Vas Parhas excited for Australian Championship
Adelaide City’s wait to return to the national stage is no longer after qualifying for the Australian Championship thanks to being crowned Premiers of the RAA National Premier League South Australia.
While City has competed in the Hahn Australia Cup in 2014, 2021 and 2022, you have to go all the way back to the 2002/03 season when they last competed in the National Soccer League before its ultimate demise a year later.
However, following a successful campaign their dream of being back on the big stage for a consistent period is now a reality due to the launch of the Australian Championship.
Since the competition’s inception in 2025, it has been no secret of City’s ambition and the club from Oakden only had to wait one year before booking their place.
Head Coach Vas Parhas magnificently guided the team to the minor premiership and championship and a lot of the club’s good fortunes can be attributed to his philosophy and player buy in.
The boss could not hide his delight as the Black and Whites secured their spot at the national tournament in their 80th year of existence.
“We’re incredibly excited and it was always the number one goal for the club this year was to ensure that in our 80th year that we put the club back where we believe it belongs, which is competing against the very best clubs in this country,” he told Adelaide City media.
“Obviously the history of the club is extremely rich.
“There is a lot of passion which continues, there’s an enduring passion with Adelaide City and the legacy of the club is not something that we take lightly.
“As a playing group, as an organisation generally all the staff, all the administrators, all the volunteers, all the parents and partners – we feel an incredible honour to represent the club.”
Parhas outlined the team’s ultimate aspiration but stated this was an ideal start.
“We have ambition as a club to push, to play at the very highest level whenever that time comes and we can potentially do that on a full-time basis – that is our ambition as a club,” he revealed.
“So this is a natural progression for us to be competing on the national stage and there are clubs interstate who have already reached out to us and are making a lot of noise about wanting to have a matchup through this Championship.
“So you can see that the club has a big presence in this country, and it means a lot to a lot of people – rival fans as well as our own community here.”
Parhas said the club will do its utmost to not only represent themselves as best as possible but also the state.
“We are so excited to about going into this tournament and want to do it justice,” he continued.
“We want to the state justice – we understand we’re representing South Australia as well and we want to make the whole state and the whole NPL from South Australia really proud.
“So we’re going to throw everything at it.”
Adelaide City completed its preparations with a 5-2 loss to Adelaide United in a tiral match at Adelaide City Park on Thursday night, in what proved to be a valuable final hit-out ahead of the Australian Championship.
Despite the result, it was a positive night with Oakden activated, a competitive contest against A-League opposition and an important opportunity for the playing group to build further match fitness and sharpness.
Francesco Schimizzi and Bressan were on the scoresheet for the Black and Whites, with attention now turning fully to the opening Australian Championship fixture against Avondale.
