Port Melbourne Sharks’ away loss to Premiers Bentleigh Greens in the final home and away match of the season last Sunday, brought down the curtain on Sharks’ coach Eric Vassiliadis’ seven year tenure as head coach of the Sharks, with the coach announcing his resignation soon after.

The 41-year-old’s resignation marks the end of one of the longest coaching jobs at any club currently in the Victorian NPL, rivaling John Anastasiadis’ six year reign at Bentleigh Greens and George Katsakis’ long reign at Heidelberg. His departure marks the end of an era for the Sharks, a side he led out of the state League wilderness back into Victoria’s top flight after an absence of 10 years, where they have played the last four seasons, three as an NPL club.

Reflecting back over his seven year tenure, Vassiliadis told SEN Radio earlier this week “It’s hard not to get too emotional because when I think about what Port Melbourne stands for as a football club, I think it’s got quite a rich history both off the field and on the field. It’s quite emotional to hear my name associated with what is hopefully going to be looked back as a really fruitful, enjoyable successful period by a football club.”

“I think the coaches that have worked with me and the board that has worked with me can sit back and say we’ve left a legacy and we’ve left the club with a strong foundation, but importantly a strong foundation to build and go to the next level,” he said.

Although finals success at the NPL level eluded the Sharks under Vassiliadis, the coach believes the club succeeded in other areas, by giving young footballers an opportunity when “a lot of clubs pay lip service to that. They talk about giving young players opportunities, but Stephane Nigros, Dylan Murnanes, Luke Prevelic’s; these guys are kind of examples of how we’ve done that,” despite being in a tough catchment area for attracting young players.

Although he believes the transition from the VPL to the NPL has taken the game forward, he clearly believes the competition demands financial resources to achieve success beyond what most clubs are able to access.

“The NPL has been an amazing transformation in every aspect. It’s challenged clubs and administrators. I also believe the output, the consequence of the NPL, probably wasn’t the intention. The consequence at the moment is that there’s just so much more resource and financial clout required to be successful at NPL level. I’m just not sure that was the mandate three to four years ago. I think the mandate, in my mind, having done my A-License, was to try and develop some good young elite players that go on and play for Australia. And I think we can do better at that,” he told SEN Radio.

Although Port was his first senior coaching job, Vassiliadis has indicated that he has the desire to coach again and attempt to achieve what he aspires to: winning trophies.

But first he says he will take some time out from his role as a football coach, to introduce himself to his children who he jokingly says haven’t seen him for 10 or 12 years. He also said that he will use the time out to reflect on his views on football.

“I’ve enjoyed my time at Port Melbourne; it’s a wonderful club and I wish it all the best. But I still have some aspirations and I’m very keen to achieve the ultimate success, which is to win trophies,” said the coach.

Port Melbourne is now seeking expressions of interest for the vacant senior coaching position.