Northcote City have announced the additions of midfielders Nick Tzoulis and Josh Berrios to the senior squad ahead of the upcoming 2016 NPL Season.
Tzoulis returns to the club after helping City win the 2013 VPL Championship before enjoying spells with the Port Melbourne Sharks and Brunswick City respectively.
The 26-year-old made 37 appearances for the club in their first two seasons back in the top flight under Peter Tsolakis, helping Hercules win the 2011 Dockerty Cup (then Mirabella Cup).
A move to Heidelberg United in 2012 followed for the central midfielder, making 10 appearances for the Bergers who were relegated from the VPL at season’s end.
He returned to John Cain Memorial in 2013 and was part of Goran Lozanovski’s all-conquering Championship winning squad, with Tzoulis making 20 appearances over the course of the season.
He then joined a large exodus of City stars to depart the club ahead of the NPL in 2014 by signing with the Sharks, whom he narrowly helped avoid relegation in 2014.
After 21 appearances and two goals for the club, he departed JL Murphy Reserve mid-season last season by joining Brunswick City in NPL1 for the remainder of the season.
Tzoulis cited the opportunity of working with new City manager Alex Gymnopoulos as the motivating factor behind the move.
“Having the chance to work with Rat (Alex Gymnopoulos) was a big influence on my decision,” the midfielder enforcer said via a press release.
“Having worked with him in the past, I like his style of play and his way of coaching. Obviously I’ve spent a lot of time at the club. I love it and I’m just glad to be back” he went on to add.
Berrios meanwhile joins the club after spending the latter part of the 2015 NPL 1 season with the Moreland Zebras, where he was part of the a side which narrowly missed out on promotion to the top tier.
An attacking midfielder who is also capable of playing at full back and in the centre of the park, Berrios made his senior breakthrough with the Melbourne Knights during the 2013 VPL campaign.
However, a knee reconstruction forced him to miss the entire 2014 season before making a further four appearances for the Knights in 2015 and departing mid-season for CB Smith Reserve.
Having made 17 appearances in the top flight under Andrew Marth, Berrios was determined to get back to the same level of Victorian football and cited that reason as the main factor behind his move.
“Now I just want to get back to the NPL. It’s more of a challenge and I’ll hopefully one day aspire to get to a bigger league” added the midfielder via press release.
The duo join the returning Anthony Rizk (Melbourne City Youth), goalkeeper Phil Petrovski (Goulburn Valley Suns), Greek defender Michalis Karvouniaris (Panachaiki) and American forward Mike Cunningham as the first signings of the Gymnopoulos era.
Northcote open their 2016 NPL campaign with an away game against the newly promoted Melbourne Victory at Epping Stadium on Saturday February 20