Melbourne Victory Director of Football John Didulica speaks to aleagues.com.au about the club’s youth strategy and the next generation.
If you want an example of the success of Melbourne Victory’s academy strategy, look no further than Nishan Velupillay.
Three years ago, Velupillay was playing for Victory’s youth team in the third tier of Victorian football. Fast forward to now and the 24-year-old academy graduate is a bona fide star and Socceroo.
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It is an “amazing” success story and not the only one at AAMI Park. Jordi Valadon, 22, has gone from academy graduate to Victory Medallist in the space of two years.
“We’ve worked really hard in the last couple years to achieve that, and how the clubs believed in the academy,” Victory’s Director of Football John Didulica told aleagues.com.au. “We’re just constantly assessing and developing.
“If you’re looking at success stories like Nishan Velupillay. He’s one of the few players in the Socceroos list who came from an A-League academy. Three years ago, he’s playing NPL3 and then all of a sudden he’s playing in a (FIFA World Cup qualifying match for the Socceroos). For me, he’s a great example of how the academy can be used for many different things.
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“It can be used for an Under-14 player to go through the whole journey, but it can also be used for an A-League player who’s a little bit older to give him that extra time in a strong senior competition. I think he’s a great example of that, the ups and downs of Nishan to where he is now, it’s an amazing story, if you look at him in the last couple of years.
“The club is very deliberate around how they use the senior NPL team, for example, and giving young A-League players opportunities in the NPL is just as much part of the strategy as it is bringing young players through the academy to then play in senior football.
“That’s why something as simple as Monday nights is so important for us, because Luka Kolic got to train all week with the A-League team, and he gets his Monday night game, as opposed to maybe missing out for a scheduling reason. That really improves his development. Same with Kayne Razmovski, same with Daniel Graskoski as goalkeeper. All of that is quite important for us, and quite deliberate.”
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Didulica added: “The best analogy is, it’s just like a school. Everyone that’s been through it knows how much time and effort teachers put into their students.
“If you’re in the academy space as a coach, you want to help, you want to give back, you want to make players better, and you go above and beyond. It takes a lot of time, a strong connection between coaches and players is so important. It is a massive effort.”
Razmovski has been promoted to Victory’s A-Leagues side for the first time, having first joined Victory as a 13-year-old in 2018 and then working his way through the entire NPL academy, while Kolic will continue with the club’s Isuzu UTE A-League outfit for the second successive campaign.
The 2025-26 squad also includes academy graduates Joshua Inserra and Franco Lino, who is back at Victory on loan from Norwegian team Viking.
It is part of a youth vision that starts at the “very top” at four-time Isuzu UTE A-League champions Melbourne Victory.
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“It comes from the board, director of football, A-League head coach,” said Didulica. “Everyone’s aligned, and it’s very much a club approach. I think you’re seeing around world football that is the best way.
“Everyone has to work together. We’re pushing towards Arthur’s vision, which is in line with the club vision. I think from that side we’re working really, really hard on the profile of player that works in the A-League and that works in the first team.
“We don’t want academy players to just go into the first team to make up the numbers. We want them to go there and be successful.
“Another example again is the JordI Valadons of the world. Played NPL3 and again, as he’s coming in, the part of his sort of program was we want him to be successful. Then he wins a Victory Medal after playing NPL3 two years ago.
“Again, very deliberate from day one of when he sat in the office the club had a vision for him and his pathway and moved towards that.”
Victory head coach Arthur Diles is at the centre of it all, providing feedback for the next cohort of A-Leagues prospects.
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“Every single day there are academy players training with the first team, and every single day there’s feedback around that,” said Didulica. “Arthur’s come from the academy space, so he knows it really, really well.
“He’s coached the youngest age groups all the way to being successful at NYL level. So he knows this space extremely well. He knows what a good 15 year old looks like, and how they can transition into the A-League because he’s done it.
“Constant feedback, constant reviewing of players. He gives a lot of opportunities for A-League training, a lot of opportunities, which you know for us is invaluable because unless you give them that exposure, you’re just guessing.”
For Didulica and Co., it is an exciting time at Victory.
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“You’re seeing now even at the Emerging Socceroos tournament, Victoria winning the U15 competition,” Didulica said. “So it’s a very strong cohort of Victorian players coming through in the next couple of years. We’ve got a lot of them. We’ve got 15 year olds playing U17 and younger players being moved up all the time to give them the right challenge.
“From our perspective, we’re really excited about that.”
“The league is looking at younger players, and that’s why the academy space is so important,” he continued.
“I definitely anticipate in the next 12 to 18 months, we’re getting players ready to put them in the best position to get scholarships. That’s clear and that’s where we’re heading towards. That’s what we want.”
