Heidelberg United great George Katsakis names his greatest XIs

Ahead of his Heidelberg United reunion, NPL coaching great George Katsakis names the greatest players from his trophy-laden tenure.

Ben Higgins

@ben_higgins84

less than 2 min read

June 11, 2024 - 11:30AM

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George Katsakis' greatest Heidelberg United teams.

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Eight trophies and more than 350 games in a glittering decade-long tenure.

It’s no surprise George Katsakis has coached some of the best players to grace Victorian football in the past decade.

So much so, the coaching great couldn’t name just 11 Heidelberg United players when asked to select his best team.

Katsakis meets the Warriors for the first time since parting ways with the club last year when his new club Bentleigh Greens hosts a Australia Cup tie at Kingston Heath.

A national stage Round of 32 place is up for grabs, something Katsakis achieved five times at Olympic Village.

Heidelberg United celebrates its third straight NPL Victoria premiership. Picture: Sally Tsalikidis

The NPL Victoria games coached record holder (239 games) won the NPL premiership three times in a row (2017-2019) and one championship in 2018.

Katsakis was named NPL Coach of the Year in 2017 after also winning the Dockerty Cup and NPL National Championship and knocking off Perth Glory in the Australia Cup.

Having players the calibre of Kaine Sheppard, Sean Ellis, Les Doumbalis and Luke Byles at his disposal, Katsakis said was an honour.

“It was a comfort zone for me, knowing you’ve got that quality of player playing for you,” Katsakis said.

“It was an assurance, you knew what you’d get from those players week-in, week-out and when we put the whole thing together, those four years there were a lot of trophies.”

Graeme Hockless and Kaine Sheppard won Gold Medals in his time at the club, while Kenny Athiu won a Golden Boot, leading to a move to the A-League.