of his selection, the Perth RedStar (formerly ECU Joondalup) product's path to the national team's training camp in Abu Dhabi deserves to be celebrated.
'I never stopped believing: it was always the one thing that I desperately wanted in my career, to play for Australia and to get this opportunity now, I'm very grateful,' Iredale said.
'I was absolutely buzzing. First thing (when I found out) was I called home, I don't even know what time it was. They were probably asleep back home.'
If selected, the 29-year-old could even play alongside his fellow Connolly Primary School alumni: Ipswich Town defender Cameron Burgess, whom Iredale was classmates with.
'I followed Cam's career closely, he's always been that one step ahead of me; he went over to the UK, and I went over, and then he worked his way up and got all the way to the Premier League,' Iredale said.
Iredale has had to overcome a lot in his career: he is a type one diabetic, with his sugar levels keeping him on his toes and he also suffered three torn ACLs as a teenager, threatening his dreams before they even began.
In 2017, he exited Perth Glory's youth set-up and spent a short stint at ECU Joondalup before moving back to the town of his birth, inking a deal with second-tier Scottish outfit Greenock Morton.
'I wouldn't have taken that chance (leaving Glory) if I did think the ship had sailed. I knew I wanted to be professional, I knew I could be and it was a matter of taking it into my own hands,' Iredale said.
Iredale bounced around England and Scotland's mid-to-lower leagues , turning out for Queen's Park in Scotland, Carlisle United, Cambridge United, and Bolton Wanderers.
'You learn lessons every single day. With promotion and relegation, it's do or die. You've got no excuses, no chances to slip up,' Iredale said of his seven year-spell after leaving home.
'It teaches you game management, all that side of things and then obviously you need to be a good player to survive as well, and a good player to progress.'
Iredale describes the past season at Hibernian, who finished third in the Scottish Premiership behind only Celtic and Rangers, as 'one positive thing after another.'
He played 32 games, was one of four Australians at Hibs alongside Martin Boyle, Nector Triantis and Lewis Miller who won rave reviews and he even won the league's goal of the season — coming in an Edinburgh Derby against Hearts no less.
'It was a really fun season. It didn't start very well, we had the goal of European football and then found ourselves rock bottom by November, but the club stuck by the management team,' Iredale said.
'Since then, togetherness was massive. Winning games helped with the confidence, and the fans were absolutely incredible, they backed us all the way, home and away, and we shared some really positive moments with them throughout the season.'