Joshua Grommen

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Bulan and the surname or paternal family name is Grommen.
Joshua Grommen
Personal information
Full name Joshua Jake Bulan Grommen
Date of birth (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth Brisbane, Australia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
Western Spirit
2012–2014 QLD Academy of Sport
2014 Brisbane City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Loyola
2015 Brisbane Roar NPL 4 (0)
2016 Stallion
2016–2017 Western Pride 0 (0)
2017–2018 Ceres–Negros
2018 Davao Aguilas
2019 Petaling Jaya City 8 (0)
2019 Sukhothai 14 (0)
2020 Ceres–Negros 0 (0)
2020 Brisbane City 2 (0)
2021 Sukhothai 14 (0)
2021–2024 Khon Kaen United 63 (1)
2024 Uthai Thani 5 (0)
International career‡
2017 Philippines U22 6 (0)
2015–2017 Philippines U23 8 (0)
2024 Philippines 1 (0)
Medal record
Ceres–Negros F.C.
Winner Philippines Football League 2017
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:04, 29 September 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:55; 12 October 2024

Joshua Jake Bulan Grommen (born 10 July 1996) is a former professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. He has represented the Philippines internationally at youth and senior levels.

Early life

Grommen was born in Brisbane, Australia[2] to a Dutch father Rudy Grommen, and a Filipino mother Alma Bulan.[3]

Career

Club

Joshua Grommen attended the Queensland Academy of Sport and was part of Brisbane Roar's National Youth League team. At age 18, Grommen moved to the Philippines due to limited playing opportunities in Australia to play for clubs including Loyola Meralco, Stallion, Ceres-Negros, and Davao Aguilas.[2] Grommen joined Loyola Meralco of the now-defunct United Football League (UFL) in 2014 but left the club paying out his contract after getting an offer to play for Brisbane Roar. He returned to the UFL in 2015 with Stallion signing him in for the 2016 season.[3]

He had a brief stint with Western Pride back in Australia. He joined Pride in October 2017 and made a bid to join the club's first team. After just two pre-season trial matches he left the club in January 2017 to join Ceres which were then still playing in the UFL for a chance to play in the AFC Cup.[4] The club later won the zonal championships of the 2017 AFC Cup.[2] He remained part of Ceres, which renamed as Ceres-Negros F.C., when the club moved to the Philippines Football League (PFL).

For the 2018 PFL season, Grommen joined the Davao Aguilas[5] which later become defunct by the end of the season.

In early 2019, Grommen moved to Petaling Jaya City of the Malaysia Super League. He later became a free agent but through connections with fellow Filipino-Australian player Iain Ramsay managed to secure a move to Sukhothai of Thai League 1.[2]

Grommen rejoined Ceres–Negros for the 2020 season.[6] On 11 February, he started in Ceres' first AFC Cup group match against Cambodian champions Svay Rieng. He scored Ceres' second goal in the 14th minute, converting Stephan Schröck's cross with what looked like a header. Replays showed that Grommen used his hand to score, yet the goal was still counted in the 4–0 win for Ceres, as the referee and his assistants failed to notice the incident.[7][8] In March, football tournaments in the Philippines and Asia were either suspended or cancelled due to COVID-19. Grommen then left Ceres–Negros in June and returned to Australia.[9]

In August 2020, National Premier Leagues Queensland side Brisbane City announced that they have signed in Grommen.[10] He made two league appearances for the team that season.[11]

Sukhothai announced Grommen's return on 6 January 2021.[12]

International

Grommen has played for the Philippine national youth team.[2] He played for the Philippines in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers.[3]

Retirement

On 7 December 2024, Grommen announced his retirement from football

Career statistics

Club

As of 10 May 2018.[13][14]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brisbane Roar Reserves 2015 NPL Queensland 4 0 0 0 – 0 0 4 0
Ceres–Negros 2017 Philippines Football League 11 ? ? ? 1[a] 0 1[b] 0 11 0
Davao Aguilas 2018 14 0 ? ? – 0 0 14 0
Career total 29 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 11 0
Notes
  1. ^ Appearances in the AFC Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in the Singapore Cup

References

  1. ^ "Josh Grommen: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Davidson, John (2 August 2019). "The Aussie Making his Name in Asia". Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Stallions sign Josh Grommen". Sun Star Philippines. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  4. ^ Harvey, Graham (18 January 2017). "Asia Awaits for Pride's Prodigy". The Queensland Times. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  5. ^ Jacinto, Christian (26 February 2018). "Davao Aguilas cap busy offseason in signing new recruits Dennis Villanueva, Grommen, Matas". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ Davidson, John (2 January 2020). "Aussie seals Philippines switch". FTBL. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  7. ^ Tan, Gabriel (11 February 2020). "Ceres-Negros up and running in AFC Cup 2020 with Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng rout". Fox Sports Philippines. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  8. ^ "WATCH: Ceres-Negros' Joshua Grommen emulates Diego Maradona with 'Hand of God' goal in AFC Cup 2020". Fox Sports Asia. 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  9. ^ Davidson, John (28 June 2020). "Aussie defender back home after Filipino nightmare". The World Game. SBS. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  10. ^ Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (7 August 2020). "Ex-Ceres Negros player Grommen joins 2nd tier Aussie club". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Statistics for Brisbane City FC playing in NPL QLD 2020". websites.sportstg.com. SportsTG. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  12. ^ "ทางการ "สุโขทัย" เปิดตัว 4 แข้งใหม่ลุยศึกเลกที่ 2". ไทยรัฐ (Thai Rath) (in Thai). 8 January 2021. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  13. ^ Joshua Grommen at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Joshua Grommen". Philippines Football League. Retrieved 10 May 2018.