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Caps: 3 (of 27)
Goals: 0
Jason Van Blerk was already an established international when Mick McCarthy splashed out £300,000 to secure his services from Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles in September 1994. He had played a key role in the Socceroos ill-fated World Cup Qualifying campaign the previous season and had looked impressive against the likes of Argentina and France when Australia spread their international wings. But for some reason it never really happened for him at Millwall.
It started brightly enough. Victories in the FA Cup over Arsenal and Chelsea had put Millwall firmly in the media spotlight and Van Blerk played his part in those victories - setting up Mark Beard for the opener against The Gunners and netting one of the spot-kicks that put out a Chelsea side captained by one Dennis Wise. But the following season it all went wrong - for both Van Blerk and Millwall as The Lions were relegated to Division Two.
To be fair, Mick McCarthy should burden some of the blame. Millwall were blessed with an abundance of left-footed talent at the time, with both Mark Kennedy and Ben Thatcher emerging from the youth ranks, so Van Blerk was often played out of position. When he was allowed to play in his preferred role at left back he clearly looked international class but once Kennedy left for Liverpool, the Aussie became a permanent fixture on the left wing.
By no means an out-and-out winger, he always did the job that was asked of him without complaint but he suffered a serious drop in form during the 1995/96 season and began to be left out of the Australian squad too. However, once Jimmy Nicholl was installed as manager he was quickly moved back to defence and earned a recall to the Socceroos, turning in an impressive performance against Scotland at Hampden Park.
Relegation was followed by a mass exodus of players but Van Blerk stayed and although an injury on the eve of the new season kept him out of the starting line-up for nearly three months, he helped developed the talents of another Aussie at the club - Lucas Neill - by acting as a "babysitter" when called upon!
As one of the club's highest earners, administration all but ended his Millwall career and he left on a free transfer to Manchester City and later played for West Brom. Whether he was pushed or jumped, we'll never know, but the incident tarnished his time with The Lions and left a bitter taste in the mouth for some.