Sean Ellis: "I thought I was going to score, I just had that feeling”
Heidelberg United legend Sean Ellis added yet another highlight to his illustrious career reel when he scored the sealing goal to knock Central Coast Mariners out of the Australia Cup earlier this month.
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As the game ticked deeper into extra time with Heidelberg leading narrowly, there could hardly have been a more suitable candidate to score the final goal than the Scottish winger.
“It was a really special moment for me,” Ellis said.
“It was a great win. The team performance was great too. All of us played our part.”
Ellis is playing his ninth season in the famous Heidelberg colours, having initially joined the club ahead of the 2016 season.
In the more than 200 games he has played for the club since, Ellis has not only secured his legendary status, but also acquired a keen sense for his own abilities.
“Going into the game, I actually thought I was going to score,” he said.
“I don’t know why; I just had that feeling.”
Ellis has developed a reputation for scoring in the big games and at the big moments over the past decade, making his extra time goal against the Mariners feel almost cliché.
“It was a big night and I love the big nights. You’re more in the zone, especially against the bigger teams,” Ellis said.
“I’ve always been like that. When I’ve got a feeling that I’m going to do well, I usually do. It’s probably good intuition.”
That intuition has served Ellis well over the years as his Heidelberg team amassed an impressive collection of silverware under former head coach George Katsakis.
In fact, it was little more than instinct that led to Ellis joining the club in the first place.
Having moved to Australia in 2012, the Scotsman initially found himself living in Cobram and playing his football in regional Victoria.
After impressing with Goulburn Valley Suns in 2015, Ellis finally heeded the call of Katsakis to make the move to Melbourne and join the ‘Bergers’ ahead of the 2016 season.
“I could have gone just about anywhere in the NPL in 2015,” Ellis said.
“I ended up choosing Heidelberg and the rest is history.”
A stretch of three consecutive Premierships between 2017-2019 highlights what was a dominant period under Katsakis.
The Australia Cup has also been a salient feature of Ellis’ time at the club.
Ellis famously assisted Kenny Athiu’s goal as the Bergers defeated Perth Glory in the 2017 edition of the competition, but even prior to that, one of Ellis’ first acts as a soon-to-be Heidelberg player was attending the club’s 2015 quarterfinal tie against Melbourne City.
“It was all meant to be,” Ellis said of his time at the club.
“I’ve heard from other people about the other places I could’ve gone. But I think I made the right decision at the end of the day.”
However, for all the successes Ellis has enjoyed at Heidelberg, not everything has been smooth sailing in recent years.
The Bergers have struggled to recapture the dominance of their pre-Covid years, a fact best personified by Ellis’ own career trajectory.
“For me personally, going through Covid I obviously lost two good years,” he said.
“It was hard for me to get back.”
Heidelberg finished sixth in NPL Men’s Victoria in 2022, before missing out on finals altogether in 2023.
The club turned to a Victorian coaching icon in John Anastasiadis to lead the turnaround in 2024, with remarkable results.
Alongside their run in the Australia Cup, Heidelberg are now preparing for another finals campaign, having secured a top-four finish in the league for the first time since 2019.
Ellis has benefitted significantly on a personal level from Anastasiadis’ rejuvenation project.
“For 2024 I actually did a full pre-season,” he said.
“I was really fit at the start of the year when usually it takes me two or three games to get my match fitness up to scratch.”
Anastasiadis has left his mark on the Heidelberg playing style too.
“The way we’re playing out from the back, we’re not changing. It’s just been drilled into us,” Ellis said.
“Like JA (Anastasiadis) says, it comes organically to you. You start just knowing the patterns of play, how you’re going to get out of difficult situations.”
Ellis believes that alongside his tactical approach on-field, Anastasiadis’ motivational qualities and high standards have been influential in the reversal of the team’s fortunes.
“Getting all the team up for doing the same thing, just going at it, no excuses. Then you get the results,” Ellis said.
“He’s looking for the fittest team and we are one of the fittest teams in the league.”
Ellis has reaped the rewards for his efforts, featuring regularly for the team throughout the season, albeit more often from the bench than he would like.
“Obviously I want to start every game, but I know in reality football is a squad game now,” he said.
“You’ve just got to give 100% when you get the chance.”
Now aged 34 and with a huge set of games on the horizon, Ellis is taking a more philosophical approach to his football.
“I’m trying to take everything in and keep the body right,” he said.
“I’m just grateful for everything that’s happened to me. It’s been a great journey. I’ll look back on it in the years to come and tell my kids about it.”
Heidelberg will play Oakleigh Cannons in an all-Victorian Round of 16 tie, with both teams also preparing for the NPL Men’s Victoria finals series, having finished the season separated by just two points.
Although the Cannons got the better of the most recent meeting between the sides, Ellis is undeterred.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.
“It’s always a good game against Oakleigh.”
Placed in the half of the draw featuring six NPL teams, Heidelberg have a golden chance to go even deeper in the competition than they have managed previously.
“Anything is possible,” Ellis said.
“If we bring our game and with the way we play, we can beat anyone.”
