Photo: Mark Avellino
Hume City defender Shane Rexhepi has elected to return to his roots by joining childhood club North Sunshine Eagles ahead of the 2017 State League One North-West season.
The popular 29-year-old departs ABD Stadium having spent the last three seasons at the club, making a total of 73 league appearances and scoring five goals in the process.
In that time, the centre-back played a crucial role in Hume’s consecutive national FFA Cup appearances, with their 2015 campaign seeing Lou Acevski’s side reach the Semi-Finals of the competition, where they were defeated 3-0 by the Melbourne Victory who also ended their time in the competition this year at the Round of 16 stage.
Rexhepi spoke exclusively to TCF regarding the move where he discussed his early memories in senior football at the Eagles whom he captained at an early age.
“I went down there as a 15-year-old given my older brother was playing in the seniors at the time,” he said.
“It was more of a family club as dad used to take us their when we were kids. In the next couple of years, I ended up being captain of the seniors which was a great privilege. I was one of the youngest captains in State League Two at the time.”
“I’m going back to that club where I’ve got a lot of friends and family who have always welcomed me with open arms. I’ve never let go of that club, and have watched as many games as possible. My brother is the team manager there at the moment. I’m really excited to be back there, obviously being an Albanian club, it means a lot to be back playing there.”
The Eagles finished 2016 under the stewardship of player-coach Ben Isai in third place behind champions Altona Magic and second-placed Preston Lions, although were handed a 12-point deduction on the eve of the season which ultimately cost them a tilt at the title.
Rexhepi is hoping the club can carry on their momentum from this season into the New Year while also expressing gratitude to his former employers for being understanding of his decision to drop down two tiers and give the Eagles side some much needed experience.
“The club definitely has a very good team at the moment – a good young squad. They finished third in State One with the points deduction from the beginning of the season. They just need a couple more experienced NPL players to come down like myself to help. I always told the club that I’d come back down and finish my career there.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot and have held talks with Dean [Hennessey] and Steve [Kaya]. I think I can still play in the NPL for another couple of years, but I didn’t want to go back to North Sunshine when it was too late. I thought now is the right time while I’m still fit and keen to do what I can and get amongst it.”
While some may see the decision to leave the NPL at the age of 29 as a strange career move for a player still at the top of his game, Rexhepi had no such reservations with his aim being to help his beloved Eagles make a march up the Victorian football echelons with the FFV set to bring in promotion from to and from the NPL in 2017.
“At the end of the day that was always going to be the big factor and Steve was the one that said to me to do what makes me happy and everyone else happy. I think this is going to make me happy to come back to my old club, see a bunch of familiar faces and for me, signing with them is going to be pretty massive.
“That they’re happy as well obviously makes me happy. I’ve definitely given myself a big challenge, which is another part of the reason why I wanted to move. If I can help the club get promoted into the NPL, it will be a massive challenge for me and I’ll give everything I can to give it a crack.
“I’ve won Championships and I’ve won trebles, made the Semi-Finals of the FFA Cup with Hume. If I can play a big part and help North Sunshine get into the NPL, that’s going to be a great personal achievement for me and the club.
“That’s going to be something that when I end up finishing looking at my career, I’ll be very proud of because I’ve got a lot of great family and friends at that club, and I want to be a part of something special.”
Rexhepi departed the club a decade ago and joined Richmond in the VPL before making the move to newly promoted Dandenong Thunder in 2009 helping the club claim the Premiership in their first season back in the top flight.
He then captained the club to a memorable treble-winning campaign in 2012 before departing George Andrews Reserve three years ago to move closer to home by joining Hume City, whom he thanked for an unforgettable adventure over the last few seasons.
“They’re such a great club. The last three years that I’ve spent there have been absolutely fantastic. From playing at an Albanian club at Dandenong Thunder, the respect that I got there was unbelievable, but making the move to Hume City meant nothing changed.
“Everyone welcomed me there with open arms, they’ve got such great people there on and off the field and I can’t just thank one person. I still want to be a part of the club and I’ll show my face there because I’ve made a lot of great mates who are friends for life.
“I’ll go support the boys and I’ve still got a huge part of Hume City in my heart, and that will never change.”
In that time he also launched the SR13 Appeal, which aimed to raise funds for cancer awareness and research following the passing away of his father Zenel in 2014. The initiative has been a feel-good success story with Rexhepi managing to unite the football community for a common cause with the Eagles being one of its biggest supporters while also detailing his plans for the 2017.
“ The SR13 appeal is going to keep on going at least until I hang the boots up, but even then I’ll keep on donating money to cancer as much as I can. North Sunshine has always contributed massively, last year they donated $3500 this year and $2500 in 2015.
“The club has helped me out a lot. I just want it to get bigger and better each year. We’ve raised a total of $41000 in two years and that is something I’d never thought we’d be able to achieve. Obviously I couldn’t do it without the help of everyone in the NPL, the Victorian footballing community and friends and family.”
On the field, promotion into the NPL will be the goal for Rexhepi and his teammates with the club keen to bring a few more experienced players down to Larissa Reserve ahead of the pre-season which commences in the summer.
“Bringing more NPL players to the club is 100% the goal at the moment. We’re talking to a few players at the moment because State One is going to be a really tough league this year because of the promotion.
“It’s a big factor of why I came down to the club and we’ll definitely try to get a few more players, then see what we can do to get that promotion.”
With a number of experienced individuals and promising youngsters already calling State League One home, there is a common perception that the third tier of football is as good if not better than NPL2 where clubs are restricted in who they sign by the Player Points System and visa restrictions which are not present in the State Leagues.
Rexhepi is of that opinion as well and stressed that his move to the competition is not one meant to wind down his career with the former defender excited about the challenge ahead while also hoping to bring a touch of professionalism.
“I think personally that State League One is going to be tougher than NPL2 this year and there will be a lot of good players in that league. I’ve heard of a lot of NPL players that have made the move down to State League One clubs.
“For me, dropping down a couple of leagues, I’m not doing that because I think my career is finished. I’m doing it because there’s a big challenge ahead of me to get the club up. I know that it’s going to be tough, but I’m going to take it as serious as possible and nothing changes mentality wise for me.
“Professionalism wise, that’s something that I’d like to bring to the club, where hopefully my experience will show and we get some success this year.”
The acquisition of Rexhepi is a huge boost for Isai and his enforcers who have sent an ominous signal of intent to the rest of the competition.
Given his track record of success, it will be no surprise if the signing of one of the club’s favourite sons heralds the beginning of a golden period of success for the Eagles who like many of their counterparts in State League One will be looking to make plenty of headlines with their performances in 2017.
Rexhepi is the second high profile Hume city player to depart the club in the past fortnight following the exit of reigning NPL Goalkeeper of the Year Chris Oldfield.