Ben Kantarovski

Benjamin Kantarovski(Macedonian: Бенјамин Кантаровски) (born 20 January 1992) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for the Newcastle Jets in the A-League. Ben is the older brother of former Newcastle Jets FC player Michael Kantarovski. He holds the current record of A League appearances for the Newcastle Jets.

Club Career

Newcastle Jets

Kantarovski was signed to a four-year contract by the Newcastle Jets in January 2008 while attending Lambton High School at only 15 years of age, making him the youngest player in A-League history to sign a full-time A-League contract, and one of the youngest players in world football to do so. He made his A-League debut in Round 1 of the 2008–09 season against the Central Coast Mariners playing as a defender. He was only 16 years and 208 days old making him at the time, the youngest player in A-League history. Kantarovski has since played in many different positions for the Newcastle Jets, including all positions across the defence, and all positions across the midfield, most commonly his preferred holding midfielder role. Kantarovski was named the Newcastle Jets Player of the Season in his debut year, despite only playing a handful of games.

Kantarovski has already attracted the interest of one of the powerhouses of German, European and world football, Bayern Munich. Kantarovski spent a week trialling with the Bundesliga club in April, 2009. At the conclusion of this trial, it appeared Bayern's interest in Kantarovski only grew, making it increasingly likely that Kantarovski would depart the A-League for Bayern once he reached the age of 18, FIFA's minimum age for a football player to play for a foreign club. After turning 18, Kantarovski opted to turn down an offer to join Bayern Munich's youth system. He did so after receiving the Kimon Taliadoros scholarship for his educational achievements.

On 12 November 2010, Kantarovski signed a 3-year contract extension keeping him at the Jets until the end of the 2013.