Sydney Olympic FC has appointed 36-year-old Labinot Haliti as the new first-grade men’s head coach and head of football.
Haliti’s appointment comes just two months after the club announced the departure of head coach, Ante Juric, in August.
Speaking with The Greek Herald, Haliti said: “I am thrilled to have to opportunity to lead such a historic club into its future.”
“I am excited to see such new talent coming through and I look forward to marking the successes of the men and women of Sydney Olympic.”
Hailiti, who was born and raised in war-torn Kosovo, arrived in Australia as a refugee at 14 years of age, with his playing career taking off at Sydney Olympic.
It was there that former head coach Frank Arok and former Socceroo Peter Raskopoulos, and later, Sam Krslovic at Sydney United, took him under their wing.
The forward then went on to join the Newcastle Jets in 2005, in the A-League’s first season.
With brief stints playing in Albania and Poland from 2007 to 2009, he then returned to the Jets before joining the Western Sydney Wanderers in 2011.
Haliti starred in the Wanderers’ 2014 Asian Champions League final success and played in every match of their successful campaign. They became the first Australian team to be crowned Asian Champions, an achievement they reached in only their first attempt in the Asian tournament.
In 2015, he signed a two-year deal with Newcastle Jets where he finished his playing career.
He began coaching at Newcastle as team assistant, before being appointed head coach in 2017 of the youth squad.
In 2019, he returned to the Wanderers as an assistant football coach.
