As he fast approaches his 19th birthday, talented young footballer Anthony Lesiotis can look back on his 18th year as one filled with firsts and rare new experiences.

First there was his international debut, representing his country at Under 18 level in a tournament in Japan in August last year.

That was soon followed by his senior debut (twice in fact) for two different A-League clubs, firstly Melbourne City and now Melbourne Victory, whom he joined in January. And then, there was his debut just recently, in the Asian Champions League for Victory.

Over the course of just 12 months, it’s been a steep rise for the defensive midfielder, that’s taken him from playing in the under 20s at Melbourne City, to being part of Victory’s Champions League squad.

The former Heidelberg United and Northcote City junior says he remembers his senior debut at Melbourne City in extra time of an FFA Cup tie against Brisbane Roar last year. City coach Warren Joyce turned to the youngster on his bench who least expected it.

“Get ready,” said Joyce.

Lesiotis recalls, “I was incredibly nervous, but I ended up doing pretty good to be honest.”

After making one more brief senior appearance for City, ironically against Victory, Lesiotis surprisingly accepted an offer to cross over to the dark blue side, signing for Victory in January this year.

At the time, Victory coach Kevin Muscat said of his new signing, “Anthony is a player with undoubted potential. A hard-working, competitive midfielder, we’re pleased to welcome him to the club and look forward to developing his talent.”

Lesiotis explains the reason for crossing over from City to rival Victory.

“Well, I didn’t feel I was getting the best opportunity at City when I was there. When I was there, there were a few weeks when I wasn’t really training that often. There were sessions but I wouldn’t complete the whole training. I was on the sidelines due to the amount of numbers they had. And I was getting pretty fed up because I didn’t really want to play NPL every weekend. I felt that really wasn’t the best for my development. The quality of the opposition isn’t what I want to get better at football.”

Lesiotis says the transition between the two clubs was quite smooth, adding that his new team mates and coaches have been very helpful.

Since crossing to Victory early this year, Lesiotis has made five A-League appearances and two Champions League appearances.

His league debut against Roar earlier this year was a memorable occasion for long-time Victory supporter Lesiotis, who came on in place of skipper Carl Valeri.

He says, “Yes, I was really excited when the boss told me to get ready. Because Melbourne Victory is the biggest club in Australia, and for me to get a debut and get a game, was really thrilling.”

He describes the experience of training and playing alongside such Victory stars as Honda, Toivonen and Barbarouses as “a really good opportunity. They’ve seen it all, so to be able to train with them is unbelievable. You learn so many things from them. They’ve helped me develop so much. It’s always good to have great role models that you can look up to when you’re playing because you need them as young player I believe.”

Lesiotis has clocked up more frequent flyer points than he ever imagined in this, his 18th year, with trips to India, Japan (twice) and China under his belt. His most recent trip was to China where he played 20 minutes for Melbourne Victory against Guangzhou Evergrande in the Champions league. Guangzhou featured players of the calibre of Brazilian internationals Paulinho and Talisca. The youngster said he found the Champions League required a huge adjustment. As he explained, “Because I’ve been training with the first team at City and Victory, I thought I really knew the quality. And then I went into the game against Guangzhou and they were unbelievable. If you lost the ball you’d never get it back. You have to work hard on the ball, make sure and always concentrate, and always be careful. But also try to be as positive as possible because you want to make an impact and help the team.”

Lesiotis says his parents are very proud of his achievements. “They’ve always supported me, no matter what, in my life.”

He finished school two years ago and has committed himself totally to football as a full-time profession.

“Firstly, I want to get a steady position in this team. My main long term goal is to play with the Socceroos and play for a good club in Europe, like the EPL, Holland, Germany, Spain, France, Italy,” he says of his aspirations.