Ahead of the 2023 Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, Melbourne City defender Thomas Lam speaks to KEEPUP about life outside of football, his relationship with “second son” Valon Berisha and representing Finland on the biggest stage
There’s a lot more to Thomas Lam than meets the eye.
Beyond being one of Melbourne City’s chief lieutenants, Lam is a family man, hotelier and entrepreneur with a clear outlook on life.
He lives by two simple mantras: Work hard and do what you love.
It’s something his parents ingrained in him from a young age and in his 29 years of existence he’s done exactly that in both his vested interests – football and business.
“My dad always said. If you work harder than the rest, you will achieve more things,” Lam tells KEEPUP.
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It’s no wonder that for over a decade he’s been able to forge a quality playing career at both club and international level, for the likes of PEC Zwolle, Nottingham Forest and FC Twente, and Finland – all while managing to juggle a number of other commitments.
Although Lam says there’s a lot more football left in him, he understands a playing career is finite and knows exactly the path he wants to take when he eventually hangs up the boots.
“Me and my brother, bought a hotel in Amsterdam three, three-and-a-half years ago, just before Covid,” Lam said.
“My brother is mainly managing the hotel now, because I’m here and I can’t really do anything. We have a French fries place as well in Amsterdam… It’s called House of Fries.
“It’s on a side street next to the Dam Square. My brother is now managing everything over there and I think as soon as I retire from football then I will join him and we will probably work together every day. I’m looking forward to that but I’m not finished yet with football.
“I love the game. I want to play as long as I can, but I think it’s a good thing, that I know after football what I’m going to do. That is working with my brother and be successful in that kind of business.”
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The Finnish centre-half isn’t the only entrepreneur in the Isuzu UTE A-League either, with Brisbane Roar defender Jack Hingert running a successful unisex nappy bag company called ONE NINE alongside A-Leagues alum Isaka Cernak.
While former City, Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United midfielder Stefan Mauk founded a journal company called ‘Inner Game Journals’.
However, Lam is one of the fortunate ones. Not every footballer or athlete – for that matter – knows where they want to take their career post-retirement.
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“Football is such a short time, you play until around 35 (years old). Some players are lucky they play until 40, but if you see how long a life is after your career, you probably have 40 to 50 more years to live,” he said.
“If you don’t know what to do. I think that’s pretty difficult for a lot of players, because they don’t know what they want, what they like.
“I’m fortunate that I know what I like and that I’m going to work with my brother. I can’t wait actually, but football is the first thing now, and I’m enjoying that as long as I can. I’m fortunate that I know what to do after my career.
“There are a lot of players who go in like a bit of a black hole and are struggling even if they had a great career. They have the money in the bank and whatever, it’s not that they are always happy when they play football.
“The most important thing is do what makes you happy. If you don’t know, you can always try different things and be ambitious because most football players are ambitious and they want to reach goals and want to be the best.”
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To understand where Lam’s drive comes from, you have to trace it back to his roots. He was born in the Netherlands and grew up around the hotel industry, as his family owned and operated one in Amsterdam.
Lam’s father tragically passed away when he was 15 years old, but his mum continued to own and operate the hotel. In fact, his fries restaurant is right next door.
It was in his formative years where he saw first hand the hard work his parents put in to keep the hotel running. These are exactly the sort of values he hopes to bestow upon his own son.
“They started in the hotel business roughly 30 years ago,” he said.
“My mum still owns the hotel and manages it in Amsterdam. My parents worked very hard in the beginning to keep the hotel running. The first five years were really tough and they took us to the hotel because they were so busy with working and to keep the hotel running.
“I have so much respect for how they did that and are still doing, especially my mom. She’s still working hard every day and is a role model for me to work hard.
“It gives you a lot of pride and happiness because after all, you do it for your family and now, I have a son. I want to give him something back when he’s growing up. I want to be a role model for my son.”
Lam chats with KEEPUP a week after City booked their place in a fourth straight Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final.
Since arriving down under, the Finland international has fit in brilliantly at the reigning premiers, playing key minutes alongside the likes of Socceroo Jordan Bos, Callum Talbot, Curtis Good, Nuno Reis and recently retired captain Scott Jamieson in the defensive half.
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He was the third of a highly successful quartet recruited to the club this term, alongside Talbot, Richard Van der Venne and Valon Berisha, signing a two-year-deal with City after over a decade playing in Europe.
But how did Lam end up on the other side of the world playing the game he loved?
“I was at the end of my contract at CSKA Sofia. I just signed for one year. I had a great time there, but to be honest, I wanted to have another challenge in my career,” he said.
“We were talking with my agent: ‘What do you want and what is it you’re looking for?’ And there were some clubs interested. Melbourne came in August and it was not something we (he and his fiancee) decided in one day so we had to think about it.
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“For maybe four or five days we discussed with family, friends, and then I asked advice from former players who who played in Australia. I played with Bart Schenkeveld, who was playing here as well.
“I called him up and asked about his time here and he was only positive and he said: ‘yeah, it’s amazing. You should do it. It’s a great adventure’. Only positive things about the club, how they work and that kind of stuff. In the end, we decided, let’s just do it.
“We like adventure, as a family we want new things in life, and we’re not scared to go.”
Incredibly, he had never heard anything about Australian football before the interest from City arrived last year.
But little did Lam know that arriving in Melbourne would also give birth to a “friendship for life”, with a fellow off-season arrival. Weeks after Lam signed on the dotted line, Berisha joined the club on loan from Ligue 1 side Stade de Reims.
Immediately, the two hit it off and became close friends, so much so that Berisha is now essentially part of the Lam family.
“Valon is like a second son for me, he is something special,” Lam said.
“We just have a really good connection, and I think we are a bit the same, but also in a way, we are different. He’s a little bit more extroverted. He’s always there wherever you go. He speaks a lot and I’m the more quiet one.
“From the first moment he arrived, we sort of went to each other and from then on the rest is history. We drive every day together to the club. We live 200 metres from each other. We have dinners, coffees, lunches.”
Thomas Lam and Valon Berisha on The Players Pod with Robbie Cornthwaite earlier this year. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts!
Lam admits the friendship has helped them both acclimatise to life on the other side of the world, having played in Europe their entire lives prior to this season.
The duo’s mantras about life speak volumes about their respective characters, choosing to see things from a positive perspective, despite the difficulties associated with moving to the other side of the world and being separated from extended family.
And there’s an element of Berisha’s personality which particularly resonates with Lam.
“It’s pretty difficult when you come here alone and you don’t know anyone… It’s always fun when we are around each other and we make each day fun,” he said.
“Let’s say, we live day by day, you never know when it’s your last day and he’s also in that mindset, he’s always smiling. Whatever happens, you just have to keep smiling and to be happy.
“I lost my father when I was 15 years old, and there are a lot more worse things in life than losing a training match or whatever. My father always told me, live from day to day and be happy and smile and do the things you love to do.
“That’s also what I get from Valon. He’s so open and he’s always helpful to other people, and you can always ask him anything. If I have to call him at midnight and I have a problem, he will probably 100 out of 100 times answer his phone.
“It’s a special friendship and it will last longer than this. We probably won’t play with each other next year, but we will stay in contact, and we are probably going to go on holiday together this summer. It’s a friendship for life.”
Although he admits it’s been difficult to be away from his network of family and friends overseas, Lam has enjoyed his time in Melbourne so far.
“I’ve been enjoying my football a lot. It’s been it’s been an amazing year,” he said.
“We won the league, the teammates are amazing, we have such a good team bond, and everyone gets along on the pitch and off the pitch as well. We hang with each other.
“My fiancée and my boy, they are enjoying life in Australia. It’s really easy, we live in a great location. They are happy there.
“The one thing I miss is my family and friends because they’re so far away, so that’s probably the only thing that is not so nice, because it’s very far from home, and of course, with the time difference.
“It’s a bit difficult to stay in contact every day with your family, with your friends. Otherwise, we’ve been enjoying our life very much here.”
A couple of years before Lam arrived in Australia and made his mark in the A-Leagues, he was part of Finnish football history.
In 2019, Finland qualified for their first ever major tournament – Euro 2020 – after finishing ahead of Greece and Bosnia & Herzegovina to secure to the final automatic spot in the tourney behind group toppers and eventual champions, Italy.
Although he was born in the Netherlands, Lam was eligible to play for Finland through his mother who is Finnish. After obtaining his citizenship, the defender went on to represent the nation on 26 occasions.
Lam’s form at club level with Zwolle was rewarded with a call-up for the Euros, where they faced the likes of Denmark, Belgium and Russia in Group B.
“It was absolutely amazing, it was a dream come true,” he said.
“That was actually my biggest dream to go to a tournament with my country. We had never been to a tournament like a Euro or a World Cup.
“The day we achieved that, I remember we played against Liechtenstein at home and we won. It was just like the whole country was partying on the streets and everyone was so happy. No one believed that we were ever going to make it.
“There was such joy and you could see everyone’s face and the people were so proud of us that we made it. I would say that was probably the best moment of my career.”
In their opening match against the Danes, play was suspended after 43 minutes when Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch due to cardiac arrest.
Eriksen was stabilised in hospital and after receiving confirmation he was awake, play restarted. Finland would go on to come away with a 1-0 win.
“It was horrible, everyone was in shock. The whole stadium stopped and it was so silent, you couldn’t hear anyone talking,” he recalled.
“He was laying there, and everyone was holding their breath and praying that he’s alive. There were a lot of people around him, so everyone moved away to get Christian good medical care.
“We were in the dressing room and we didn’t know: are we going to play or not?
“In the end, Denmark wanted to play and we said at the beginning, whatever Denmark wants, we are going do it, and we continued playing. The match was strange everyone had Christian in mind.
“We won, but after the game, in the dressing room, everyone was quiet, and of course you’re happy you win but it was different… everyone was thinking about Christian.
“It could be anyone, so it’s kind of scary. When we came in the hotel when we had our dinner we were just talking about it and we got the message that Christian is fine and had left the hospital so that was a big relief for us.
“It was a hectic day, to be honest and hopefully we will never see that again. You don’t wish that on your biggest enemy… It was a really tough day for everyone.”
Unfortunately, Lam wouldn’t see a minute in the tournament as Finland crashed out in the group stage behind Belgium and Denmark.
Since then, he has featured twice in FIFA World Cup qualifying and in the UEFA Nations League but hasn’t been called up to the Huuhkajat since June 2022.
“That was a bit of a shame, to be honest. It was hard to take, but yeah, that’s football and the coach makes decisions,” he said.
“He had his picks and he didn’t pick me. Hopefully there will come one more Euro where I can play and I’m pushing for that every day. Hopefully, I will be back soon in the squad and fight for that.
“Overall, I’m really proud to be part of the team and I’ve seen that. It was just amazing to be in the squad.”
This week, Lam will be part of a City side looking to secure their second ever A-League Men’s Championship.
He will more than likely go toe-to-toe with Jason Cummings, someone who he is familiar with from their time at Forest together in 2017 and limiting his influence looms as a key component to City’s chances of winning the decider.
“We played some games and trained together,” he said.
“(The) last two games when we played them, we had a little chat after the game about life in Australia, but also the football and stuff. I’m looking forward to to seeing him again. He’s probably going to be my direct opponent, so it’s going to be a good battle between us.
“It’s been good to see him also playing well here in Australia and enjoying his football. Jason is a good guy… in Nottingham we had a good bond.”
Although he was an unused substitute, Lam has experienced what it’s like to take home silverware in a tournament environment, having been part of the team – alongside Socceroo Trent Sainsbury – that won the 2014 Johan Cruyff Shield with PEC Zwolle against Ajax.
He also watched on as an AZ Alkmaar youngster when they beat PSV Eindhoven in the KNVB Cup Final in 2013 under the tutelage of former Adelaide United boss Gertjan Verbeek.
However, Lam has tasted what it’s like to be on the opposite side of final success, losing two years later in the KNVB Cup decider to Groningen 2-0 – a game he played 81 minutes in.
These are the games, in his words, he loves the most.
“I love the big games and where the attention is and in football, you live for those games. You become a footballer to play these games,” he said.
“It’s not about who is the best team, but who is the best performing team that day who shows up that day and in the final. You need a bit of luck, of course, in the finals, because a bouncing ball or a set piece, normally in finals, they will be decided in small things.
“It’s about tactics, but not (at the same time), everyone has to fight. It’s the heat of the moment and how you show up on the day. I would say a final is do or die and you have to approach it as your last game and put everything in it.
“A final is just special, and I love these games. I cannot wait.”
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