While ABD Stadium in Broadmeadows may not quite match the prestige of Valencia CF’s Mestalla Stadium, nor even Melbourne Victory’s AAMI Park, for Hume City’s Theo Markelis it became one of the most meaningful places in his short but well-travelled career.
After scoring the sealer against Sydney Olympic to book Hume City’s place in the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup, Markelis was able to raise his arms to sky and absorb the emotional cheers from the 1600 raucous local fans celebrating the club’s biggest achievement in its history.
With the atmosphere comparable to bigger fixtures on the national calendar, Markelis was quick to praise the home support for spurring the team on to the 3-1 victory over the former NSL club on Tuesday.
“Ever since we started playing the FFA Cup, the fans have been great, I think it motivates us a little bit more having a home crowd like that, and it’s always nice to play in front of a crowd like that,” Markelis said.
“Being at the club has been an amazing experience, I’m very happy with everything and I’m expressing myself as a player, and the boys are helping me do that.
“To come to this stage, I’m very proud of myself and the whole club.”
A mid-season acquisition at Hume City, Markelis was brought in to provide firepower up front for Lou Acevski’s side in the latter half of the 2015 campaign.
He’s achieved his task with distinction, scoring eight goals in the NPL to help his side to the competition semi-finals, while adding a further three in the FFA Cup.
The equation may get even better for Hume City, who will now face Oakleigh Cannons in the final eight at home, a clash that could see the club emulate Bentleigh Greens’ feats in 2014 by reaching the semi-finals.
The forward played down his own form, commending the work put in by playing and backroom staff at the club to make the results possible.
“It’s always nice to score goals… at the end of the day we won, it’s not about who scores, it’s about the team effort,” Markelis said.
“We’ve a lot of hard games come lately and we’ve got another hard game on Friday [and beyond], and it’s about the team group and the coaching staff to progress.
While the 23-year-old’s journey has scaled a number of clubs in Spain, Italy, Australia and Greece, the ex-Victory player has no immediate plans to seek a return back to a professional environment, committing himself fully to Hume’s upcoming fixtures.
“As a player you always want to play at the highest level possible, but at the moment I’m focused here and I’m focused on our next game,” he said.
“At the moment I’m not thinking about what’s going to happen in the [long term] future because I’m here and I’m trying to do the best for the club.”
Markelis and his side with have to contend with a three-day turnaround as they face Bentleigh Greens in the NPL Victoria semi-finals on Friday.