Bentleigh Greens have made their second high-profile signing of the off-season, luring reigning FFV Gold Medal winner Kamal Ibrahim from Port Melbourne.
The former Melbourne Heart man dazzled spectators across the league with a number of incisive and compelling performances on the left flank, finding the back of the net eight times in 26 league appearances.
While it was ultimately a tough season for the crew out of JL Murphy Reserve, his early-season form saw the club dreaming of a finals berth as he lit up the competition to take out the NPL Victoria’s first Player of the Month award for the season.
He enjoyed even more individual success at the FFV’s night of nights as he took home the league’s best-and-fairest medal with 30 votes after racing out of the blocks early, before further endearing himself to the Victorian footballing community with a frank, yet humbling, acceptance speech praising his boyhood club.
The decision to move wouldn’t have come lightly for the Ethiopian-born Ibrahim, who received his first pair of boots from Port Melbourne in his first season in their junior set up.
He also spent time in both the VIS and AIS system before signing on with the Heart, where he made four first team appearances in a spell hampered by injury.
Stints at South Melbourne and Heidelberg followed before re-joining the Sharks in their final VPL campaign in 2013.
Bentleigh Greens CEO John Ioannou was pleased to have secured the services of a player with such proven talent.
“Kamal is a fantastic player and he’ll add an enormous amount of depth and quality to our front third,” Ioannou told the Bentleigh Greens.
“He comes to the club with a great amount of experience and we’re hoping he can showcase his talents for us in 2016,” he added.
The news comes just days after the Championship winning squad announced the re-signing of mobile forward Chris Lucas, to further bolster the healthy forward stocks of the club, who also have Moreland Zebras’ Danny Charalambous and Matt Thurtell on the books.