In this modern era of football when terms like ‘junior development’ and ‘player pathways’ are all the rage, the Preston Lions Football Club is proving that investment in the developing and nurturing of young and emerging football talent is laying a strong foundation for the club’s future success at senior level.
Preston’s 2016 senior men’s squad contains no fewer than six regular first team starters, over half the team, who are home grown products. Club captain Tony Sterjovski (38), Robert Najdovski (27), Bale Micovski (26), Aleksandar Petrovski (24), Kliment Dimitrieski (24) and more recently James Dafoski (21) have all graduated from the club’s junior ranks over the years and are living proof that Preston’s player development pathway is achieving the desired results.
“There’s quite a few of us now in the team who grew up and played together here from a very young age, so our understanding of each other out on the field is certainly a big advantage,” said Preston midfielder, Robert Najdovski.
“I think it’s fantastic that our current crop of juniors can look at us as senior players and realise they too can make the step up to this level by learning their football craft here at Preston in an encouraging environment that rewards hard work, development and perseverance.”
“And when the time comes to look back on our careers as players, we can proudly say that Preston was our home and we played a key role in fostering a strong culture of development and loyalty.”
The Lions currently sit second on the Men’s State League Division 1 North-West ladder, with realistic aspirations to enter the National Premier Leagues Victoria in the next year or two.
“I don’t think too many senior clubs in Victoria, either at State League 1 or NPL level for that matter, can boast of having more than half their starting line-up consisting of players developed from within their own junior ranks,” said club President, Zak Gruevski.
“We’re incredibly proud of this achievement and the future looks very promising given our strong junior base which consists of 20 teams and almost 300 kids ranging from U7s to U18s, including two junior girls teams.”
“We’ve also fielded a successful seniors and reserves women’s side for almost two decades now, and we will continue to invest in our teams at both senior and junior level by promoting Preston as an inclusive club for both male and female players of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.”