After claiming its first division one open title in two decades, reigning league champions Daylesford-Hepburn United hope to pick up where it left off in 2020.
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Led by James Milesi and Hiroshi Masuda, the club will look add another chapter to its fairytale story when it takes the field for the 2020 Ballarat District Soccer Association season.
Milesi, who took over from cup-winning coach Dragi Koleski, said the club was ready to build upon an unforgettable 2019.
"Last year was an amazing year for everyone at the club. Nobody expected to have that success," he said.
"It grew organically throughout the year as we discovered what we were capable of and now we have a chance to build on that foundation."
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Daylesford-Hepburn welcomed a slew new faces during the off-season. Local talent Paris Katsis joined the club after playing in Melbourne. Milesi said Katsis would be an exciting piece to build around.
"We can really play through Paris' feet and exploit his pace on the wings," he said.
"He is a very strong technical player."
Katsis joins fellow newcomers Frankie Harvey and Jake Satori, who are Daylesford locals as well. After playing their junior football in Ballarat, Milesi said the pair hoed to cement a place in the senior side.
Meanwhile the the club lost grand final Owen Turbitt, who left to test his might with the Sebastopol Vikings' state league program.
Milesi said the club would miss Turbitt, who claimed the league's best and fairest award in 2019.
"It's disappointing to lose anyone, but it's a testament to our culture that we can develop our players that can take their game to a higher level," he said.
"We hope Owen can take his football as high as he can."
The club also said goodbye to Josh Duffy, who joined Ballarat City, while Daniel Mrowiec departed to pursue employment opportunities.
"Everyone in the senior squad has high expectations of themselves and we are confident the football we play will be an attractive brand," Milesi said.
Last year marked Milesi's first season with Daylesford-Hepburn in almost 14 years. He said he was blown away with the culture, and the on-field success was a product of the environment within the club.
He said the 2020 season would be the next step in the club's evolution.
"It's a real opportunity as a football club to take the next step in the evolution and play structured football," he said.
The Courier will preview every division one open club in the coming weeks.
