35-year-old Arthur Papas may be the youngest head coach in NPL Victoria, but he’s one of the most credentialed, with experience domestically and abroad.
The 2011 Football Federation Victoria Coach of the Year boasts a CV that includes two A-League clubs and has coached Indian sides in Asian continental competitions.
At Green Gully, he now has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of coaching legend Ian Dobson – who led the club to numerous league titles and a Dockerty Cup in the 1990’s and 2000’s – and create a dynasty by restoring the club to its former glory.
Coincidentally, the last year Gully won the VPL was in 2011, when it defeated Papas’ Cannons side in the Grand Final, though the club has struggled to emulate its success since then.
The signing of the former Oakleigh mentor is not just a big coup for Gully, but for the league.
Football in Victoria is currently enjoying a positive spell, with three clubs having reached the quarter-final stage of the FFA Cup – no other federation managed a single state club – a number of youth and mature aged players making the successful transition into the A-League, and a contingent of some of the most successful coaches outside of the A-League.
Like Chris Taylor at South Melbourne and John Anastasiadis at Bentleigh Greens in recent times, Papas can become synonymous with the Green Gully name and further stamp his reputation as a coach ready to make the jump to a higher level domestically.
While Green Gully, one of the state’s most successful and historically stable clubs had a tumultuous 2015, it showed promising signs towards the latter half of the season under caretaker player-manager Roddy Vargas, recouping to finish in a comfortable mid-table position.
Papas, too, endured a turbulent season, albeit his tenure at Oakleigh was always going to be challenging, given the situation facing him upon his return to Jack Edwards Reserve.
The Cannons were under-performing and languishing near relegation, but under his leadership were able to recover to secure survival, making the final of a state Cup and quarter-final of a national Cup in the process.
At Gully Reserve, Papas will have the opportunity to start with a clean slate in new surroundings.
He brings some familiarity with him, securing long-time associate and WPL coach of the year Shaun Ontong as his permanent assistant.
The squad currently at his disposal is already formidable, underscored by an experienced backbone in Liam Jones and Vargas, a midfield marshalled by Evan Christodoulou, and an exciting forward line containing tricky winger Matthew Breeze, Simon Tolli and prolific striker Liam Boland – who links up with Papas again after momentarily brushing shoulders with his new coach back at Oakleigh before leaving mid-season for Gully.
He now has the opportunity to strengthen the team, with a number of proven NPL additions set to join the club.
Gully know what they have in Papas – a young and ambitious coach determined to add further success to an already impressive CV, who won’t accept complacency or mediocrity.
With a solid finish to 2015, Gully has a lot of scope for improvement in 2016, and the competition may once more see the rise of one of the state’s most successful clubs under Arthur Papas.