Slow news week

Mike Valkanis retired from Adelaide United... rumours have inevitably circulated that he's going to play out his career with South, but it's just rumours as far as I know. Brisbane Olympic is holding a Hellenic Cup tournament including several interstate Greek clubs - South isn't one of them, but whether that was due to not being invited or us rejecting it is sorta up in the air... though if we did reject the offer, it was probably because the paltry prizemoney on offer (in a cost/reward analysis) wasn't really worth it. Rockem Sockem Poutakidis will be captaining Northcote City next year. I also got food poisoining and was hooked up to a saline solution drip in hospital for a couple of hours yesterday, not very fun. Hopefully more interesting things to report on soon.

And now for something completely different

Apparently yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the great smfcboard. Of course, there were other South related fora, but none has had the longevity of smfcboard. Maybe one day registrations will be free and opne some day. I doubt it though. But anyway, happy 10th birthday to smfcboard!

Making room for something new, maybe

Cleaned out some of the pointless links on the side. So if by chance you happen to hit on an article which says refer to the side panel, and you can't find, use your imagination.

Ange resigns as Panachaki coach

Despite keeping Panachaiki well within contention for promotion - they'd been in the top three for most of the season - a falling out with the people running the club has seen Ange end his Panachaiki adventure. His plans for the immediate future are unknown at this stage.

Robbie Wynne also gone to the Chokers

Was in yesterday's Greek paper (Nea Ellada) apparently. Haven't seen it myself, as I haven't touched that paper in something like a decade. 

South Melbourne Hellas can cure cancer?

Probably not. But I was channel surfing just then and stumbled across the tail end of a news story talking about cancer, some dentistry college or school, and for some reason the reporter was standing at scoreboard end (roughly near where I could be found throughout 2008) with her back towards the far end of the stand and saying something about 'enough to fill this stadium'. Anyone else see it? What was all that about?

What ever happened to Kevin Nelson?

Well, after his acrimonious departure from the club, from all reports he went back to the Canadian leagues and he's now retired and begun working for this mob. I have no hard feelings towards him, even though he may have some towards South and some people from South obviously didn't like him. Still, he scored 7 goals in half a championship winning season, and for that we should be grateful. 

3XY Last Night

George Triantos and Leo Athanasakis were on air last night. Now I didn't get to listen to it, but apparently the following things were covered, with thanks to Cuddles for filling us in.

 

• We're waiting for the government to get back to us on matters regarding the Lakeside redevelopment
• We'll be wearing a commemorative strip next year, based on an old strip from the past
• Potential signings weren't mentioned because 'Aki might be listening', lol
• Apparently the host was rather impressed by the passion and direction the club is going in

All very low key at this point in time

It's rather strange... only intra-club matches being played, nothing against fellow VPL opposition... even other VPL clubs haven't, as far as I know, stuck their heads out the door to have a think about having a game against someone. This lead up into Christmas and the New Year is unusually cautious.... are we scared of perhaps failing in our 5oth year... or is it just a lack of excitement?

Jim Marinis doesn't get FFV spot

As reported earlier, former South director and football operations dude Jim Marinis - now doing the same thing basically at Melbourne Knights - was in the running for a spot on the FFV board. As it turns out he didn't get it, with two of the three spots being won by people seeking re-election and, on face value at least, his tactic of not putting up a statement for the public to read not working in his favour. I guess we'll see him in round four then, maybe.

Spawning Salmon

While performing my thrice a day minimum check of who's reading this thing and how they get here, I noticed a link from an unusual place - some blog called The Spawning Salmon - some sort of Adelaide United blog, fairly new, pretty well written, which has added us to their blog order of merit (ie linked us) without our knowning. So in the traditions of our forefathers, we - or rather me - at South of the Border add them too.

About last night

Neither Manny Poulakakis nor Peter Laumets nor Takis Mantarakis could get me a prize last night in the raffle. Good to some familiar faces there last night, disappointing to, as in the case of the AGM, not see some regular faces. Oh well.

Diaco leaves South for Cannons

Yes, it's true. After a solid 2007 and injury plagued 2008, one of the nice guys of the VPL has decided to jump ship and cross over to the dark side in more ways than one perhaps.

Sad news... even if a little late

Last week former Federal Labor Treasurer Frank Crean passed away aged 92. What most of the obituaries will omit and most South fans wouldn't have a clue about is that Frank Crean was also a former South Melbourne United president. What further involvement in the game he had is unknown to me, but our condolences go out to his friends and family nonetheless.

Christmas Party this Friday

Did you make your booking? I should be down there. Last year's was ok, nothing spectacular.

New South website now online... even if you can't see it yet

The new site is now officially online.  It looked great in pre-production whern I had a look, but at the moment you may not be able to see it in all its glory because of some DNS thing or whatever/ Even myself and one of the creators of the site, oru good frined can't see it yet because of the way the internet works. Anyway check it out, great effort by everyone.

Best first year of this blog ever

Kind of like the Festivus 'airing of the grievances'. this entry will look at where South of the Border failed to make an impact, and also did ok. Suggestions and additions welcome. More important stuff tomorrow.

A look back at what worked or went well this year.

• International exposure achieved very early on Bolosepako. Thanks Po Hui.
• Stood up for what is right in regards to the Pumpkins Seed Eaters thing, irrespective of what happened afterwards.
• Lasted for more than a few weeks. Followed by having something new almost everyday during the season.
• Got stuff printed in Das Libero and Neos Kosmos English Weekly, and the official site.
• Kept people in touch with stuff that is largely ignored by the mainstream side of the club's media wing.
• Getting on radio, in another state/territory mind you.
• Got a book of sorts done up. Here's to the future

And what didn't go so good

• Failure to get the point across effectively to the Pumpkin Seed Eaters. You know what I'm talking about. But they're dead now, or in hiding. Or something. I dunno.  But I'm not laughing because it may happen here too.  Apparently there a few sensitive souls out there who don't like people taking the mickey out of them, or heaven forbid, disagreeing with them verbosely, just being twats. Go figure.
• The lack of a link on The Supermercado Project. Sure, link to Atlanta Falcons malakies, but not to the blog that was inspired by your other blog. Disappointing.
• The lack of almost any outside contributions. I wanted this site to be for all the creative, angry, multi thousand dollar camera wielding South fans to put forward their story; as well those with no talent but far too much time on their hands. This is a chance to put forward their point of view, on their club, in a place where people outisde of smfcboard will see it... maybe they want to complain about the lack of coverage and freedom of speech? Or maybe they're too busy using their free (see sponsor derived via contra deals) Victory tickets. The offer is still there people.
• No ongoing column on Das Libero. The land where associate editorships mean not much and where promises of glory go to die. But then again, the whole shebang seemed to die in the arse, but that wasn't really my fault.
• The semi-disastrous Nearpost radio interview. It could have gone better to be honest, in terems of the what the final product ended up as. Still, nice to have the opportunity.

Thankyou to Ian, Cliff, Paul, Jim, Nats, Neil, Guido, Po Hui, Eamonn, Cuddles, Psile, Tony, John,  Michal, whoever the mysterious women's team person was who fed us info, anyone who said 'this doesn't go on the blog', everyone who left a comment, and all those people who got us to 20,000 page views.

Of course we weren't the only ones to hold an AGM recently

The Melbourne Knights also had a little laid back Friday night session of Q and/or A.

For those who can't be bothered reading about monkeys and Jack Daniels Stadium, and who also believe both things they read on the internet and Knights fans (so I guess just me and Cuddles then) the main points are thus.

• They have a large debt (or rather the Social Club does), but made a small profit.
• Coburg owes them heaps for their tenancy at Knights Stadium
• MCF was unhappy with the club being turned away from its Croatian roots/purpose.
• Something about Yugos and Jews.
• Average attendance of 580
• As reported here before, Jim Marinis joining their board
• And perhaps most importantly and interestingly, not one cent has yet been seen from their deal with Dinamo Zagreb. Makes ya think.

All in all, I'd still rather support South Melbourne Hellas. But then again, I'm probably some sort of cigan to them anyway.

Damn post-agm angst

So some you want more detail. Seems like initiating helpless infants into fringe Medditerrean cults is more important than turning up to super cereal meetings.

Anyway, we have a new football ops due. Ange Dallas is his name, been arpund the club for like, years man, and we've gone about signing up and re-signing players. Most of our squad seems to have be re-signed or has agreed to terms. This is where we say goodbye however, to Sam 'Rockem Sockem' Poutakidis, whose second stint at the club has come to an end, as he has been released.

Venue management was the big ticket talking point, with an increase on venue hire being made, as well as the prospect of future increases next year. Greg Kaias was also the recipient of some negative feedback, for his Melbourne Hearts thing. And the Lakeside thing is still being negotiated. Chances are we won't play out the entire season at Lakeside. 

Of the three South Melbourne AGMs I've been too...

... that was by far the most sensible. Now, I can't just spill out everything here - because the uninitiated would have their brains explode by being exposed to the power of holy truth - but just for the fact that no one asked where the World Club Championship money went was a sign that maybe, just maybe, the club is moving forward. 50th anniversary should be a blast.

New South official site's arrival 'imminent'

Looking real good... when it comes out the results will speak for themselves... here's just a little sneak peek, which may be breaching certain boundaries, but hopefully it gets all of you out there just a little bit excited about the coming year, and hell, the whole future of the club.

I'd have posted more, but that would ruin the surprise then, wouldn't it? :smileyfase:

At least he's keeping busy

Apart from jumping onto the Melbourne Knights wagon train of the future, Jim Marinis has also been nominated for a spot on the FFV board. Quite as to why he hasn't provided a statement unlike the other five nominess is anyone's guess.

The 2nd worst kept secret in Victorian soccer

Billy Natsioulas, winger, fan, associate, contemporary, and once memorable contributor to South of the Border, has departed the club, and will head to ambitious state league 1 side Bentleigh Greens next year. We at South of the Border would like to wish Billy all the best at his new club, his recovery from injury, as well as his taking on the coaching reigns of the under 18 squad down at Kingston Heath. While it doesn't always end up the way you want it too, at least Billy has a VPL championship medal and the honour of playing for the club he grew up supporting, an opportunity so few players get.

Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to the forum to bash my head against the proverbial brickwall.

Knives out for newly signed duo

So, striker Joseph Youssef and defender Eddie Cetkin have signed from Fawkner and Western Suburbs respectively, and already their signings have been greeted with cries of 'qué horror'. And not just from supporters, but also from one time South defender and former team mate of Cetkin, one Arthur Tsonis. I'm willing to give them more time myself.

Jim Marinis joins Melbourne Knights

I had an article published in Neos Kosmos English Weekly yesterday, after I was asked to pitch in by their sports editor James Belias who's off holidaying somewhere. It's basically a collection of cobbled up rumours, innuendo and rehashed news from the 2009 pre-season with particular reference to the, ahem, Greek clubs, whatever the fuck that means these days.

But there was one part that hasn't been widely or publically reported yet, and that was the interesting move of former board member and football operations dude Jim Marinis across to the Melbourne Knights to play out a similar role. Which is a shame really, not necessarily for what we've lost or gained in his moving on from our club - as that all depends on who you listen to and some people are quite biased in their opinions - but moreso for the fact that he's now working against the club he allgedly loves or once loved.

Corporate Games 2008 wrap up

Saturday

It's a good thing I live near Paisley Park so I don't have to rush to the other side of town for an 8am start. On arrival, we find the Altona Magic side has one pitch unmarked and the venue unattended, while the Altona East side is all marked, has canteen open, and seems to be more up for it in general. Teams start arriving and we manage to sort through them without too much trouble. And then it starts. Referees start refusing to play on the unmarked ground, and then after a few serious injuries both typical and atypical football-wise, it gets to the stage where even the small East ground is deemed unplayable. So we have to squeeze four games which are meant to be played simultaneously into two grounds. This means that the 30 minute games which the teams have paid for are now reduced to 15 minute games.

I see a couple of South fans who are playing. One of their teams gets through comfortably, while the other is unlucky to miss out after losing their final game to a well hit freekick. Michael Curcija plays for one of the teams today, but his side is pretty disappointing. The weather seemed to ease up at one stage, only for it to deteriotate once more. Altona East's chicken skewer things really hit the spot, as did the putting on the lights for the final game of the day. All in all, considering all the nuisances we had to put up with, the day ended up ok, but a lot of that had to do with the way almost all the teams took the changes in their stride with nary a complaint.

Sunday

Albert Park the venue for the 6-a-side games. The grounds are a mess, and we're starting earlier. But it's generally running on time, and I'm thinking, ok, I'll be tired by the end, but will finish up here roundabout whenever I'm supposed to. But then things deteriorate steadily. The radio airwaves are clogged up with nonsense. My corresponding pitch marshal on the field next to me disappears every now and again. There are not enough bibs to go around for team clashes. Calls for medics, questions etc go unanswered. I'm not sure what's going on at venue control hq, and by the time the finals come about, I don't know where I'm supposed to send two teams who are waiting on the sidelines waiting for information their seeding. I'm tired. feeling sick, I help take down some nets, and resolve never to do this again. Once again the teams take it in their stride, the referees do the best they can, and most of the volunteers do the best they can in a bad situation. But I'm done with this. Too many teams and not enough time, and far too little pay for the hours and work we're supposed to do.

2009 fixture out and about

Well, finally, the 2009 fixture is out, and well may we say what a great fixture it is from a South perspective, for once. Three blockbuster home games in the first four rounds, and all games at Bob Jane Stadium, with whatever plans may have been in place to get the Lakeside redevelopment started by May 2009 pushed aside. All home games are seemingly on a Sunday at various times depending on the weather. Curiously Coburg and Sunshine have not had their venues confirmed for the new year. The former presumably should be moving inot their new home soonish after quite a delay, but their absence from their Knights Stadium arrangement is interesting for it's own reasons. Sunshine's 'has/hasn't been sold yet' Chaplin Reserve hasn't been declared up to scratch - the exact reasoning behind I'm not sure. Finally for whatever it's worth, I'm pissed of the Zebras game being a Monday night. Stupid decision which I hope doesn't stick but I fear it will.

1. 01 Mar 6:00PM South Melbourne vs Dandenong Thunder Bob Jane Stadium
2. 08 Mar 6:00PM South Melbourne vs Heidelberg Utd Bob Jane Stadium
   
3. 15 Mar 5:00PM Preston Lions vs South Melbourne BT Connor Reserve
4. 22 Mar 6:00PM South Melbourne vs Melbourne Knights Bob Jane Stadium
5. 30 Mar 8:30PM Whittlesea Zebras vs South Melbourne Epping Stadium
6. 05 Apr 4:00PM South Melbourne vs Richmond Bob Jane Stadium
7. 18 Apr 4:00PM Green Gully Cavaliers vs South Melbourne Green Gully Reserve
8. 26 Apr 3:00PM Coburg Utd vs South Melbourne To Be Confirmed
9. 03 May 4:00PM South Melbourne vs Oakleigh Cannons Bob Jane Stadium
10. 10 May 4:00PM South Melbourne vs Altona Magic Bob Jane Stadium
11. 17 May 3:00PM Sunshine Georgies vs South Melbourne To Be Confirmed
12. 24 May 4:00PM Dandenong Thunder vs South Melbourne George Andrews Reserve
13. 01 Jun 8:30PM Heidelberg Utd vs South Melbourne Olympic Park (Village)
14. 14 Jun 3:00PM South Melbourne vs Preston Lions Bob Jane Stadium
15. 21 Jun 4:00PM Melbourne Knights vs South Melbourne Knights Stadium
16. 28 Jun 3:00PM South Melbourne vs Whittlesea Zebras Bob Jane Stadium
17. 10 Jul 8:30PM Richmond vs South Melboune Kevin Bartlett Reserve
18. 19 Jul 4:00PM South Melbourne vs Green Gully Cavaliers Bob Jane Stadium
19. 26 Jul 4:00PM South Melbourne vs Coburg Utd Bob Jane Stadium
20. 31 Jul 8:30PM Oakleigh Cannons vs South Melbourne Jack Edwards Reserve
21. 09 Aug 4:00PM Altona Magic vs South Melbourne Paisley Park
22. 15 Aug 3:00PM South Melbourne vs Sunshine Georgies Bob Jane Stadium

Corporate Games 2008

Partly in an attempt to pay for next year's membership fees, I'll be marshaling at the Corporate Games soccer this weekend, at Paisley Park on Saturday for the 11 a side games, and at Albert Park for the 6 a side games. Good luck to all the competitors, but especially all South affiliated participants, in particular one who is set to come face to face with John Markovksi. If you see me, you know, come and say hello. Saw some of you last year, and also Alan Davidson in vintage form, a lot of fun. Probably do a bit of a wrap up as well on Monday.

Hamlet Armenian Goneski?

Strong rumours from various sources close to the action have indicated that Hamlet Armenian is on his way to our nearest rival geographically at least Richmond Alemannia. Hamlet did not have the best of seasons at South after coming across from Whittlesea Zebras this year. Stay tuned for more info as it comes.

Possibly Andy Vlahos... hmm

Our sources (4Flares) indicate that it may have been Andy Vlahos... except that it had Viviennes Collection on the front as sponsor.

Who was No. 24?

I bid (and won) the auction for this jersey for South Melbourne's biggest Polish fan (sorry Nick). But who was No. 24? Enquiries have been made, and hopefully we'll have an answer for you soon.

Football Non Stop

We're on it, sorta. It's an ambitious collection of bloggers and writers, and while the quality varies, and you're never sure with these start up things if they're going to last. You may find somethuing you like, or you may just end up sticking to what you know and love. Hopefully it's not all just A-League and overseas stuff and there's broad range of state, women's and other marginal stuff to expand the minds of the children out there. Link on the side down there, somewhere. I think they're going to get like a proper website addy soon, yeah.

Well how about that....

... no fixtures released. Damn.

I only have one other copy...

...so unfortunately, only one special person, probably already decided, will get their hands on one. One day, when I do a fully fledged awesome edition all proper like, yeah, you can all place pre-orders and sup on selected Yarra Valley cheese and wine at my upmarket book launch. I'm guessing that's some time away though.

Next year's fixtures

They're allegedly coming out on tomorrow. Last year the FFV put out dates, competeting teams in each division and a schedule of these things, but because perhaps they didn't stick to them and no one could do a thing about it anyway, they haven't seemed to have bothered this time around. Anyway, we'll see on Friday if any of this actually eventuates. I've heard though that we had a shocker of a draw in the provisional fixture, but that is has been revised since. Dandy and Bergers at home first up, then Preston and the Knights - if they're still called that next year - after that, and Oaks some time in round 9 or something.

Lakeside architect innuendo

Are these the guys who've been appointed to go through to transform and rejuvenate the place?

H20 Architects - needs Flash 7 to work which for some reason doesn't work on any of my four browsers except for Internet Explorer.

Anyway, if it's true, I wouldn't be disappointed... they seem to have some sort of pedigree, and I don't mind their modern/progressive approach if their previous work is a guide. As long as some natural light gets knocked into the social club of course.

That was alright

Won the shitkicker game 5-2, and Clarendon Corner finally broke their duck against Original Melbourne 21.

Website follies

Those crazy women and their website shenanigans. After earlier in the year getting a new website and ditching the old, cluttered, slow (but nicely ordered) one, then ditching that for a blog, they've gone back to using the original one. Thankfully, I never deleted the link from the side of the page, so access to it is still the same. No RSS feed on it, unlike the blog, which is a shame. Anyway, there were people allegedly working on a website for them - you know who you are - but that hasn't come through yet. Then again, the South official site was also meant to get an overhaul earlier this year, and has only recently been completed apparently. Will it ever be uploaded? Are they waiting for the new season to do it? The current version has been around for years - surely it's about time we moved on, making sure everything else is archived though, naturally.

Are you ready to laugh boys and girls?

Tomorrow is the day of the annual Clarendon Corner vs Original Melbourne 21 supporters match, which raises funds for our supporters group to make banners, fund gimmicks and help the club out where we can - this year that fund has already helped supplement the cost of the legendary Canberra trip, as well as buy the club a folding machine, amangst many worthy pursuits. Your correspondent will be playing in the shitkicker opening game tomorrow for the Whites against those evil Blues. There'll be food and drink as well, opening game starts at 1:00, main game at 3:15. Alas Cliff won't be there to sign autographs, but hopefully his mates decide to turn up.

Things we hear because of our awesome listening skills

Now we can't reveal everyhting we've heard but... apparently Ramazan, Yusef, Fernando all re-signed... and memberships possibly available for purchase in December and maybe even wait for it... online! Hooley dooley! Myself, I don't trust internet banking and will thus as per usual make my payment in person.

Kabaddi a bit of a letdown... apparently

Hmm, during this quiet time, the kabaddi people had their go at the venue and... were apparently quite disappointed with the way their event was run... a little dodgy according to their forums... I've been assured though that we got our ground hire fee upfront, which is refreshing.

South fans still waiting for call; believe its occurence imminent

On Wednesday evening, somewhere in Melbourne, a South Melbourne FC supporter reiterated the belief that that Football Federation Australia, and it's apparently floundering national competition, the A-League, needed or would need South Melbourne's participation, quite possibly sooner rather than later.

A recently re-admitted member of the unofficial South Melbourne internet forum 'smfcboard', known only as 'Puskas' - after legendary San Francisco Golden Gate Gales and Vancouver Royals coach Ferenc Puskas - claimed that eventually South would be let back in, therefore perpetuating one of the self-delusional myths which have hindered the club's progress since its fall from national league ranks.

In response to the most recent sunshine and lollipop fueled burst of rekindled hope, South Melbourne has extended the tenure of its dedicated staff whose sole purpose is to wait by the phone for that magical call.

Below: a dedicated worker waits for the call which will re-instate South to its rightful place in Australian football. 

South of the Border confessional

OK, enough is enough.

We all know there are plenty of present day South fans who, because of the stigma attached to it especially on smfcboard, are reticent to admit or are even fearful of admitting that they go to the Victory, either as a fan of the team or game in general, or who go to games semi regularly as a guest of other people, or who once did and have stopped, or any of the myriad possible combinations therein. This closeted approach is a cancer which blinds us to the reality of who is following our club these days. The pretence and the effort required to sustain the illusion is not worth the effort.

It's high time we had a confessional or amnesty for people to come forward, in safety from being mocked or belittled, where they can freely admit to their truer selves. I would love to see this happen on smfcboard - maybe I'll even be the one to start the thread - but to show that I'm genuine about this exercise, I will open myself up to the healing power of confession, in the hope of encouraging others to come forward and do likewise, and lay their conscience and souls bare for the world, to be free of the weight they carry.

I went to the Victory's 3 pre-season games and every home match of version 1. On a couple of occasions I listened to live radio broadcasts of matches. I have never seen an A-League game on tv, though I do not have Foxtel which makes it easier. I was curious, but by the end it was obvious the whole thing was not for me. The only contact I have had with a Victory game since February 2006 was the South-Victory friendly.

In the ensuing years, I have had offers to pay for my ticket, rationales thrust at me as to why I should accept, and I have rejected them with my entire being. That may work for some but not for all. If it doesn't there need no longer be any shame! This is not for those who have never had contact with Victory to get on their highhorses... but I would imagine there'd be very few people who have not dabbled in some sort of potentially 'poulimeno' behaviour along the wide spectrum available. So I say 'Confess, confess, confess!' And have that unholy weight lifted from thy shoulders. You can do it here if you wish, or you can do it in the darkness of smfcboard. But I beseech thee, for yours and South's sake, end the lies of omission now!

Wishing Eamonn all the best with his recovery

Now I don't know what our friend Eamonn's ailment is, but nevertheless, South of the Border wishes him all the best with his recovery, and a speedy return to full health and if not that, at least a speedy return to regular blogging. I'm not going to jump on the Canberra A-League bandwagon though. That's going a weeny bit too far. And where's my full copy of my interview? How will the Canberra bid cope without you and your relentless plugging and effort? :P

Kabaddi action at Lakeside this Sunday!

Well how about to this for something to do in the off season? If you're not familiar with this interesting sport, have a look at this clip for an example.



Not sure about what it's going to cost to get in, but seems like a worthwhile venture nevertheless. Apparently they had trouble finding a venue. Isn't it nice that the place is getting some use when we're not using it ourselves?

Yes, it's true... South of the Border book is coming out soon (hopefully)

But you can't have it. Why? Because there'll only be about five copies made, as part of my university course's 'publishing principles and practice' subject, where me and my team, ie, Scott, are supposed to create a full on, actual book, except for the legal stuff such as ISBNs, legal deposits and such. I'd put up a screenshot of the possible cover, but I'd rather show you the full on finished product. Who knows, maybe in 5-6 years time, there'll be a proper legit book put out? We'll see.

Apologies for my far too subtle ironing

This is a public apology directed to all those on smfcboard who took my 'big bombshell tomorrow' post seriously. What I will not tolerate however are accusations that I do not take the club's future seriously. I think I do take it quite seriously. In fact, I could probably list a whole bunch of examples of how seriously I do consider the issue... but they'd probably get lost in amongst all the Greek soccer threads. Oh well.

Politicial grandstanding or something more meaningful?

Thanks to Peter for giving us the heads up

Stadium funding dispute riles athletics community

Cameron Houston

October 23, 2008

A FUNDING dispute over the new athletics stadium in Albert Park could see the contentious project substantially scaled back and delayed, infuriating Melbourne's track and field fraternity.

Plans for the 5000-seat State Athletics Centre at Bob Jane Stadium have reached an impasse after the Department of Premier and Cabinet refused to increase funding for the project from $50 million.

Several senior State Government sources warned the new home of Athletics Victoria and the Victorian Institute of Sport might need to be reduced substantially.

A Government source said: "They want a modern stadium to accommodate crowds of 10,000, state-of-the-art facilities for the VIS and Athletics Australia and the redevelopment of Olympic Park for Collingwood and Melbourne (football clubs). They also want new soccer pitches for South Melbourne Soccer Club to keep them happy, but it simply can't be done for $50 million — something has to give."

The crowd figure of 10,000 would include 5000 seats and standing room for 5000 people.

The source said an initial budget request of $60 million had been rejected by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

"Victorian athletics is probably going to be the loser in all this," another Government source said.

A spokesman for Major Projects Victoria said the size and scope of the new athletics centre were being finalised, and would receive the bulk of government funding before the Olympic Park redevelopment.

Preparatory work on the Albert Park site began earlier this month, the spokesman said.

Last night, athletics legend Ron Clarke slammed the State Government's decision to relocate track and field from its spiritual base at Olympic Park and not adequately finance the move.

"They should never have moved athletics from Olympic Park," Mr Clarke said.

"Tradition counts for a lot and we saw with the AFL's decision to move its base to Waverley that bureaucrats often get it wrong."

He said track and field events had been ignored and underfunded by state governments around the country

"Despite that, we still produce champions and it's about time governments recognised and rewarded those efforts," Mr Clarke said.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates recently backed calls for more government money for elite athletes if Australia was to "take back the Ashes" at the 2012 London Olympics after Great Britain finished ahead of Australia in the Beijing medal count.

Athletics Victoria and the VIS said they had not seen plans for the Albert Park site and declined to comment on project funding.

Athletics Victoria has been kicking up a stink with a quite well run public relations campaign, but its been largely ineffective in the 'real world' - after all, most Australians only give a stuff about athletics every four years, and that boat has has just left port, not to be seen again for awhile. Do they really think they'll be thrown a bone? Because the inevitability of them being moved is, well, inevitable. Of course negotiations are still taking place behind closed doors as well; so really I'm thinking this is just part of the game rather than anything serious. Chances are they might win some concessions, and probably become the dominant tenant anyway, and thus this is an attempt to wrangle some token gesture. After all, Olympic Park has history - not just for them mind you - but it's also a shit venue on its last legs. They know it, everyone knows it. So why not just calmly come along and accept the situation and get it over and done with?

Not that South is the master of PR domain, but their silence also says something about the situation. That we are quite happy with how things are going, or that nobody really cares what we think unless it's to comment on a riot. Perhaps both. The funny thing is, we're in the position of power, with 7 years left on our lease, starting to maximise our ground hire earnings potential, and the need to appease us to get Collingwood in to Olympic Park and Athletics Victoria out as soon as possible. Not that I think we'll learn anything concrete about our move at this year's AGM, but it should be interesting at least in the way they try to deflect questions and overcome the classic Greek big mouth tendencies. Otherwise, this is largely aa filler piece, brining up something which is probably progressing as per usual behind closed doors.

Dollars and Sense, or what kind of price can you put on abstract concepts?

Stick with me as best you can because this might go all over the place or even nowhere. I was thinking recently about how much players might get paid in this league, and what influences other than money might have an impact on where players choose to spend their playing time.

A few years back on smfcboard, someone claiming to be Sam Poutakidis made what seemed to be an outrageous claim at the time, that someone might choose a club like Oakleigh not for the money but for its facilities. We all had a good laugh (and whinge)... but no one thought to start putting dollar signs or devising some kind of method. Now that's perfectly ok; the players themselves probably don't go through and list every detail and put a price on it, and it may even be that money is 90% of the deal.

But looking back on certain cases... Hamlet Armenian allegedly coming to South to cut down on travel time... Diaco enjoying having some sort of fandom to play in front of... a Billy Nats playing for the club he grew up supporting... a Scotty MacNicol coming back perhaps because of a lack of opportunities despite what he may have been getting... players coming to South perhaps in the belief that their A-League ambitions would be better suited at Lakeside than say Chaplin or Monterey Reserve... liking or disliking one coach over another... and never forgetting the lure of a championship, where rogue players and their clubs tolerate each other for as long as possible as long as glory is within sight... all of this to be considered within a framework where the next paycheque might never come in.

I don't know what the average VPL player gets for certain, let alone our boys. But for simplicity's sake let's say our boys get about $350-500 on average. The better players a little more, the younger fringe players a little less. If they were to be offered more money at other clubs, or perhaps less money to play for a geographically more suitable team, or any of the myriad options possible, how much would it take to tip them over the edge one way or another? If a player came out and said, 'I'm mostly about the money', would we all break out in shock, or applaud their honesty? Would other players follow suit? I'm not holding my breath for it to happen, nor do I suggest that a thought process is that rational... but players, coaches and clubs all make financial decisions which are not exclusively decided by money, and only hindsight, such as every payment cleared or a new trophy in the cabinet, gives us perhaps any clue if it was the right choice.

This is why I love my readers

Last Saturday I made a hasty post highlighting the recent activities of a couple of ex-South boys in the WA cstate side, completely overlooking Richie Alagich and Scott Tunbridge in the SA state team. Kudos to 'Anonymous' for picking up on this!

By Apollo I was bored on Friday

Got my brother to take a photo so I could have a profile pic as well as chuck a smaller version on the front page too. If anyone can think of a wittier witticism for a caption  and/or headline send it our way.

Week old news with tidbits on ex-South boys

26 game South veteran Ante Kovacevic, VPL championship player Antonio Naglieri and one time 2008 goalkeeping prospect - before 'fate' got in the way - Neil Young, all played for the Western Australia state team. They lost, but it's nice to know they're still alive I suppose.

WA Gunned down by South Aussies

Saturday, 11 October 2008
Western Australia have gone down 3-0 to South Australia in the Stratco Cup clash at Marden Sports Complex today.

SA took an early lead after a Chad Bugeja strike and doubled their advantage before the half time break thanks to a Ivan Karlovic header. Fred Agius wrapped up the victory with a well taken goal 13 minutes into the second half.

The gaee was played in sweltering 30 degree temperatures with both teams using their full complement of substitutions.

WA midfielder Marc Anthony underlined his credentials with a man of the match performance for the losing side.

Adelaide will travel to WA in 2009 for the return leg of the Stratco Cup, with a date yet to be formalised.


SA: Ben Moore (Daniel Godley 68'), Richie Alagich, Kristian Rees, Michael D'Aloisio, Ivan Karlovic, Aaron Goulding (Kim Stavrides 68'), Simon Catanzaro (Michael Lastella 81'), Chad Bugeja (Mimi Saric 73'), Fred Aguis, Scott Tunbridge

WA: Neil Young (Gareth Deeg 79'), Danny Cain, Jeff Bright, John Migas (Craig Young 67'), Shaun Kilkelly (Daryl Platten 71'), Andy Brown, Marc Anthony, Phillip O'Callaghan (Brad Scott 67'), Ante Kovacevic, David Micevski (Ian McMurray 45'), Antonio Naglieri

As per Bells request

Bells wanted to see this pic, and that's why it's going up. Classic stuff, enjoy. As with all picture placed on here, you can click on them to go to a full size version.

Attention People Hitting This Blog Looking For Summer League Fixtures

I don't have any, and there will not be any, unless South is in somehow. This is not an apology, more so a friendly piece of advice to direct you away from here and towards places where you may find them. Have a swell day.

And can I just say...

... that rearranging the furniture in my study/pc room was the best thing I've done this month... at least... maybe even this whole semester... because now less extensions means much better internet access and speeds which means me being able to watch streaming videos like the Socceroos beating a pathetic Qatar 4-0 with few breaks in quality until the last 20 minutes or so, when my bro started doing crap on the pc... anyway, the bad side was of actually having to listen to that farkstick Robbie Slater, especially when the Arabic language channel coverage cut out at 4-0 and went back to regular programming... which is a shame because I quite like Arabic commentary.

I've already said too much

So I was down at ye olde club offices yesterday, for evil purposes of course, when I was asked for my opinion on a number of matters. I was also placed under a gag order of sorts, which sucks. So I won't go into specific details, but I suppose I can give you the gist of went down last night, in an effort to show you, our loyal readers, that people at the club are working hard in the off-season for next year. I was shown two possible designs for next year's strip. Both were good, but I went with one over the other for reasons I can't go into. Both were an improvement over this year's strip, and probably every jersey we've had for a very long time. But that's just opinion.

I was also asked to look at the club's marketing strategy. Was pretty good, not much I could add to it really. Again, I can't say what was in it, but I can tell you one thing that wasn't. South of the Border. Oh, you know, as with any marketing strategy, ideas are canvassed about what media to make use of... and we didn't get a look in. I guess they just expect me to make my own way or some shite like that, or maybe they know that we can't be controlled... which is not true because I'm respecting their request to non-disclosure... well sorta. There was one other thing I was asked my opinion on, but I can't go into that whatsoever. I wasn't asked, in the words of erstwhile Croatian World Game forumite Novi Kralj, to compare apples to truck tyres though, you can rest assured of that.

End of season ball

Apparently there was a very good turnout - something that can't be said of game attendances for some reason - and peoples generally seemed to have a very good time. Not that I was there, but kudos to one board member who seemed to really to get into the spirit of things with a slightly outlandish costume. That just about wraps up the formalities of what could be attached to season 2008... except for the announcement of what should be an interesting AGM. Whaddaya say fellas? Some time in early November perhaps? There's a whole bunch of questions I want to to ask. And this time I will ask them.

Rumours and a little bit of truth

We knew it before, but now it's come from the Federation's own mouthpiece - our senior women are staying in the WVPL. Our thirds need to reapply though, otherwise they'll end up in the metro  league. As for the rumours... players such as Fernando De Moraes are allegedly shopping themselves around... hmm... remember nothing is official until January 1st and after any and all cheques clear... meanwhile, all quiet on all fronts basically about who's coming to us... a little unnerving.

Which one was the bigger game?

For those who haven't seen it already... as well as something to keep the blog going while I'm seriously busy and unable to do substantial updates, nor even troll the forums too much because of crappy internet at home.

South women finish 4th in Tracie McGovern Cup

South's women lost their 3rd/4th place platyofff against Illawarra 1-0 in extra time to finish 4th overall in the Tracie McGovern Cup. Alonmg the way they topped their qualifying group, and only a narrow loss to eventual winner and WVPL rival Casey Comets prevented them from reaching thr final.

A Sydney fan, a Glory fan and a South fan don't walk into a bar

Despite what many think and try to enforce as the only available discourse(s) on the New Dawn/Draining The Pond era, if people are willing to look for the complexities within, and have people willing to discuss them, even if we disagree, we can still learn a fair bit. What am I saying exactly? That on Saturday evening I had some great discussions about Australian soccer, the plight of Perth Glory which or may not be karma, inter and intra A-League club politics, and how you can earn 100k a year working at McDonalds in northern Western Australia. Which makes one reflect upon why that level of conversation/dialogue is seldom if ever carried out on a forum, and why the Sydney FC forum contains people, who though I may disagree with them, far more often than their Victory couterparts at least seem to come from a point of view of actually knowing about stuff that happened in the bad old days as opposed to merely repeating haphazardly what they learnt at NSL-hating school.

Leo and George walked in the 3XY studios...

...and had a chat with the presenter about Southern Cross things and South Melbourne things. Not knowing who they were representing and who was meant to say what was reassuring. Their future focus is now on South Melbourne and the Lakeside redevelopment of all things. Will Greeks support the Heart franchise? Who cares! They've either sold out or dropped out altogether, and are therefore irrelevant to us. Too much fumbling around, not really knowing what to say or whether it was worth it all. Apparently when asked if we're breaking even, Leo said yes! Really? I find that very hard to believe. Good luck to them anyway. Hey boys, when's the AGM on?

Hot Knights!

OK, so like a few weeks back I was at Laverton Market, and I happened to be searching through some second hand cds, when I happened upon this.

And it only cost $2! Well of course you have to have a listen. Would it be awesome, or would it totally suck balls? Would it justify all the Frozen Tears bagging by supporter and opposition alike? The lyrics didn't bode well. And after trying to resist for as long as possible, I finally strapped myself in for the ride so to speak. And for mine, it's just awful. Real awful. Some faux-Ricky Martin-lite dancey crap is probably the best explanation I can give. Frozen Tears "South Melbourne" by comparison is sheer genius. And hey, I like our unofficial theme song, but am ready to admit it's not the greatest song of all time. So who's responsible fot his travesty?

Well, quite surprisingly, people a lot more famous than Arthur Akritidis and co. David 'son of Jimmy Barnes' Campbell. Some local cover band guy Zoran Romic. And Brian Canham, yes the Brian Canham, lead singer of Guido Hatzis favourite band Pseudo Echo. How the mighty have fallen. Or not. To listen to the song, head here.

Apparently there some benefits to being a member

How about that? According to the South offiicial site, you can get a nifty 5% discount when shopping at Rebel Sport if you follow the instructions. Even better, South gets that 5% discount as a rebate. Yay. Pity I don't buy sports equipment, like, ever, but it might be useful for other peoples out there.

Jimmy Adam's stats

Jimmy's South stats were, for 1964, where he had a great season,

League : 18 games (17 starts) 12 goals

Dockerty Cup, 3 games, 1 goal 

1965 stats are alas fairly sketchy, here are his pre-South stats.

1964 championship player Jimmy Adam passes away

From the FFV site via smfcboard.

Monday 29 September 2008 

FOOTBALL Federation Victoria is saddened by the loss of one of football’s great stalwarts in James Adam. 

Known as ‘Jimmy’ to the football community, Adam arrived in Australia in 1964 after a stellar career in the United Kingdom, where he played with distinction for clubs such as Luton Town, Aston Villa, Stoke City and Falkirk. 

Adam’s first season in Australia proved a success, helping South Melbourne secure it’s second ever Victorian State League title in 1964 with a cornerstone display in his customary wing position. 

Jim continued on with the club the following season but eventually moved to George Cross where he assumed the head coach position. 

His ultimate success as a coach came in 1978, where he steered West Adelaide to the National Soccer League championship in his first and only season at the club. 

Adam passed away suddenly on Friday, at the age of 77.

Ex-South People *Heart* Melbourne Heart

So former prez Greg 'don't swear please' Kaias is on the backpage of Neos Kosmos, officially as part of the Heart consortium. After churning through Heidelberg, Collingwood Warriors and ourselves, is this the kind of person that we should be looking at for the future health of soccer in this country? I suppose if you've still got Remo Nagarotto out there, the Constantines, Catalano who's ditched the Royals and Victory, and Lowy who's old team dropped out one round into the 1987 season after they'd done a review culling half the teams, well I guess everyone's welcome. Well almost everybody. Even Trimmers is onboard, apparently praising them yesterday on SEN, though not having heard it myself, I'm wary of going on the advice of biased, lying, shit-stirring (poorly) knobjockeys and folks who had screaming kids in the car while it was on, no offence to anyone. Well, now they've got to sell it to the world, and not the just the FFA (though as they've not been given the licence yet, they still have to do that), so we'll get to be knowing them more and more as time passes. Maybe they'll find a way to use us too? Hmm.

Apologies, sorta, for the lack of posting

I know I said I'd have something on the Southern Cross knock back by today, but the things I was working on got so big, and I got distracted also by my OzFootball Futsalroos work, that my view on the whole thing will inevitablhy be dlayed a little longer.

Weekend derby

This Sunday will see the under 14 girls of South Melbourne and Port Melbourne play in what was meant to be a highly anticipated friendly match between South Melbourne and a team from Tasmania, but since the Tasmanian team has pulled out, good old Port have taken their place. :)

South and Port, two classic well known teams, each have a long and interesting history. Port's season? I personally believe Port had the ability to get a couple of spots higher, in the top 4 at least, but they didn't push to the limit, and it showed in their end season result. They had alot of capability in their matches but I could see they failed to capitalise. South's season? Roughly the same, but they really should've ended in front of Box Hill. To come second last, where they were overall a better team than Box Hill, and had better chances, is dissappointing. But we're over it. We're looking onto next season.

Round 1 of the past season saw South playing at Port's home, and copping a 6-1 loss in their first game of the year. A great victory for Port, would've given them high spirits, especially in their first game. Round 10, when they met again, saw Port steal a 2-1 victory over at South's ground. Port may have been alot stronger, but South really pushed the last time they faced Port, and the final score showed. This will be the final time the two teams face each other this year, and it really will be a good game. The teams may not be upto scratch, with people being on holiday, and girls who aren't at full-season fitness, but it'll be an entertaining game nonetheless.

We encourage everyone to come down and support the girls in their final game this year!! :)
Place: Bob Jane Stadium
Kickoff: 11am
Entry: Free

Can South get third time lucky? :D

Southern Cross A-League Dream Dashed

So that's that then

FFA Press Release

SYDNEY

26 September 2008

The Hyundai A-League is set to expand further with confirmation today that Football Federation Australia (FFA) has granted exclusive negotiation status to a consortium for a second team based in Melbourne for entry into the Hyundai A-League in 2010-11.

FFA CEO Ben Buckley said that the consortium is led by Melbourne businessman, Peter Sidwell.

“We received two very high quality proposals for the second Melbourne license, and we had very good discussions with both consortia.

“We were very impressed with the professionalism and strength of both bids,” said Buckley.

“The level of interest and quality of the proposals reflect the momentum behind the growth and development of the Hyundai A-League,” said Buckley.

The other proposal came from a consortium known as Southern Cross FC.

FFA will now accelerates its discussions with the Sidwell-led consortium.

“We continue to be very encouraged with the level of interest in the Hyundai A-League,” Buckley said.

“The attractiveness of the competition is clearly reflected in the level of interest in the additional licenses and the quality of the bids we are receiving."

Buckley reiterated the FFA’s earlier view that, ultimately, the Hyundai A-League has the capacity to be at least a 12 team competition and possibly 14 teams.

“When and where we expand the competition is measured simply by whether it is right for football, right for the existing Hyundai A-League clubs, right for the new clubs and right for the local community,” Buckley said.

FourFourTwo Article

Comments from me on Sunday.

Lakeside redevelopment update - architects probably appointed

After our update of earlier this week, Neil Zimmerman has come through with some more up to date info for us.

Paul,

Just had a word with one of our directors about the lakeside redevelopment. Apparently we missed out, but there was a short list of three, so in all reality an architect has probably been appointed by now. Still the timeframe of anything happening by May next year is highly unlikely.

Cheers

Neil

Now who are they and what will it look like? Who knows.  But a little piece of the puzzle has fallen, along with some idea of where we are in the project timeline. Forgot to mention also that our reps were meeting with the government reps on Tuesday about this whole thing. No idea oif what's come out of that.

Women's presentation night

Disappointed that it doesn't seem that I will be able to defend my trivia night crown this year, so going to give this one a miss, but I hope they have fun nonetheless. Good to see it being held at our social club too, instead of some pub.

Club legends at the Show

Towards the end of a fun day at the 2008 Royal Melbourne Show with my good friends yesterday, I noticed two very familiar faces come along with their family. They were none other than Dean and John Anastasiadis. Good to see them there and ready to enjoy the night with their family. Otherwise, it was a really good day at the Show and we had a great time.

I was able to get a photo with Deano too, but Johnny had gone somewhere. :P

Take it easy ;)

Lakeside redevelopment curiosities

Excerpt from a discussion on the Victory forum, the Neil by the way is Neil Zimmerman, our friend from The 84th Minute site:


Paul: There may be a heritage overlay on the precinct, but not on the stand itself. Considering they're 'supposed' to start work in May next year there's a reassuring lack of detail about the project that's been released to the public.

Neil: That's highly unlikely. They haven't appointed an architect for the job. My firm is in the running for the job and we haven't heard yay or nay in terms of appointments.


Meanwhile a South insider, after being questioned about the veracity of the info, relayed some different information, claiming they've had the architects visit the joint already. Hmm.

Not sure what to make of it all

Those still supporting the 'kyanolefki' in these difficult times will likely have fond memories of the 2006 season. We did win a championship after all, even if it wasn't the type we had become accustomed to. But disappointingly, The Age didn't see fit to mention anything about it whatsoever, the off the record excuses being that The Age doesn't cover second tier sport - which means that VAFA matches, under 18s and third rate country aussie rules leagues are top tier sport, because they get their coverage every week - and that Michael Lynch was in Perth anyway covering the Glory-Victory game, and ya know, it's not like Fairfax has a whole network of suburban sport reporters or could hire a freelancer for one game. The Herald Sun wasn't much better, dedicating a whole thimble of space to the decider, chucking Peter Desira's name on it even though he wasn't there either (probably in the same place Lynchy was) and even got Gianni De Nittis goal all wrong - he headed it in, not kicked it. But hey, it was something, I guess, if you're satisfied by that kind of treatment.

So upon reading The Age's sport section yesterday morning, being bored at school and whatnot, I was quite surprised to see a dedicated and colourful article on last Sunday's VPL grand final. I mean, where did this come from? It had Lynchy's name on it, it was fairly comprehensive, had some nice photos. What's changed on the two years since our non-appearance in the same paper? Did it get in because Michael happened to be in Melbourne this time as opposed to covering an interstate Victory fixture? Would the article have been written if he was interstate or overseas? And what happened to the second tier sport line? You don't want to start trotting out conspiracy trains of thought, because then you look like a paranoid moron. But it does get you thinking as to what are the hard and fast rules about a newspaper works, how much of it whim, and why one whim overcomes another in a similar circumstance. I suppose what we need now to test out the situation further is for South to reach the final next year, win the game, make sure Lynch is in Melbourne, and see what happens. I think we might need NASA to tell us if these three phenomena could ever possibly align.

Oh and the Herald Sun this year? Zilch.

A little optimistic don't you think?

Okay, so someone out there's got a little bit excited. It's a genuine search as far as I know. The FFA have stated that the announcement will be made before Christmas, so just relax, m'kay?

Because some of you might care

Mostly for my US and Athens based fans. Altona Magic 1-0 over the Knights in the final. Nine game South veteran Carl Recchia with a 120th minute winner. Can't get to play the Knights theme song now. Meh.

Ange's Panachaiki bomb out of Greek Cup

Not good news from Patras, where Panachaiki crashed out of the Greek Cup with a 4-0 home loss to 2nd Division and 1980 Cup winners Kastoria. Unconfirmed rumours suggest that Ange's tenure is nearing its end - but in Greek football, that's not necessarily a surprising occurence.

Your eyes are just like, black spiders...

Ok, so not quite powder blue, but something a little different to look at.

It's Official! South girls stay in WVPL!

Good news received from the women's team blog:

Women in WPL 2009
It has today been officially confirmed that SMWFC will remain in the WPL for season 2009.

The FFV released its decision, confirming that the eleventh placed team (GSL) would be relegated to State League 1, and no teams will be promoted. The league will be a 10 team competition in 2009.

We can also confirm that both Moris Mihailidis and Matthew Shaw will be continuing in their respective positions as the Senior and Reserve Coaches for the 2009 season. We look forward to building on the groundwork that has been done in 2008 by both players and coaches.

It would have been an absolute travesty to relegate them after putting up a decent fight and some good showings throughout the year after winning promotion. Now they can enjoy their Tracie McGovern Cup trip in Port MacQuarie next month a bit more. And when doI get a chance to defend my trivia night crown of last year?

South still top of the league standings

All time NSL/A-League table on Das Libero has been updated. It's got the usual suspects - who don't hate South it should be remembered, in spite of all the, um, well, hatred, they display - in a bit of a spin, but man, come on. It's just a simple set of stats. Just a tally of sorts. Not purposely designed to further any political ambitions, nor to be viewed as some sort of anti A-League social commentary. Maybe I'm just naive.

McNamee 'management consultant'

See, now you have it in writing... of course they haven't won the bid yet and may not but who would be in line for the off-field jobs if they do? So many questions yet unanswered. But this for mine pretty much puts paid to one of the rumours circulating that McNamee would be the club's CEO if the bid was successful. Scroll down to the bolded part.


McNamee gets a tilt at dream job

Linda Pearce
September 18, 2008

PAUL McNamee has switched his focus from the domestic to the international, shelving a plan to seek nomination for the Tennis Australia board during next month's first election under its new constitution and instead pursuing the position as chief executive — and possibly chairman — of the men's governing body, the ATP.

A former Australian Open tennis and golf administrator and recently axed head of the Melbourne Football Club, McNamee has already privately expressed his interest in the ATP role being vacated in December by South African Etienne de Villiers. The search is expected to take several months; Tennis Australia board nominations close on Friday week ahead of the October 27 vote.

New York lawyer John McEnroe snr, Sydney-based ATP executive Brad Drewett and veteran American tennis identity Butch Buchholtz have all been linked to the prestigious ATP job, with 73-year-old McEnroe snr having publicly flagged his intention to apply. So, now, has McNamee, who recently canvassed the possibility of succeeding Geoff Pollard as Tennis Australia president. Pollard intends to stay on for a final two-year term.

"I don't think you can be pursuing international positions at the same time as getting involved in domestic politics, so I'm not intending to stand for the (TA) board," McNamee said yesterday.

The former Wimbledon doubles champion said the ATP role would "be a dream for anybody in tennis, the ultimate job, and I've got my energy on that as far as work is concerned — not that I was looking for a job at Tennis Australia, by the way, but until the ATP process plays out I won't be pursuing another formal job here".

De Villiers has served as both chairman and CEO of the ATP, and no decision has been made on whether to continue with that system or revert to split roles. "It's very early days. All we know is there's a vacancy — or two," said McNamee, who is nursing a badly injured left hand that required surgery after an accident dismantling a door earlier this week.

"They've only just started the process of hiring the search firm — all I'm doing, along with everybody else, is expressing an interest.

"I guess I would be pretty hopeful of getting to the interview stage, and once you get to that stage you've always got a chance, but it will be highly sought-after. It's a very important job in the sport, especially with all the changes that are happening now. It will be a plum job for somebody."

McNamee continues to organise — but no longer owns — the Hopman Cup, and is a management consultant of the Southern Cross FC consortium, which is bidding for the second A-League Melbourne franchise.

Tennis Australia's member representatives will elect a president and six other board members at its annual general meeting, with the board then appointing two further directors.

Stevie's staying, Stuey's going

News from the official site is that Stevie O'Dor has been signed up for another couple of years. Anecdotal but more or less confirmed news is that Stuart Kelly's going home.

Southern Cross in Neos Kosmos English Weekly

So there I was talking about the Large Hadron Collider last week when there was some real news out there. Or maybe not. Depends on your point of view I guess. Note the out of date reference to the $50 million upgrade to Lakeside, which, as we learned last week, has just dropped by at least $11-12 million after the latter amount was revealed to be heading to the revamp of Olympic Park instead. Also note the lack of comittal to the naming of McNamee as anything other than someone that helps around the place at the moment, without trying to say as much. And there's a bit about Murray's attempt to preserve his legacy. Sorry if it all sounds a bit negative, you mught not see it that way.


Southern Cross eyes the future

James Belias

SOUTHERN Cross FC have unique ambitions for the rich future of Australian football. The consortium aims to become the second Melbourne team in the A-League, and has secured the involvement, support and backing of two of the biggest names in Australian sport. The consortium announced a major coup with the inclusion of SBS' Les Murray and prominent sports administrator Paul McNamee as they presented their broad-based bid to the Football Federation Australia (FFA).

Spokesperson Jim Mellas told NKEE in an exclusive interview that the bid for Southern Cross FC had been presented to the FFA and that it had been well received. "The Southern Cross consortium presented its bid on Monday 25 August 2008. We explained to FFA our comprehensive strategic plan to establish a second football franchise in Melbourne that is inclusive, broad based and aimed at the whole of Victoria. The team confirmed to FFA that it met all financial, infrastructure and football operations requirements," Mellas said.

"It also set out its detailed plan to launch the team into the Melbourne market including an outline of its proposed brand. In addition, the financial backers were identified and a detailed business plan for the first 5 years in the A-League, as well as the lead up before launching, was presented," he added.

Mellas indicated that the FFA was impressed by the Southern Cross bid. "The FFA received the bid very well, seeing it as commercially viable and compelling. All four of us presenting the bid felt confident afterwards about the prospects of the bid," he said.

The involvement of Paul McNamee undoubtedly brings significant organisational clout to the team. McNamee, a former Australia tennis player who successfully won Davis Cups for his country along with numerous singles and doubles titles was CEO of the Australian Open for a number of years. Additionally, McNamee has served as Tournament Director of the Australian Gold Open and recently served a short period as CEO of the Melbourne Football Club. Mellas indicated that McNamee would be a valuable addition to the Southern Cross organisational team. "Paul is one of Australia's most experienced sports administrators," he said. "He has been engaged to advise Southern Cross on commercial matters."

Les Murray is a well respected household name in Australian sports casting and undoubtedly an authority on Australian football. Mellas indicated that Murray played a significant role in the presentation of the bid to the FFA. "Les has been engaged to advise on football matters and act as an ambassador for Southern Cross," Mellas said.

Speaking to NKEE, Les Murray described the Southern Cross bid a "football-focussed" and not driven solely by results on the football pitch. "I like the unique vision, which is very football-focussed and all about a club which wants to brand itself through the quality of its football," said Murray.

"In the new catchphrase, 'old soccer, new football', there is yet to be any attention paid to the significance of the 'new football' half of that dogma. This (Southern Cross FC) is a club that will want to bring more to its market, and its supporters, than just results by any means. It wants to provide some substance, real entertainment, and not rely entirely on its win-loss record for its survival."

The inclusion of Murray is a nod to the rich tradition of football in Australia, something which the FFA have been seemingly intent to forget. Traditional fans of the sport will also note with interest the involvement of South Melbourne FC with the Southern Cross bid. Details are fragmented and sketchy at this early stage, but it is understood that Southern Cross would largely benefit from the existing infrastructure of South Melbourne, including the soon-to-be revamped Bob Jane Stadium which will be receiving a State Government sponsored $50 million upgrade.

Mellas confirmed that South Melbourne FC would be distinct from Southern Cross and that the historic Albert Park club would continue in the Victorian Premier League/Foxtel Cup.

"South Melbourne will continue to be based and play at the redeveloped Bob Jane Stadium. South Melbourne is a commercial partner in the Southern Cross bid. It will have a stake in the Southern Cross franchise and enter commercial arrangements with Southern Cross to use its infrastructure and facilities.The benefits to South Melbourne are both financial and non-financial".

As football fans in Melbourne prepare for the announcement of a long-awaited addition to the football landscape of Victoria, the wait could be shorter than expected, with a decision expected by the end of the year.

OzFootball - Looking for volunteers

Some of you may have seen this around certain A-League forums, and to those people I apologise, kinda. For about a year now I've been in sorta charge of the OzFootball Club Database. One of the more time consuming aspects of this work is the compilation of statistics to do with match results of seasons and player rosters, as in the examples below.

South Melbourne Player Roster

South Melbourne Match Results

Now, it's all in html, the template is set, and much of the info is available in unsorted or semi-sorted formats in other parts of OzFootball. The hard part is making sure player roster info in particular is accurate, as well as because it's in html, the time required to do it. Now, I've been very gradually doing the South related stuff, and I have people already working on A-league stats, but there's a heap of NSL club sides that really should have their histories, which are also our histories, preserved and presented in a clear and accessible manner.

You will of course be credited and thanked for any work you do. It also gives one a nice warm feeling inside to know that they're part of the solution of 'oldskool' preservation instead of just another person who merely talks about it. As well, the information gathered will also be able more easily transferred to other parts of the site, such as the player stats pages.

If you are keen to do something, send me an email at blackmissionary@hotmail.com, or if you're keen on helping in some other area, contact one of the other people co-ordinating projects. Hope to here from you.

Jumbled notes from listening to the radio

The message on the forum went out, Southern Cross is going to be discussed on the radio, 3XY Radio Hellas to be exact, at 8:30pm. So I switch it on, and hear that they're going to be talking to Aki Ionnas and Johnny A', who actually got the coaching job at Oakleigh don't ya know, replacing another one of our ex-coaches Stuart Munro. Anyway, rather bland interview that, though one had to chuckle when the host was talking about how players were hard to keep at South during Johnny A's time at the helm, specifically mentioning the A-League, but not his current employer's love of taking on anything to do with South Melbourne, player, fan, coach, sponsor, you name it.

Anyway, the following notes were done on the fly for those without 3xy access or maddd greek skillz bro.

Leo Athanasakis and George Parthimos were representing the club and/or Southern Cross FC, at times the lines were a bit blurred.

Host opened up with a retarded question about the coaching change - Leo sounding like he's at a kafeneio - which'd be ok if he was at a kafeneio, but he's not. Host also didn't realise at first that we'd missed the finals two years in a row.  Leo mentioned that we signed up Micky M for two years. But you already heard that here second.

There was some crap about the summer league, nothing new, usual innuendo about South being in it as itself and not as part of a consortium.

Lakeside talk followed, with nothing new really, just general agreement that it's a good thing and talking about details everyone knows about, except for the social club revamp, which people might not. Still thoigh, nothing earth shattering revealed.

A-league stuff finally came about- I'm not sure even they know how the relationship between Sexy FC and SM Hellas will work - they know it will be separate but beyond that nothing new.  

George Parthimos wished his dad a happy name day. Meh. Chit chat about McNamee and Murray - about how they wouldn't put their names to something without substance. No decision yet on South's percentage .

Assorted crap about Melbourne Heart - bagging it, saying that it has no football peerage, trying to dance around Greg Kaias possible involvement with the Heart consortium, but being ultra carful not to mention his name, like he's Yahweh or something.

Sexy FC rreckon they've shown that theirs in the best solution for the 2nd licence. 

Then I kinda fell asleep for a moment. 

Minor talk about the A-League getting boring with the same old teams, and the difference in demographics between Sydney and Melbourne. Talk about Sexy FC being broadbased, not Hellas based, and how the FFA are talking to us, they're not locking us out.

Conclusion: It's not South Melbourne, FFA rules need it to be 'broadbased' and based on private capital - talking about the difficulty of being a member run club these days.

Cue Ricky Martin's Maria

Something for a lazy dog dangling afternoon

I AM (FAKE) GRAHAM

Little bit of Lakeside redevelopment news

It's a bit troubling we have to learn these things by eavesdropping on other people's private conversations... nevertheless, while there's some old info in there, the clarification that the $50 million is for every part of the project - including the reconfiguration of Olympic Park for Collingwood's use - is a little troubling. Are they the only ones getting what they want out of this?

Email from Athletics Victoria President Anne Lord: 

Dear friends, 
Please note this is a personal email not an official Athletics Victoria one! 
As you know we are relocating from Olympic Park to a new State Athletics Centre at the Bob Jane Stadium in Albert Park. 

This has great potential for the future development of athletics in this state. In order to secure the best outcome for athletics, the facility must be bigger and better than Olympic park (as promised). The government has allocated $50 million to this project and have promised an international standard facility including track and field facilities and offices. 

This $50 million must cover the cost of redeveloping OP for Collingwood (estimated 11-12 million), relocating the VIS and its facilities, redeveloping ovals for the South Melbourne soccer club and finally for our track, and warm up are, hammer facility, and buildings. 

Obviously this project is chronically underfunded. 

I am asking that you write to your local state member, expressing concern that 

-there may be insufficient funds (the project is chronically/severely underfunded) to develop the state athletics centre (including track, stadium and offices) as promised. Unless the new centre can offer what we had and more than Olympic Park,the move will be for nothing. It must have the potential to attract crowds both participants and spectators. We are also in danger of losing the Melbourne Athletic grand prix event, the main show case of our sport, unless the facility is of appropriate standards. 

We need all state government members to push for sufficient/increased funding to secure the future of athletics in Victoria. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions 0419872950 and please pass on to other athletic friends. 

Thanks 
Anne Lord

Earth Not Shattered Into A Million Pieces... Yet

This Large Hadron Collider business has got a whole lot of folks worried about the Earth blowing up. Was supposed to destroy us all at 5pm AEST a couple of days ago... and then it turned out that they had only sent particles in one direction, and that the real test involving collision won't happen until the 26th October or something. Which is mirroring the current Southern Cross debate in uncanny ways, if you squint real hard. So far Southern Cross has been sending its 'we want in' particles around the place, and got a whole bunch of people in a spin, and yet nothing's really happened. Is it possible that if they are successful, their ambition colliding with certain people's perceived reality will shatter the earth? Or at least Australian football? Hard to say. Kinda want it all to happen for that reason now, to see us all get sucked into a black hole of endless stupidity. But then I remember that Australian I Can't Believe It's Not Soccer is that black hole, and we should probably move our focus away from Big Bang theories and into areas dealing with Hugh Everett III's Many Worlds Theory, which might explain how fucked up everything is right now and always has been. I dunno, I guess I'm just a bit bored and disappointed with a few people at the moment. 

Rumour on make up of next year's WVPL

Not sure of the validity of the following info, but a little ray of hope possibly for SMWFC on their fight to stay in the Victorian top flight.

WPL will consist of 10 teams in 2009, idea is to strengthen the league and allow for w-league and summer league to creep into the space. There will be 2 relegated from 2008 WPL (Eastern Lions, GSL) and no promotion from State 1.

Source: The Football Magnate posting on soccer-forum

Wasn't just me who thought it was a piece of crap

SBS Shoot Down Southern Cross Bid

Michalakopoulos re-appointed; Scotty Mac, Van Dominator gone

Michalakopoulos Re-appointed Coach for 2009/10

Great to Micky M have his contract renewed after an apparently tense and not well handled negitiatian process. The departure of Scot MacNicol and Adam Van Domelle for various reasons is not a surprise to those in the know, but its confirmation now let's people's jubilation and/or despair kick in all legit like.

Plastic (Football) Surgery But Not As You Know It

For those who haven't seen it yet, here is the video in question. (video no longer available)

After watching the piece, I felt so disconnected from my experience of the National Soccer League, that I had to check my body for scars. Not finding any - except for those inflicted by my cat Scratchy - I was wondering how even SBS could fall so head over heels in love with the portrayal of the game. Not that I had been expecting favourable treatment from the Sydney Broadcasting Service. But what kind of weird hatchet job was this? And how nicely timed was it that it was played while Les Murray was on his way home from the studio? No, that's a conspiracy theory line of thought. The question is did Les even see it? Les who is supposed to be working for us/Sexy FC? And if he did see it, what prevented him from saying, "Hey, that's a bit fucked up you know? The NSL wasn't that bad, and besides, why can't we show both sides of the issue a little more fairly?" Or if he didn't see it, what kind of clout has this guy got at SBS anymore? And is it worth even keeping him on the payroll of the Sexy FC team?

Anyway, it starts off with what appears to be the Pratten Park riot - in Sydney and nothing to do with South. Then goes to footage of flares and such at The 2005 South-Preston argle bargle. Which wasn't in the NSL. And even includes the Bonnyrigg vs Sydney United violence - which is not even NSL or South Melbourne related. And of course completely ignores the multiple incidents of violence at A-League games. And as one observant fan put it, why did they go with only the riots? Some great players scored some great goals in front of great crowds, and yet we get the same footage repeated ad nauseum. It's one thing to have this done by a commercial network, but SBS is supposed to be more culturally sensitive to the negative portrayal of ethnic communities and that of football as well.

But the most bizarre thing of all was the appearance of some Victory supporter called Jordan Caridi. Introduced as a 'Victorian football fan' - whose claim to fame appears to be that he's been following the game for ten years, once posted on a 'sack Merrick' petition site and that he was once owed $156 by Telstra. Apart from his comments which are essentially a rehash of the newbreed/O'Neill spin we've been hearing since day one of year zero, how did he get the gig out of the hundreds of thousands of football fans in the state? Because it just so happens that I too am a football fan. And I've been following the game since about 1992/93. And if you want my credentials, just ask and ye shall receive. But should I be asked to put forward an opinion on behalf of every football fan in the state?

To be fair though, the posing of Jim Mellas as a Southern Cross FC official/spokesperson and not at all as one of South Melbourne's vice presidents is at best disingenuous, and at worst, and this was I'm leaning more towards now, blatantly dishonest. And the tightrope walking being done to embrace South supporters on the one hand and deny South's existence on the other - and I mean this in the existential sense of trying to deny its very character and identity - is getting quite ludicrous. What is it that not only we as South fans - whether we choose to physically support the new franchise or not - as well as the general not Victoryfied, still open minded and undecided demographic are being asked to support? The longer the PR battle goes on without the substance to back it up that everyone craves, the stupider everyone, including South Melbourne, will look. Did these people learn nothing from the 'Press Release Follies' episode of our A-League bid?

So, to sum up. Mostly out of context footage, one biased virtual nobody speaking on behalf of everybody, one doppelganger of a South boardmember and one once renowned and respected football journalist with hands in two pies and unable to eat any of them to his liking. It's a wonder why anyone is taking any of this seriously whatsoever. And that's the problem right there in a nutshell.

Kimon Taliadoros Scholarship

The following was sent to us by everyone's 2nd favourite South Melbourne related journo Bells - the first being South of the Border's very own Cliff, natch - and edited accordingly for extra Hellasification. It's about Kimon and friends promoting the whole Mens Sana In corpore Sano thing, and why not? Good philosophy I reckon.

Two outstanding footballing students, Central Coast Mariners' Andrew Clark and Newcastle Jets' Adam D'Apuzzo, were awarded the inaugural PFA Kimon Taliadoros Scholarships last week in Sydney.

The PFA Taliadoros Scholarships have been established by the Australian Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) in honour of former Socceroo, South Melbourne championship winner and PFA co-founder Kimon Taliadoros. 

The Scholarships will be awarded annually to 2 players who demonstrate excellence in their off-field development, especially through education. One recognises achievement by an experienced player in preparing for life after football. The second is awarded to a player under 23 still forging and building his playing career. Each scholarship is worth $5,000.

"I am delighted the PFA has launched this initiative," Taliadoros said today. "I am even more pleased that, in conjunction with Football Federation Australia, the PFA is implementing programs throughout the A-League and all Australian national teams that aim to develop players both as footballers and citizens."

Andrew Clark not only helps marshal the Central Coast defense; he also acts as the Mariners' Head of Sport Science (Strength & Conditioning Coach). Having obtained a Bachelor of Sport Science in 1996, Clark has committed to a Master of Philosophy in Sport Science at the University of Newcastle since joining the Mariners. The focus of his thesis is the time and motion analysis of elite professional footballers through the use of GPS technology. His on motion analysis using GPS technology has been presented to the 2008 European College of Sport Science Conference in Lisbon, and is on the agenda for the Football Australasia Conference to be held in Melbourne in October.

Whilst winning the 2008 A-League Championship with the Newcastle Jets, Adam D'Apuzzo successfully continued his Bachelor studies in Law and Commerce at the University of New South Wales. Adam graduated from Trinity Grammar in 2004 with a UAI score of 95.3%, and has not let the demands of life as a full-time professional footballer override his academic ambitions.

Taliadoros acted as the PFA's inaugural Chief Executive in 1994 and 1995 (whilst still playing in the former National Soccer League), and served as PFA President from 1995 to 1998. He enjoyed an outstanding playing career, illustrated by 9 Socceroos appearances, 244 NSL games, 82 goals (leading goal scorer in 1992) and 2 NSL Championships (South Melbourne in 1991 and Marconi in 1993). At the same time, Taliadoros demonstrated educational excellence, obtaining professional business and accounting qualifications after leaving school and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) later in his playing career.

South of the Border Awards for 2008

Yeah, yeah, time to do this again. Only I, Paul, had anything to do with this list. Except for the under 21 player of the year, which was handed to our own under 21 contributor of the year, Cliff. And his choice was a pretty good one, as well as his footage of our goal of the year.

Player of the year: Nathan Caldwell. Well duh. Put in plenty of effort throughout the year, set up some great chances, snagged a few goals, though he could've had more. Seemed revivatilsed by the arrival of Micky M. If anything, our most consistent player this season, when consistency was an attribute sorely lacking

Under 21 player of the year: Gianni De Nittis. Had a solid season particularly after the arrival of Micky M. Will be amongst the first signings of a Southern Cross team you'd hope.

Goal of the year: Not too many contenders, and some may think Fernando's free kick against Western Suburbs should be a shoe in, but no. The winner is Hamlet Armenian's goal against Oakleigh. Spectacular? No. From a short corner? Yes. 'Nuff said really. Now stop doing them.



Best performance over a whole match: Hmm, tough one. The Knights game at home, thoroughly enjoyed the game, even if we tired towards the end.

Best period of play during the season: Those two goals in two minutes against Preston at BT Connor. Probably.

Best away game: Richmond and Frankston would be right to feel jilted, where it for any other season where we didn't go to Canberra. Read all about it here, minus all the in-jokes that we just can't reprint.

Best call on the terraces: 'Why'? If you were there, you know what I'm talking about.

Chant of the year: Anything to do with this would have won


But best of all was the staccato, Pi O-esque oh. oh. oh. version. It was getting all literary and highbrow there for a sudden.

Soccer Forum Registrations Now Open - For Real

Looks like Sam/Siroki's alternative forum did the trick, as soccer-forum.net is now open for registrations. You can't use a hotmail or gmail account though. Have fun kids.