John Filan

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John Richard Filan (born 8 February 1970 in Sydney) is an Australian former professional goalkeeper and current football coach. He played from 1989 to 2008, starting in Australia with St. George Saints and Wollongong Wolves before moving to England to play for Cambridge United, Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, and Wigan Athletic, with a brief loan to Doncaster Rovers and a later short spell at Sydney FC. In total he made 416 league appearances, scoring no goals.

Filan earned two senior caps for Australia and also played for the under-23 side; he represented his country at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Notable moments include Premier League stints with Coventry, Blackburn, and Wigan, a 2006 League Cup Final appearance as a substitute for Wigan, and a memorable penalty save against Nolberto Solano in a 1–0 win over Newcastle United in February 2007. He joined Wigan in 2001 for £600,000 and stayed until 2007. He also had a long career in and around the Australian leagues in his early years.

After retiring, Filan moved into coaching. He has worked as a goalkeeping coach at Sydney FC (2008-2011), Prescot Cables (2013), and Blackburn Rovers (goalkeeper coach in 2014 and U21 assistant 2014-2016). He later worked with Macclesfield Town and, in 2018, became assistant manager at Shrewsbury Town under John Askey, a role that lasted about five months. Filan settled back in Sydney and, due to his heritage, holds an Irish passport and once explored an Ireland international switch, which FIFA blocked in 1999 because he had played for Australia at the Olympics.