EXCLUSIVE: The most entertaining, attacking talent to grace the old NSL dazzles the Gold Coast premier league these days. But at 36, Con Boutsianis plans to conquer the football world again.
To see the legend in action...
For those needing a refresher course in Oz Football 101, Con Boutsianis scored 109 goals in 285 NSL appearances in an entertaining and rollercoaster 15-year career that effectively ended when the NSL folded in 2004.
His two main clubs were Perth Glory and South Melbourne, where the fans adored "Boutsy" – a gifted, entertaining and technically superior free-kick specialist who drew fans to games with his outstanding touch.
Think Shannon Cole, Joel Griffiths and Archie Thompson all wrapped up in one blistering package and you'll get an idea of Boutsianis.
Archie Thompson of Melbourne Victory and the Socceroos was an up and coming star at Gippsland Falcons when Boutsianis was at his peak in the late 90s.
"He was outstanding. What a left foot, he was just amazing," the Socceroo told au.fourfourtwo.com recently.
Paul Wade, capped 84 times for the Socceroos, played with Boutsianis in the famous South Melbourne NSL championship winning side of the early 90s.
"No-one can take a free-kick like Con in the A-League right now. I don't care if you're Joel Griffiths or whoever, no-one could take a free kick like Con."
In the blue shirt of South, the attacking midfielder once scored a long-range strike against Marconi that's still talked about at Bob Jane stadium (YouTube him and see for yourself). On another occasion, he scored a hat-trick in five minutes.
"I didn't always score from free kicks – I believe 20 or 30 were free kicks. I think one of the best was against Marconi at Bob Jane [stadium]. I was nearly 40 metres out.
"Exciting times and it's good to pass on your knowledge now to the next generation," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.
Boutsianis also played four times for the Socceroos at the turn of the century (scoring four times against Oceania opposition) and was signed by Bolton Wanderers but the deal later fell through.
In 2008, though, he can still play. A 16-minute cameo for Burleigh Heads against ladder leaders Gold Coast Knights a snapshot of why the "The Boutsy Show" was special.
Within 16 beautiful minutes at scenic Pizzey Park, home of Burleigh Heads, Boutsianis laid on a platter of sublime passes, scored a brilliant headed goal but also got sent off by an overly officious referee for verbal abuse – much to the surprise of fans.
These days, Boutsianis is busy with his own coaching academy (www.footballfirst.com.au) based on the Gold Coast and Melbourne. A full-time operation, he is trying to pass on his unique technical approach to football to the A-League generation.
"No-one really knows what I've been doing for the last two or three years," he said of his low-profile. "I'm running a company called Football First.
"I was up and down from Melbourne to the Gold Coast but now I live here. Now I've got coaches who work for me and run the Melbourne operation."
Boutsianis also coached in the US last month. He was asked by an academy near New York to assist with the set-piece coaching of female US Olympics player Carly Lloyd.
"I see my role is to get the message across to help the coaches help the kids perform technically," he added.
"Now, what we have to do is we have to invest in good coaches. My vision is how can I produce a player that will play World Cup standard and how can I help him take the right steps.
"But you can't just train Tuesdays and Thursdays and expect to be a footballer. I pride myself on telling the truth, and the truth is if you want to get results you've got to put in the effort."
Boutsianis said it was difficult to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of the current A-League coaches but named a young Aussie coach from a few years ago as a diamond in the rough.
"Mike Peterson was a great coach. He understands football and he played under Cruyff and played with Van Basten."
Peterson, a former Socceroo who spent time at Ajax as a junior, briefly coached in the NSL with South Melbourne and the Football Kingz at the turn of the century.
"I was more of a technical player. We still have fairly decent technical players but we do lack that, especially at a young age.
"The biggest problem we face is that we don't have enough expert coaches. And I consider myself expert in the area so I teach the basics, but not just the basics but also the bio-mechanics of it, teaching both sides of the body."
Aside from coaching, Boutsianis watches on with interest at what the A-League has to offer. And he has some forthright views on the question of NSL versus A-League debate.
"It's never an easy one because of the generations... you need to watch both.
"In my opinion, the best national league team would probably dominate the current leaders [of the A-League]. We're talking about the Melbourne Knights and Adelaide City teams [of the 1990s]. That was most of the national team – certainly the backline."
The Knights also featured a young Mark Viduka, Danny Tiatto and Tom Pondeljak – the latter two starring in the current A-League.
"I played against Adelaide City at Middle Park and you had [Alex] Tobin, [Milan] Ivanovic, [Paul] Shillabeer, [Tony] Vidmar at the back and Robbie Zabica. I think I scored a hat-trick in that game but they were hard core. It's not easy playing them. They played against Argentina for the Socceroos in the World Cup qualifiers in 1993.
"I remember [in the old NSL] we had four or five teams like Marconi, Melbourne Knights, South Melbourne and Adelaide City and you'd look around and the whole field was stilted with A-grade players and it was a great game.
"I don't think we've got that at the moment and we've got just eight teams. I don't think we've got the same quality as we did before. It's very interesting.
"I don't know exactly why it is and why it isn't, but that's the way I see it and a lot of people are a little bit scared to say it, but the reality is, that's how it is."
For NSL fans, memories of Boutsianis are often laced with stories of how he scored wonderful goals. And Boutsy has his memories of the fans too.
"I think I had a love-hate relationship with the fans at South Melbourne. They loved me when I was there but hated me when I played against them."
South Melbourne, a club he rejoined three times scoring over 60 times across two decades, was his first club. He would sit on his dad's shoulders as a three year old and watch greats such as George Campbell, Doug Brown and Oscar Crino do their stuff at Middle Park.
But it was in Perth that he his own career was proably at its peak – 25 goals in 42 appearances. The Shed took to him like a son.
"Gee, the crowd was just amazing. Phenomenal. You'd get over 16,000 to home games. I scored some wonderful goals there in front of the Shed. And every time there was a free-kick they started singing the song "Give it to me Boutsy".
Those days are in the past how. A-League fans will have to make do with the modern-day equivalents of Boutsianis as he looks to forge a new career guiding the technical direction of some lucky juniors.
"I think my career has given me happy and memorable moments which are special to me," he added. "I played with Eidur Gudjonsson and others at Bolton and that was a great experience. I won championships and played for my country.
"When I played I felt that I entertained people. They'd go home and say 'wow'. But we're not producing enough of that magic quality in players."
"I think we need a bit more of that these days."
To see the legend in action...
For those needing a refresher course in Oz Football 101, Con Boutsianis scored 109 goals in 285 NSL appearances in an entertaining and rollercoaster 15-year career that effectively ended when the NSL folded in 2004.
His two main clubs were Perth Glory and South Melbourne, where the fans adored "Boutsy" – a gifted, entertaining and technically superior free-kick specialist who drew fans to games with his outstanding touch.
Think Shannon Cole, Joel Griffiths and Archie Thompson all wrapped up in one blistering package and you'll get an idea of Boutsianis.
Archie Thompson of Melbourne Victory and the Socceroos was an up and coming star at Gippsland Falcons when Boutsianis was at his peak in the late 90s.
"He was outstanding. What a left foot, he was just amazing," the Socceroo told au.fourfourtwo.com recently.
Paul Wade, capped 84 times for the Socceroos, played with Boutsianis in the famous South Melbourne NSL championship winning side of the early 90s.
"No-one can take a free-kick like Con in the A-League right now. I don't care if you're Joel Griffiths or whoever, no-one could take a free kick like Con."
In the blue shirt of South, the attacking midfielder once scored a long-range strike against Marconi that's still talked about at Bob Jane stadium (YouTube him and see for yourself). On another occasion, he scored a hat-trick in five minutes.
"I didn't always score from free kicks – I believe 20 or 30 were free kicks. I think one of the best was against Marconi at Bob Jane [stadium]. I was nearly 40 metres out.
"Exciting times and it's good to pass on your knowledge now to the next generation," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.
Boutsianis also played four times for the Socceroos at the turn of the century (scoring four times against Oceania opposition) and was signed by Bolton Wanderers but the deal later fell through.
In 2008, though, he can still play. A 16-minute cameo for Burleigh Heads against ladder leaders Gold Coast Knights a snapshot of why the "The Boutsy Show" was special.
Within 16 beautiful minutes at scenic Pizzey Park, home of Burleigh Heads, Boutsianis laid on a platter of sublime passes, scored a brilliant headed goal but also got sent off by an overly officious referee for verbal abuse – much to the surprise of fans.
These days, Boutsianis is busy with his own coaching academy (www.footballfirst.com.au) based on the Gold Coast and Melbourne. A full-time operation, he is trying to pass on his unique technical approach to football to the A-League generation.
"No-one really knows what I've been doing for the last two or three years," he said of his low-profile. "I'm running a company called Football First.
"I was up and down from Melbourne to the Gold Coast but now I live here. Now I've got coaches who work for me and run the Melbourne operation."
Boutsianis also coached in the US last month. He was asked by an academy near New York to assist with the set-piece coaching of female US Olympics player Carly Lloyd.
"I see my role is to get the message across to help the coaches help the kids perform technically," he added.
"Now, what we have to do is we have to invest in good coaches. My vision is how can I produce a player that will play World Cup standard and how can I help him take the right steps.
"But you can't just train Tuesdays and Thursdays and expect to be a footballer. I pride myself on telling the truth, and the truth is if you want to get results you've got to put in the effort."
Boutsianis said it was difficult to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of the current A-League coaches but named a young Aussie coach from a few years ago as a diamond in the rough.
"Mike Peterson was a great coach. He understands football and he played under Cruyff and played with Van Basten."
Peterson, a former Socceroo who spent time at Ajax as a junior, briefly coached in the NSL with South Melbourne and the Football Kingz at the turn of the century.
"I was more of a technical player. We still have fairly decent technical players but we do lack that, especially at a young age.
"The biggest problem we face is that we don't have enough expert coaches. And I consider myself expert in the area so I teach the basics, but not just the basics but also the bio-mechanics of it, teaching both sides of the body."
Aside from coaching, Boutsianis watches on with interest at what the A-League has to offer. And he has some forthright views on the question of NSL versus A-League debate.
"It's never an easy one because of the generations... you need to watch both.
"In my opinion, the best national league team would probably dominate the current leaders [of the A-League]. We're talking about the Melbourne Knights and Adelaide City teams [of the 1990s]. That was most of the national team – certainly the backline."
The Knights also featured a young Mark Viduka, Danny Tiatto and Tom Pondeljak – the latter two starring in the current A-League.
"I played against Adelaide City at Middle Park and you had [Alex] Tobin, [Milan] Ivanovic, [Paul] Shillabeer, [Tony] Vidmar at the back and Robbie Zabica. I think I scored a hat-trick in that game but they were hard core. It's not easy playing them. They played against Argentina for the Socceroos in the World Cup qualifiers in 1993.
"I remember [in the old NSL] we had four or five teams like Marconi, Melbourne Knights, South Melbourne and Adelaide City and you'd look around and the whole field was stilted with A-grade players and it was a great game.
"I don't think we've got that at the moment and we've got just eight teams. I don't think we've got the same quality as we did before. It's very interesting.
"I don't know exactly why it is and why it isn't, but that's the way I see it and a lot of people are a little bit scared to say it, but the reality is, that's how it is."
For NSL fans, memories of Boutsianis are often laced with stories of how he scored wonderful goals. And Boutsy has his memories of the fans too.
"I think I had a love-hate relationship with the fans at South Melbourne. They loved me when I was there but hated me when I played against them."
South Melbourne, a club he rejoined three times scoring over 60 times across two decades, was his first club. He would sit on his dad's shoulders as a three year old and watch greats such as George Campbell, Doug Brown and Oscar Crino do their stuff at Middle Park.
But it was in Perth that he his own career was proably at its peak – 25 goals in 42 appearances. The Shed took to him like a son.
"Gee, the crowd was just amazing. Phenomenal. You'd get over 16,000 to home games. I scored some wonderful goals there in front of the Shed. And every time there was a free-kick they started singing the song "Give it to me Boutsy".
Those days are in the past how. A-League fans will have to make do with the modern-day equivalents of Boutsianis as he looks to forge a new career guiding the technical direction of some lucky juniors.
"I think my career has given me happy and memorable moments which are special to me," he added. "I played with Eidur Gudjonsson and others at Bolton and that was a great experience. I won championships and played for my country.
"When I played I felt that I entertained people. They'd go home and say 'wow'. But we're not producing enough of that magic quality in players."
"I think we need a bit more of that these days."
To see the legend in action...
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