Postecoglou managed Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory in the A-League, winning the Premiership in 2011 and the Championship in 2011 and 2012 with Brisbane Roar. He was the men's senior national team manager from 2013 to 2017, winning the AFC Asian Cup in 2015 and also going to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He won the J1 League with Yokohama F. Marinos in 2019, and then won five trophies (including two league titles) in two seasons with Scottish side Celtic. He became head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2023.
Early life
Angelos Postecoglou[4] was born on 27 August 1965[5] in Nea Filadelfeia, a suburb of Athens, Greece. After his father, Dimitris ("Jim"), lost his business following the 1967 Greek military coup, the Postecoglou family migrated to Australia in 1970, when he was five years old. He grew up in Melbourne, Victoria.[6][7][8] At the age of 10, his parents changed his surname to "Postekos", remarking: "It was a fad in those days to shorten your name if you were Greek, so that's what they did." Although Postekos is still his surname legally, he opts for Postecoglou.[1][9]
As a player, he was involved in their 1984 and 1990–91 titles, the latter as captain in a famous win over rivals Melbourne Knights.[11] He was coached by Hungarian Ferenc Puskás, a renowned player whom his father had told him about as a child. According to Postecoglou, Puskás played a 4–3–3 formation rigid full-backs and attacking wingers. Postecoglou built on this strategy in his own coaching; however, his use of attacking full backs in a non-traditional inverted position differs from Puskás.[12]
A knee injury prematurely ended Postecoglou's career at the age of 27. In 2000, he went on to be named as the starting left back in South Melbourne's team of the century as voted by fans and an expert panel.[13]
International career
Postecoglou represented Australia at senior level four times between 1986 and 1988. Prior to this, he represented Australia at youth level in 1985.[14]
Coaching career
South Melbourne
Following his retirement, Postecoglou took up the role of an assistant coach at South Melbourne. He gained the head coaching position in 1996, following the firing of Frank Arok.[citation needed]
After the 1999–2000 NSL season, he stood down from the South Melbourne coaching role when he was appointed coach of the Australian youth team. He is the only person to have been involved in all four of South Melbourne's NSL title-winning teams, the first two as a player and the latter two as coach.[citation needed]
Young Socceroos
Following his domestic coaching success, Postecoglou became coach of Australia's youth sides in 2000. During his tenure, he played a role in identifying and developing Australian players.[16][17] Postecoglou was involved in an on-air argument with football pundit Craig Foster on The World Game.[18][19] He was replaced as coach in February 2007 after Australia failed to qualify for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. After his departure as coach of the Australian youth teams,[20] Postecoglou worked as a football pundit for Fox Sports and as an elite consultant to Football Federation Victoria.[citation needed]
Feeling that his much-publicised argument with Foster had made him unemployable, Postecoglou coached Panachaiki in the Greek third division, and Whittlesea Zebras back in Melbourne, while running coaching clinics in the city.[21]
The 4–0 win against Adelaide United in round 13 was highly praised in the media as some of the best football the A-League has ever seen.[28][29] Postecoglou led the Roar to the Premiership and Championship in the 2010–11 season, winning the Grand Final 4–2 on penalties against the Central Coast Mariners in front of 52,168 people at Lang Park. The Roar only lost one game all season and went on a 36-game unbeaten run, which broke the previous Australian football record.[30] On 18 March 2011, he signed a two-year extension with the club until the 2013–14 season.[31][32]
In the 2011–12 season, Brisbane Roar became the first team to win back-to-back A-League championships and Postecoglou became the most successful Australian domestic football coach, with four national titles.[33]
On 24 April 2012, Postecoglou announced his resignation as head coach of Brisbane Roar. Postecoglou left the Roar after two-and-a-half years, during which he led the club to back-to-back A-League championships, a premiership and consecutive qualification for the AFC Champions League.[34]
Postecoglou's first game in charge of Melbourne Victory was the Round 1 clash against crosstown rivals Melbourne Heart, an encounter which the Victory lost 2–1. His first win came against Adelaide United in Round 4, with the Victory prevailing 2–1. The following year, Melbourne Victory made the A-League Preliminary Final after beating Perth Glory in an Elimination Final 2–1 at Docklands Stadium. Melbourne Victory then played in the Preliminary Final against Central Coast Mariners and lost 2–0.[citation needed]
Australia national team
Postecoglou in 2014
Postecoglou was appointed head coach of the Australia national team on 23 October 2013 on a five-year contract, replacing German Holger Osieck.[36][37] Postecoglou was tasked with regenerating the Australian national team, which was deemed to have been too reliant on members of their Golden Generation of 2006, subsequently leading to a stagnation of results that culminated in successive 6–0 defeats to Brazil and France.[38][39][40][41][42][43][44] In his first game as Australia's manager, a home friendly match against Costa Rica, Australia won 1–0, courtesy of a goal from Tim Cahill.[45]
For the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Australia were drawn in Group B alongside holders Spain, 2010 runners-up the Netherlands and Chile.[46] The team lost to Chile 3–1 and the Netherlands 3–2 to be eliminated from Group B, and concluded with a 3–0 loss to also eliminated Spain. Australia's competitive performances in a difficult group led to belief that a new Golden Generation was about to begin.[47][48]
Postecoglou coached Australia in 2015 AFC Asian Cup, where they beat Kuwait (4–1) and Oman (4–0), but lost to South Korea (0–1) in the group stage. They then beat China 2–0 in the quarter-final and the United Arab Emirates 2–0 in the semi-final. Australia beat South Korea 2–1 after extra time to win in the final for its first AFC Asian Cup.[49]
Postecoglou in 2017
Two weeks after Australia qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, on 22 November 2017, Postecoglou announced his resignation as Socceroos coach.[50]
Yokohama F. Marinos
On 19 December 2017, Yokohama F. Marinos announced they had appointed Postecoglou as head coach with his tenure set to begin after the 2017 Japanese Emperor's Cup.[51][52][53][54] Postecoglou's first domestic game as coach of Yokohama ended with a 1–1 draw against Cerezo Osaka at Yanmar Stadium, Osaka.[55][56] After an initial difficult start to the season, which saw Yokohama F. Marinos facing potential relegation,[57] Postecoglou guided the club to the final of the J-League Cup, and a 12th-place finish in the league.[58] Although the team finished with the second highest number of goals scored in the season, they also conceded the third most goals of any club during the season.[citation needed]
After receiving interest from the Greece national team to become their new manager,[59][60] Postecoglou extended his contract with Yokohama F. Marinos.[61] Yokohama's belief in Postecoglou was rewarded during the 2019 season when he guided the club to their first J. League title in 15 years.[62]
Celtic
Postecoglou became the manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic on 10 June 2021, signing a 12-month rolling contract, making him the first Australian manager to coach a major club in Europe.[63][64][65][66] Celtic, who had just lost their league title to Rangers for the first time in a decade, had abruptly missed out on hiring English manager Eddie Howe. The new appointment was mocked by Celtic fan and Talksport presenter Alan Brazil, who apologised on his show a year later, after Postecoglou had won the league.[67] Australian Celtic player Tom Rogic reflected on the atmosphere at the appointment: "I laugh sometimes when I look back. Although I knew him quite well, there was a perception of: 'Who's this guy?'".[21]
Celtic began the 2022–23 season with a 2–0 win against Aberdeen on 31 July at Celtic Park.[79] Celtic dominated the Premiership in Postecoglou's second season, remaining on top and winning the league for a second straight season.[80] On 26 February 2023, Postecoglou won his second Scottish League Cup in a row after beating rivals Rangers 2–1 in the final.[81] Celtic ended the season with a record eighth domestic treble after they won the Scottish Cup at Hampden Park against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 2 June in Postecoglou's last match in charge.[82]
On 6 June 2023, Postecoglou was appointed head coach of English club Tottenham Hotspur on a four-year contract.[84] His appointment saw him become both the first Australian and first person born in Greece to manage in the Premier League.[85] His move to Tottenham saw the club become more prominent in Australia.
After an unbeaten start with two wins and a draw in his first three matches, Postecoglou received the Premier League Manager of the Month award for August, becoming the first manager since David Wagner to win the award in his first month in the division.[86] On 24 September, Postecoglou became the first Tottenham manager to earn points from Arsenal away at the Emirates Stadium in four years since Pochettino, after the North London derby ended in a 2–2 draw.[87] On 1 October, Postecoglou guided Spurs to their first victory against Liverpool in five years, following a 2–1 win at home.[88] After continuing Tottenham Hotspur's unbeaten streak for a second month, Postecoglou was nominated for the Premier League Manager of the Month award for September, eventually winning it and becoming the first ever manager to win the award in each of his first two months in the competition.[89][90]
On 23 October, Postecoglou achieved his seventh victory in his ninth league game, following a 2–0 win over Fulham at home.[91] He broke the record for most points earned by a Premier League manager in their first nine games, with his side accumulating 23 points and overtaking the 22 achieved by Guus Hiddink from Chelsea in the 2009–10 season.[92][93][94][95] Postecoglou guided Tottenham to three consecutive wins in October, leading him to be named Manager of the Month for a third consecutive month. In doing so, Postecoglou became the first manager to win the award for the first three months of a single season.[96] On 6 November, Postecoglou suffered his first defeat as the Tottenham manager in the 4–1 home defeat to London rivals Chelsea during which his side were down to 9 men, following a straight red card to Cristian Romero and a second yellow card to Destiny Udogie.[97]
On 29 February 2024, Postecoglou won Manager of the Year honours at the London Football Awards.[98]
Postecoglou is married to Georgia, who worked at South Melbourne as a marketing manager when he served as manager of the club.[101] Together they have three sons, James, Max and Alexi.[102] Their oldest son, James, currently serves with the Hellenic Armed Forces and is based in Lemnos.[103]
He said in a 2018 interview that his father, who died that year, worked hard every day of his life: "People say they go to another country for a better life. My parents did not have a better life, they went to Australia to provide opportunities for me to have a better life." Father and son had time together only during their outings together to soccer games, from where young Ange got a life-long "fascination" with the sport. He said of his management "My motivation is always to produce teams [my] dad would enjoy watching."[104] Postecoglou also grew up supporting Liverpool and AEK Athens.[105][103][106]
In November 2022, Postecoglou was inducted into the Football Australia Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to Australian football on and off the field as a player and as a coach.[107]
Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month: October 2021, January 2022, February 2022, March 2022, April 2022,[77] August 2022, September/October 2022[132]
^Chamberlin, Chris. "Age of Ange". Australian Story. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
^"Postecoglou puts up his hand". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 October 2009. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
^"FFA ends Postecoglou's time". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. Australian Associated Press. 9 February 2007. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
^"Roar resurgence stuns Ange". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. 8 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
^Fitzgibbon, Liam (31 October 2010). "Roar a work in progress". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
^"Coolen praises Roar style". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. 8 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
^ abAlexander, Douglas (8 May 2022). "Ange Postecoglou: Celtic needed a major rebuild but I've only scratched the surface". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022. Yet a year later and Postecoglou is a double manager of the year, having added the Scottish Football Writers' Association award to the PFA Scotland accolade he received last weekend.
^"South's party kicks on". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 May 1998. p. 92. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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