Screenings of the documentary on Ferenc Puskas and his time in Australia just will not quit. Now the club itself is getting into the game by holding its own screening on December 4th, 7pm, at the Astor, with all the trimmings of a Q&A and special guests and such, rather like the film's Melbourne premiere in October. If I may say so, this is getting a bit weird, in ways that I can only really articulate in a separate post dedicated to the film as a whole. I may have started writing something about that, but don't hold your breath on waiting for that to come out, because you know how the blog is these days. Anyway, the film's pretty good, so go check it out if you haven't seen it already, unless you've already bought tickets to the Matildas match on the same night.
Forums - apparently people are still setting up new ones!
I was asked via email to promote this new Australian soccer forum which includes some South Melbourne Hellas content and commentary, and would apparently like more. It looks like an off-shoot of the 442/Inside Sport forums - not my cup of tea, but it may be yours, especially if you're looking for an alternative to the relative Fort Knox of smfcfans.com, and the dearth of South content on other social media like Twitter, Facebook (at least the places I visit), and Reddit. (and while it's still early days, I really don't anticipate Bluesky becoming a South Melbourne Hellas/NPL wonderland).
2025, here we come
Forums - apparently people are still setting up new ones!
I was asked via email to promote this new Australian soccer forum which includes some South Melbourne Hellas content and commentary, and would apparently like more. It looks like an off-shoot of the 442/Inside Sport forums - not my cup of tea, but it may be yours, especially if you're looking for an alternative to the relative Fort Knox of smfcfans.com, and the dearth of South content on other social media like Twitter, Facebook (at least the places I visit), and Reddit. (and while it's still early days, I really don't anticipate Bluesky becoming a South Melbourne Hellas/NPL wonderland).
2025, here we come
A very large chunk of the 2024 senior squad has re-signed, notably minus Harry Sawyer (living the dream), Emile Peios (rumoured to be heading to Preston), Mario Barcia (rumoured to be heading to Port), and maybe one or two others I haven't got on top of. No mention of Andy Brennan's status for next season just yet. George Mells is the most notable new signing so far, joined by an outwardly underwhelming cohort of former junior players of one sort or another, which has a few people flummoxed, me included. No sign of a new striker just yet, though the rumour is we're bringing in an import whose size makes Harry Sawyer look like Gus Tsolakis. Make of that what you will.
Back to Oceania?
Apologies to the person who sent this to me on Twitter messages a few weeks ago, to which I did not respond. Quite unlike me to do that, but anyway. The answer to whether South should consider joining a mooted Oceanian Professional League is "no". Occasional sojourns into things like the Singapore Cup had their uses, but even their limited windows of participation were incredibly taxing on the club from an organisational point of view, and upon the part time players that make up our squads.
People generally mean well when they bring up stuff like this - they see no future for the club plugging away in this comp as we have been doing for the past twenty years. But putting the question of logistics aside, the main issue is this: either South Melbourne is relevant playing in Australia, against Australian opposition, or it is not relevant at all.
Second division, yeah right
Just a very quick comment on the "champions league" model for the NSD being brought in next year, and the disappointment and concern that the NSD really seems just as far away as its ever been.
Show me the money.
If the money was there, if it all stacked up, clubs, sponsors, governing bodies (some of them at least) would be falling over them to make this thing happen.
Back to Oceania?
Apologies to the person who sent this to me on Twitter messages a few weeks ago, to which I did not respond. Quite unlike me to do that, but anyway. The answer to whether South should consider joining a mooted Oceanian Professional League is "no". Occasional sojourns into things like the Singapore Cup had their uses, but even their limited windows of participation were incredibly taxing on the club from an organisational point of view, and upon the part time players that make up our squads.
People generally mean well when they bring up stuff like this - they see no future for the club plugging away in this comp as we have been doing for the past twenty years. But putting the question of logistics aside, the main issue is this: either South Melbourne is relevant playing in Australia, against Australian opposition, or it is not relevant at all.
Second division, yeah right
Just a very quick comment on the "champions league" model for the NSD being brought in next year, and the disappointment and concern that the NSD really seems just as far away as its ever been.
Show me the money.
If the money was there, if it all stacked up, clubs, sponsors, governing bodies (some of them at least) would be falling over them to make this thing happen.
