Quick Facts
Biography
Robert Richard Cornthwaite (born 24 October 1985 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England) is an English-born Australian footballer who plays for Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League.
Club career
Adelaide United
Cornthwaite signed for United for the inaugural A-League season and spent the majority of his first two seasons starting on the bench. In the 2007–08 he started all of his 19 league appearances; he scored the opening goal in just the third minute against Pohang Steelers in Adelaide United's opening game of the 2008 Asian Champion League.
As of half time of Adelaide United's away game against J League 5 time champions Kashima Antlers in the quarter finals of the 2008 AFC Champions League, Robert scored an accidental own goal to put Kashima level with Adelaide 1–1 after a spectacular goal from Adelaide captain Travis Dodd which came after a cross from vice-captain Lucas Pantelis in the 38th minute. The match being the first leg of the 2 teams Quarter finals match dated on Wednesday 17 September in Japan. He redeemed himself though in the second leg where he scored the winner in the 73rd minute with the game locked at 0–0. Adelaide went on to win 2–1 on aggregate and advance to the semi-finals.
Robert Cornthwaite made his 50th A-League appearance in the 1–0 win over Perth Glory on 27 December 2008. Cornthwaite signed a new three-year contract with Adelaide United in October 2009.
Jeonnam Dragons
On 8 March 2011, Cornthwaite announced that he had signed for Jeonnam Dragons in the Korean K-League on a 2-year contract.
Selangor
Robert joined the Malaysian Super League outfit Selangor in early 2015 and scored a few goals for the club. He was selected to play for Malaysian XI in a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur in July 2015.
In January 2016 his contract with Selangor was continued after Selangor fans forced the Football Association of Selangor to continue his contract by using the social media.
On 9 July 2016, Cornthwaite was released by Selangor.
Western Sydney Wanderers
On 14 July, Cornthwaite joined Western Sydney Wanderers on a two-year deal.
International career
Cornthwaite made his first senior international debut for the Socceroos on 4 March 2009 in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match versus Kuwait. He scored his first international goal in against South Korea in a 2012 friendly.
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 14 November 2012 | Hwaseong Stadium, Hwaseong, South Korea |  South Korea | International Friendly | ||
| 2. | 9 December 2012 | Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong, Hong Kong |  Chinese Taipei | 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup | ||
| 3. | 6 February 2013 | Estadio Municipal de Marbella, Marbella, Spain |  Romania | Friendly |
Personal life
Cornthwaite has a wife, Nel, and an 18 month old daughter, Sahara.
Career statistics
(Correct as of 22 March 2010)
| Club | Season | League1 | Cup | International2 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Adelaide United | 2005–06 | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | – |
| 2006–07 | 8 | 1 | 6 | – | – | – | 14 | 1 | |
| 2007–08 | 19 | – | 5 | – | 1 | – | 25 | – | |
| 2008–09 | 20 | 2 | 3 | – | 13 | 2 | 36 | 4 | |
| 2009–10 | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | – | |
| 2010–11 | 25 | 1 | – | – | 6 | 2 | 31 | 3 | |
| Total | 103 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 137 | 8 | |
| 2015 | Selangor FA | 20 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| 2016 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
1 – includes A-League final series statistics
2 – includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)
Honours
Club
Adelaide United
- A-League Premiership: 2005–2006
Selangor
- Malaysia Cup: 2015