Misko Naumoski has been a familiar name across Canberra football for the better part of two decades. A player whose career has spanned generations, multiple clubs, and enough seasons to fill more than a few team photos. But all great stories must come to an end as Misko has decided to call full-time on his NPL playing days.

Misko’s NPL career began in 2004, when he debuted for Belconnen United, but the NPL stalwart can still look back fondly on his humble beginnings with a ball at his feet.

“Going back to childhood times, I think I was about three or four years old, and it was back in Macedonia. Just kicking a ball around at the front of our little apartment block that we lived in – I think it might have been with my old man” Misko recalls.

While that young Macedonian boy loved kicking the ball around with his friends, it wasn’t until a number of years later that Misko found his way into more structured football.

“I think I was four years old when we came to Australia – didn’t actually join a team until under 10, under 11s even,” Misko admits.

“A good friend of mine who I’ve met at school said come along and I just kept on from there. His dad was a coach of the Belwest Foxes.”

From Belwest, Misko was scouted by Belconnen United, eventually making his debut for the club off the bench, which he says is one of his greatest footballing memories.

“I probably didn’t think it was special at the time, but thinking back now, it was a nice sort of moment” Misko says.

Despite picking up the game later than some, Misko used his natural talent and hard work to craft a career most could only dream of. Over 19 years, Misko laced up the boots for Belconnen United, Canberra City, Canberra FC, Tigers FC, Gungahlin United, and ended his career as Captain of Queanbeyan City for their return to NPL football. Misko played over 300 games, scoring more than 50 goals, but when asked what his greatest achievement of them all was, he has no hesitation – winning the grand final with Gungahlin FC in 2019.

“The 2019 grand final win because that season in particular, it was a special one” Misko recalls.

“I guess for Gungahlin – it was one of the first victories that they had but the other thing that we had was a really strong team. We played (through) some adversity that season in terms of having some point deductions, so to come through and then to win it was pretty special.”

It’s one thing to play football for a long time, it’s another to play at the top of your game for your entire career. The hard trainings, the rainy games, and the brutal Canberra winter can be enough to push even the strongest players off the football path. But for Misko, the love of the beautiful game, coupled with a competitive fire that brews within, was the perfect combination needed to consistently perform season after season.

“It might sound a bit cliché, but it’s just the love of football, the love of competing and just challenging yourself” Misko says.

“I’ve always just liked being part of a team –  I’ve always said to myself that I’d play at the highest level I could. The challenge of that for me over the years just kept me going and having kids in my early 30s and just maybe wanting to keep playing so they could see me play a little bit as well in the latter part of my career, which they’re doing now”.

Misko’s connection to his family is one of the reasons he has decided to call time on his illustrious career.

“I’ve got a young family now”, Misko says, “kids are starting to play sport themselves, and your time commitments change – probably don’t have the time to commit to the training and the matches.”

But while Misko attributes his retirement to his family commitments, it’s hard for him to deny that old Father Time catches up with everyone, no matter what trainings you implement. To maintain his physical peak, Misko would routinely attend yoga and pilates classes to stay on top of his flexibility and adapted his play style as he lost a burst of pace.

“I think the time’s come,” Misko admitted, “my body is sort of slowing down even more than it was.”

“I got to a point maybe as I was approaching my 30s or just ticked over to 30 where I realised the body isn’t completely slowing down but certainly there’s aspects of my game that needed to change. Being relatively quick, I relied on that a lot, but then once I did start to slow down a little bit just had to adapt.”

After nearly two decades applying his trade across every blade of grass in Canberra, Misko Naumoski has nothing left to prove. He has played with pride, adapted with age, and walked away on his terms. But while we won’t see Misko pulling on an NPL strip again, it’s likely we will still see him across the other side of the painted white line in the future.

“I do have ambitions to coach,” Misko says, “that’s something I would definitely like to at least give a try and see whether it’s for me or not. I think I’ll give it a bit of a break, then reassess after next season and see what that brings, but coaching is definitely on the cards.”

Reflecting on his fantastic career, Misko offered his younger self some advice, and potentially the next generation of footballers who will follow in his footsteps.

“You know there’s always next season or the next game but then as you get older you realise maybe that those times, they’re not going last forever, so just enjoy it as much as you can.”

Words: James Whybrow