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Melbourne Knights FC is happy to confirm the signing of Adrian Del Monaco from NPL1 side Box Hill United ahead of the PS4 NPL Victoria season.
Del Monaco, 24, comes to Somers Street from United where he was a part of the leadership group in the year that his side narrowly missed out on promotion to NPL Victoria, finishing 3rd in 2014.
The defender also played at FC Bulleen Lions for four years where he lined up alongside fellow new Knights signing Alex Dao.
The 24-year-old has been on trial with the Club for a week and will be available to play in tonight’s FFV Community Shield match against South Melbourne, subject to paperwork being processed.
Del Monaco has been signed effectively as a replacement for Cameron Tew, who signed with the Club ahead of the 2015 season from Brisbane City but was forced to return to the Sunshine state due to family-related issues.
The former South Melbourne and Heidelberg youth product said he was motivated about stepping up a league to join the Knights and said his desire for more elite football inspired the move.
“I think it’s really exciting,” Del Monaco said.
“It’s a big Club, a very well known Club, and I think it’s a very good opportunity for me to see if I can challenge myself at this level.
“I guess that I wanted to play in the NPL and I guess that playing in the NPL1 for a couple of years, I think it was time where I was ready to step up and I guess there was an opportunity here and having such a good Club, a really popular Club, good fan base and things like that – it’s just an exciting opportunity and I decided to come across.”
Del Monaco said he was aware of the history and stature of the Club prior to signing, and said his early impressions of the Knights’ culture has inspired him for the upcoming season.
“[I knew] that it had a very big history, that the last couple of years they’ve done really well – they’ve had some success both in the league a couple of years ago and then in the [Dockerty] Cup last year.
“I think having that type of success, [creates] a lot of optimism and positivity around the club.
“[The players] are very hard working, a lot of intensity at training which is excellent, a lot of talking and a lot of hunger to win and I can see why there’s a winning culture here.”
