Antony Golec’s time at Adelaide United has seen him learn a lot about himself, and having made the most of his second chance, he hopes to be at the Reds for a while yet.
Antony Golec-s time at Adelaide United has seen him learn a lot about himself and what it takes to make it as a professional footballer, and having made the most of what is his second chance in more ways than one, he hopes to remain a part of the Reds for a while yet.
Golec arrived in Adelaide from Sydney as a raw 21 year old eager to make the most of the opportunity the Reds presented him with to make something out of his football career.
After spending three seasons with Sydney FC, which saw him make 13 Hyundai A-League appearances amongst a host of games for the Sky Blues- Youth Team, the 194cm defender found himself back in the NSW Premier League with Sydney United in 2011.
Then as season seven of the Hyundai A-League approached, Golec was invited to trial by the Reds and after impressing then Reds Coach Rini Coolen, he was tabled a one year deal.
Seen as a development player who could provide backup for the Reds- more experienced defenders, the Australian U-23 and U-20 representative took awhile to find his feet.
He had not featured in any of the Reds- first five games and was still largely unknown on the Hyundai A-League scene, but after a regretful episode involving Twitter, his reputation took a severe hit and caused doubts over his future at the club.
Deeply apologetic for his mistake, Golec vowed to clean up his act and work hard, and since the Twitter incident, that is exactly what he has done.
In John Kosmina-s first game as coach after replacing Coolen, Golec as given his first senior appearance, coming off the bench against his former side. Since then he has started in eight Hyundai A-League matches and the win over Bunyodkor, a game in which he scored, the reason he missed five games in between due being away with the Qantas U-23s.
Golec is thankful for the faith Adelaide United has shown in him and with his contract expiring at the end of the AFC Champions League Group Stage, he is hopeful of extending his stay.
“It was tough at the start of the year, I know things happened, but you move on, keep level headed and just keep working hard,” Golec said after the Reds- final training session before departing to Gosford for the match with the Mariners.
“Hard work pays off and I-m grateful for the opportunity and hopefully I can keep doing well.”
“I-d love to stay (in Adelaide) and hopefully in the next few weeks we can get something sorted out.”
Speaking like a player who believes he belongs in the side, Golec said the Reds were enthused about the chance to test themselves against the top of the table Central Coast Mariners before returning home to host Gamba Osaka in the AC Champions League on Tuesday night at Hindmarsh.
“We-re looking forward to the Gamba game but tomorrow night is the priority for us at the moment and we need to get things right, and tomorrow is a perfect game to do that against one of the league-s best teams, so we-re going to look to cause a big upset because they (the Mariners) have a lot to lose,” Golec said.
“We-re not going to take it lightly, we-re going to do everything we can and hopefully it leads into Gamba and we do well there to.”
