 Cavallo with Adelaide United in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joshua John Cavallo | ||
| Date of birth | 13 November 1999 | ||
| Place of birth | Bentleigh East, Victoria, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Left back, central midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Adelaide United | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Melbourne Victory | |||
| Melbourne City | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2019 | Melbourne City NPL | 54 | (6) |
| 2019–2021 | Western United | 9 | (0) |
| 2021– | Adelaide United | 47 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2018 | Australia U20 | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 January 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2020 | |||
Joshua John Cavallo (born 13 November 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a left back and central midfielder for A-League Men club Adelaide United. Cavallo has represented the Australian under-20 national team.
Joshua John Cavallo[2] was born on 13 November 1999 in Bentleigh East, Victoria.[3] He is of Italian and Maltese descent.[4]
He says that he was initially more into playing tennis, but his brother encouraged him to kick a ball around in the backyard and it was not long before he "fell in love" with the game.[5]
Cavallo was scouted by a national program at the age of 15, and later offered a scholarship by Melbourne Victory.[5] He represented both Melbourne Victory FC Youth and Melbourne City FC Youth.[6]
On 15 April 2019, Melbourne City announced that Cavallo would leave the club at the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season.[7]
On 24 June 2019, new A-League side Western United,[8] representing western Melbourne suburbs and western Victorian regional towns,[9] announced that Cavallo would join the club ahead of its inaugural season.[8] He made his debut on 3 January 2020 in a 3–2 loss at his previous club. On as a 71st-minute substitute for Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, he earned a penalty when fouled by goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis, which was converted by Besart Berisha.[10]
Western United announced that Cavallo was leaving the club on 10 February 2021[11] to seek more playing time with another A-League club.
On 18 February 2021, Cavallo signed a short-term contract to play for Adelaide United.[12] After a successful stint in the 2020–21 A-League, he signed a two-year contract extension on 11 May.[13] He was rewarded with Adelaide United's A-League Rising Star award after a successful 2020–21 campaign, in which he started 15 games and made 18 appearances.[14]
He plays as a left back and central midfielder for the club.[15]
Cavallo was in the Australian under-19 national team which played in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship in October–November 2018, starting with a game against Korea Republic.[16]
Cavallo has represented the Australian under-20 national team.[17]
He came out as gay in October 2021.[18][5] At the time, there were no other openly gay male footballers playing professional top-flight football. He said in a statement, "I hope that in sharing who I am, I can show others who identify as LGBTQ+ that they are welcome in the football community".[19] Cavallo said he had "never smiled so much in my life" and had "the best night's sleep" after his announcement.[20] He was fully and explicitly supported by Adelaide United management and fellow players.[21][22] The announcement was widely reported in the international press,[23] and Cavallo received messages of support from many football players, including Gerard Piqué, Marcus Rashford, Antoine Griezmann,[5] Jordan Henderson,[20] Gary Lineker,[5] and Lionel Messi, as well as fans, strangers, and celebrities such as Lil Nas X and Ellen DeGeneres.[21]
Cavallo was the first high-profile player to come out during their career since English footballer Justin Fashanu made a similar announcement in 1990. Fashanu faced widespread homophobia after the announcement.[21][a] In May 2022 English footballer Jake Daniels came out, aged 17, becoming the UK's only male professional footballer to be publicly out at the time, and the first since Fashanu.[26] He cited Cavallo among those who had helped him to come out.[27]
In March 2024, Cavallo proposed to his partner Leighton Morrell on the pitch at Coopers Stadium, Adelaide United's home ground.[28] He posted three photos on Instagram, one of which showed Morrell wearing an engagement ring, and thanked his club for their support and encouragement to live his life authentically.[29]
He won Adelaide United's Rising Star award for the 2020/2021 season.[5]
In 2022, Cavallo received an honorary doctorate from Flinders University in Adelaide, in recogition of "his exceptional contributions as a role model in elite men's sport and as a champion for equality".[30]
Cavallo was nominated as 2023 SA Young Australian of the Year [30]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Western United | 2019–20 | A-League | 9 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | A-League | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 9 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | |||
| Adelaide United | 2020–21 | A-League | 19 | 0 | – | 19 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | A-League Men | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | A-League Men | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2023–24 | A-League Men | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 47 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 56 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 62 | 0 | ||