Melbourne Victory Football Club has today announced that club stalwart Archie Thompson has signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2015/16 Hyundai A-League season.
Thompson, the Hyundai A-League‘s leading scorer with 89 goals, will join his team-mates on Monday when the playing group returns from its end-of-season break.
With 210 A-League games to his credit, Thompson is one of only nine players to appear in 200 or more matches since the competition began in 2005.
Melbourne Victory CEO Ian Robson said the retention of Thompson on the playing roster was an outcome that the club had always been working towards.
“Kevin Muscat said all along that he wanted Archie to stay at the club,” Robson said.
“With the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations between FFA and PFA stalling, we moved to reach a position with Archie that enables him to stay and commence pre-season training as a contracted player on Monday.
“We are all thrilled to have Archie wear the Melbourne Victory strip for an incredible 11th consecutive season and for him to play his part in contributing to our title defence.”
The 36-year-old said he was ecstatic to be staying and playing for a club he has enjoyed so much success at.
“I always wanted to stay and now that it has all worked out that way, I couldn’t be happier,” Thompson said.
“To be a one-club player is very important to me and I feel like I can give something back to the club and the fans that have been so supportive of me over 10 great years.”
