<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to be blinded by Joe Montemurro\u2019s glittering resume ahead of his first game in charge of the Matildas against Slovenia in Perth on Thursday night \u2014 and to assume the biggest lessons were learned at the largest clubs.<\/p>\n
A select few boast stints in charge of the women\u2019s programs at Arsenal in England, Juventus in Italy and Lyon in France. None, however, have those well-known names sitting alongside what was a Papua New Guinean start-up called Football Club Port Moresby on their resume.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were starting a new franchise team, and they were trying to just lift the level of the league, and I was basically asked if I would want to go there for three months to set up this new franchise,\u201d Montemurro told Fox Sports Australia <\/i>ahead of his Matildas\u2019 coaching debut.<\/p>\n
Watch every game of The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1.<\/a> Limited time offer.<\/b><\/p>\n The new Matildas boss has never spoken in depth about this little-known and incredible part of his journey to the top of football management before. His time, in what is still very much a developing football market, gives an insight into how deep Montemurro\u2019s passion for developing players runs and the lengths he\u2019ll go to in order to create an environment in which those players can be their best. <\/p>\n Montemurro was working in the football system in Victoria when his phone rang with that job offer from Papua New Guinea in 2013. The man on the other end of the line was former PNG international Reggie Davani, who Montemurro had signed as a player during his time with Sunshine George Cross and Coburg United.<\/p>\n \u201cI decided to go and give it an opportunity, and it was probably one of the best opportunities of my life in terms of learning,\u201d said Montemurro.<\/p>\n \u201cHe [Reggie] felt that I could help put the whole methodology, the whole of football plan together for them and kick start their structure.\u201d<\/p>\n Davani, now working as the Boys Youth Technical Director at the Central Coast Mariners, had just returned to PNG from Australia and alongside his brother Alex, wanted to set up a club that broke the mould of what was available to players in Port Moresby at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was lacking really for player development,\u201d said Davani.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is an abundance of players but there was a lack of coaches and so myself and my brother Alex and my wife Richanda thought we\u2019d just create a platform.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole idea around it was just to create a platform to develop young players at the National League level in Papua New Guinea and then provide them with opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n That message resonated with financial backers who quickly came on board. The whole idea was conceived and created in five weeks. Football Club Port Moresby was born. The name is a play on Football Club Barcelona.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like, well we need a good coach that was not just about coaching but also can we create some pathways underneath that,\u201d said Davani.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe was the perfect guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Montemurro touched down in Port Moresby not really knowing what to expect. Asked what the biggest challenge was when he arrived at the club one word quickly springs to mind.<\/p>\n \u201cLogistics,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Before Montemurro could even think of training sessions, tactics or fixtures he needed to ensure the players could just get to training from villages around the capital. <\/p>\n \u201cSome players were coming from places two or three hours away to get to training, and we had to organise logistics through buses and so on,\u201d said Montemurro.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know if they\u2019re in the village it\u2019s hard to get a hold of them,\u201d Davani added.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunications in terms of phone lines; the network doesn\u2019t reach that far out for some of these boys.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot better now than what it was then but some of these boys were coming from hours away.\u201d<\/p>\n After transport, the next task on the to-do list was combating the year-round heat and humidity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to be quite creative in terms of making it early training because of the heat,\u201d said Montemurro.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were training at 6:30 and 7 o\u2019clock in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Professionalism despite those hurdles became paramount. <\/p>\n The players were taken to a local hotel to have their nutritional needs met to ensure optimal performance.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these guys can\u2019t afford to have a proper meal,\u201d said Davani.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving pasta; It\u2019s too expensive for a normal kid who is coming from areas that are poor in Port Moresby.<\/p>\n \u201cEating steak and chicken; that\u2019s all a luxury for some of these boys to get that before a game and to eat at a hotel.<\/p>\n \u201cFor them that was another world but that was the level and standards that we wanted to introduce.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe wanted to do that and wanted to provide those experiences and help the place.\u201d<\/p>\n FC Port Moresby became a vehicle for change outside of the club as well. Community pathway programs were created and players, having been coached by Montemurro, would go out and pass those skills on to local kids.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was extra money outside of football as well for those players,\u201d said Davani.<\/p>\n \u201cWe said you\u2019re not just going to play football. You\u2019ve got to do something else to develop yourself as well and learn some new skills.\u201d<\/p>\n Players were sent into corporate companies and private schools to take them further out of their comfort zones while others studied all in the pursuit of personal development. <\/p>\n The impact on the field was clear to see for the fledgling outfit.<\/p>\n With Montemurro at the helm, FC Port Moresby would go on to finish runner-up in 2013, losing the grand final to powerhouse Hekari United 3-0. Sadly, given their grand ambitions, they would fold in 2016 amidst complications with the format of the local competition. <\/p>\n Davani remains a firm believer in the principals behind the club \u2013 especially the ideals around professionalism and outreach \u2013 and while FC Port Moresby is currently dormant it isn\u2019t dead.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just an exciting time for us because we were playing his brand of football \u2013 Joe Montemurro style \u2013 free flowing, very attacking, very attractive top football that he introduced in a short space of time,\u201d said Davani.<\/p>\n The humble football surrounds, by world standards, shaped Montemurro significantly as a manager.<\/p>\n \u201cIt made me realise the beauty of the game, the strength of the game and how powerful it is in changing lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of those players were coming from villages around the capital and earning very little money and just the appreciation was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n Remarkably, just four years after organising those village bound buses Montemurro would land at Arsenal in the Women\u2019s Super League following successful stints at Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City in the then W-League after his return from PNG.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sort of like that football journey that has to happen,\u201d Montemurro said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have all these experiences and not only the stint in PNG, but opportunities just being in the lower leagues in Victoria, working in development at the local level, they shape you because when the opportunities come you don\u2019t take things for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n