Greenacre a pioneer, not a journeyman

Being tagged as a journeyman striker comes with all sorts of connotations, but Chris Greenacre's journey to the other side of the world is a quest for success, not an admission of failure, as Sydney FC are about to find out.

A CV that reads like a tour of duty to some of Great Britain's least fashionable football outposts is deceptive. Being an English striker in England comes with its own glass ceiling, such is the Premier League's obsession with foreign forwards with big reputations and even bigger pay packets. Thus Greenacre, loaned out five times by Manchester City before the oil money gushed into Eastlands, has had to be content with a career outside the limelight.

For any striker, there is one currency more valuable than money - goals. And for the past nine years Greenacre has been scoring plenty (101 goals in 338 games) in the colours of Mansfield Town, Stoke City and, most recently, Tranmere Rovers, before the career change he never thought would arrive came from a most unexpected source - Wellington Phoenix.

Two goals in the first three games of the new A-League season suggest Greenacre, 31, hasn't lost the knack. At the end of last season, Phoenix fans were gnashing their teeth when Shane Smeltz departed with the Golden Boot in his kitbag. True enough, Smeltz has been on fire for newcomers Gold Coast United.

If they're big shoes to fill, Greenacre is slipping quickly into the breach - as the Sky Blues will discover on Sunday. Neither quick or slow, strong or weak, Greenacre has intelligence, mobility and a sixth sense when the ball is around the goal. A different player to Smeltz, but by no means an inferior one.

''I've been around long enough to know the score,'' Greenacre says.

''Shane did a fantastic job here, and when you come in to replace someone like that, there's always going to be comparisons. There'll be fans of Shane who won't be fans of me. All I can do is try and score the goals he left behind.''

Truth is, Greenacre has a better CV than that possessed by Smeltz when he arrived in Wellington two seasons ago. Ditto Paul Ifill, Wellington's other new recruit from England, who got off the mark recently against Perth Glory. Greenacre remains confident that between them they can compensate for Smeltz's departure.

''It's important for any striker to get off to a good start, so both Paul and I are delighted we've done that,'' he says.

''There's a long way to go, but hopefully it's a partnership which will thrive. We've had a couple of chats about the little things that are different in the game here. The game is a bit more patient, it's not as direct as in the UK so for a striker that means the ball doesn't come up as quick. You have to change your runs to adjust to that. But we know what's expected of us, and hopefully things will get better and better. Neither of us is going to rest on his laurels.''

Making an impression is not simply about personal ambitions, either. Recent changes to the British tax laws (50 per cent for high-income earners), the weakening of the pound and the gradual deterioration of wages outside the top flight have conspired to make the A-League a worthwhile alternative for English players. Greenacre hopes to clear the path, not block it.

''It's important to make a good impression, to show people I'm not here to sit in the sunshine, that I'm here to be a serious professional,'' he says. ''I want to play as well as I can, because that will prove that players from my part of the world can contribute. If I can in any way help pave the way for an influx of English players, that's got to be good for the A-League.

''A lot of my old teammates have been on the phone asking if I can put them in contact with someone. The A-League's got a good profile back home, and it's getting bigger all the time. Now that the money is pretty similar, I could name five or 10 players off the top of my head who'd come out tomorrow.

''It's funny, people here knock the league a lot more than people back in the UK do. Trust me, when you play in it, you realise how good the league really is.''

So good, that just a few months into a two-year deal, Greenacre is already looking beyond the horizon.

''You look at the players who succeed when they go overseas, they're the ones who get to grips with the lifestyle,'' he says.

''Since we've got here, everybody has made us feel so welcome. My wife loves the place. We want to become honorary Wellingtonians. This is a club going places, and I want to be part of that. You never know what's around the corner in football, but if everything works out I'd love to stay here until the end of my career.''