by Greg Blake
If you were scanning the Heidelberg United Alexander team sheet for Friday night’s home game against St Albans Dinamo, you may have been a little disappointed to note the absence of one Ethan Sardellis. If you’re a fan of his you’ll be even more disappointed to learn that Sardellis played his final minutes for the club – at least for now – under lights last Tuesday in the cup semi final win against Brunswick Juventus.
And hopefully we won’t see the kid again for a very, very long time. And that’s a good thing, In a massive few days for Sardellis, he turns 19 years-of-age on Saturday and three days later he flies out to hopefully grasp the opportunity of his young life at the invitation a Greek First Division club, based in a city I am unable to mention for fear of angry retribution at the hands of Ethan’s dad, Con.
Goodness knows why, but I was sworn to secrecy by Con, who is flying out with Ethan on Tuesday and will spend a couple of weeks helping Ethan to settle in. That said, it’s high summer in Greece right now and I suspect that whilst Ethan is sweating and working his backside off to impress his new club, Con may find a little time to enjoy a famously beautiful three kilometer stretch of beachfront, a feature of our unidentified city. I know this because my next door neighbours just returned from a month of holidaying there
Sardellis is a terrific kid. He speaks with respectful enthusiasm and an implied humility about the game and the opportunity presenting itself. “I’m just excited. It’s unreal”, he told me this week. “I know I’ve got as lot to learn, but I’ve been lucky enough to come through the system at Heidelberg into a first team full of experience and I think that has helped me a lot. You can’t help but get better with those types of players around you.”
It was a bit if a jolt to realise that Sardellis is only just reaching nineteen. He plays with a poise that suggests older and wiser and it feels that his name has swirled in and around the senior team for much longer than it actually has. His senior debut – as a just-turned 17 year-old – was the first of many cameos off the bench since, playing the final half hour of a thriller at Manningham Blues late in 2024, with two goals in second half stoppage time getting Alexander over the line 2-1.
Sardellis fondly recalled his Manningham debut in a video recorded for Heidelberg United social media late last year. “That was a big moment for me,” he said. “Coming on and getting about 30 minutes in that game, that was a lot of pressure at the time, but I felt like I did well. And with all the boys from last year, it was a bit of an older playing group. And they were great for me. They just made me feel so comfortable”.
It probably feels as if Sardellis has been on the scene longer, having outlasted AJ Fetahagic, Leo Mazis, Adrian Zahra Sebit Ngor, Dom Falla, Kaine Sheppard, Josh Pin, Sean Ellis, Mo Aidara and Nicholas Olsen, all off whom were his team mates at Manningham that day. Zahra later went on to become Ethan’s coach in the under 23s last year.
According to Sardellis, Zahra “has been great for me. He was really showing me what I really need to do and to step up as, I guess, a leader in that team because I’d come down from the senior squad. So when you get on (with the senior team), you really want to take your chance and, you know, just show to everybody what you can do”.
In 2025 Sardellis, according to the club website, was a “young gun who made his mark across multiple levels, dominating the Under 23s, stepping up in the NPL, and showcasing his talent on the national stage in the Australian Championship. At just 18, Ethan featured in every one of our group stage matches, commanding the midfield with confidence and composure.”
The step up to Greek First Division will likely be taxing and significant, but if anyone has a genuine show of making it it will be Sardellis, according to Heidelberg United Director of Coaching, Nick Delegiannis.”He has a fantastic attitude and work rate and he listens and works so hard to get better,” he said of the youngster. “He has a real willingness to listen and I reckon he will thrive in a professional environment”.
Ethan spent a year in Spain some time back but will be truly separated from friends and family for the first time when he is in Greece, “so getting my head around that has been a bit of a process”, Ethan explained. “We knew it would be a tough choice for him”, said his dad. “So the family simply said that it’s up to you, mate. He took a couple of weeks and came back and said he wanted to do it and he didn’t want to get to 25 and look back and regret a missed opportunity.”
Footnote – On July 9, 1988, a then 19 year-old John Anastasidis played his last game in Alexander colours and left mid season to chance his luck with Greek giant, PAOK. He became a PAOK club legend and hall-of-famer and didn’t return to Australia for a decade.
On June 30, 2026, a 19 year-old Ethan Sardellis plays his final game in Alexander colours and leaves mid season to chance his luck with a Greek First Division club……………
