Ralph Napoli is flying the flag with three other Australians at Cerezo Osaka in Japan after emerging and flourishing in the A-Leagues. The Aussie assistant coach speaks to aleagues.com.au about his incredible football journey, which includes stints in India and France.
Among Osaka’s population of almost three million is an Australian quartet, including Ralph Napoli.
Napoli is part of Arthur Papas’ coaching staff at storied J1 League side Cerezo Osaka, an assistant alongside countrymen Huss Skenderovic and George Apostolidis. All four have come from through the A-Leagues.
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In Napoli’s case, he spent more than a decade associated with Melbourne City, winning silverware. Papas is the former head coach of Newcastle Jets, where he was supported by Skenderovic and Apostolidis spent time both at City and Melbourne Victory as an analyst.
Now, the four Aussies have teamed up at “one of the most famous clubs” in Japan in 2025.
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“If you’re not in the top five leagues in Europe, and maybe a couple other leagues around the world, from a football point of view, it’s probably one of the better ones,” Napoli told aleagues.com.au. “The quality, stadia. The fans are crazy. Their stadiums always packed and they are beautiful people.”
This season, they are bringing Papas’ unrelenting football belief to life – only three other teams have scored more goals than Cerezo (42) in Japan’s top flight, where they sit 10th in the standings.
Papas, who was part of Ange Postecoglou’s coaching staff when the Australian legend led Yokohama F.Marinos to the 2019 J1 League title, is able to call upon former Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund star Shinji Kagawa though Cerezo lost leading scorer Leo Ceara and Sota Kitano (Salzburg).
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Napoli added: “Obviously, you come into a new environment, new culture. You don’t know how people are going to receive what you want to try and implement, and what you want to try and do.
“It’s really important that you welcome to what their customs are in their culture. You need to integrate really well. It’s also helpful to have people that have got your back. The number one thing is us having each other’s back.
“But also you absolutely need to integrate into the culture, otherwise you’re not going to make it, it’s not going to work.
“I don’t think we’re that far away from potentially doing something special here.
“There’s a lot of work to do. Internally we know aspects of our game is in a good position but there’s so much work still to do to get to the position where you’re consistently winning.”
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Napoli’s move to Cerezo at the start of 2025 meant reuniting with Papas, a relationship dating back more than a decade.
It also goes back to the start of Napoli’s journey post-playing around the age of 26.
Napoli always wanted to be a fitness coach or head of high performance. He took his first steps as a volunteer fitness coach under John Aloisi in Melbourne Heart’s youth team, where Papas was assistant coach.
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Funnily enough, Napoli and Papas completed their undergraduate course – sports science – together at university.
If things turned out differently, Napoli would have ended up doing his cadetship at Melbourne Victory but it never transpired after numerous delays. After being encouraged by Papas to “put his hat in the ring” for the Heart role and the rest is history.
After two years of unpaid work, Napoli followed Papas to India in 2013. The pair teamed up at Dempo for a season.
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“Learned a lot about myself,” he reflected. “Learned a lot about the way he goes about it. But also just being able to implement a program with not a lot of resource and do it reasonably well.”
Napoli continued: “It’s an amazing country. There’s a whole lot of factors, the resources aren’t that great in football. So just you put yourself in an uncomfortable situation.
“It was interesting. You see all sorts of different things and but again, working with a really nice culture and good group of people. learned a lot.”
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It was not long before Napoli was back in Melbourne. He “jumped” at the chance to return to Heart under the guise of Melbourne City following City Football Group’s takeover in 2014.
Initially working as a sport science co-ordinator and assistant coach of City’s youth team, Napoli covered roles as head of sports science at youth level and A-Leagues level before making the jump to assistant coach in 2021, working alongside Patrick Kisnorbo having progressed from youth-team environment.
The duo teamed up to taste Premiership and Championship success, guiding City to the Isuzu UTE A-League summit for the first time in their history.
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“An amazing time at Melbourne City,” said Napoli, who also deputised as head coach in the absence of Aurelio Vidmar during the 2023-24 campaign. “I don’t think the club gets enough credit. I’m forever grateful.
“From becoming a notoriously underachieving environment to basically a team that is up there and thereabouts all the time, that’s what I was most proud in being involved in. People used to laugh at us for being soft, well we weren’t soft. That was one thing we ended up not being.
“Then this year, winning the Championship again, the guys absolutely weren’t soft. That was something that I was proud of helping shape and be part of.”
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Across his 15 years with City, Napoli spent two periods away. There was the Dempo spell and the Troyes experience.
After turning iMelbourne City into an A-Leagues force, Kisnorbo was lured to France by CFG to take charge of sister club Troyes in Ligue 1. At the time, the former Australia international was the first Australian to coach in a top-five league.
Napoli and Apostolidis followed Kisnorbo to Troyes in November 2022. It was a turbulent tenure which ended in December 2023 after ESTAC were relegated from France’s top tier at the end of 2022-23.
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“The opportunity was massive, and it was a great learning experience,” Napoli recalled.
“PK is a top coach and he’s very clear on the way he wants to play with a certain type of playing group and a certain way of working, but the group was totally fractured. It was difficult.”
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It was a challenging environment, on and off the field, with police even providing escorts home prior to Kisnorbo and Co. departing the club.
“People were leaking when we’re getting back by bus. So we’re arriving back at 1am or something from wherever we are, and there’s the supporters waiting for us,” said Napoli.
“But they shouldn’t know that. Supporters are waiting for us like they want to f*****g blow up the bus mate.
“There was a couple of times the police escorted us home from the club. Then within the club, you’re trying to rattle the cage a bit and fix the club up because ultimately that’s what we were sent there for by CFG but there was a reluctance for change.
“They wanted us to help align the club and CFG’s idea of football.
“We’re coming from an environment in Melbourne where it was a clear way of working.
“It’s good to see Troyes doing better now. It’s pleasing for everyone involved.”
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Within 24 hours of leaving City, Napoli had a call to return to Melbourne City. It allowed him to link up with Aurelio Vidmar and play a role in the side claiming their second Isuzu UTE A-League Championship in 2024-25.
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“I felt like Melbourne, there was some unfinished business for me personally, but also, it was a new squad, the team weren’t flying,” he said.
“Viddy had literally taken over a couple of weeks before I got back. I wanted to be part of re-shaping it from the ground up.
“Viddy was unbelievable for me as a person. Then as a coach, he just gave me and (Scott Jamieson) Jamo so much autonomy, clear guidelines. Really empowered us. Obviously, the guys went on and won it this year. I was proud of watching that.”
