Billy Tsovolos says he never had any intention to leave after agreeing to stay with Wollongong United in 2021.
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United announced on Monday that the experienced midfielder would remain at the club next season.
In a year where United won three out of the four trophies on offer, Tsovolos also enjoyed a near flawless 2020. His accolades included winning the George Naylor Medal as the Illawarra Premier League's Player of the Year and the Scott Chipperfield Medal as the best player on ground in United's 1-0 grand final win over Woonona.
Tsovolos said he was proud to remain at United, who are hungry for more success in 2021.
"It was pretty much a given [to stay]. I didn't really have any other plans to do anything else, I was always going to stick around for next year," Tsovolos said.
"We had a good season, we just put our heads down and worked hard. There were still a couple of things we can improve on going towards next year. I'm looking forward to coming back next year and to start working again."
Next year will mark Tsovolos's eighth season at United, after joining the club in 2013.
Tsovolos said he had received great support from club members over the years.
"Everyone has always treated me well," he said.
"There's a great group of boys here. I've got no complaints and no reason to leave, so I always stick around I suppose."
While he was a standout on the field in 2020, Tsovolos has also gained a reputation for his leadership. Part of that role is assisting the next generation of talent coming through the ranks.
"We've got a tonne of good players coming through the under 23s and youth grades at the moment," he said.
"I think our plan going forward over the next year or two will be to push on as many of those boys as possible. There's already been a handful that have played a bit this year. But hopefully over the next year or two, we can try and get a few more of them through to first grade, and hopefully they do as well as the boys who came in this year did.
"I try and help out wherever I can. But all of the boys already have such a good base line coming out of George's team in Youth Grade so they're already coming into first grade, ready to go."
Tsovolos's re-signing is the first of many player announcements that United are expected to make in the coming weeks. Tsovolos predicts the team will retain their core group in 2021.
"I'm pretty sure like 90 per cent of the boys will still be here," he said. "I think we'll just look to add in maybe one or two [players] if possible. But that's all in Pete and Oli [Vrtkovski's] hands."