Aurelio Vidmar thought it would be impossible. Not in his wildest dreams did he think it would work.
When talk of forming a new, unified club in Adelaide – Adelaide United – was discussed in the wake of Adelaide City pulling out of the NSL, there wasn’t many who thought it might work.
READ MORE: Victory’s Honda ensures difficult start to Cambodia role
MUSCAT: Victory signings ‘just names on paper’ for now
CHIEF CREATORS: Five Hyundai A-League playmakers prepared to set pulses racing
But in the space of a few weeks Adelaide United was born – on September 12, 2003 – with today marking the club’s 15th birthday.
In honour of the 15th Anniversary of the foundation of the Club today, let's go deep into the archives to 2003/04… #AUFC #15thAnniversary pic.twitter.com/KCyZYa5QpU
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) September 11, 2018
As part of their 15th anniversary celebrations, the Reds chatted to several club legends – inaugural coach John Kosmina, first skipper Vidmar, Richie Alagich and Carl Veart – about their recollections of how the club was formed.
Read a full transcript of their interviews here.
“It was impossible, I thought, at that stage. I was in quite a few of the meetings in the early part of the setup and I just thought it was definitely impossible,” Vidmar recalled to www.adelaideunited.com.au.
“From memory, I think it was five weeks it all happened, so it happened pretty quickly and I thought there was no chance.
“And we were all players at that stage and we just wanted to play. To have that opportunity to play again was fantastic and the way it turned out was beyond our wildest dreams.”
Kosmina was appointed inaugural coach of the new club and recalls how the formation of the Reds helped galvanise the sport in South Australia.
“The thing is, people had faith in each other. All the cards were on the table and we had to get a job done and we had to get it done quickly and everybody was pulling in one direction,” Kosmina said.
“That’s why it was successful and also because it galvanised the football community. Not just pockets of it. Not just the Greeks, or the Italians, or the Poles, or the Serbs, or the Croats, or anyone else.
“It brought the whole football community together. It was fantastic; you could feel the vibe.
“Adelaide is a very strong Aussie Rules town and even the Aussie Rules people were jumping on the bandwagon.”
Read a full transcript of their interviews here.
