By Lance Jenkinson
Dylan Pierias is living out his boyhood dream.
From the moment he fell in love with soccer as a seven year old at Keilor Park Soccer Club, his ambition was to become a full-time footballer.
Now 18, Pierias is contracted with Melbourne City in the A-League and gets the chance to enjoy his passion every day.
“Whenever I have the ball at my feet, I’m happy,” Pierias said.
“It’s something that I love doing. I don’t think of football as a job – it’s like a hobby that I get to do every day, so I’m privileged to be where I’m at right now.”
Pierias is the future of Melbourne City and Australian soccer.
The Caroline Springs resident, a skilful and athletic right back, has been involved in elite programs since the age of 13.
After a solid five-year grounding with Keilor Park and a season with Spring Hills, Pierias moved into the Skillaroos program, featuring in the Victorian under-13s and under-14s, before he was signed to the National Training Centre Challenge team for top under-15s.
His form piqued the interest of Melbourne City and he earned a youth contract with the club and before too long he was offered a full time contract.
In 2017, Pierias got an unexpected surprise when an injury-ravaged Melbourne City senior team called him up for his A-League debut.
He would become the first player born in the 2000s to feature in the A-League. Pierias was told to be ready because this was the real deal.
“The Saturday came and I woke up and I still couldn’t really believe it to be honest – until we had the team meeting before the game and I saw my name in the starting team and it’s history from there,” he said.
Pierias not only started the game, he finished it, too. He played the full 90 minutes in a stirring 2-2 draw with Brisbane Roar.
“In the media, they were saying we were going to get smashed because we had so many outs and so many position changes,” Pierias said. “Only about two people from the starting XI actually played. To pull a draw, we looked at it as a positive.”
Pierias has not featured in an A-League game since, but he plans on getting back to the big time as soon as this summer.
He was part of Melbourne City’s team that played friendly matches against Indian Super League team Kerala Blasters and La Liga side Girona on a recent pre-season tour of India.
“I’m definitely trying to push to play first team,” Pierias said. “That’s my goal for this year.”
More immediately, Pierias will continue his exciting Australian under-age career. He is part of the Australian under 20 set up.
He will feature in an Australian under-18 team that will travel to Japan this month for the SBS Cup, a youth tournament featuring teams from japan and Paraguay.
“I’m always excited to represent Australia,” he said. “It’s always a privilege to represent your country no matter what.”
