Mark Viduka started his football career in 1993 playing for the Melbourne Knights in the old NSL (National Soccer League). As top goal-scorer for the club, he was selected to play for the Socceroos in 1994.
After 2 seasons with the Knights, he moved to Croatia to play for Croatia Zagreb (now Dinamo Zagreb) for just over 3 years, playing in their UEFA Cup and Champions League teams during this time.
In 1998 Viduka moved to Glasgow Celtic in the Scottish League, where he experienced headaches with the club, mainly due to stress, and financial problems the club incurred with his transfer from Zagreb.
Then in 2000 he moved to Leeds United in the English Premier League, where he played the bulk of his career (130 matches). The highlight of his time at the club would have to be his 4 goals against Liverpool.
In 2004 he moved to Middlesborough, and with regular team appearances he was elevated to captain of the Socceroos under Guus Hiddink's tenure. Playing in the 2006 World Cup for the Socceroos, he failed to score but proved to be effective distraction for the opposition, which allowed other players (such as Tim Cahill) to score the goals. Hooray!
Then in 2007 he moved to Newcastle United, which struggled in the league and was eventually relegated to the First Division. With the club's relegation, Viduka retired from professional football. Since this time there has been rumours of a move to the A-League, most likely for either Melbourne Victory or Melbourne Heart, but Viduka has recently re-iterated his decision to retire from the game.
Now, onto the autograph. During his time at Leeds United I wrote to Viduka (despite me being a Liverpool supporter and he having just scored 4 goals against the Reds). Not long later I received this nice signed postcard.
Goal!
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