Vidmar’s position will see him work primarily with Adelaide United’s Youth Team Coach Joe Mullen, helping to develop and nurture the club’s young talent for the National Youth League.

Vidmar accepted the Development Coach role after being contacted by Adelaide United Chairman Dario Fontanarosa, who enticed the former defender to return to his home town and get involved with the club in a coaching capacity.

With brother Aurelio the current Head Coach of The Reds’ Hyundai A-League squad, the Vidmar name is synonymous with Adelaide United, and while Tony’s main focus will be on the Youth League squad, he will also spend a part of his time with The Reds’ first team.

“I’ll probably be working a little bit with Aurelio. We played so many years together and we’ve both got a professional outlook on the game and nothing really changes,” Tony said.

Tony’s vast playing experience, both for the Qantas Socceroos and various clubs throughout Europe, including Glasgow Rangers and English Premier League club Middlesbrough, will further bolster United’s specialist coaches, which already includes former Reds and Socceroos striker Carl Veart.

Vidmar sees the opportunity as a significant launching point in his transition from player to coach.

“It’s definitely something I wanted to do. I spent close to 15 years in Europe and played under quite a few good coaches so I’ve learnt a lot from them and hopefully I can pass that onto the younger boys coming through,” Vidmar said on the coaching caper.

Although he has only been with the club officially for three days, Vidmar believes Adelaide possesses a crop of fine young players and that there is the potential to have them pushing towards the Hyundai A-League if they are managed in the right way.

“There is a bit of talent, definitely. Australia for so many years has produced a lot of good players and unfortunately a lot of younger players have gone overseas at a young age and have not really developed, so hopefully we can keep them here for as long as we can and give them a good base,” Vidmar said.

Adelaide United’s Youth Team will kick off its season on Saturday 27 September against the Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium.