Mihalis "Michael" Valkanis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Μιχάλης "Μάικελ" Βαλκάνης; born 23 August 1974) is a Greek Australian former

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and was previously a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Professio ...

Club career

Valkanis rose through the ranks as a talented junior at South Melbourne to the senior team. At South Melbourne, Valkanis made 50 appearances for his boyhood club attracting the attention of overseas clubs. Valkanis would state that pulling on the South Melbourne kit for his debut was the proudest moment of his footballing career. Valkanis then played in the Greek League with Iraklis and most notably with

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

where he played for five seasons and won 102 caps, and Agios Nikolaos. He played 110 games in the now-defunct

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

scoring 4 goals with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was known historically as Juventus — the original name given to the club by its founders in Adelaide's Italian community. Adelaide City is one of Aust ...

and

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

. In mid-2007 Valkanis was named captain of his club side,

, replacing Angelo Costanzo (who had been appointed as interim captain after the resignation and departure of

Ross Aloisi Ross Aloisi (born 17 April 1973) is a former Australian soccer player who was the captain of Adelaide United in the Hyundai A-League – a team he guided to a minor premiership, a pre-season cup and two Asian Champions League campaigns. After ...

). Valkanis announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2008-09 A-League season in December 2008. The former captain and 100 game veteran was given a testimonial match against

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

on 9 January 2009 where he replaced Daniel Mullen in the second half and saw Adelaide though to a 2–0 win.

International career

Valkanis' international debut, and only game for Australia, was for the Socceroos in an Asian Cup qualifier versus Kuwait at

Aussie Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier recta ...

on 16 August 2006. At the time of his debut he was the second oldest debutant for Australia, behind Tommy Stankovic who debuted as a 33 year old in a friendly game against

FC Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pr ...

Danny Vukovic Daniel Vukovic ( ; born 27 March 1985) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Central Coast Mariners in the A-League and the Australia national team. Vukovic is the holder of several A-League records: he has ...

's debut later pushed Valkanis down to 3rd place on the oldest debutant list.

Managerial career

After the resignation of Adelaide United manager

John Kosmina Alexander John Kosmina (born 17 August 1956), known as John Kosmina, is an Australian former football (soccer) player and manager, most recently being the Senior Head Coach of Brisbane Strikers. He is a member of the Football Federation Austral ...

on 28 January 2013, Valkanis was appointed caretaker manager of Adelaide United for the remainder of the A-League season. Under Valkanis, Adelaide United managed to finish the A-League season in 4th place, therefore qualifying for the A-League finals. However, they were eliminated in the first round by

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

. In May 2016, Valkanis left Adelaide United. In June 2016, Valkanis joined Melbourne City as the senior assistant coach to

John van 't Schip Johannes Nicolaas van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch Canadian and former Dutch international footballer, who played as a winger. He spent his club career with Ajax, where they won four Eredivisie titles, a UEFA Cup and a Europe ...

. On 3 January 2017, after the resignation of Melbourne City manager

John van't Schip Johannes Nicolaas van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch Canadian and former Dutch international footballer, who played as a winger. He spent his club career with Ajax, where they won four Eredivisie titles, a UEFA Cup and a Europe ...

, Valkanis was appointed manager of the club for the remainder of the season. On May 9, 2018, Dutch Eredivisie club

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

announced Valkanis had been appointed assistant to manager

John van't Schip Johannes Nicolaas van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch Canadian and former Dutch international footballer, who played as a winger. He spent his club career with Ajax, where they won four Eredivisie titles, a UEFA Cup and a Europe ...

on a one-year deal with a one-year option.

Personal life

Valkanis is of

descent. He attended

De La Salle College, Malvern , motto_translation = With God As Leader , city = Malvern , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3144 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type ...

Career statistics

(''Correct as of 16 January 2009'') ¹ – includes

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

final series statistics
² – includes

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

statistics;

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)

Managerial statistics

Honours

With

: * A-League Premiership: 2005–2006 Personal honours: *

Player's Player of the Year: 2005–2006

References

External links

Oz Football profile

Pint Culture profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valkanis, Michael 1974 births Living people Soccer players from Melbourne Australian people of Greek descent Association football central defenders Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players A-League Men players Adelaide City FC players Adelaide United FC players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players South Melbourne FC players Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. players Melbourne City FC non-playing staff Australian soccer players Naturalized citizens of Greece PEC Zwolle non-playing staff Australian soccer coaches Australian expatriate soccer coaches Greek football managers Greek expatriate football managers Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Sportsmen from Victoria (Australia)