Adelaide United Give Vidmar New Contract

Adelaide United CEO Sam Ciccarello made the announcement today, and said the club sees Vidmar and Stubbins leading the club into the future and maintaining The Reds as one of the leaders in Australian football.  

“We’ve had quite some time now to look at Aurelio and Phil and we believe our future as a club is very much a part of having Phil and Aurelio in our coaching department,” Ciccarello said.  

“We believe Aurelio and Phil offer us the best combination probably of any Hyundai A-League club in Australia and we’re delighted that our success that we have achieved to date, and our future success will be headed up by Aurelio and Phil.”  

In just his second year as a senior coach, Vidmar insisted the deal to remain at the club for another three years was a ‘no brainer’, and said he is looking forward to continuing the plans he set in place when he first took on the job.  

“I’m extremely happy. It’s always great to have the confidence of the club and the owners and I’m extremely delighted today to sign on for a further three years and continue the work that we set out two years ago,” Vidmar said.  

“We had a pretty poor A-League season last year, we’ve had a pretty successful time in the ACL albeit in a losing Final, and now we need to start hitting our straps and getting ready for an onslaught in the A-League because personally I think as it stands today there will be no sympathy for our club if we don’t make the finals.  

“Every year from what this club has done from year one until now is progress and make the team stronger. I think we’ve certainly done that and we’ll continue to do that over the next few years."  

There was speculation that Vidmar was being sought after by a number of Asian clubs after The Reds’ AFC Champions League success, but he dismissed the claims and said when it came to re-signing, financial benefits were never a priority.

“It’s not about the money, it’s about me progressing in the game and learning and trying to get better and that’s exactly what I did as a player,” Vidmar said.

“I’m really happy with the environment, the coaching staff, everyone around the club, the fans, so I’m only coming up to finishing my second year of coaching and I’ve still got a lot of work to do and a lot to learn, so I think this is the perfect environment to get that much more experience.”  

Vidmar, who was recently inducted into the Australian football Hall of Fame, initially took over the Head Coaching role prior to United’s 2007 AFC Champions League campaign during a difficult period for the club. Since that time, he has put his structures into place and compiled a squad that has reached the AFC Champions League Final, as well as the FIFA Club World Cup in December, and is looking to be a part of the Hyundai A-League finals.  

Stubbins took on the assistant role to Vidmar in May 2007 after an impressive coaching stint in Victoria, and since the two have started working together at United, it has developed into a successful combination, highlighted by The Reds’ run to the AFC Champions League Final.  

“Obviously I’m very pleased. Certainly the next three years is going to be another journey that we’re going to embark on and from a personal point of view I’m ecstatic to be part of the club and the journey ahead,” Stubbins said.

“Working with Viddie and forging the relationship that we’ve got now, it is one that has been prosperous, and hopefully down the track it is going to be one that brings more fruit to the club.”