Adelaide United Team of 20 Years | Head Coach | OneFootball

To celebrate 20 years of Adelaide United, we’re inviting fans to vote on our Team of 20 Years.

From Club legends to cult heroes, the competition will be fierce, and we want to know who you think deserves the call up!

Each day we will ask fans to vote on who they believe should be in a selected position, to complete the fan-voted Adelaide United Team of 20 Years. The voting will include both men’s and women’s players.

The final team will be announced at Adelaide United’s 20th Anniversary dinner at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday 23 January.

Today is out final vote – the coach! Will it be Aurelio Vidmar, John Kosmina, Carl Veart or Guillermo Amor? You get to decide!

Enter your vote and your contact details to be in the running to win a double pass to the 20th Anniversary Dinner.

Hosted by Jarrod Walsh, the night will celebrate all the moments and people who have helped shape the club.

Guests will enjoy a three-course meal and premium beverage package, as well as live entertainment and an auction featuring exclusive memorabilia and unique experiences.

Tickets for the 20th Anniversary Dinner are still available with all proceeds from the night going towards the Adelaide United Foundation, which supports youth development, education and community initiatives.

How to vote: The team will be selected in a 4-4-2 formation and include a head coach. A substitutes bench will also be decided from among those that miss out on the starting XI. Click the link below to enter your vote. Voting for all positions will close at midnight on Friday 29 December with the final team to be announced on Tuesday 23 January at Adelaide United’s 20th Anniversary Dinner.

VOTE HERE

John Kosmina

Adelaide born and bred, Kosmina had a storied playing career which included a stint at Arsenal in the UK and a period as captain of the national team.

In 2003, he gave up plans to get into naturopathy and returned to coaching as the inaugural coach of Adelaide United.

He took the club to third in his first season – the last of the NSL – before guiding the Reds to the inaugural A-League minor premiership. A devastating Grand Final loss in 2007 during which Kosmina watched from the sidelines after a touchline ban, saw him resign, although he returned late in 2011 in a caretaker role for the remainder of the season following a stint at the helm of Sydney FC.

The straight-talking manager led Adelaide United during its AFC Asian Champions League campaign and earned a full-time contract for the following season, but again departed.

Aurelio Vidmar

Another former Socceroos captain with a long and storied career overseas, Vidmar returned to his home town of Adelaide to play in the final season of the NSL as captain of Adelaide United’s inaugural squad.

He retired in 2005 and became John Kosmina’s assistant coach after retiring from playing in 2005.

After becoming the head coach of the club in 2007, Vidmar led the club to the 2008/09 Grand Final – a hearbreaking one-nil loss to rivals Melbourne Victory, as well as the 2008 AFC Champions League Final – making Adelaide United the first Australian club to do so.

Not afraid to voice his opinion, he ranks third for A-League games coached at Adelaide United with 73, behind former teammate Carl Veart (97) and Kosmina (83).

Adelaide United’s current Liberty A-League coach, Stenta had been involved with the club as a coach with the male youth team and as an assistant coach in the women’s program before being elevated into his current role for the 2020/21 season.

Within a season, Stenta had guided the club to its best finish in the A-League women’s competition with nine wins in 14 matches and a third-placing before bowing out in a semi-final against Melbourne Victory. It remains the club’s only finals appearance in that competition so far, and saw Stenta named the then W-League’s Coach of the Year.

The club’s first full-time women’s coach, Stenta has coached Adelaide United’s women’s team to more matches than anyone else, surpassing inaugural coach Mike Barnett’s 30 matches in charge earlier this season.

Having scored Adelaide United’s first ever goal in its first win over Brisbane Strikers and the A-League’s first goal against Newcastle, Veart finished up his playing career at the end of the 2006/07 season.

Having spent time working in the state youth program, Veart joined the Reds’ coaching set-up ahead of the 2019/20 season as an Assistant Coach, before accepting an interim Head Coach role following the league’s COVID-19 postponement. After a strong finish to that campaign, he accepted the role permanently, and now has a contract which will take him to the end of the 2025/26 season.

Having led the club to more than 100 games in total, Veart also holds the record for A-League games coached at Adelaide United.

While he has a passion for developing young players and giving them the opportunity at the elite level, Veart has also taken the club to the semi finals in each of the last three seasons.

Guillermo Amor

A Spanish footballing legend with more than 300 games to his name for Barcelona, Amor joined Adelaide United initially as its Technical Director for the 2014/15 A-League season after being invited to Australia by friend Josep Gombau.

When then head coach Gombau departed, Amor took over. In his first senior coaching role, the Spaniard guided the Reds to the 2015/16 A-League premiership before claiming a historic double with the club’s first Championship won in front of a huge crowd at Adelaide Oval.

The feat was made more remarkable because supporters were calling for Amor’s head when the club went winless for the first eight rounds of the season.

While his tenure was short, Amor will always be remembered as Adelaide United’s first Championship coach.