Brisbane Roar is pleased to announce the addition of midfielder Nia Stamatopoulos to its Liberty A-League side ahead of this weekend’s Round 1 match away to Perth Glory.
The gifted 18-year-old comes to the Roar fresh, fit and with top-flight experience to her name following two seasons with Melbourne City.
The move reunites her with her former Junior Matildas team-mates Jamilla Rankin and Mia Bailey, while she also played alongside Annie Haffenden at Victorian side Alamein FC.
“It’s been really good coming in with some familiar faces here to help me meet everyone and settle in quickly,” Stamatopoulos said.
“To be playing with them again is great and having that history can only help us on the field now.
“With the team we have here, it’s such a good group – a very encouraging, close group of girls. It makes things easy going into the games. I feel like I can adapt to the game style well and hopefully I can have an influence.
“I’m feeling fit and ready to play. It’s very exciting.”
Head Coach Garrath McPherson praised Stamatopoulos’ qualities as a player and person and said she would be ready to make an impact in Perth on Saturday night.
“Nia is a very skilful player, very game intelligent,” McPherson said.
“After two or three sessions with the team she was able to fit into our structure for an internal game just off a team talk and some video.
“She’s good on set pieces as well, which is great, and the most noticeable thing is her character. She’s friendly, positive, and she wants to learn, so she’s fitting in well.
“Nia has been around these environments before and been away at international tournaments as well, so she has experience and she knows what’s expected.”
The Roar’s season-opening meeting with Perth kicks off at 9:05pm Queensland time (7:05pm local time) on Saturday night.
The team’s first home game is against the same opposition at the Gold Coast Croatian Sports Centre on Friday, 10 December and tickets are ON SALE NOW.
