After back-to-back promotions to NPLM VIC, Melbourne Victory’s Director of Football John Didulica speaks to aleagues.com.au about the club’s academy journey and pathway into their Isuzu UTE A-League team.
Three years ago, Melbourne Victory made a “considered decision” to focus and invest in the NPL space. Now, they are reaping the benefits.
In 2022, Victory’s senior academy side were playing in the third tier of Victorian football. Fast forward to 2024 and they have reached NPLM VIC.
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Back-to-back promotions – capped by a championship this year – has seen Victory climb to the top of the football pyramid in the state within two seasons.
It is all part of the A-Leagues club’s vision to create a clear pathway to professional football.
“It’s a great achievement by those working in the NPL space, but also across the entire club,” Victory’s Director of Football John Didulica told aleagues.com.au after a 4-0 rout of Kingston City sealed promotion and the title.
“We made a considered decision to focus, particularly integrating the work that’s been done in that space into the senior men’s programs. I think after three years, we’re seeing the benefits and outcomes of that.
“When we appointed Joe Palatsides (who has since left for a job in Europe), we were in the bottom half of NPL3 at the backend of COVID.
“Now we’re fortunate enough to have won the championship this year against some really good teams and great clubs like Preston (Lions), Bentleigh (Greens), Caroline Springs (George Cross), Northcote, North Geelong – these are all big clubs in the context of Victorian football. Not to mention Western United and Melbourne City.
“To win the league speaks volumes for the high quality of everyone’s work. To do it back-to-back shows that it’s been the culmination of two-three years of hard work to ensure we had the right talent in the organisation and everyone within the business working in harmony around these objectives.”
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Didulica added: “It’s not just the quantitative stuff about putting in the long hours, it’s about building trust and respect, and a lot of advocacy throughout the entire club.
“I have a model around recruiting the right people and developing that talent. It’s always moot without giving people the opportunity.
“After a period of working hard, we built a really nice model where we assured that players who were in our NPL team could be aspirational and could enter the A-League Men program knowing they had a really clear opportunity and clear standards they needed to meet in order to be awarded contracts and train with the A-League Men’s team.
“(Former Victory head coach) Tony Popovic had a huge part in that. His whole coaching staff right from the outset when they started. A lot of work starts then.
“That’s about Joe Palatsides spending hours and hours at A-League Men’s training, understanding what they’re doing and then re-investing that stuff in the U18s, U16s because in two-three years they will be coming into that space, so spending time with the young coaches in that area.
“That’s the coaching element, then you have the human performance element where we have all the staff who are working closely on our A-League Men’s and Women’s team working in synchronicity with the academy. Making sure players are reaching physical benchmarks and their program is in line with what’s happening in professional land.
“Even the matchday experience being closely aligned and making sure as players are moving between programs, they know what to expect on a matchday.
“We have to mirror across all our teams. A huge amount of focus needs to go into ensuring that alignment and the resourcing. It’s across the whole club, not just the academy group.”
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As Didulica discussed, Palatsides has been a key contributor on Victory’s journey to Victoria’s top tier.
He has since departed for a coaching opportunity at one of Europe’s biggest clubs, with Luciano Trani filling the void, but the highly rated youth coach was still in the midst of the celebrations over the weekend.
“We called him straight after the game from the change rooms,” Didulica revealed.
“We had him on a Facetime call with all the players and staff. He’s been a significant part of this whole journey.
Throughout the interview, Didulica highlighted the importance of establishing an emotional connection with the club.
“Unless there’s an emotional connection to the journey you’re on, you can’t succeed,” he said.
So the fact so many of the Isuzu UTE A-League team’s players were in attendance for Victory’s title-clinching triumph at John Cain Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon highlighted the club’s unified approach.
From head coach Patrick Kisnorbo and captain Roderick Miranda, to Socceroos forward Bruno Fornaroli, they were there.
“That was really pleasing because it was organic,” Didulica reflected.
“That wasn’t something where we said ‘okay fellas, you have to be at this place at this time to watch this team’. The players very much drove it.
“One of things we’ve been big on in terms of development is to ensure people don’t overlook the emotional thread that’s critical to player development. We can talk about tactical, technical and physical until the cows come home, and everyone will have their views and that’s a great academic discussion. But unless there’s an emotional connection to the journey you’re on, you can’t succeed.
“One of things we wanted to focus on was developing players emotionally and giving them a connection, not just to Melbourne Victory but football.
“That’s one of the reasons guys like Alex Menelaou, Joshua Inserra and Christian Siciliano played on the weekend because those three players have been such a big part of the last three years. They were part of the club and won two promotions back-to-back.
“Even though they’ve earned their senior contracts now, it was important they went back down to that level and experienced what it means to have to win a game, to have that pressure of winning. But moreover, to have that joyous celebration and that moment with your peers.
“It’s easy to conceptualise what it means to be a successful footballer but it’s rare you get a moment to feel that way. The chance to be on that pitch when you’re lifting a championship speaks to that emotional connection that I think is really important in a player’s journey.
“The fact A-League Men’s players were there sort of highlights that dynamic within the club. It also becomes a virtuous cycle that these young players see how important what it is they’re doing and get so much more out of it.
“They will always remember they wore the Victory chevron when they won a championship. That means a lot. People might say it’s just the NPL but at the end of the day, there’s nothing better than winning a title.”
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This Victory achievement, however, goes beyond results and promotions.
There will be at least eight academy graduates contracted to the Isuzu UTE A-League outfit in 2024-25 after Alex Menelaou, Luka Kolic and Daniel Graskoski were promoted to the first team.
Alex Lee – who bypassed the senior NPL side having only played for the U18 and U23 teams in 2024 – also made his debut in the Australia Cup recently, while two academy graduates – Franco Lino (Viking FK) and George Mihailidis (Austria Vienna) – also earned moves to Europe last season.
Didulica, though, insisted “the academy is never just about a pathway into the first team“.
“We’ve done it without sacrificing on-field performance,” said Didulica.
“We made the (Isuzu UTE A-League) Grand Final last season. We’ve been careful with not elevating players from the academy just because the first team are not doing well.
“We really have to make sure we’re successful at an A-League level and keep challenging for the championship. Then, within that, continue to integrate what we’re doing in the academy. It goes beyond winning the title.
“It’s two years of success but we’re also building this critical mass of players in our first team and achieving other things around Alex Lee and Franco Lino. Every player from our youth academy was at the National Youth Championships recently. We’re building a really powerful narrative about the connection between programs and pathways we’re creating here.
“The academy is never just about a pathway into a first team. It has to be more than that. It has to be about giving people an opportunity to emotionally connect with the club, be part of something special and work with great people.
“We know not every player in our academy is not going to become an A-League Men’s player and they may go on and play at other clubs which is also great. It’s making sure the young people who are within our club get a chance to have a really positive experience in what can often be a really challenging environment.
“Youth sport isn’t always pleasant, it can be corrosive at times. I see our challenge at Victory is to make sure that journey through youth football into potential professional football isn’t something people look back on and say that was hard. It could be people looking back saying they really loved their time at Victory.”
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There are more academy players knocking on the door of A-Leagues selection heading into the 2024-25 season.
Adem Duratovic has worn the captain’s armband this season and scored 14 goals – the third most of any player in VPL1 in 2024.
Then there is the in-form Tommaso Minutoli, who has scored five goals in three games and 11 in total after an injury-interrupted pre-season.
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A key part of the team’s promotion bid in Victoria’s second tier, he also scored for the Isuzu UTE A-League side on debut against Pascoe Vale in 2022.
“I have every confidence that any player in our NPL team can find a home somewhere at professional level, it doesn’t have to be at Melbourne Victory. It can be somewhere else across Australia or overseas,” Didulica said.
“We had George Mihailidis who hadn’t featured regularly in our VPL1 season team who is now with Austria Vienna. We have a very strong collective of players who I think are very capable.
“We will keep working with them and giving them every chance to take a step up into the A-League Men’s team at Melbourne Victory.”
Victory’s success at youth level – not just based purely on results and silverware, continues to shine a light on academies across the A-Leagues.
It also bodes for an exciting future for Australian football.
“It’s not just Melbourne Victory, I think all the A-Leagues academies are doing a great job promoting youth talent and developing young talent,” Didulica said.
“It’s great we’re celebrating the titles and have guys like Alex Lee but there’s also great work being done around the country at A-Leagues clubs. Collectively, they deserve credit for the investment they’re making in that and the outcomes they’re delivering.”
Didulica added: “I’m super excited by the work that’s been done over the past couple of years and the work that lies ahead.
“I think the quality of people and talent we have at the club is first class. With that in place, we will continue to identify and nurture so many talented players.
“I think the proof is in the pudding. We don’t really need to talk about it anymore because you can look at it objectively and say good things are happening. Back-to-back promotions, including the championship in a really tough league. We’ve moved players into Europe from the academy. We have eight players from our academy contracted to the A-League Men’s team and all likely to play important roles this season.
“We’re continuing to have tangible outcomes to a lot of the work happening behind the scenes.
“I’m not just excited for victory fans, I’m excited for Australian football. The wide and deep quality of talent that is coming through, not just at Victory but across the board.”
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