Image: Mark Avellino

2016 was a turning point for Green Gully, with two years of mid-table obscurity in the NPL era bursting to life following Arthur Papas’ arrival as head coach. A maiden NPL finals campaign, Dockerty Cup final and an FFA Cup quarter-finals run, which included a win over A-League club Central Coast Mariners, were the undoubted highlights.

But now Gully is looking to build on that success beyond just the senior side. A number of changes off the pitch with a longer-term vision will be implemented to make the club more attractive to players of all ages.

Alongside Papas and assistants Shaun Ontong and Agim Sherifovski come Peter Zois and Brian Vanega from Melbourne Victory to lead the goalkeeper department and Under 20s team respectively. In addition, former Australian U20 international Ante Cicak has joined the U20 setup in the areas of coaching and sports science to signal a shift in philosophy at Green Gully.

Part of that vision is a renewed focus on the club’s Under 20s side to be spearheaded by Vanega, including a collaboration with Victoria University to provide high-quality player performance and analysis resources. Add an investment of over $100,000 towards relaying the playing surface, with a future view of improving changeroom and spectator facilities, and the outlook at Green Gully is filled with optimism.

Papas asserts that while the club had a significant year in terms of exposure, it was looking to make progress beyond just re-investing into the senior team, while he personally was looking to further repay the faith placed in him by general manager Raymond Mamo and the rest of the club’s hierarchy.

“It’s not about seeing how much we can achieve in one season and packing up and leaving, I’m optimistic we can do more here and help towards building the club in areas that ultimately show the real health of the club when you look a bit deeper. Gully are putting steps in place for the future beyond the usual signing players which makes most headlines this time of year,” he says.

“We want to attract the best young players and provide them with quality coaching, a quality surface to play on, and we are going as far as reviewing the times when our 20’s will train as this age bracket is the one with the most stress educationally, so we are changing the norm to facilitate this and provide a better balance to their holistic development.

“We also enlisted Victoria University for next season to introduce a high-performance area that will provide sports science expertise in the fields of recovery, loading and performance analysis, so there is an improved link between the 20’s and the first team.”

“The pitch is a huge investment, but at the end of the day the playing surface wasn’t good enough last year and that will help with how we want to play and evolve as a club.

“After being away for some time I’m still astounded that today we play in a newly formed competition being the NPL and yet the pitch condition is not of a priority and enforced, it’s not acceptable and a blight on clubs and the competition. Thankfully my club has recognised this and we are all appreciative towards this long-term investment.”

Getting the right coaching staff – credentialed personnel who would be able to implement the club’s vision – on board therefore was part of the focus, with Vanega seen as the ideal fit.

“Brian coming on board – not many people want to leave Victory but in Brian you find someone so passionate and driven to improve as coach, he wants to develop himself and also lead his own team – he automatically attracts some of the best young talent around, and my history shows I will always promote a young player to the first team, it’s a good fit,” Papas says.

Gully is no stranger to seeing its alumni graduate to bigger stages. The likes of Jamie Maclaren, Aziz Behich, James Jeggo and Thomas Deng have come through the youth ranks, with the latest developments aimed at reinforcing the message that the Keilor-based club is an ideal breeding ground for future Socceroos.

“Youth development in Victoria is not resourced enough and opportunities are too few. The 20s in particular is a difficult age group – players who don’t make the NYL or NTC often feel there’s nothing else for them and this is so far from the truth.

“But from experience, a lot of the boys who miss these environments end up with many opportunities down the track, some of the best examples I’ve seen come from young people dealing with some form of adversity, situations where a coach didn’t believe in them or where injury occurred and that ability to overcome the adversity is many times the making of the individual.”

“We want to provide similar resources to what the first team gets provided – the GPS units, the high performance areas, the recovery facilities, viewing their own performances based on video analysis – believing that not every player that doesn’t get selected is suddenly not up to the level. There can no longer be two teams from the same club who operate as separate identities.”

The long-term vision stems from a genuine desire to see the club succeed into the future, such has been the mutual respect between board and staff throughout the year.

“I’m optimistic about working with Green Gully. I haven’t had many situations where I’ve finished one season and am excited for the next – it’s because you can see that you’re building something. I push them a lot and they demand the same, but in the end you must work together to achieve,” Papas admits.

“Winning a senior championship gets talked about the most, which is also very possible for my team. But you get satisfaction in improving many areas, creating a very good club structure where Green Gully is renowned for having a genuine link with the first team and 20s, a strong junior base, a quality facility, and values the environment for players joining the club knowing they’ll be looked after in many areas – bridging the gap between professional and semi-professional football.”

“There will be setbacks along the way, but we are about a club and a team and not just individuals to carry us through. The environment we’re putting together and program were trying to build will hold the club in good stead hopefully way beyond my term – so that when you leave a club you’ve left it in a better place than what you inherited.”

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Meanwhile, Vanega’s recent appointment as U20 coach at Green Gully SC may just help redefine the importance of youth development roles in the NPL. For the NPL’s future then, the seriousness in which the Cavaliers are taking this avenue of footballing responsibility will hopefully add some much needed competitiveness to the way clubs treat fledgling talent.

Despite the lack of financial incentive by way of transfer fees at this level, the obligation of NPL clubs to promote themselves as youth pathways can often deliver a win-win scenario, from added prestige and reputation to the distinct on-field advantage emerging from a greater depth of playing staff.

With the upper echelon of NPL clubs particularly hit by a requirement for diminutive rosters, often stretched to breaking point over numerous competitions and significant fixture congestion, the time has never been more important for a re-evaluation of clubs’ youth policies.

With the club’s youth ranks already boasting a strong production line of alumni, the recent appointment of Vanega proves Gully have no intention of relaxing their efforts.

Many coaches would be envious to take the reigns of such a pedigree of youth set-up. From his first impressions of the club, it would appear Vanega is suitably impressed. Yet when discussing his appointment, there is no sense of false excitement or trepidation. Arriving directly from one of Australia’s largest football clubs, he knows what success demands.

“There have been many players who have come through Green Gully who have gone on to A-League and the Socceroos, I think it’s just about improving that,” Vanega says.

“The professionalism of football is improving at a rapid pace and I don’t think (Green Gully) needs a complete restructure. As long as we improve on the current base we have, we’ll be taking it in the right direction.”

He provides a glowing endorsement for Gully’s own system, however the relentlessly positive Vanega also predicts a bright future for NPL youth development as a whole.

“I think there are good structures in place,” Vanega says. “In my last few weeks at Victory there were trials for the youth team. There are so many players that already exist outside the elite pathway of City and Victory that I think there is a genuine opportunity for NPL clubs.”

“If they take their U20 environments very seriously, there’s a great opportunity for them to be able to produce players for their first teams now, and into the future.”

Taking into account their recent accomplishments, Gully appear to be a club with a definitive upward trajectory. By securing the in-demand Arthur Papas on a three-year contract, the club have a coach who is now often linked with A-League jobs and is an experienced, dynamic coach with a long-term vision for the Victorian side.

Vanega joins Papas, Ontong, Sherifovski, Zois and Cicak to form one of the strongest technical operations in the league. For his part, Vanega aims to begin contributing straight away.

“I’ve already spent my time at the club watching over the youth trial process,” Vanega says. “There’s a lot of players coming through and there’s already a good base there. If we can provide good pathways, that’s the first step.

“I’ve come in to make the U20’s environment as professional as I can.”

As a former player at the Cavaliers, Vanega still holds Gully close to his heart. It was his original experiences with the side’s youth that helped burgeon a desire for coaching. It also lends him first-hand experience of the challenges Green Gully youth face in taking the next step towards professional careers.

“As a player there, we used to do coaching academies with the juniors in the off-season just to have a bit of fun and show the youngsters we were interested, it gave it a real good community feel.” Vanega reflects.

“So for me, it really appeals to be able to go back to the club and help those youngsters come through.”

Despite the attractions of a homecoming at Green Gully when choosing to return to the NPL, the appeal of continuing his coaching development under the guise of Papas also played its part.

“He (Papas) has incredible professionalism, I can learn a lot in terms of organisation and in dealing with talented, older players,” Vanega says.

“I want to be the best youth coach I can be, despite my aspirations I see myself as a youth coach for the next 10-15 years, so that I can really become an expert in this field.”

As someone who has attained an enviably high level of coaching experience at an early stage in their career, such attentiveness will undoubtedly bode well for any future aspirations. For now, Vanega isn’t feeling the pressure. At least, no more than his players are.

“To tell you the truth, there’s a lot of pressures on players at this age. We’re asking the youth to be professionals without a professional contract,” Vanega says.

“They’re at a delicate age, but they’re also highly motivated and passionate. I think we can tap into that and harness that energy and guide it in the right way. I think the NPL environment should be the best pathway to first team football.”

As with all NPL clubs, the desire for professionalism is a thinly veiled ruler over any strategic blueprints into the future. Vanega’s professional background in the A-League therefore both stands out and offers Gully fans much to be excited for the future.

With promotion and relegation the hot topic rearing its head over the Australian football landscape, it is the ethos of clubs like Gully that showcase the potential for success of the nation’s second-tier clubs by identifying gaps in knowledge and development and working towards filling those gaps.

“I think the key within this generation is to recognise that youth have individual goals and we are helping them achieve that, but it does sit within a team structure,” Vanega says, discussing his approach towards coaching.

“I think in youth football, the players are a little more oriented on themselves and not as much the big picture, as a team.”

“If we tap into that first and explain to them why the team will benefit them, then you seem to get the best out of them and they feel their individual targets and goals are being met.”

As a club with a rich history in Victorian football not just in terms of silverware but in developing talent, recent years saw Gully struggle to reach its previous heights. The current era of personnel at the club, however, looks set to steer it towards a brighter future on and off the pitch.