2013 AGM date announced

The 2013 AGMs (and elections) for South Melbourne FC and South Melbourne Hellas have been announced. And in a pleasant change, the date (December 1) is neither

1. Late
2. Two days before Saturnalia
3. On a long weekend, when a certain rotund stats man goes surfing on the coast.

Don't you love progress? Onwards and upwards, as they say.

Oh, the date for the 2013 gala ball - I still don't know why they don't just combine the informal best and fairest night with the gala ball - has been set for December 14th, at what used to Albert By The Lake. $120 if you want to go to that. I'll probably end up going, but I'd rather spend that money on books.

It's not cajun, it's burnt

OK, so I ripped that line straight from Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, but it doesn't lessen the impact of that pearl of wisdom - that there is a difference between a smoky charcoal flavour and carbon. Otherwise the food at last night's gala ball was good, helped by the fact that I am now becoming accustomed to the smaller portions dished out at these events.

Anyway, enough about the food. Board member and Jimmy Armstrong endorsed 2004 saviour of the club George Koukoulas decided that there was no better opportunity to rip out some killer dance moves, and good luck to him for doing so. Sure, there's the quote by Cicero that 'sane men do not dance', but Cicero was apparently also a terribly inconsistent and malleable piece of work; whose rhetoric and reputation was tarnished even in contemporary times for being prone to constantly changing his opinions to suit the prevailing political winds. Am I headed that way too? Perhaps.

Crown Casino, in its quest to have everyone become lost in its labyrinthine mess - and preferably in the gaming room part - doesn't seem to provide floor maps of its extensive facilities. I was able to find out that Studio 3 was where the old Heat nightclub used to be, but of course that means nothing to me. Whatever, I managed to find the place easily enough. Just another razzle dazzle function room with staff who struggle to hold their drinks even before patrons get to the trollied stage. As a person who generally abstains from drinking, it's no skin off my back. I'm more concerned about the staff member who took away a friend's main course from right under his nose, without asking him if he was finished, and even as said friend was still had a mouthful of food. Is this what we paid so much for?

Anyway, there the usual retrospectives of the season, Jimmy Armstrong talked about the club's London trip to receive our Oceania Club of the Century award, and there was also a recap of the Singapore adventure. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of two Sam Papasavas Awards, for outstanding service to the club, to Michael Dimoudis and George Kouroumalis. Both have worked tirelessly especially in the fields of media and promotions. The tv show, the youtube stuff, enhanced marketing, website renewal, radio, membership, databasing and so much more, all of these things would either not have happened or would have been in a far more parlous state had these two not given their extended time and efforts in these areas.

Should one be listening to Tasmanian black metal this early on a Sunday morning? Could be worse I guess - I could still be back in Studio 3, or at any of the after parties, listening to Apollo knows what kind of hellish music, unsuitable for moderately pretentious indie ears. Anyways, a good time was had, and congratulations to Michael and George on their achievements.

Gala ball is on Saturday night

A little pricey, but should be an interesting night, once again at Crown, but this time at Studio 3 rather than the Palladium.

Part 2 of Gala Ball interview compilation

What does South Melbourne Mean To You? Gala Ball Edition

South of the Border tried to get its head on this, but was not able too. Pity. Too many names to list in the labels section.

And speaking of righteous indignation

A portion of Les Murray's speech at the gala ball has been approved for released to the masses. And hey, there's a couple of interesting cameos too.

Naffness personified

I was been recently comissioned I guess to write two pieces for the official South site. I don't like the first one, on the gala ball, very much at all, but the second one, a season review, is a little better I guess. But then again, what do I know about these things?

Les Murray on South Melbourne and its Gala Ball

From the The World Game Website - if you clik through to there you can add comments as well. Or just leave them here. Whatever makes you happy.


Fifty years of love and its lessons

By Les Murray

The late 1950s have a lot to answer for. Like giving rise to a poppy field of new football clubs that have recently been celebrating their 50th anniversary, despite now lingering somewhat in the shadow of ‘new football’.

I’ve been to a few of these in recent times, the latest being the celebration of South Melbourne FC’s half a century as a club.

Held at the Crown Palladium, it was a glittering night in which emotion and nostalgia overbore the shimmer, the champagne and the long dresses.

There were over 600 guests, most of them paying $220 for a seat. Former players, coaches, officials and undying fans came from everywhere, many from Greece and others from other corners of the world. One fan diverted his holiday voyage to Florida to be there.

John Margaritis, an iconic former player and coach, flew in from Athens (and then was forced to speak on stage in Greek because he had forgotten most of his English, or so he claimed).

Con Nestorides, whom you would now call a ‘marquee player’ if he came here as a 37-year old superstar, as he did in 1966, was hunted down in Athens and thrust in front of the video camera to send a goodwill message. Now 80, he looked sprightly, smiling and fit.

Others not so youthful. One old timer, a source of vibrant spectacle when he played for the club in the early 1960s, was unable to negotiate the stairs to the stage to receive his award. He could have stayed at home but he chose to come, despite the cane and the debilitations, and many in the room were thrilled to see him again.

Leo Anezakis, president of the club when it won its first national league title in 1984, a lovely and decent man, spoke to me about those times, how his sense of dedication to the club taxed him to the point where it nearly destroyed his business.

More easily recognised men of a more modern era mingled in the room, embracing and exchanging regrets about not seeing each other more often: Peter Tsolakis, Ange Postecoglou, Mickey Petersen, Kimon Taliadoros, Paul Trimboli, Mehmet Durakovic, Con Boutsianis.

Emotion filled the air and the night was thick with the powerful sense of bonding that football, and only the sense of belonging to a football club, can provide.

The passion and loyalty for football, and for a football club, was everywhere in the room, so much so that one felt a wish to be able to bottle it and somehow transfuse it into ‘new football’.

But of course that’s easier said than done. The A-League clubs don’t have this because for a start they don’t have 50 years of history but more importantly because, as one colleague put it to me, they are franchises not clubs.

Still, there are lessons to be drawn for the franchises which, so far, have appeared to exist more for the directors and the investors than the fans, the complete reverse to what has been the case at South Melbourne FC for half a century.

George Vassilopoulos, club president through the 1990s, made a stirring speech about loyalty, sacrifice, love and untiring dedication to a club and about giving something back to the fans.

A modern chairman, one suspects, would only orate about money, the bottom line and the need to win trophies.

Football clubs are primarily about people, something South Melbourne has not forgotten over 50 years but which the A-League, five years into its life, is yet to learn.

Notes on the 50th anniversary gala ball

I don't think I will ever have an original thought, much less put down words that will inspire them. But here goes anyway.

The Casino

It's the final day of horse racing's spring carnival, which means that my rented tuxedo doesn't stand out as much it normally would. That's a good thing. Much as it may surprise some people, I'm not fond of seeking attention.

I've probably only been to Crown Casino five times, and never in the gaming room. After asking for directions to the Palladium, I'm instructed to walk through there until I get to the Atrium and then take the stairs up.

Walking through the gaming room is dispiriting and otherworldly experience. There is no day, no night. The casino must also be the most democratic institution there is. Its clientele, if we can call it that, crosses so many more borders of ethnicity, language, gender, age, class, sobriety and wearing of shoes than Athenian democracy could have ever dreamed of. Security and venue staff in dark clothing circle and hover. While there is the occasional cheer, the most common expression is blankness. The Casino calls itself a place of entertainment, but I've never seen so many people so bored.

Up stairs upon trying enter the function area, I was asked for which function I was entering. Turned out the room wasn't ready when I got there. I guess I should have said I was there for Trent and Tenille's wedding. Eventually we got let into the foyer, where I caught up with a few familiar faces, and Ted Smith, who I'd done the interview with Ian with some time ago.

Les Murray

Les Murray seemed to be in good spirits throughout the event, posing for photos, and chatting to pleb and household name alike. He suprisingly stumbled over many of the Greek names, especially those of the pre-NSL era, but he soldiered on, and generally did a good job. The man knew the crowd he was playing to; he referred to the importance of clubs like ours, and even cheekily mentioned the score from the Victory game - 4-0 to Central Coast - which got a polite cheer from sections of the crowd.

Players and Coaches
Several players got their chance to speak on the podium. Paul Fortomanos, who spoke on behalf of his late father Stefanos, was perhaps my favourite speaker. Concise, passionate, measured and efficient in the right way. Mike Mandalis was beaming. John Margaritis was to the point. Jimmy Armstrong was his usual amusing self. Ange Postecoglou recounted his trip to Brazil with George Vasilopoulos for the World Club Championship draw. Paul Trimboli talked of his 17 years at the club. Peter Laumets spoke on the 1984 title; Peter Tsolakis for 1991. The 2006 grand final side got a teensy bit of short shrift in my opinion, but John Anastasiadis got to speak about that era as well as the world club championship stuff.

Video interviews and photo montages peppered the evening. Amongst those on tape, who did not speak on stage, were Ulysses Kokkinos, Con Boutsianis, Takis Mantarakis, and even Kostas Nestoridis, hunted down by a fan on his travels in Greece. Also within those montages were board and fan interviews, including one with the notorious fan called Banger - even credited as such.

Presidents

Tribute was of course paid to those who have come and gone; those who were absent due to being deceased were represented by family, such as Marmaras and Papasavas. George Donikian sent a rather newsreaderly message via video Leo Athanasakis was surprisingly well spoken - the man is known more for his enthusiasm than public speaking.

The most dreaded, or perhaps most anticipated speeches of the evening though naturally came from George Vasilopoulos and Peter Mitrakas. George Vasilopoulos almost singlehandedly changed the tone of the evening with his speech. Everyone before had been relatively humble and brief, promoting the club above themselves, being lighthearted about the whole thing.

Vasilopoulos turned it into something altogether more solipsist. On one level, you can't blame him; so much of his life was spent around and dedicated to the club, and so much of the club's greatest successes were under his reign. But there was an anger that was fascinating and disappointing to see. What it was that he was railing against I'm not exactly sure; one would could probably safely guess though that he was sending out a message to all his detractors. This went on for some time, much longer than pretty much any other speaker. He did manage to inject some levity into it though, which is more than be said for the next speaker.

Peter Mitrakas outdid Vasilopoulos for most despised. Another self-serving speech, from another person who has vanished in the hard times, but who seemed to take little responsibility for where the club had ended up under his administration - rather crediting his time with actually saving the club. He was the only person to be heckled on the night, being accused of 'going to the Victory'. He denied it, and then the response came from the same source, 'bullshit'. He soldiered on though.

Within all these speeches, there were interesting anecdotes and insights into the culture of the club; some things have changed, some things have stayed the same. They'll all be on the DVD.

Ephemera

It's a good thing that the videos managed to work eventually, after the initial couple of attempts saw them freeze.

What is it with this club and people speaking over the top of speakers? Poor Nick Galatas in particular, who fought to be heard over the top of the chattering classes.

The pasta entree was very small. The chicken was delicious. The dessert was also delicious, but also very slight.

The staff were seemingly on a mission to get everyone ploughed. I would have preferred more food to be honest.

I pretty much skipped watching Cirque Mystique. They seemed boring so I left the room when they were on.

There are numerous things which occur and which are said at these events - especially by certain patrons who've had a little too much to drink - of which you can ethically say nothing on a public medium, as they were conducted in private discussions, not for public consumption. I feel a little bit sorry for Mehmet Durakovic though.

Well done to the organising team. A fantastic event. Even I enjoyed myself, and that's saying something.

Gala Ball Tonight - Redux

Or,

I specifically requested no romantic music!


If you're confused by the redux reference, let me explain.

Originally, this entry was one line long. Basically saying, should be great, got my ticket, gonna have a good time. As much of a good time as I usually have. I'm not renowned for smiling.

And then something happened. Something massive.

Somehow, the biggest issue of the night will not be the club itself.

Not 50 years. Not great players, not great coaches, or goals, or memories, or stories or paying dues to those who made this club what it is, the five decades of blood, sweat, tears and corruption.

No.

The biggest issue will be the soundtrack. That's right, the biggest thing to get in a head spin about is the music that will be played on tonight.

Fuck. Me. Dead.

Will there be Greek music? Will there be the right type of Greek music? The right amount?

Oh my god we are this close to selling out the Greek community again! How could the organisers do this!

Whenever I rock up to one of these things - that is, a formal or semi-formal or just plain 'event' with music - I know pretty much from the get go that I won't like any of the music played. I remember my Year 12 Valedictory Dinner, where the only thing played that I remotely enjoyed was the intro to Start Me Up (they didn't play anything more than that - praise to Apollo for Taylors Lakes reception centres). Anyway, here are some solutions I conjured up real quick.

• Play Harry Lookofksy's Stringsville record on continuous loop.
• Play the entire Manic Street Preachers catalogue from beginning to end.
• Get a Lemnian band to play. Because, let's be serious, they made South. Every other Greek should bow to them.
• Get Frozen Tears to play. A Greek-Australian or Australian Greek singer. He loves the club. May have even played at South in the 1980s in the junior system. Commentated a grand final win for us. The band have a song about the club. That song is available in English and Greek. It's got a naff 80's Van Halen vibe. What's not to like?
  

Nah, fuck it. Let's be petty and mean. It's so much easier, and it suits our nature.

I weep for Dr. George Triantos and the team who have worked their arse off to provide an experience the likes of which every other pissant club in this state, nay, country, could even dream of. But to conclude on a more positive note. Hope to see some of my loyal fans - and the fans of the club too, I guess - tonight, where we can reminisce and celebrate in the company of our club's greatness. It may be the last chance we'll get with some of these blokes.

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A location. A date. Giddy up. Ok, now I just need some money.