Women’s FA Cup final: Brighton boss Dario Vidosic hopes to honor late father at Wembley

Dario, 39, was born in Croatia – his parents’ country – when it was part of Yugoslavia, but moved to Australia a year later when Rado played for the Queensland Lions.

He followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a player and representing Australia before moving into coaching.

Asked about the role of football in his life, Dario added: “Probably from childhood with dad, everything was with him. When he was playing, I was watching.

“I was in the back field with the kids a lot of the time. We were in the Croatian Community Club, so we were always together.

“We used to play the juniors early in the day and then head off to wherever the first team was playing. That’s all I remember, just following dad around.

“It was something I loved doing. Both mum and dad made a lot of sacrifices to help me travel. I never felt like I missed out.”

For Dario, going into coaching was “natural” and he asked to join Rado as an assistant at Melbourne City to learn the ropes.

In 2022, his father moved to the men’s team so Dario took over the women’s team before joining Brighton two years later.

During his time in the WSL, he impressed to help Albion close the gap on the top four.

“(My dad) influenced what we were doing and some of the ideas we were working on together, even when I was his assistant (in Melbourne),” Dario said.

“I try to live day by day, try to improve myself, try to improve the team and give them as much as I can.

“Now I’m enjoying it (in a different way). I went to my son’s training this week. It was a beautiful afternoon.

“It’s a moment to disconnect even if you don’t completely disconnect from football. Family gives that beautiful perspective away from the game.”