“I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year,” Ange Postecoglou said last year and that epic quote rings true today after Tottenham won the Europa League final.
Postecoglou guided Spurs to a drought-ending 1-0 victory over Premier League rivals Manchester United in the Bilbao showpiece on Thursday (AEST).
The A-Leagues legend became the first Australian to win a European cup trophy as he ended Tottenham’s 17-year wait for silverware.
A triumph that also secured UEFA Champions League football in 2025-26, Tottenham got their hands on a first European trophy in 41 years.
Despite an unprecedented injury crisis and ongoing speculation over his future in 2024-25, Postecoglou added another title to his collection.
From boyhood club South Melbourne to Australia, Postecoglou has won it all – a pair of National Soccer League championships, back-to-back A-League titles and a record 36-match unbeaten streak at Brisbane Roar, plus a ground-breaking 2015 Asian Cup triumph with the Socceroos.
Add in a J1 League title at Yokohama F.Marinos that transformed Japanese football and back-to-back Scottish Premiership crowns with Celtic, including a treble.
Postecoglou has done it at Spurs with three other A-Leagues icons by his side in London.
Nick Montgomery, Sergio Raimundo and Mile Jedinak – all three, like Postecoglou, have had their obstacles but have gone on to influence Aussie football in various ways.
Jedinak has been at Spurs the longest. The former Socceroos captain reunited with Postecoglou when the ex-Roar and Melbourne Victory boss was appointed in 2023.
An Asian Cup winner as a player under Postecoglou, Jedinak was 22 years old when he landed a trial with Central Coast Mariners in the Isuzu UTE A-League. He went on to become one of the league’s finest players, winning a Premiership before enjoying a stellar career abroad via Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Then there is Englishman Montgomery and Portuguese Raimundo. The duo were both brought in at the start of 2024-25 after leaving Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.
The newest pupils in the University of Ange – two coaches behind Central Coast’s stunning renaissance in 2023-23.
Raimundo was Montgomery’s right-hand man with the Mariners’ academy team at a time when the senior side were languishing at the foot of the Isuzu UTE A-League standings.
From the start, the duo placed an emphasis on youth with one very clear message – to believe.
It led to a drought-ending Isuzu UTE A-League Championship in 2022-23, the club’s first title in a decade. It laid the foundations for back-to-back Grand Final wins in Gosford.
