Vas Parhas incredibly proud of City playing group

Adelaide City Head Coach Vas Parhas has praised his team’s resilience and character after clinching the RAA National Premier League South Australia minor premiership.

The Black and Whites secured the trophy on the final day of the regular season courtesy of a comprehensive 3-0 win over FK Beograd to finish one point clear of West Torrens Birkalla at the top of the table.

The club from Oakden was undisputedly the most consistent side all year – losing just two matches while recording 10 clean sheets and conceding a mere 16 goals.

The run home to claim a first league title since 2022 was specifically impressive with City registering eight shutouts in their final 10 matches while going unbeaten in their preceding 14 games.

Parhas admitted he was delighted with the squad’s application and work ethic to achieve their primary objective – to qualify for the Australian Championship, and thus returning to the national stage.

“Immensely proud, I couldn’t be prouder,” he said speaking to Adelaide City’s official website.

“The fight, the consistency, the spirit, the heart, the work rate was just top notch for the whole year.

“I think we ended up with lots of clean sheets, to concede 16 goals for an entire season all the while knowing that any slip up would probably have cost us that top spot.

“So credit to the boys for every week stepping up to the plate and getting the job done – very proud.”

City’s lockdown defence proved pivotal to their success, though Parhas was quick to point out their sturdy foundation starts at the top of the pitch.

The relentless pressing and intensity, which begins from the forwards, suffocated their opponents, enabling them to dictate most matches on their terms.

“It’s very comforting to know the entire team – it’s not just the backline – it’s the entire team doing the work off the ball,” he explained.

“Which sort of creates sustained pressure on the opposition and allows you to alleviate moments that would otherwise potentially turn into really dangerous ones.

“So I give a lot of credit to the entire team, guys up front, guys in midfield, guys at the back.”

Indeed, City’s title did not come easy obviously. Like most teams they faced some adversity – especially at the back with two starting defenders succumbing to serious injuries, adding another layer of complexity.

But Parhas was pleased with how his players simply rolled up their sleeves, stepped up and adapted to the situation.

“From my perspective what makes me very proud is that we lost one of our key centre-backs in Round 2 Lewis Killoh and then we lost Noah Smith in Round 8 so two of our key defenders we lost them very early on in the season,” he said.

“And other guys just stepped up to the plate, adjusted to new positions, adapted and really just got on with the business.

“That was incredibly pleasing that despite that adversity the guys really did step up to the plate when it comes to being a really solid team off the ball as well as being able to score a lot of goals and create and be exciting going forward.

“As a coach I couldn’t be happier.”

Before the Australian Championship kicks off, the Zebras have the local finals series to play.

Their reward for finishing inside the top two is a week off this weekend before facing the remaining lowest ranked team from this weekend’s elimination finals.

Parhas said while the break can be a challenge to navigate, the key to overcoming any rust or complacency was to train hard and maintain high standards.

“It is actually quite a tricky scenario,” he admitted.

“Our approach is that we’ve looked at it from the perspective of ‘the other teams in the finals are training’ and we need to train and we need to maintain out standards and maintain our good habits and really continue to lock in.

“Because I think there is a risk that if you take the foot off the pedal and any sort of complacency creeps in – which can be quite easy to happen.”

The boss added that it was important to celebrate their premiers title but insisted swiftly switching focus on their next goal is vital if they are to experience more silverware in 2026.

“I mean human nature it is a very difficult thing to come from a high and pick yourself right back up again and keep pushing,” he continued.

“So we’re trying to mitigate for that by just locking in and really thinking ‘well if we don’t push, someone else around us is going to push and that could hurt us’.

“So we’re just locking in and continuing to maintain the momentum.”