| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mihalis Valkanis[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1974-08-23)23 August 1974 (age 50)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| South Melbourne | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1996 | South Melbourne | 50 | (0) |
| 1996 | Iraklis | 6 | (0) |
| 1996–2001 | AEL | 102 | (3) |
| 2001–2002 | Agios Nikolaos | 4 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Adelaide City | 29 | (3) |
| 2003–2009 | Adelaide United | 77 | (4) |
| 2004 | →Adelaide Olympic (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| Total | 279 | (10) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 1994–1995 | Australia U23 | 5 | (1) |
| 2006 | Australia | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010–2011 | Adelaide United Youth (assistant) | ||
| 2011–2013 | Adelaide United Youth | ||
| 2013 | Adelaide United (caretaker) | ||
| 2013 | Enfield City | ||
| 2013–2016 | Adelaide United (assistant) | ||
| 2016–2017 | Melbourne City (assistant) | ||
| 2017 | Melbourne City | ||
| 2018 | PEC Zwolle (assistant) | ||
| 2019–2021 | Greece (assistant) | ||
| 2022 | Eupen (assistant) | ||
| 2022 | Eupen | ||
| 2023 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | ||
| 2023–2024 | Ajax (assistant) | ||
| 2024 | Adana Demirspor | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 December 2008 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 March 2008 | |||
Mihalis "Michael" Valkanis (Greek: Μιχάλης "Μάικλ" Βαλκάνης; born 23 August 1974) is an Australianassociation football coach and former player who was most recently thehead coach of Turkish clubAdana Demirspor.
Valkanis began his career at South Melbourne at age six and rose through the ranks as a talented junior at South Melbourne to the senior team.[2]
At South Melbourne, Valkanis made 50 league appearances for his boyhood club. His performances in defence for the club earned him a regular position for the Australia under 23 side and attracting the attention of overseas clubs.
Valkanis would later state in an interview withFour Four Two that pulling on the South Melbourne kit for his debut was the proudest moment of his footballing career.
Valkanis then played in theGreek League withIraklis and most notably withAEL where he played for five seasons and won 102 caps, andAgios Nikolaos. He played 110 games in the now-defunctNational Soccer League, scoring four goals withSouth Melbourne,Adelaide City andAdelaide United.
In mid-2007, Valkanis was named captain of his club side,Adelaide United, replacingAngelo Costanzo (who had been appointed as interim captain after the resignation and departure ofRoss Aloisi).[3]
Valkanis announced his intention to retire at the end of the2008-09 A-League season in December 2008.[4] The former captain and 100 game veteran was given a testimonial match againstNewcastle Jets on 9 January 2009 where he replacedDaniel Mullen in the second half and saw Adelaide through to a 2–0 win.[5]
Valkanis' international debut, and only game for Australia, was for the Socceroos in an Asian Cup qualifier versus Kuwait atSydney Football Stadium on 16 August 2006. At the time of his debut he was the second oldest debutant for Australia, behind Tommy Stankovic who debuted as a 33 year old in a friendly game againstFC Torpedo Moscow.Danny Vukovic's debut later pushed Valkanis down to 3rd place on the oldest debutant list.
After the resignation of Adelaide United managerJohn Kosmina on 28 January 2013, Valkanis was appointed caretaker manager of Adelaide United for the remainder of the A-League season. Under Valkanis, Adelaide United managed to finish the A-League season in fourth place, therefore qualifying for the A-League finals. However, they were eliminated in the first round byBrisbane Roar.
In May 2016, Valkanis left Adelaide United.[6]
In June 2016, Valkanis joinedMelbourne City as the senior assistant coach toJohn van 't Schip.[7]
On 3 January 2017, after the resignation of Melbourne City managerJohn van't Schip, Valkanis was appointed manager of the club for the remainder of the season.[8][9]
On May 9, 2018, Dutch Eredivisie clubPEC Zwolle announced Valkanis had been appointed assistant to managerJohn van't Schip on a one-year deal with a one-year option.[10]
On November 1, 2023,Ajax announced Valkanis had been appointed assistant to managerJohn van't Schip on a one-year deal with a one-year option.[11]
On July 8, 2024,Adana Demirspor announced Valkanis had been appointed as manager on a one-year deal with a one-year option.[12] He was able to get 1 point in the first 6 weeks of the season with the narrow squad. On September 23, 2024, the club announced that they parted ways with Valkanis.[13]
Valkanis is ofGreek descent. He attendedDe La Salle College, Malvern. His family has hails fromGiannitsa.[14]
(Correct as of 16 January 2009)
| Club | Season | League1 | Cup | International2 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Adelaide United | 2005–06 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 |
| 2006–07 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 74 | 5 | |||||||
1 – includesA-League final series statistics
2 – includesFIFA Club World Cup statistics;AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Adelaide United (caretaker) |  | 28 January 2013 | 7 April 2013 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 020.00 |
| Melbourne City | | 3 January 2017 | 30 June 2017 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 040.00 |
| Eupen |  | 16 February 2022 | 30 June 2022 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 012.50 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv |  | 1 July 2023 | 29 October 2023 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 040.00 |
| AFC Ajax (caretaker) |  | 22 December 2023 | 22 December 2023 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 000.00 |
| Adana Demirspor |  | 9 July 2024 | 23 September 2024 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 000.00 |
| Total | 45 | 11 | 9 | 25 | 024.44 | |||
WithAdelaide United:
Personal honours: