Craig Filer has a proven track record of discovering new soccer talent and boosting player development.
Filer has worked as a scout at Bristol Rovers in England and an academy co-ordinator at Newport County in Wales, and he holds a UEFA B licence for coaching.
So Filer is seen as a perfect fit for the young and developing Point Cook Soccer Club, a recent expansion club of the Football Federation Victoria.
The Jets want to make the transition from the state league’s lower rungs to the loftier ambitions of state league 1 inside five years with the ultimate goal of being accepted into the National Premier League.
“Being a relatively new club, they’ve got big aspirations,” Filer told Star Weekly.
“For me, it’s great to be part of the progress of where they want to be in three, four, five years time.
“It’s a great opportunity for me, it’s a great opportunity for the club and I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth into it.”
Joining the Jets was all about location for Filer.
The 42-year-old lives a stone’s throw from the club’s home base at Saltwater Reserve.
The club is set in the thriving Point Cook area, which is rapidly growing and is an untapped resource with new families moving into the area every day.
Not only does Filer want to lead the Jets to the top of the state leagues by 2020, he also wants it to be done with a largely home-grown contingent of players.
“I’m not a big one for paying an extortionate amount of money for players to play state league 4 when you’ve got local kids who are quite capable of playing at the level,” he said. “The vision of the club is to have … homegrown players who have come through the system. The catchment area in Point Cook is huge and it’s only getting bigger.”
Filer arrived in Australia at the start of last year to take up the state manager’s position with the LED Group.
Initially content with a break from football, he was lured back into coaching Altona City’s under-16 team, which he took from the cellar to champions in the space of a season.
Filer wants to make an indelible mark on the Jets from year one, helping it become one of the most professional clubs in the region.
“This season will be a year of transition and trying to change the mentality of people who think they can just turn up and play,” Filer said.
“We’re going to be looking at the development of these young kids, the development of the coaching and the development of the philosophy of the way we’re going to try and play.
“It’s very much a case of let’s take one step at a time. There’s going to be a lot of changes within the club, so let’s not go in there thinking we’re going to win the league straight away. It’s going to be a mindset change for people at Point Cook this year.”
Martin Mintoff, who was reserves coach at Altona City last season, will be Filer’s assistant.
Meanwhile, Hoppers Crossing has made a big-name coaching appointment with Steve Iosifidis to take charge in 2015.
Iosifidis played more than 170 NSL games with South Melbourne and won two championships. Iosifidis led Caulfield United to a title in 2012.
