Werribee City have begun preparations for life in the second tier with a host of on-field signings, headlined by Dandenong Thunder pair Abdirahman Ahmed and Anthony Saric, while also making a couple of notable backroom appointments.
22-year-old Ahmed joins the Bees after spending the majority of the 2015 NPL season on the cards of Dandenong Thunder, where he played alongside his younger brother Yusuf.
The forward featured in 11 games for the Thunder, primarily comprised of substitute appearances, and memorably scored his solitary goal minutes after coming on in a 6-1 triumph over Northcote City.
However, he left the club along with his brother towards the latter part of the campaign, before playing for the Heidelberg Stars in State League Two.
The move to Galvin Park came following a call from City technical director Davide Picone, who worked alongside Ahmed at George Andrews Reserve last season and invited the attacker down for a trial, where he impressed and spoke of delight at securing the move.
“I’m very happy with the move to Werribee with the coach Domenico [Gangemi] liking what he saw of me and gave me a chance to showcase my skills off”, says Ahmed, who is ambitious regarding his aims with the club in 2016.
“My goals for this year are to win the league with Werribee and leave last season behind me by trying to get back to my best by playing consistent football week in, week out.”
Joining Ahmed at Werribee is young goalkeeper Anthony Saric, who moves to the Bees in search of more regular first-team football.
A back-up goalkeeper to the experienced Adam Hrehoresin at the Port Melbourne Sharks in 2012, the teenager moved to State 1 outfit Avondale Heights in 2013 where he established himself as the club’s number shot-stopper, as Anthony Barbieri’s men secured two consecutive promotions.
Despite making 18 league appearances at Doyle Street Reserve in 2014, he found himself as back-up to Frazer Siddall last season, and made a mid-season move to the Thunder after making a further two appearances for Avondale in 2015.
Four starts in between the sticks for Thunder eventuated as Saric was unable to prevent the 2012 VPL Champions from relegation, before departing the club in favour of the Bees, where he will battle it out with fellow new signing Roberto Pedrini for the number one jersey.
Domenico Marafioti returns to Galvin Park after spending 2015 alongside Saric at Avondale, where he was limited to three appearances over the course of the first part of the season, before making the switch mid-season to third tier Sunbury United.
The 25-year-old had previously featured for the Bees and was part of Nino Ragusa’s promotion-winning side of 2013, before making 17 NPL appearances in 2014, which yielded two goals as Werribee avoided relegation in their first season in the top flight.
The left-footed striker has been scoring in pre-season and is expected to continue his form for a side which was goal shy for much of last season, managing to score 20 goals in 26 league fixtures in 2015.
Other new arrivals for Domenico Gangemi’s side include Reis Aygun (Hume City), Ardit Fezollari (Whittlesea Ranges), Daniel Piovesan (Richmond) and Italian import Riccardo Venta (Doncaster Rovers).
However, amongst the additions include a number of notable departures, including former Socceroo Simon Colosimo, former captain Milan Savic, goalkeeper Frano Saric and speedy winger Simon Zappia, while Kobbie Boahene and Anthony Ragusa have found new clubs in Box Hill United and Green Gully respectively.
Italian-born Davide Picone is the club’s new technical director, replacing Gangemi who has taken up the head coach role on a permanent basis after taking charge of the final three games of last season.
Picone spent much of 2015 working as Dandenong Thunder 20s coach, taking the team to the top of the NPL 20s ladder before his mid-season departure – and has prior coaching experience in his native Italy as well as coaching elite juniors at Monash City.
Werribee have also added Angolan legend Vata Garcia to the coaching staff for 2015, with the Benfica legend taking charge of the club’s 20s side.
The 54-year-old is best known for his spell with the Portuguese giants between 1988-1981, where he was the league’s top scorer in his first season at the club, and featured in a losing European Cup Final in 1990 where Sven Goran Eriksson’s men lost to Ariggo Saachi’s legendary Milan side.
After ending his playing career in 2000, Vata re-settled to Australia where he has worked with the European Football Institute in addition to coaching spells in Indonesia.