Decorated coach to set standard high at Roar

The Melbourne-born midfielder started his career after graduating from the Football Federation Australia’s Centre of Excellence. From the Australian Institute of Sport, Vasilevski, then aged 17, signed with Carlton SC before that club folded in 2001.

He would progress to the international scene, earning four caps with the U-20 Socceroos under Ange Postecoglou, then, later, spending time with the U-23 Olympics squad.

He moved abroad, playing football in Europe, where he trialled for Aalborg BK in Denmark and Belgium professional outfit RSC Anderlecht.

From there, the promising young talent went on to spend time with Melbourne Knights. Before long, he found himself in Western Australia with Perth Glory under Liverpool legend Steve McMahon.

Following release from the Glory in 2006, Vasilevski spent time at Altona Magic, where he scored six league goals before going on to sign for Melbourne Victory in July 2007.

There he played most of his games as a right-back, but his preparations were hampered by injuries.

He found himself among the likes of then-captain Kevin Muscat and coach Postecoglou, competing in the recently minted A-League as well as the Asian Champions League.

“It was fantastic because we had players like Kevin Muscat, Archie Thompson, Carlos Hernández — all these legends of the club,” Vasilevski said.

“You learn a lot off these guys.

“Having Kevin Muscat as your captain was great.”

While with the Victory from 2007 to 2009, Vasilevski was part of the side that went on to trounce Adelaide United in the 2007 A-League grand final.

In 2019, after a year with Murray United in Wodonga, Vasilevski took on the head coaching role at Wangaratta City.

That year, he helped lead City to a league- and cup-winning season spectacular.

After the 2021 season, Vasilevski stepped down as head coach of the Red Devils.

Now, having signed with Cobram Roar, Vasilevski said he was looking forward to getting back in to coaching.

“To sign with a club like the Roar – I think it’s a great club, it’s a great family-oriented club with lots of good people involved,” he said.

“I want to better my knowledge as a coach, so I’ll be looking to do that.

“I’ve no doubt that it will be a successful year. I just feel like the club deserves to start winning things.

“And I hope I can help them do that.”

With the first training session of the preseason already over, and with less than four months left until the season proper begins, Vasilevski said it was a good turnout, with at least 20 players lacing up.

“Everyone was pushing pretty hard,” he said.

“And that’s a big positive for me, even though there were quite a few players missing. Having a good turnout on that first session is a good start.”

Vasilevski will be looking to lean on his experience to push the group to a high standard.

“As a coach, it’s important to find common ground with your players,” hesaid.

“So if I’m chatting to defence, the midfield or forward line because I’ve played in several different positions, I can pass on my experience to them.

“I think it’s given me an insight into lots of different personalities, different players, different levels of players. I’ve had a really diverse mix of coaches and players that I’ve played with.”

He said he would be looking to set the bar high with the squad early in terms of its discipline on and off the field.

“Just because it’s an amateur competition, doesn’t mean that our attitude has to be amateurish,” he said.

“We did that at Wangaratta — where we set the bar pretty high — and we won a couple of trophies because of it.

“I think the Roar is a very good side, and they’ve shown it over the last few years. But they’ve had something missing when it comes to finals and winning things. So I think that a little experience and guidance will go a long way.

“I hope the community can get around us.

“Show your support, try to get down to our home games, and you know, just be there for it when the season starts.”