To celebrate 20 years of Adelaide United, we’re inviting fans to vote on our Team of 20 Years.
From Club legends to cult heroes, the competition will be fierce, and we want to know who you think deserves the call up!
Each day we will ask fans to vote on who they believe should be in a selected position, to complete the fan-voted Adelaide United Team of 20 Years. The voting will include both men’s and women’s players.
The final team will be announced at Adelaide United’s 20th Anniversary dinner at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday 23 January.
Voting starts today with the hotly contested Goalkeeper position. Will it be Paul Izzo, Eugene Galekovic or Annalee Grove? You get to decide!
Enter your vote and your contact details to be in the running to win a double pass to the 20th Anniversary Dinner.
Hosted by Jarrod Walsh, the night will celebrate all the moments and people who have helped shape the club.
Guests will enjoy a three-course meal and premium beverage package, as well as live entertainment and an auction featuring exclusive memorabilia and unique experiences.
Tickets for the 20th Anniversary Dinner are still available with all proceeds from the night going towards the Adelaide United Foundation, which supports youth development, education and community initiatives.
How to vote: The team will be selected in a 4-4-2 formation and include a head coach. A substitutes bench will also be decided from among those that miss out on the starting XI. Click the link below to enter your vote. Voting for all positions will close at midnight on Friday 29 December with the final team to be announced on Tuesday 23 January at Adelaide United’s 20th Anniversary Dinner.
VOTE HERE
Eugene Galekovic
What more can be said about United’s all-time leading appearance holder and most successful captain?
With 284 games played and 84 clean sheets, Galekovic cemented himself as a Club legend long before he hung up the gloves.
Countless times unbeatable between the posts, Galekovic led United as captain to both the inaugural Australia (FFA) Cup title and the Club’s first A-League Championship in the 2015/16 season.
He is Adelaide United through and through despite his birthplace in Victoria, and his legacy lives on as the Reds’ current goalkeeper coach.
Daniel Beltrame
Adelaide United’s inaugural A-League goalkeeper, Beltrame quickly established himself as a fan favourite from the very beginning.
With a clean sheet in his first appearance in United’s 0-1 win against Newcastle Jets in the A-League’s first-ever game, Beltrame would go on to help deliver the Club its maiden Premier’s Plate that same season.
He memorably saved two penalties in the 2006/07 Preliminary Final also against the Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium, sending fans and players alike into raptures.
Beltrame would stop at nothing to protect his hometown Club, and foreshadowed what was to come in terms of the long line of goalkeeping talent that Adelaide United would always be able to rely on.
Paul Izzo
Prodigiously talented, Izzo made his Adelaide United debut at just 16 on 1 December, 2012, replacing Eugene Galekovic who was on international duty.
Izzo would end up leaving the Reds in 2015 due to lack of further opportunity yet returned to become a two-time Australia (FFA) Cup winner, first against Sydney FC in 2018 and then Melbourne City a year later.
A knack for stopping City, Izzo stood tall with two memorable diving saves to deny the Victorians in a 1-0 win at Hindmarsh in the 2019/20 A-League Elimination Final.
Just one of his other notable performances was a stunning showing in a tense 0-1 away win against Brisbane Roar in July 2020, when he produced eight saves including one at full-stretch to deny a curling James O’Shea free-kick.
Joe Gauci
United’s current first-choice custodian is also a capped Socceroo.
Gauci burst onto the scene in March 2021 due to an injury to James Delianov, and he hasn’t looked back with 16 clean sheets in 73 appearances in all competitions and counting.
While he had to wait almost an additional year to become United’s No.1 from January 2022, he recorded an impressive five clean sheets for the remainder of that season.
Fans, and Joe, will never forget his match-winning reflex save on his home debut against Sydney FC in March 2021 in a long-awaited 1-0 win amongst other heroics, which also happened to be his first clean sheet for his childhood Club.
Annalee Grove
Annalee Grove has made quite the impression in a short but successful Adelaide United career to date.
Grove experienced a breakout campaign with the Reds in the 2021/22 season, playing all 15 matches and recording four clean sheets.
She backed it up with an equally impressive 2022/23 campaign, with three clean sheets while playing every minute of the season.
Named the A-League Women Rising Star, the Red Army A-League Women Player of the Year, AND the RAA Members’ A-League Women Player of the Year at United’s 2023 Alagich Vidmar Awards, the sky is the limit for Grove at United.
Grove is now up to eight clean sheets in 40 appearances for Adelaide United so far.
