Nathaniel's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Football
Event: Men's Football
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Coach: Graham Arnold
Year Born: 1999
State Born: TAS
About Nathaniel
After trialling with Melbourne City in 2016, Tasmania native Nathaniel Atkinson joined the A-League outfit’s academy side. He was often featured in the reserves team, with occasional training appearances in the first team.
In the 2017/18 season, Atkinson made his professional debut and quickly became a permanent fixture in Melbourne City’s first team setup, with the 22-year-old signing a two-year contract extension in January 2018.
In the 2020/21 season Atkinson was a key piece to the Melbourne City team, who won both the A-League Premiership and Championship, with the academy graduate scoring a crucial goal in his side’s 3-1 Grand Final victory against Sydney FC. Nathaniel was awarded the Joe Martson medal, given to the best player in an A-League Grand Final.
His efforts in the A-League earning him a move to the Scottish Premiership with Heart of Midlothian FC (Hearts) in 2022.
Atkinson would feature for the senior Socceroo squad for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, and later start in Australia’s opening fixture of the tournament against France.
Nathaniel made his Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 playing all available minutes in Australia’s first two matches against Argentina and Spain.
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