Carl Veart was delighted after Adelaide United and Craig Goodwin reached an agreement on a three-year deal until 2025.
The 30-year-old’s new contract expires at the end of the 2024/25 campaign and Veart acknowledged how crucial the star player is to United’s success moving forward.
Goodwin compiled eight assists and 11 goals last season to claim a second Aurelio Vidmar Medal.
“It’s no secret how important Craig is to the way that we play at the Club,” Veart told reporters at Coopers Stadium on Friday.
“But it’s just not about what he does on the pitch it’s what he does off the pitch for us as well.
“We saw last year how good Craig was for the Club.
“The goals and his assists allowed us to go as far as what we did last year and as Craig said we want to improve on that.”
Goodwin’s re-signing marks the 13th player to do so for the Reds this offseason with Veart suggesting the culture created within the Club is a pivotal reason.
Retaining the bulk of the side helps build continuity and the boss said the task now will be to make further progress following consecutive semi-final exits.
“It’s about us providing a platform for Craig and all of our players to play at their best level that they can play at,” he said.
“We saw that last year with the majority of our squad, they played at a very good level and it’s our challenge now for this season is to improve on that again.
“… We’ve shown a lot of loyalty to our players in re-signing them and they pay us back with the performances they put on the pitch.”
