Leeds United promotion-winner confirmed as All Stars manager for Newcastle United clash

Former Leeds United defender Patrick Kisnorbo will take charge of the Australian A-League All-Stars team for this summer’s post-season friendly against Newcastle United.

Kisnorbo will return to his native Australia for the summer visit of Premier League outfit Newcastle, having left French side Troyes in November of last year. The 43-year-old won just three of his 40 matches in charge during a miserable spell.

But Kisnorbo remains a highly-regarded coach in Australia and led Melbourne City to the 2021 A-League championship before moving to Troyes - both of which are part of the City Football Group, a network of clubs including Manchester City. The former Whites centre-back will welcome Eddie Howe’s men to the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on Wednesday, May 22.

“I can’t wait for this challenge and to be working with the best of the A-League again,” Kisnorbo said of his new job. “We’re assembling a very talented squad, and I think they’ll put on a great show and push Newcastle United all the way.”

The battle-hardened defender became a much-loved figure during his four-year spell at Leeds between 2009 and 2013 but missed large portions of football due to injury. Despite suffering a ruptured achilles tendon in March of the 2009/10 League One promotion campaign, he was included in the PFA Team of the Season and also voted as Leeds’ Player of the Season.

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Kisnorbo took the captain’s armband on a temporary basis in 2011 in the absence of Jonny Howson but another serious injury - this time to the knee - saw his season curtailed. After a one-month loan spell at Ipswich Town, the Australian was released in the summer of 2013 and returned to his hometown to play for Melbourne City.

Kisnorbo has been cutting his coaching teeth since retiring from playing in 2016. The Australian international was playing for Melbourne at the time and moved straight into coaching their youth team before progressing through the women’s and then first-team.

He will not be able to call on fellow former Leeds man, Ryan Edmondson, for the visit of Newcastle, due to the striker’s upcoming participation in the A-League finals. Edmondson is currently at Central Coast Mariners and coached by former Whites under-23s boss Mark Jackson, who is on course to win an unprecedented treble Down Under.

Jackson and the Mariners won the Premier Plate after finishing top of the A-League in the regular season and last week beat Lebanese outfit Al-Ahed in the AFC Cup - Asian football’s equivalent to the Europa League. They face Sydney FC in the second-leg of their A-League semi-final on Saturday, having won 2-1 away from home in the first-leg. A prospective final is set up for Saturday, May 25 - 24 hours before Leeds’ potential Championship play-off final bout.