Ange Postecoglou has delivered the greatest triumph of his career, steering Tottenham Hotspur to Europa League glory in Spain.
The former coach of South Melbourne Hellas (1996-2000) is now king of the mountain.
The trailblazing boss became the first Australian manager and first Greek to win a trophy in a major European club competition as Spurs beat Manchester United 1-0 for their first silverware in 17 years.
“This is up there with the greatest achievements in Australian football,” said Dr Tom Heenan, Lecturer, Sport and Australian Studies from Monash University.
“It’s a significant event and it shows that Australian football really has matured when you get an Australian of Greek heritage managing a major English football club and taking it to a win in Europe.
“His success is also part of Australia’s post-war migration story and its contribution to Australian football.
“As an Australian of Greek heritage he experienced initial success with South Melbourne Hellas, arguably then the best team in Australia.”
He added that here in Australia, his win in Europe will be a cause for celebration.
“This is a significant, history-making moment in Australian sport and he deserves all the credit he gets.”
Ange’s ‘Angeball’ did it again. Fans of Celtic in Scotland had already seen it. Fans way back in South Melbourne saw its beginning. Fans in Australia and in Japan had seen it develop. The young footballers who went through the junior program at Nunawading City FC and in elite programs in Victoria experienced it.
It probably had its beginnings when the young son of a Greek migrant and his father were up in the middle of the night in Australia watching English football on TV.
His path to the topflight of football coaching began there and then.
Postecoglou went from schoolboy glory at Prahran High School in Melbourne to winning a trophy at one of England’s “Big Six” football clubs.
His taste of the sport at the highest level first came with South Melbourne in the National Soccer League.
“He told you he wins things – and he did,” the club posted on social media.
“Congratulations to the legendary Ange Postecoglou on winning the Europa League and silencing the critics once again.
“A Hellas boy, and one we’re bloody proud of. Then, now and always!”
Speaking to Neos Kosmos after the Spurs’ win, South Melbourne FC Chairman and President of the Greek Community of Melbourne Bill Papastergiadis said: “Ange’s journey from South Melbourne Hellas to winning major global football title is also on many levels a celebration of our successful Greek diaspora here in Melbourne.”
“Ange commenced his career as a young player at South Melbourne Hellas winning four titles as player and coach.
“As he has often said, these formative years were a catalyst for his great achievements subsequently on the global stage.
“The Greek Community of Melbourne stands proud for one of its members who has never forgotten his roots and the importance of his identity from those early days.”
Victoria’s Minister for Sport Steve Dimopoulos called it a “major achievement for a Melburnian in world football.”With the win, Ange also lived up to the early-season promise he made. “I always win things in my second year.”
He did it at Hellas and he won the A-League title with Brisbane Roar in his second season. During his second year with the Socceroos, he won the Australia its first Asian Cup in 2015. At Yokohama F. Marinos he lost the Cup final in his first season and then won the top-flight league title the following year. At Celtic he won the Scottish Premiership title in his first season and retained it in his second season.
But there was also a period of time where he was far the great coach he is known to be, failing to find work as a professional coach.
For the first and only time of his career, Postecoglou would go to Greece. Not in the top division however, he found himself at third division Panachaiki in 2008. He left after nine months when the club was taken over by a new owner.
Returning to Australia, he worked briefly for the Whittlesea Zebras and also as a television commentator. He also wrote a column for the English edition of Neos Kosmos.
When Ange wrote for Neos Kosmos, he would bring the text himself to the newspaper every week.
Reflecting on this down period in an interview with Neos Kosmos in 2018, the Football Australia Hall of Famer never doubted he would return to a top job.
And we all know he did, now in spectacular fashion.
Alexis Papas, who was at the Spurs v Man U game, told Neos Kosmos that he saw Greeks on the pitch waving a Greek flag.
“Beyond any credit a coach receives for winning a top-tier trophy, the fact that a Greek wins a top European trophy is not something that happens often,” he said.
“In the field of football in particular, it has never happened.
“So the pride that all of us who were on the pitch felt for Angelos Postecoglou was justified, and his own joy at the end of the match was also justified.”
It’s well known that Ange is a Carlton FC supporter in the AFL, and they did congratulate him on socials but so did the Western Bulldogs, who posted a picture of Ange together with coach Luke Beveridge, who also has Greek heritage.
“Just a couple of guys who won trophies in ther second season,” their X post read.
It has been a long journey for Ange Postecoglou, from the dictatorship led Athens, Greece in the late 60s, to the working-class streets of Melbourne’s south, from the bustling city of Tokyo, to world class stage of European and UK football. The boy from Nea Filadelfeia and more so, Melbourne, has made Australians and Greeks very proud.
With AAP
