Timothy Filiga Cahill (; ; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional football player who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his aggressive and powerful approach and his ability to head the ball in the penalty area". Cahill has scored 50 goals in 108 caps between 2004 and 2018 and is the all time top goalscorer for the Australian men's national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest Australian soccer players of all time. He currently works as a pundit for BBC Sport and Sky Sports.
In 1997, Cahill left Sydney for England to play professionally; there he was signed by Millwall on a free transfer from Sydney United. He was part of the Millwall side that won the Football League Second Division title in the 2000–01 season, and was also a central part of Millwall's run to the 2004 FA Cup Final. Before the start of the 2004–05 season, Cahill was transferred to Premier League club Everton. He was named both Everton Player of the Season and Everton Players' Player of the Season in his debut season, and in the following year he was named as one of 50 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first Everton player in 11 years to be nominated. He was also part of the Everton side that reached the final of the 2008–09 FA Cup. After leaving Everton in 2012, Cahill played for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer and Chinese Super League sides Shanghai Shenhua and Hangzhou Greentown, before returning to Australia to play for Melbourne City in the A-League. After a brief spell at former club Millwall, he ended his career in the Indian Super League with Jamshedpur.
Cahill was the first Australian to score at a FIFA World Cup, scored in three World Cups (2006, 2010, and 2014) and has scored the most goals by any Australian in the men's World Cup with five goals. In 2007, he became the first Australian player to score at an AFC Asian Cup. Cahill is known for his adept heading ability and high vertical leap, having scored many of his goals with his head. He is famous for his regular goal celebration of shadow boxing around the corner flag.
Early life Cahill was born on 6 December 1979 in Sydney, Australia. He is the third child out of four children, with an older brother, Sean, an older sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, Chris. His father, Tim Cahill Sr, is of English and Irish descent and worked as a merchant seaman before settling in Australia, where he worked as a rigger and trawler. Cahill's mother, Sisifo, primarily has Samoan ancestry and was born in the small village of Tufuiopa, Apia, where his grandfather and great-grandfather held chief positions. His mother took on two jobs as a hotel employee and a factory worker to support the family financially after his father suffered a hip injury and was unable to work. Their financial position meant that Cahill and his family had to move frequently due to rent increases.
Growing up in a soccer-loving family, Cahill developed a passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his brothers, Sean and Chris, and watching Premier League matches on TV with his father, who is a West Ham United fan from his upbringing in London. However, during the holidays, Cahill frequently visited family in Australia and Samoa where he played rugby with his cousins, including Frank Winterstein and Ben Roberts, both of whom became professional rugby players. His father took him and his brothers, Sean and Chris, to soccer training in a local park every week, where Cahill developed a discipline and a perfectionist personality over time. Though his biggest influence came from his maternal grandmother, Asofa, who taught him the Samoan culture and beliefs of discipline, hard work, and perseverance – something Cahill would carry throughout his life. At the age of seven, Cahill started participating in private coaching under John Doyle, a retired Irish-Australian footballer, who he considered played a pivotal role in transforming his game.
As a junior player since the age of four, Cahill had played for Balmain Police Tigers, Marrickville Red Devil, and Lakemba SC. He had always played in an older age group due to his older brother who was a year older; playing together meant his parents would spend less on petrol. He also played futsal with his friends, creating a team named Banshee Knights, who his father named, after drawing inspiration from the Celtic legend's banshee screams. In his school years, Cahill enrolled in Bexley North Public School, Annandale North Public School, Tempe High School, and Kingsgrove North High School. During these years, he has represented the public school select team, Metropolitan East before representing the NSW PSSA team, which went on to win the school tournament. Measuring up to 1.65m in high school, teachers doubted Cahill's dream, saying he could not become a professional soccer player due to his small stature which he later said was the best thing he was ever told, saying, "To the people who said I couldn't do it, I say thank you."
Cahill joined NSL club Sydney Olympic, a club heavily influenced by their Greek ancestry, in Belmore. He began in their youth ranks and also became a ball boy for the first-team games, which fuelled his aspiration to play for the club's senior team. After spending five years at Sydney Olympic, where he embraced the Greek culture and even learned some Greek, Cahill was released by the club in the same year after failing to pass the annual trial, as a coach believed he was too small and slow. Disheartened by the setback, he joined the NSW Institute of Sport in Lidcombe to improve his speed and physicality. The same year, he joined Belmore Hercules, a club that played three divisions down from Sydney Olympic. Cahill impressed in the under-18 team, resulting in him being promoted to the first team. Cahill became the youngest player at the age of 15 to ever play for the club, making his senior debut as a substitute and scoring his first goal with a header. By the end of the season, he emerged as the club's top goalscorer across the under-18, under-21, and senior squads, netting a total of 30 goals. Cahill then joined Sydney United, another club influenced by their Croatian heritage similar to Sydney Olympic's Greek origins. He became part of their under-21 team, where he received significant playing time under manager Phil Pavela. He eventually made his senior debut as a substitute at St George Stadium on 22 March 1997, in a 0–0 league draw against St George.
As the Cahill family had relatives in England, Cahill's parents offered him an opportunity to move to England to pursue his soccer career after his father phoned Allen Batsford, a talent scout from Nottingham Forest, for trials. After much thought, he accepted and his parents took out a $10,000 loan in order to pay for his trip. The loan made his family nearly broke and in debt, forcing his older brother to stop playing soccer and pull out of school to work full-time as a mechanic to repay the debt. Cahill arrived in England in late-1997, meeting his relatives, Glen and Lindsey Stanley, and their kids.
Club career Millwall He lived in Grays, Essex with family until he was signed by Millwall on a free transfer from Sydney United. He made his Millwall debut on 2 May 1998 against AFC Bournemouth at The Den, which Millwall lost 2–1. Cahill helped Millwall reach the 1999 Football League Trophy Final where they lost to Wigan Athletic.
He was part of the Millwall side that won the Football League Second Division championship with a club record 93 points in the 2000–01 season. He also reached two play-off semi-finals with Millwall in 2000 and 2002. Cahill was a central part of Millwall's run to the 2004 FA Cup Final, their first appearance in the showpiece in club history, scoring the winning goal in the semi-final against Sunderland, and securing a UEFA Cup place in the process. Cahill polled over 100,000 votes to win the FA Cup "Player of the Round" award for his performance during the semi-final victory.Cahill's boost to Lions Alex Stone. 13 April 2004. Retrieved 10 July 2006 His last game for the club was against Manchester United in the final, which Millwall lost 3–0. Cahill made 249 overall appearances for The Lions, scoring 56 goals in the process.Tim Cahill – Soccerbase 20 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010
Everton
Before the start of the 2004–05 season, Cahill was transferred to Everton for a fee of £1.5 million, after Millwall's South East London rivals Crystal Palace ended their transfer bid over a payment to Cahill's agents. In his first season, he was Everton's top goalscorer and was the fans' Player of the Season. Before the 2005–06 season Cahill's contract at Everton was extended with a salary increase reflecting the impact he had made at the club. The third round of that season's FA Cup drew Cahill's former club, Millwall against Everton at The Den. He scored the winner in the replay at Goodison Park, but chose not to celebrate his winning goal, stating, "I decided not to go mad and just pay my respects to the club that gave me my start in the game. To celebrate would have been a kick in the teeth, it is all about respect."
In October 2006, Cahill was named as one of 50 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first Everton player in 18 years to be nominated,Cahill is shortlisted for Ballon d'Or 17 October 2006, Liverpooldailypost.co.uk and the only player on the list from an AFC nation. He missed much of the 2006–07 season with injuries to his knee and foot, but signed a five-year contract extension at the season's end.
Cahill returned from injury partway through the 2007–08 season in the club's first UEFA Cup Group match, a home match against Greek side AEL on 25 October 2007, scoring from a diving header after 14 minutes in a 3–1 win. His extra time winner against Luton Town on 31 October in the League Cup, sent Everton into their first cup quarter-final in more than 5 years. His 100th league appearance for Everton came in a 1–1 draw against Sunderland. Due to injuries to all four of Everton's senior strikers Cahill was employed as a makeshift forward during December 2008. In this role he scored a late equaliser in the Merseyside Derby, becoming the first player since Dixie Dean to score for Everton in three Anfield derbies.Cahill Dedicates Goal 20 January 2009, Evertonfc.com His 100th career goal was scored against Arsenal at Goodison on 28 January 2009.Everton 1–1 Arsenal 28 January 2009, Evertonfc.com
On 15 February, Cahill scored the third goal in a 3–1 win over Aston Villa and dedicated the goal to the victims of the 2009 Victorian bushfires.Blues Duo Miss Toon Trip 16 February 2009, Evertonfc.com During the second half of the 2008–09 season, Cahill was used more as the "utility man" due to his versatility as Everton was plagued by injuries to playmaker Mikel Arteta as well as strikers Victor Anichebe and Yakubu and some other key players.
Owing to Phil Neville sustaining a knee ligament injury early in the 2009–10 season, Cahill was named as the replacement captain of Everton. Later in the season he scored his 50th goal for Everton, in a 3–1 victory over Carlisle United in the Third Round of the FA Cup.