The Case of the Mysterious Jersey

Do you know the story behind the jersey in this post?

Recently listed on Ebay, it has caused quite a stir among some South fans, mostly because no one can seem to remember when and why it was used.

And yet people claim that it seems familiar somehow. I don't have anything other half-educated guesses as to its origin.

The seven digit phone number on the back of the shirt gives it away as a pre-1998/99 artifact, but that doesn't get us very far.

My guess is that it's from the early 1990s, (perhaps circa 1992-1995 at the latest) for two reasons. One, because the use of the Vergina Sun image probably dates it to around the high point of passions about the Macedonian name issue. Secondly, 'healthy diet, try it' was a Victorian government health slogan/initiative from around that time also.

Yet one of our readers, via email correspondence, has suggested that perhaps it is a late 1980s artifact, because of the different type used for 'Marathon Foods' to that which was commonly seen. The vendor of the item was also interested but unable to provide any further detail as to the provenance of the jersey.

The lack of an NSL badge or apparel maker's mark suggests to me that it was at best a one off jersey. The sponsor on the back seems so minor, that it may have been a youth jersey, Dockerty Cup jersey, charity match jersey, or, and this is a longshot, a jersey from South Melbourne-Mordialloc, our state league offshoot.

The sponsor on the back, North Williamstown Body Works, seems to be still around, and operated by a Greek bloke as recently as 2010. Who's up for giving them a ring for us? We'd do it, but we suffer from a terrible phobia of calling people up.

Think about the possibilities...

You can be in a photo, taking your place underneath an ex-A-League law student of Hungarian descent, and next to some kid who deserves more game time and the captain.

You can meet the players outside of a nightclub/mosque/courtroom setting.

You could get some exercise you fat lardo, by warming up with the players.

You sit in the dressing room. Michael Michalokopoulos' spittle dusts your forehead as he urges the players on to great heights - or berates them for their inability to even downhill ski properly.

You sit on the bench. You can either have a good old fashioned chinwag with the fringe players, or stand next to the coach (if he lets you) and pretend you were a certain former football director. Earplugs recommended, but are not included in this prize.

You eat dinner, putting back in the calories you lost waddling around Bob Jane Stadium in the pre-match warm up, and then some. Awesome.

And just in case no one believes you when tell them of your awesome adventure, you'll be filmed and your face plastered all over the internet, on smfcTV as part of a special feature dedicated to you.

If you want to be in the running for this experience, head to the ebay listing, which was at $91 last time I checked, and place your bid. If I had money and there was no running involved, I'd give it a go. But me and running haven't agreed with each other for a long time. Sad but true.

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.

Paul Trimboli Puma Card

Anyone seen this before? Know what set it comes from? This is from an Ebay auction (still in progress at time of print). I've seen (online) the always available on Ebay Futera set, and the rarer Scanlens sets from days of yore, but strangely perhaps nothing from this one.

While the esteem of the club goes downhill...

... the price for South related memorabilia remains at a healthy level. While Northern Spirit items go for peanuts, and Melbourne Zebras t-shirts sit in piles at rags'n'riches markets for $2 (I really should have bought it, as part of preserving aussie soccer history), South related items can still fetch a price in the hundreds, in particular signed tops, as can be seen in the example below of this 2001 signed jersey.


and how about this signed team of the century print going at a cool $1000, from the same seller? (thanks to South of the Border's good friend 'Cuddles' for alerting me to it).



So why is this? Despite all the assurances that we are nothing and were nothing, some people still think they can make handy sums off those who still believe. And why is it the 2000/01 season which provides by far the most signed tops on ebay? Because they lost the grand final? Post-Brazil jumping off the bandwagon guilt? I support Melbourne Victory and can't afford to have it known that I supported Hellas guilt? This item's at about half the price that's usually asked for, but still for an NSL piece of memorabilia, that's quite high. Hopefully if this youtube upload which I'm doing which is taking forever on my medium-rated connection succesfully uploads, I'll have a nice treat for you tomorrow. Otherwise, it'll be Plan B, which is not nearly as good.