By Takis Triadafillou
NYL Coach for Western Sydney Wanderers, Arthur Diles is a special personality on and off the field. His ability to bring success to the club in the youth competitions, combined with his ability to find and create Australian football prodigies, makes him one of Australia’s best youth coaches.
The Greek Herald spoke with Arthur about his career in football and how he manages to make so many young footballers dreams become reality.
TGH: Can you talk a bit about your family?
Arthur Diles: I was born in Sydney in 1982, my father Steve is from Pylos and my mother Yvonne is from Kiato.
Arthur is married to Mardi and has two 8-year-old twin boys, Lucas and Giorgios.
TGH: How and when did you start playing football?
Arthur Diles: From where did the little man, who did not go to the stadium, see Sydney Olympic? The people, the voices and the applause had not fascinated me like all the kids of that time. So I went to the academies, starting from a young age, working to reach the big Sydney Olympic team. My two twin sons, Giorgios and Lucas, often come to the stadium to watch games.
TGH: After you started with Sydney Olympic, which other teams got a taste of your skills?
Arthur Diles: I transferred to Sydney United FC, then Parramatta Power SC. Later I travelled abroad in Belgium at YR KV Mechelen for about 2 years. I returned to Sydney Olympic for a year, then to England at Crawley Town FC and back to the favourite Sydney Olympic team.
TGH: Do you know how you got involved in coaching?
Arthur Diles: Going to different countries to play in teams, knowing and gaining knowledge from the experiences I had gained, I decided to become a coach and pass it on to the small players.
I created the Academy of AEK for two years as a manager and coach. Then I took over as coach of the U-14 side at the NSW Institute of Sport. I then went on to win the National Under-14 National Youth Championship at Coffs Harbor in 2013 as coach.
TGH: Apart from AEK, did you allow others players to come from Greece?
Arthur Diles: I brought Sotiris Kyrgiakos from Greece to play at Sydney Olympic, filling the stadium with fans, who was part of the National Team of Greece. This made all Greeks proud, who embraced everyone with love and enthusiasm.
TGH: Do you have relations with Spain?
Arthur Diles: With Spain, and especially Real Madrid, I watch coaching seminars and, at the same time, bring players from Australia to the Real Madrid academies for the promotion of talents.
TGH: After this, where did you go?
Arthur Diles: I had a suggestion from the Western Sydney Wanderers, where I am so far.
Arthur undertook the Under-18s initially by winning the championship. After becoming the Under-20s coach, winning the championship, he became the assistant coach of the Men’s first grade team. He is now the head coach of the Youth in the Western Sydney Wanderers and has been part of the club for about 5 years.
TGH: In the team you met some coaches who influenced you positively.
Arthur Diles: When I started, Tony Popovic was a great advisor and mentor as well as Josep Goipo and Marcus Baipel helped a lot.
TGH: So what is missing from Australian football?
Arthur Diles: What is missing are the opportunities that should be given to young players. The talent is there, they just want promotion and trust from every team.
Teams are built from the ground up, and slowly seeing the big team being fed by young players is the A and the Z for the future of the club.
The main characteristic of Arthur Diles was his simplicity and knowledge in what he stands for, coaching. The ability to transfer teachings to younger players makeArthur a great “Detector and Creator of talents.”
I would say with certainty that Athur Diles is “A Football Diamond” and here I would like to emphasise that “Diamonds are Forever.”
This interview was translated from Greek and was originally posted in Wednesday’s edition of The Greek Herald. To see more exclusives like this, make sure to read The Greek Herald newspaper or digital edition.
