D’Agostino hands over the reins

END OF AN ERA: International Soccer Club senior coach Tony D'Agostino has stepped down from his role before the 2018 season.
END OF AN ERA: International Soccer Club senior coach Tony D’Agostino has stepped down from his role before the 2018 season.

INTERNATIONAL Soccer Club legend Tony D’Agostino has stepped down from his coaching role with the black and blue.

When asked what led him to make the decision, D’Agostino said it was the success of both the A Grade and Reserves teams in the 2017 season which provided a fitting time to pass the reins on to the next generation.

“I coached the Reserves with Steve McRobert and A Grade with Geoff O’Loughlin and I have to thank those guys for the support they gave me,” he said.

“We ended up winning the minor premiership in both grades, we won the premiership in both grades and we won the Belgiorno Cup in both grades.

“As the year was going on I started thinking to myself – depending on how the season goes – it might be a good way to step down.”

However, he insists he is not retired, but merely stepping down and said he may return to the role in the future.

During his time with the club, D’Agostino won 11 premierships as a coach alone, not to mention his total of 22 – four junior and 18 senior – premierships as a player.

Despite these achievements, he remains humble and insists his influence on the club’s success as a coach has been minimal.

“I have only had a small part to play, the big part has been the boys themselves,” D’Agostino said.

“They have been the biggest part of it because they have gone out and done the hard work.

“I was pretty fortunate to have such a good bunch of players to do it with.”

D’Agostino’s A Grade coaching career consists of two six-year stints, in which he has led Inter to win every grand final match it has played in.

“I coached from 2004 to 2009 and we won every year,” he said.

“Then I took a break and come back again in 2012 and coached again with Lou Zaccardo.

“We won that year and then in 2013 onwards I did it with assistant and co-coaches.

“We won five out of that six as well, so I have 11 A Grade premierships in the 12 years I have coached.”

He also coached Inter to five Reserves premierships throughout this time, along with an impressive total of 10 coach-of-the-year awards.

With a long list to choose from, D’Agostino said his biggest achievement was coaching his team to back-to-back State Challenge Cup championships in 2012 and 2013, along with an Interstate Challenge Cup championship in 2013.

“Probably my biggest achievement was in 2012 and 2013,” he said.

“We played in a competition to be crowned the regional champions of South Australia.

“We were rewarded by being sent to represent South Australia in Western Australia against the Western Australian state champions.

“We lost the first year, but then the year after we went again and they (WA) had to come and play us in Adelaide.

“It was not much of a home advantage for us because we still had to travel to Adelaide, but we beat them to become interstate champions.”

D’Agostino has been involved with International all of his life, since he started playing as a junior and has become an icon at the club for players and supporters alike.

“I started playing in 1971,” he said.

“I played all my life, from Under 12’s to A Grade.

“In A Grade I won lots of premierships, our team was pretty dominant in the 80’s and 90’s.

“I also won league top goal-scorer for two or three years in a row at one stage.

“I was probably not the most talented, but what I did I did pretty well.”

Following these achievements D’Agostino also found success in the Reserves, where he won three best and fairest awards and six premierships, before he and good friend Lou Zaccardo decided they were ready for the next step.

“I was part of a pretty good team in the 80’s and 90’s, then as I got older I went back to the Reserves and we had some success there as well,” D’Agostino said.

“Then back in 2004 myself and Lou Zaccardo put in an application to coach.

“We took on the job and never looked back.”

With over a decade in the role, D’Agostino said there were a few stand-out moments, but it is the bond he has been able to make with the players which is the biggest reward.

“To have the friendship with these boys and still be friends with some of the guys who are no longer playing, it is something I am most happy about,” he said.

“There are other things of course, like winning the final in 2013.

“We made it through after losing the semi and had to play in the preliminary to make the final.

“To beat Apollo 8-2 in the final was one of my happiest and fondest memories in coaching.

“All those years we have finished minor premiers, those things are pretty fond memories as well.

“But my biggest one is just being involved with the bunch of boys.

“To be able to think I had a small part in what they achieved is the biggest thing for me.”

Through the relationship he built with each of the players, D’Agostino became well-respected as both a coach and a friend, a factor which likely contributed to the many successes of the team.

However, he remains selfless in his accomplishments and believes the credit should go to the players.

“I had a small part in what these guys have achieved,” he said.

“They put their bodies on the line and they commit every week.

“Sure, I get to pick a team and hopefully choose the right players to do that, but it’s only a small thing compared to what they do.

“I owe it to the Inter Soccer Club for giving me a go and letting me coach the way I did.

“I have enjoyed being a part of it and I am going to miss it, but you never know, I might be back some day.”