When Alex Pavlidis was crowned the NPL 1 Goalkeeper of the Year last season, it marked a rapid rise for the then 22-year-old. Up to that point, he only had five years experience as a gloveman, and two as a first choice. While Box Hill agonisingly missed out on promotion in 2014, Pavlidis, like many of his compatriots at Wembley Park, found himself on the radar of many top division clubs.
He made the decision to join Pascoe Vale, where after a slow start to 2015, the perennial overachievers now sit in finals contention under the tutelage of coach Vitale Ferrante. Perhaps it’s no surprise this ascent has coincided with Pavlidis’ promotion from backup to a regular starter.
We spoke to the custodian about his rise to the top and experiences with Pascoe Vale and Box Hill.
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Firstly, congratulations on the good run both yourself and Pascoe Vale are experiencing recently. What do you put that form down to?
I think this season’s successes so far have come down to the 15 players on the team sheet contributing in any way they can every week. As you saw, we weren’t overly active in the mid-season transfer window because the club believes in the group of players it has and is developing and hopefully finals this year means another step forward for Pascoe Vale.
The key is, as it is with football, is that the game is a team sport and the contribution from every player has been outstanding so far. The way I see it, our team ethos is getting us higher and higher up the ladder and that’s something you cant buy.
It was not all rosy early on with the club struggling to get wins on the board, did you ever have doubts as to whether the club was a serious finals contender?
Any side that begins the season with 0-3 and 8 goals against will always ask questions of themselves, even though they might put on the facade they don’t. But again, I think this holistic approach to develop a core side rather than hand-picking individuals has a big part to play in getting out of that rut.
The key to the initial turn around was getting back to basics and playing a way that had got Pascoe Vale to this position over the past couple of years and that first win against Oakleigh really showed that.
Earlier on in the campaign, you had to contend with a spot on the bench. Was that a difficult period for yourself?
That period was a great experience for me. The first two weeks of the season clashed with my work schedule and meant I had to miss the opening matches. This wasn’t an issue for me because the club knew my personal position and they embraced it, which I would like to thank them very much for their patience.
It just meant I had to train harder. For me personally, sitting on the bench was not new to me. I have only been a goalkeeper for 5 years and to say back then that I would be on the team sheet of a VPL/NPL club in five years would have been a pipe dream. At every club I have been to as a goalkeeper, I have gone under the wing of the senior (and vastly experienced) ‘keepers to learn and take everything in from them. This experience has helped me a lot in learning to compete for a position and now I can see the reward.
How have you found your new surroundings this year at CB Smith Reserve and how do you compare to your time at Box Hill United?
I spent a lot of time in the pre-season trying to find a club in the top flight that felt right for me. Obviously with my success last year, there were a lot of clubs knocking on the door but for me as a person and as a player, I needed to be at a place that I was happy with. Pascoe Vale felt most like home for me. The playing group have embraced me, the people at the club have embraced me and that has been very important for me to feel that I am part of a club rather than being just another player.
The experience has been different for me and different in a good way because I have learnt a lot of things and hopefully that has rubbed off on the group as well. It has been a positive move and I am pleased to have contributed to hopefully a historic season for the club.
Was it tough leaving United after being such an integral member of that squad and club which you have long been associated with?
It was incredibly tough for me to leave Box Hill because that place was home for me. I came to Box Hill when they merged from Southern Suburbs, with the club knowing I had only played as a goalkeeper for a year. It was a match made in heaven for them because they had the chance to craft a player into a goalkeeper with their footballing philosophy in mind. I spent two years in the reserves before I got my chance in the senior set up and I am forever grateful to the club and coach at the time for giving me my first opportunity as a senior player.
My second year as a fully fledged senior goalkeeper saw us almost take promotion and on a personal note, pick up a pretty big accolade and I am still pinching myself that I have come so far in such little time. For me, the connection I have to the club is huge and I still head there when I can. My brother still plays there as part of the senior set up and I have made a close connection to all of the people behind the scenes.
More importantly, the playing group I pretty much grew up with over the past 4 years have become friends for life. To this day, that group still speaks to each other on an almost daily basis and I think this bond is more important than football itself. As you have seen, that group has dispersed throughout the NPL and all of them have said that the standard, in all aspects, set at Box Hill during that time was and still is unrivalled.
Photo: Pascoe Vale SC