Hume City’s 2015 season exceeded all expectations and the club is now looking to build on that in 2016.
City made the semi-finals in all three competitions it competed in – the NPL, the Dockerty Cup and the nationwide FFA Cup.
But coach Lou Acevski said there was no expectation or pressure to achieve the same results this year.
“I’m not looking to beat last year,” he said.
“I’m looking at trying to get the best out of this group. Don’t get me wrong, last year was great making the semi-finals in each competition, but not winning anything wasn’t fantastic.
“We want to cement our spot as a strong club and we still have a long way to go to achieve that. It was never a one-year plan.”
City’s success last year meant the club’s usual 10-week off-season was reduced to just over four weeks.
“We’re used to having a decent break at this level,” Acevski said. “We’ve come back in a short turnaround and we’ve had to alter our pre-season to ensure we’re right for round one.
“It’s difficult to adjust, to make sure we have the right workload and to keep the boys as fresh as possible.”
Acevski said that despite the short turnaround the players were keen to get back into it.
“So far it’s been very good and I can see the boys who were with us last year are very excited to see where this year goes,” he said.
“They’re working hard. The new players are fitting in well and it will take them a little time to adjust to playing with us.”
City has been busy in the off-season adding several players to the squad, including Tom Cahill, Michael Trigger, Daniel Visevic, Fraser Chalmers, Kofi Danning and Jeremy Waller.
“We’ve got in a lot of attacking options, a couple of strikers and a couple of attacking midfielders” Acevski said. “It’s something we’ve been lacking since I’ve been coaching.
“The signs are looking good at the moment.
“We have added some quality and we’re looking forward to watching them all.”
But there were also some off-season losses, with four key players leaving the club.
Jai Ingham has joined A-League powerhouse Melbourne Victory, while Matthew Hennessey has joined the club’s youth side.
Marcus Schroen has joined fellow NPL side South Melbourne and Shaun Timms isn’t coming back from England.
City plays its first game of the NPL season against Richmond on February 20.
