'What could possibly go wrong?' Artefact Wednesday - South vs Preston 2005 security plans

Earlier this year, fellow blogger Supermercado tweeted this image. It's the crowd management plan for the 2005 South Melbourne vs Preston Lions match at Lakeside.

Now I don't want to judge, as I wasn't involved with the security arrangements (can you imagine such a thing!), and I wasn't even at the game. But my mail suggests that not all those who were involved with planning for that day were in agreement with the final plan. Apparently some people in the planning committee were even of the belief that Preston fans didn't care about this match, and wouldn't come in numbers.

Anyway, the net result of the game was another episode of SOCCER SHAME, as well as Network Ten Adelaide newsreader and then South president (now apostate) George Donikian getting hammered by Media Watch. Oh, and massive fines, good behaviour bonds, locked out games for several years and the shedding of thousands of fans almost overnight. At least the folks on smfcboard got the 'what else we can do' meme out of it.

Social club artefact Wednesday - Phillips NSL flag

Like its Soccer Australia counterpart which we presented a few weeks (months?) ago, this would have been flown during NSL match days. Unlike that flag though, this one assuredly dates back to the late 1970s, which makes it all the more remarkable that it has actually managed to survive our various 'dissolution of the monasteries' phases. I can't emphasise enough how thrilled I was when I found this in some back room box or other.

The Dutch electronic giant Philips was of course the NSL's inaugural major sponsor, and the highlights show which was on Channel 10 at the time was suitably called Philips Top Soccer. In his mostly excellent autobiography By The Balls, Les Murray, who was both a commentator and host for the show, details the show's brief history (including how he went from László Ürge to Les Murray because of it). It's well worth picking up a copy of that book.

Of course, once Philips Top Soccer got canned and the NSL disappeared off the airways until SBS picked it up (fun fact - SBS' first game was the infamous 1980 NSL 'grand final' which Heidelberg tries to claim counts as a national title - it wasn't), Philips weren't getting the brand promotion they were paying for, and decided to end their association with the NSL.