The city of Gdańsk is situated on the southern side of Poland and due to its close proximity to the Baltic Sea has been an infamous trade port since the Middle Ages.
It’s winter wonderland December through to February, making for spectacular scenery – with freezing temperatures ranging to -10C.
Gdansk is also home to ex-Adelaide United midfielder Louis D’Arrigo – the latest in a long line of Australians who have found Polska a very difficult country to ply their trade.
It is almost 20 years since the first Australian export to Poland, Michael Thwaite, won silverware and naturalised Australia Labinot Haliti became a cult hero before also achieving that status in the A League. Jacob Burns and Jake McGing have also spent time in the country.
D’Arrigo is facing a similar fate to that of one of Australia’s highly-rated centre-backs Jordan Courtney-Perkins.
(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
After a tumultuous loan spell in 2022-23 where he struggled with the language and the weather, Courtney-Perkins found himself back in the A league with Sydney FC – where he has looked a pale imitation of the talented player with potential he was once rated.
D’Arrigo has yet to start any of the 19 league matches in 2023-24, however he has made 12 appearances off the bench so far.
This has been no fault of the young South Australian’s work ethic and fitness – with D’Arrigo over multiple seasons in Australia ranking in the top 10 when it came to running stats, beep tests and breathing rates.
A maiden starting position has been hard to come by with Lechia Gdansk, who are already in a tight battle for promotion out of the Polish second division.
Gdansk are currently in fourth place in the league, only two points behind the campaign’s pace-setters in Arka Gdynia.
Competition for places in the engine room at Gdansk is very high, with the Australian having to battle several local players as well as ones from Colombia, Bosnia and Ukraine.
The multicultural squad also has representation from Brazil, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia and Austria. It is not unusual for manager Szymon Grabowski’s messages to be lost in translation with such a high volume of non-Polish speakers in the group.
Grabowski has preferred Tomasz Neugebauer and Ivan Zhelizko ahead of D’Arrigo in the heart of Gdansk’s midfield this season.
Neugebauer is a Polish under-20 international who many expect to make the grade in Europe while Zhelizko has represented Ukraine at every underage level all the way up to the under 21s.
Training in Poland has been a real culture shock for D’Arrigo. Going from sessions in Australia’s summer of 30C-plus to Europe’s winter of minus temperatures has been challenging to say the least – but there is the bonus of training and playing out of one of Europe’s most underrated stadiums, Stadion Gdańsk.
Stadion Gdańsk is a 41,620-seat roofed stadium that resembles a bird’s nest with an eye-catching exterior colour of gold/amber that was designed for UEFA’s European Championships in 2012.
Even though the team is the title picture this season, Gdansk’s mammoth stadium has remained largely empty each match day – with the side averaging barely 7000 fans to its matches.
D’Arrigo is determined to buck the trend of Australian’s that have failed in Poland, especially since missing out on a dream move to Italy when the global pandemic hit three seasons ago.
But as seen by the Australians who previously played in the Poland, conquering a country that many deem a stepping stone to a bigger European league has proved an extremely hard task to accomplish.
The midseason winter break in Poland will offer a chance to refresh and reflect in what shapes to be a title race in the second half of the season.
D’Arrigo does not want to be the latest young Australian to return back to Australia with his tail between his legs – after an uncomfortable move to a lower division European side.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Thanks - being the most popular and having small crowds? They still need revenue - television / streaming contracts? - transfers? Is that where the money is?
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
ive had pieces on gauci and poppa ready since i got back from europe a few months ago - i expected both to be gone in pre season given the interest that both players had at the end of last season adelaide are shoping for a visa CB currently, there are some very promising young players coming through (kikianis ive spoken about on here already a lot, bailey o'neil is the other prospect in that spot) some countries in europe have lower crowds than the a league, the reason they thrive is because football in the #1 sport in that country
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
scotland is a window or sorts to the south, if the player/s goal is to get to england but like i said, scotland is the easy route
Grem
Roar Rookie
I know Delianov and Cox ( I’ve read your opinions on him) can now step in, so is Gauchi’s move to Aston Villa a good one, in your opinion? Popovic is a good centre back - can you replace him when he moves to Korea? And one last question - I get the impression that crowds in other football leagues, such as Serbia, aren’t great (like the A Leagues) - how do they survive and probably thrive?
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Like I said….i have held that view for quite some years although there are a fair few Scottish dialects that you probably wouldn’t understand :laughing: but Players have had some success there alongside the great Ange who used it as a leg up to something more lucrative!
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
scotland would be another country that i would bypass, its great that they speak english - but technical skill wiseand tactically its not where you want a young player going
Buddy
Roar Rookie
A few years ago I would have had Scotland on that list but players have been thriving there in recent seasons and if not thriving - at least doing reasonably well and being noticed back here.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
ok, thanks for letting us know we can write them also.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Thwaite went to Romania before he went to Poland.
JAJI74
Roar Rookie
100% agree with this. You can add Czech Republic Bulgaria and Romania to this list to name just a few. I cant ever think of anyone who has gone there from here developed further and have great careers . Aside from the usual destinations I think we go alot better in Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Japan Keeping an eye on young Triantis who is at Sunderland and in each match day squad without getting a go yet
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
the benefit of going earlier (12-15) is those european boys are similar in terms of there developement physically - some may be more gifted naturally, but physically the developement of the male body is very similar. the only other leg up the european boys have is that they are fluent in the language (due to being born there) - the language barrier is always a killer for australian players. it makes life twice as difficult if you cant speak a lick of the language, which is why its incredibly important that as a player you have a voice in deciding where you go - no matter what your agent/s says.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
that not up to me, just because i have inside knowledge doesnt mean others cant contribute. now that the holiday clinics are done, i will try to post more often
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
perfect age to leave australia, not the right country for his particular skillset though
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
performance doesnt mean anything when JCP is still being played out of his natural position - does not have the speed or attacking abillity to be a full back, he is a centreback through and through. Poland has never been a european country where australians have settled well, that temperature is hard to over come. Definitely not the first port of call i would advise any young player to start there journey in europe but i am not an agent/s and that's where the problem lies with moves like this
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
yes, interesting article. I was just thinking Roar needs more insider football stories about different experiences of footballers. :thumbup:
NickA
Roar Rookie
Wonder if it's a case of you need to join as an early teen, rather than a late teen?
Grem
Roar Rookie
Emerton v Kewell! Both ways worked. Robertson seems to have developed nicely at Man City as has Circati in Italy while Garang and Arzani - different stories. I understand the argument. I just wonder why an overseas club would want a good Aussie when they have 100s of good locals. Either leave very early (low teens) or be an A Leagues star - that seems to work.
NickA
Roar Rookie
This is an age old argument Grem - do they go once they've begun to conquer the A League - or do they go earlier and cut their teeth in a tough league, that has more matches per year, against/with higher quality players?
Grem
Roar Rookie
Interesting article SS. He showed a lot of talent in Australia and I hope he succeeds overseas. It seems that there is a real “teething” period when going to a new overseas club. Hopefully he keeps his head down and works hard to break into the team (you indicated his work ethic is good). Is he another example of a good A Leagues player leaving too early? I would think players should only leave when they are consistently playing at an outstanding level in our league as European teams would already have a lot of good players anyway. How does another good overseas (Australian) player break in when he’s just another good player?
Buddy
Roar Rookie
AA -I presume you wrote the article prior to the MV vs SFC clash last weekend which saw an eye catching performance for 90 minutes by Jordan Courtney-Perkins including the goal that put the visitors ahead. That aside, the whole subject of where players should go to and what advice they receive when deciding to go overseas is a fascinating subject and fraught with danger. There are far too many players that are ill-advised, or poorly managed or have someone in the process who doesn’t look beyond the dollars and cents being offered. You would know this to a far greater extent than most of us but some of us do look on and grimace when we see where players are going and sit wondering just what has been taken into consideration as they put pen to paper. If only there was more attention paid to the overall well-being of a player and finding clubs that suit playing style, personality, type of training and what I prefer to call the pastoral care of a player - maybe the world of football would not be quite such a cattle market.