Photo: Green Gully
Former Melbourne City striker Wade Dekker has made a return to the NPL Victoria, signing with Green Gully in a big coup for Arthur Papas’ men.
The 22-year-old has been without a professional club since April 2016, after his release from the reigning FFA Cup holders, with injury keeping him out of action for much of the year.
Dekker began his career through the ranks of Northcote City, where he found the net nine times in 28 games in before making the move to Melbourne City in 2014.
The 2014-15 National Youth League campaign was a particularly fruitful one for the versatile forward, who netted 10 times to snare the competition’s Golden Boot and help his side to the NYL Championship.
He backed that up with a further 10 strikes in the NPL1 West in 2015, finishing top scorer for the club that season as City ended the Victorian season in a respectable fifth place.
His form saw former City coach John van ‘t Schip offer him a first ever full-time contract ahead of the 2015-16 A-League season, which he celebrated with his first professional goal in a 5-1 FFA Cup defeat of Wellington Phoenix.
He was given a surprise start in the opening round of the A-League season, and rewarded the faith shown in him with a goal after just 16 minutes as City drew 1-1 with Sydney FC.
With injured first team players re-introduced into the fold as the season went on, Dekker found game time harder to come by and ended his spell at the club with five league appearances to his name.
Dekker signalled the professional set-up and influence of Papas as key contributors to him signing with Gully and believes the environment will allow him to best progress as a player.
“It was just the professionalism of the club, it’s good to see they have all the right setups off-field and good coaching,” he said in a press release.
“I got the sense that this is a big club with a great history, it has achieved many things. I see this as a great platform to grow and want to help the team do well.
“Seeing Gully do well last year has definitely helped attract me to the club,” he added.
“I’m excited for the year ahead and can’t wait to see how far we can go.”
The signing is the sixth of the pre-season for Gully, who have added considerable talent to their playing stocks in the form of Jeremy Walker, Joshua Barresi, Alex Caniglia, Jonathan Bounas and Josh Brindell-South.
He misses out on the chance to play alongside younger brother Todd, who completed a move to Box Hill United, having signed for Gully mid-way through 2016.