Groomed by footballing royalty, Adrian Leijer is the defensive kingpin in Melbourne Victory’s charge. And 2007 could be the year “the Prince” cements a place in the Socceroos

AGE 20
CLUB Melbourne
POSITION Defender
LOWDOWN Dubbo kid with a Dutch dad is another of Ernie Merrick’s VIS grads

You could say Melbourne Victory’s Adrian Leijer’s rise up the football ranks has been by royal appointment.

Supervised by coach Ernie “The Earl” Merrick, and with a little guidance from “Sir” Geoffrey Claeys, “Prince” Adrian Leijer has been a rock in a superb Melbourne Victory side this season. But hob-nobbing with Victorian football royalty is a far cry from his footballing roots – the tough as nails Dubbo junior football scene.

“My dad was probably the one who encouraged me to play football the most,” says Leijer, who grew up in country NSW, close to where Orange-based Nathan Burns began his own footballing education. “I played in the local competitions and made the representative sides. Dubbo would play against Orange… I’m two years older than Nathan, so I didn’t play against him but probably would’ve seen him around.”



As Australia went Olympics mad in 2000, the Leijers moved from Dubbo to the popular surf spot of Jan Juc in Victoria (about two hours drive from Melbourne), where the then 14-year-old flew through the development system He captained Victoria Country at the 2001 National Talent ID Championships at U15s and again in 2002 for the U16s.

Soon, Leijer came to the attention of respected youth coach Ernie Merrick, first at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), where Merrick and his Victory assistant coach Aaron Healy ran the program, and later at Melbourne Victory, where Merrick signed Leijer in 2005.

“Adrian was truly a stand-out player,” says Victory coach Merrick. “He came to the VIS at 15 and his development has accelerated at every level. He got an opportunity with Melbourne Victory at the start of last season when Mark Byrnes was injured and has barely missed a game since.”

“The VIS helped me understand things outside of football,” notes Leijer, clearly still awed by his experience. “Such things as the right way to train and eat; to look after your body and prepare. It was a very important step for me.”