Spurs in Melbourne | Mile: "I know what it means to people here"

Mile Jedinak is a legendary figure in Australian football.

Capped 79 times by the Socceroos - just outside the all-time top 10 - Mile appeared in three World Cups (2010, 2014, 2018) and was named skipper by Ange Postecoglou for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. He then scored a hat-trick in a play-off against Honduras to secure a place in Russia in 2018. The pair are now back together at Spurs after Ange appointed Mile as one of his Assistant Coaches in June.

Born in Camperdown, New South Wales, Mile began his career at Sydney United before winning the A-League with Central Coast Mariners. He had a stint in Turkey before eight years in England with Palace and Villa.

He packed so much into that playing career, but one thing he didn't do was go back to Australia to play a match with one of his teams - something he experienced almost immediately as part of our coaching staff when we played West Ham in Perth in July, and will now do again when we take on Newcastle United in a post-season match at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as part of Global Football Week in Melbourne on Wednesday 22 May (7.45pm local time, 9.45am UK).

Speaking at the launch of the event alongside our Chief Football Officer, Scott Munn, in Melbourne on Monday, Mile was asked what it would be like to take a team back 'home'.

He said: "Melbourne is a hub for Australian sport and I'm sure everyone who comes to watch us will enjoy everything the city has to offer. I'm sure the fans will give the boss a warm welcome back to his home town as well and we're all looking forward to that.

"I put myself in that position and just to be part of it, being around bringing a team back to Australia, I never got to do it as a player but doing it twice in such a short space of time as a coach and member of staff is exciting, because you know what it means to people here and the chance to be inspired by the players they get to see on TV every day."

"It's huge for our fans and for us as a Club as well, to come back to Australia is very exciting. If it's anything to go by what I've witnessed so far, the fans will be right behind us. We had a pre-season trip to Perth and there were 6,000 there for an open training session and we'd expect similar, if not more, because I know how passionate people are about their football in Melbourne. We have 11 official supporter groups in Australia, two in Melbourne and they will be right behind us, and I'm sure fans from around the world coming to Melbourne.

"These opportunities don't come around that often, particularly for the Australia public, and the players will be aware of that. I know how passionate they are, I see it on a daily basis, myself and the boss. I know how passionate we are about football, and how much the game continues to grow and this will no doubt only strengthen that. It will be a great opportunity for the public to come and watch us doing our thing in an iconic stadium like the MCG."

Tickets for our fixture against Newcastle United will go on sale via Ticketek from 12pm on Thursday 28 March (local time in Melbourne, 1am in UK) and will be priced from $59AUD.

Pre-sale tickets will be available from 9am on Monday 25 March (local time in Melbourne, Sunday 24 March at 10pm in UK). Sign up via the webpage to get pre-sale access.

Hospitality Packages are available now via www.vipnow.com.au.