Greek Australian footballer Tom Podaridis doesn’t lack self-assurance. Maybe it’s the island mentality that courses through his veins as Podaridis’ grandparents were all born on Limnos. Perhaps it’s the indivisible trait of confidence that teenagers cannot be accused of lacking. Whatever the reason, the 19-year-old Melbourne footballer has self-belief in abundance, particularly when describing what kind of player he is.

“I like to compare myself to a John Stones of Everton,” he says speaking to Neos Kosmos from his home in Melbourne.

“I’m very confident on the ball, I like to play the ball out from defence and I like to move. I’m very vocal and I consider myself a leader. When I play at the back I like to drive out a lot. I like to join the midfield quite a bit and create that extra player.
“Since going to England and Cyprus my long ball game has improved dramatically. Now I can pin balls much better than I used to when I was younger. I can now pin balls, left, right, and [diagonally] through the air.”

And like one of Podaridis’ long range passes, the Melbourne born and bred teenager hasn’t just plucked this swagger straight out of thin air. It all started when he was playing for Melbourne City’s youth team in the Victorian NPL competition in 2015. After that season ended, the 188cm tall defender was offered to spend time in the English Premier League youth team.

Not surprisingly Podaridis jumped at the chance and a 12-month European odyssey began when the young defender spent a fortnight under the tutelage of one of Australia’s greatest Socceroos.

“I left Australia in June last year and I got invited to go to Watford and play under their youth team coach Harry Kewell and have some training sessions there,” he says.

“Going to England to train with Watford’s U21 youth team was unknown territory for me. It was the first time I went overseas on my own. I was only 19. I found the facilities at Watford to be world class. It’s a professional environment. In Australia we are lacking in full-time professionalism. For a lot of people football is a nine to five job over there from the staff to the players and you don’t realise that until you leave Australian shores.
“The experience I gained from having to keep with up with the pace over there showed me how the game in England is played. It taught me what level of play that I need to get to. So, being in that environment I knew I had to lift my game if I wanted to get close to it. The speed of play and the movement of the players was a thousand times quicker than what I was used to in Australia.”

Unfortunately, Podaridis’ time training under Kewell had to end prematurely as the youngster didn’t have the required paperwork to remain in the country. But that disappointment was short-lived as he was soon given a chance at extending his overseas experience.

“I didn’t have a European passport at the time so I couldn’t stay in England,” he says. “But then I got a call to go to Cyprus and have a chance to spend some time with APOEL and I took that opportunity.
“During my first training session they wanted to sign me but the problem was I didn’t have my Greek passport and it was going to take months for me to get one. I was told I would get it in the first week of February.”

While he was alone in England, it was a different story in Cyprus as Podaridis discovered a small band of Australian brothers with whom he could share his European sojourn.

“We had a good family of Aussies in Cyprus. We had Robert Stambolziev, Jacob Eliopoulos, and Tom Marisic from Adelaide,” he says.

“I was on my own but meeting those boys, that was the positive, and during that time I was training with APOEL, Jacob Eliopoulos was playing with their youth team. Jacob and I did everything together, we went to the gym, we worked hard on the field, and we also went out.”

While fellow Greek-Australian Eliopoulos was playing regularly in the youth team and soon progressed to APOEL’s first team squad, Podaridis found himself in no-man’s-land.

“In that situation, it hurt me a little bit because I couldn’t play,” he says. “I was doing everything right, I was training hard but obviously I couldn’t get on the field because I was still waiting for my passport.
“But I didn’t let it get to me and I just kept working and working and it paid off when I was selected to play in a few friendlies against European teams and seeing what the quality was like I think I held my own very well”, he says.

“I was playing friendly games against European youth teams such as Spartak Moscow, FC Rostov, FC Krasnador and Swiss side Young Boys as well. I was heavily involved in those friendlies. Because I wasn’t playing during the season it was hard. Especially seeing Jacob play week in and week out, I loved the boy and he was killing it and that drove me more.”

The passport that was holding the young defender back finally arrived in February but the Cypriot season would soon be over and Podaridis found himself at a crossroads.

“APOEL liked me and the coaching staff were phenomenal and so were all the boys I trained and played with. They were all brilliant,” he says.

“But obviously if I couldn’t sign for them there was no point staying till the end of the season, so I decided to return home. But before I left, word got out that APOEL liked me and I had a contract offer to go to Spain with Segunda B team Elche and I also had two more offers to go to England.”

Podaridis did return home and is now back where it all started – in the Victorian NPL. But after getting a taste of the big time, he says he still has unfinished business in Europe.

“After experiencing Cyprus for nine months but not playing it was disappointing. I didn’t finish what I started,” he says.

“I’ve just signed with Oakleigh Cannons in the NPL to keep my fitness up and I’m still assessing offers. I’m just weighing up all my options. APOEL is one of the biggest clubs in Europe and I’d love to go back there and after being in England and Cyprus and now possibly Spain I am in a bit of a dreamland.
“I do want to go back to England that’s my number one goal. I have my cousin Peter Skapetis, who is an ex-Queens Park Rangers and Stoke player and former Australian youth international. He tells me all the good things about England and everyone knows England is the number one league in world football and that’s where I want to end up.
“Harry Kewell even recommended going to a lower league team and getting experience in first team games but you never know what can happen.”