Mihalis "Michael" Valkanis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Μιχάλης "Μάικλ" Βαλκάνης; born 23 August 1974) is an Australian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coach and former player who is the current

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

Club career

South Melbourne Hellas

Valkanis began his career at South Melbourne at age six and rose through the ranks as a talented junior at South Melbourne to the senior team. At South Melbourne, Valkanis made 50 league appearances for his boyhood club. His performances in defence for the club earned him a regular position for the Australia under 23 side and attracting the attention of overseas clubs. Valkanis would later state in an interview with ''Four Four Two'' that pulling on the South Melbourne kit for his debut was the proudest moment of his footballing career.

Iraklis

Valkanis then played in the Greek League with Iraklis and most notably with AEL where he played for five seasons and won 102 caps, and Agios Nikolaos. He played 110 games in the now-defunct

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

, scoring four goals with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakden, a north-eastern suburb of Adelaide. The club was a founding member of the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL) and currently competes in the National Premier ...

and

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

. In mid-2007, Valkanis was named captain of his club side,

, replacing Angelo Costanzo (who had been appointed as interim captain after the resignation and departure of Ross Aloisi). Valkanis announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2008-09 A-League season in December 2008. The former captain and 100 game veteran was given a testimonial match against

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

on 9 January 2009 where he replaced Daniel Mullen in the second half and saw Adelaide through to a 2–0 win.

International career

Valkanis' international debut, and only game for Australia, was for the Socceroos in an Asian Cup qualifier versus Kuwait at

Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...

on 16 August 2006. At the time of his debut he was the second oldest debutant for Australia, behind Tommy Stankovic who debuted as a 33 year old in a friendly game against

FC Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Their colours are white and b ...

. Danny Vukovic's debut later pushed Valkanis down to 3rd place on the oldest debutant list.

Managerial career

After the resignation of Adelaide United manager John Kosmina on 28 January 2013, Valkanis was appointed caretaker manager of Adelaide United for the remainder of the A-League season. Under Valkanis, Adelaide United managed to finish the A-League season in fourth place, therefore qualifying for the A-League finals. However, they were eliminated in the first round by

. In May 2016, Valkanis left Adelaide United. In June 2016, Valkanis joined Melbourne City as the senior assistant coach to John van 't Schip. On 3 January 2017, after the resignation of Melbourne City manager John van't Schip, Valkanis was appointed manager of the club for the remainder of the season. On May 9, 2018, Dutch Eredivisie club

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

announced Valkanis had been appointed assistant to manager John van't Schip on a one-year deal with a one-year option. On November 1, 2023,

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

announced Valkanis had been appointed assistant to manager John van't Schip on a one-year deal with a one-year option. On July 8, 2024,

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a multi-sports club based in Adana, Turkey. The football department is the most popular department which relegated to TFF 1. Lig on 16 March 2025 after 4 seasons at the Super Lig. Founded by railway workers of Turk ...

announced Valkanis had been appointed as manager on a one-year deal with a one-year option. He was able to get 1 point in the first 6 weeks of the season with the narrow squad. On September 23, 2024, the club announced that they parted ways with Valkanis. After more than 7 years working in Europe, Valkanis returned to Australia to take over as head coach of

for the 2025-26 A-League season.

Personal life

Valkanis is of

descent. He attended

De La Salle College, Malvern De La Salle College is a Catholic private school for boys in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. The college was founded in 1912 by the De La Salle Brothers, a religious order based on the teachings of Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, and is a member ...

. His family has hails from

Giannitsa Giannitsa ( , in English also Yannitsa, Yenitsa) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece. The municipal unit Giannitsa has an area of 2 ...

Career statistics

(''Correct as of 16 January 2009'') ¹ – includes

final series statistics
² – includes

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

statistics;

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)

Managerial statistics

Honours

With South Melbourne Hellas

Premiership: 1992–93 * National Soccer League Cup: 1995–96 *

Dockerty Cup The Dockerty Cup is an annual association football single-elimination tournament, knock-out competition open to all Victorian clubs across the Australian soccer league system, Victorian football league system. The tournament is named after the fo ...

: 1993, 1995 With

: * A-League Premiership: 2005–2006 Personal honours: *

Player's Player of the Year: 2005–2006

References

External links

Oz Football profile

Pint Culture profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valkanis, Michael 1974 births Living people Soccer players from Melbourne Australian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Men's association football central defenders Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players A-League Men players Adelaide City FC players Adelaide United FC players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players South Melbourne FC players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players A-League Men managers Adelaide United FC managers Melbourne City FC managers K.A.S. Eupen managers Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. managers Adana Demirspor managers Brisbane Roar FC managers Melbourne City FC non-playing staff Australian men's soccer players PEC Zwolle non-playing staff AFC Ajax non-playing staff Australian soccer managers Australian expatriate soccer managers Greek football managers Greek expatriate football managers Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Sportsmen from Victoria (state) Expatriate football managers in Turkey Australian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey