Michael Valkanis
Australian soccer player and manager
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Mihalis "Michael" Valkanis (Greek: Μιχάλης "Μάικλ" Βαλκάνης, pronounced [miˈxalis valˈkanis]; born 23 August 1974) is an Australian association football coach and former player who is the current head coach of Brisbane Roar in the A-League.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mihalis Valkanis[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 23 August 1974[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Brisbane Roar (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| South Melbourne | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1996 | South Melbourne | 50 | (0) |
| 1996 | Iraklis | 6 | (0) |
| 1996–2001 | AEL | 102 | (3) |
| 2001–2002 | Agios Nikolaos | 4 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Adelaide City | 29 | (3) |
| 2003–2009 | Adelaide United | 77 | (4) |
| 2004 | → Adelaide Olympic (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| Total | 279 | (10) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 1994–1995 | Australia U23 | 5 | (1) |
| 2006 | Australia | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2013 | Adelaide United (caretaker) | ||
| 2013 | Enfield City | ||
| 2017 | Melbourne City | ||
| 2022 | Eupen | ||
| 2023 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | ||
| 2024 | Adana Demirspor | ||
| 2025– | Brisbane Roar | ||
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 December 2008 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 16 March 2008 | |||
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.[2]
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, scoring four goals with South Melbourne, Adelaide City and Adelaide United.
In mid-2007, Valkanis was named captain of his club side, Adelaide United, replacing Angelo Costanzo (who had been appointed as interim captain after the resignation and departure of Ross Aloisi).[3]
Valkanis announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2008-09 A-League season in December 2008.[4] The former captain and 100 game veteran was given a testimonial match against Newcastle Jets on 9 January 2009 where he replaced Daniel Mullen in the second half and saw Adelaide through to a 2–0 win.[5]
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 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. 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 Brisbane Roar.
In May 2016, Valkanis left Adelaide United.[6]
In June 2016, Valkanis joined Melbourne City as the senior assistant coach to John van 't Schip.[7]
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.[8][9]
On May 9, 2018, Dutch Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle announced Valkanis had been appointed assistant to manager John van't Schip on a one-year deal with a one-year option.[10]
On November 1, 2023, Ajax announced Valkanis had been appointed assistant to manager John van't Schip on a one-year deal with a one-year option.[11]
On July 8, 2024, Adana Demirspor announced Valkanis had been appointed as manager on a one-year deal with a one-year option.[12] 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.[13]
After more than 7 years working in Europe, Valkanis returned to Australia to take over as head coach of Brisbane Roar for the 2025–26 A-League season.[14]
Personal life
Valkanis is of Greek descent. He attended De La Salle College, Malvern. His family has hails from Giannitsa.[15]
Career statistics
(Correct as of 16 January 2009)
| Club | Season | League1 | Cup | International2 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Adelaide United | 2005–06 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 |
| 2006–07 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 74 | 5 | |||||||
1 – includes A-League final series statistics
2 – includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)
Managerial statistics
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Adelaide United (caretaker) |  |
28 January 2013 | 7 April 2013 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 20.00 |
| Melbourne City | |
3 January 2017 | 30 June 2017 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 40.00 |
| Eupen |  |
16 February 2022 | 30 June 2022 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12.50 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv |  |
1 July 2023 | 29 October 2023 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 40.00 |
| AFC Ajax (caretaker) |  |
22 December 2023 | 22 December 2023 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Adana Demirspor |  |
9 July 2024 | 23 September 2024 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Brisbane Roar FC | |
7 May 2025 | present | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 45.45 |
| Total | 57 | 16 | 13 | 28 | 28.07 | |||
Honours
With South Melbourne Hellas
- National Soccer League Premiership: 1992–93
- National Soccer League Cup: 1995–96
- Dockerty Cup: 1993, 1995
With Adelaide United:
Personal honours:
- Adelaide United Player's Player of the Year: 2005–2006