Macarthur Bulls have had great success providing a platform from their academy to their Isuzu UTE A-League side and beyond. Head of academy Shaf Sagol speaks to aleagues.com.au about the club’s vision and the next generation of players coming through in Campbelltown.
There is one thing clear when discussing Macarthur Bulls’ academy setup – the club are aligned from top to bottom as they look to unearth their next talent.
Macarthur have had great success nurturing young prospects and providing a pathway into the Isuzu UTE A-League and beyond.
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January’s transfer window is the perfect example. Academy graduates Jed Drew (TSV Hartberg), Ariath Piol (Real Salt Lake) and Oli Jones (Randers) all departed for overseas, while star full-back Kealey Adamson earned a move to EFL Championship outfit QPR at the end of 2024-25. Ayman Gulasi (Schalke) and Rhys Youlley (Westerlo and now back in the A-Leagues with Sydney FC) also progressed through the Macarthur youth ranks before heading abroad.
Young guns Frans Deli, Alexander Robinson and Oliver Randazzo have also come through the Campbelltown program, while academy graduates Zane Helweh, Will McKay, Sebastian Krslovic and Henrique Oliveira have signed scholarship contracts.
It is all part of Macarthur’s strategy as the Bulls stay true to their philosophy.
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“The vision almost ties into the philosophy as well,” head of academy Shaf Sagol told aleagues.com.au as the Bulls family continue to stand behind youngster Ali El-Sabeh following his recent cancer diagnosis.
“We want to create a good culture, an environment, transparency, opportunities. We want to have a brand of football in terms of possession-based football, playing through the thirds.
“When someone comes to watch Bulls FC, we want them to say, ‘okay they’ve got a clear brand of football’.
“We feel by playing under pressure, we’ll develop our players in the long term. It could potentially, in the short term, maybe effect in terms of results but we know in the long term, it is going to benefit the player.
“We want to play a possession-based brand of football. We want to press high. We want that expression of those attackers, especially in that final third. But we want to ensure we have that discipline and build the confidence of the players, and we look at players as assets as well.
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“For example, if there’s a club that, let’s say they’re looking at their squad for the upcoming season, they’re looking at a defensive midfielder that can get stuck into tackles, break up play, break lines. So what we’re doing is we’ve got clear player characteristics for positions that we know will give them the best opportunity of making it.
“I’ve seen players in the past, with all due respect, that probably are playing in positions that if you were to honestly assess, you’d say probably don’t fit the right player characteristics, which unfortunately will hurt them in the long term. So we’re really trying to identify those characteristics that will give them the best opportunity of potentially making it, giving opportunity as well.
“We’ve got a 15-year-old that’s playing Under-20s at the moment. We’re pushing boys up. We got Henrique that’s 16; he’s got an A-League contract, and he’s with our NPL in the first team.
“We want to also ensure that we’re not only creating good footballers, but good people. It’s very important to be realistic as well. Education is very important.”
Sagol added: “We’ve got all the way from the top, (CEO) Sam (Krslovic) through to Mile (Sterjovski), the first-team staff, to your (Anthony) Sicilianos, our NPL head coach Nicolai Muller, all the way down to the U13s.
“We’re trying to prepare players for the first team. It’s very clear these are the sort of people we want. This is the brand of football we want, and it’s a consistent message that is given from those young age groups all the way to the top.
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“The brand of football that we play, it’s seamless. It’s all the way through. So it’s an easier transition and what’s fantastic is we have Mile who used to be the NPL head coach, so he completely understands what it’s like being in that space, which I think has been fantastic.
“The club wants us to develop players, to try to get to the first team, because we want to create pros, and you know if they don’t become a pro internally with us, and we’ve made them a pro externally, which we have been very successful at, that’s also a win for us.”
Macarthur’s Isuzu UTE A-League head coach and Socceroos great Mile Sterjovski is across the academy program, an area where he was deeply involved as Bulls FC Academy coach prior to replacing Dwight Yorke in 2023.
“He’s down there watching our games. He’s there to observe the players coming through,” said Sagol.
“I think his presence being there is fantastic because it shows the pathway. It also shows that he cares and the club cares.”
Sterjovski, Sagol and Co., are playing a key role in the development of the next generation of Bulls prospects.
It is an exciting time with a wave of talented youngsters emerging under the guidance of Germany international Nicolai Muller and Sagol – from the likes of Lachlan Sattout, to Atiya Waraga and others at first-grade level in Football NSW League One, to the Under-20s and younger.
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“We’ve got some really good players that are coming through the system, some not even currently in our senior program,” said Sagol.
“At the moment, they’re even younger, and they’re coming through. What I would say too is keep a close eye, because we’ve got a really good crop coming through, all the way through the youth academy.”
