Melbourne Knights dig hole to 1987. Or something.

Preface

I'm bored. I don't like Christmas, the FFV didn't manage to get the 2010 VPL fixtures out before they went on their well deserved 18 month break, and I'm getting over some sort of short lived but kinda punchy flu thing. People also aren't sending me their Offset reports so I can make a pretty folder for next year's group, so it will likely appear that I am writing more nonsense than usual.


The Main Part

It's not often that it happens, but every now and again we at South of the Border like to take a look at what's happening at place that aren't South Melbourne. Because you know, we love to whinge about the board, the team, about losing our Greekness, and that most cardinal of sins, selling out to THE (Zionist) MAN, that sometimes we forget how good we have it compared to others.

We could talk about Preston sinking to State League 1, but there for the grace of Dawkins go I and all that. We could talk about Heidelberg's endless shenanigans, but that would necessitate a whole other blog - try out their HUFC-TV, if it's still working, for how not to do a vodcast. Or we could we like the remnants of the once mighty Brunswick Juventus, broken into a million pieces and scattered across this great brown land, one team with the trophies, one team with the grounds, one team with the colours, and several other clubs blended, decanted and spat out along the way. Or George Cross, who owned their own ground, seemingly never made an improvement to it in the 25 or so years they were there, sold it 15 times, boast that at least they had their own venue, but don't seem from an outsider's point of view to know where they're going, what they're doing, and are more akin to being the mule with the spinning wheel.

But instead we'll talk about the attempted regeneration of what was once a mighty foe, who like us was dumped from the top flight or humbly chose to withdraw from those aspirations, depending on whose version of events you go by. The glory days of the Melbourne Knights - or Melbourne Croatia as they were once known - are long gone, especially from the heady on field days of the mid 1990s, where their machine, by a probable combination of good management and fortune took all before it, before its best and brightest left to light up the world's football stage.

After a decade's worth of decline on the park and off it, as the local Croatian community, with a newly independent homeland secured and the relative flood of immigration drawing to a mere trickle - pretty much like every other European community - local crane entrepreneur and alleged underworld identity Matt Tomas took over with a plan. The plan was to take the Knights forward, into the boldness of tomorrow. There were tangible differences and speculative fairytale stuff that's harder to pin the compass of truth on. The more or less truth. More money was splashed around, and results, at least initially, seemed to improve. They got to a grand final, which they lost in the 120th minute. They got massive sponsors on board, including online gaming behemoth Mansion88 - who also sponsor the Tottenham Hotspur - and they even repainted the Mark Viduka Stand - hell, they even got Mansion88 as the ground's naming rights sponsor.

Off the field, the stories flew into FourFourTwo Australia's inbox thick and fast. They were going to move to Melton. They would be part of the 2nd Melbourne A-league licence bid. They'd become a feeder to Adelaide United, after Tomas and friends would take it over. Stuff like that. Stuff that seemingly never happened. And to do all that, the club would have to be de-Croatianised. A club which, even in the heady mainstreaming days of the NSL, barely made a tokenistic effort to open up - and it was their absolute right not do to so - was heading head first into the future. And the majority of its support base, those that were left anyway, were not impressed. Every club must have a reason for being. The reason doesn't always stay the same, but there must be something to underpin why anyone would bother to turn up and do what needs to be done to keep such an operation in motion. The reasons that Tomas and his board provided - a board that included former South board member Jim Marinis - didn't seem to wash with the majority of the diehards.

And so, at their recent AGM, Tomas and friends seemingly left, and the vacuum was filled by other people, with a new agenda. Well, perhaps not so much a new agenda, but rather a very old one. To go back to the past, and to do it unapologetically. An old logo, with the grb's checkerboard pattern replacing David Hill's mandated diamond scheme. A membership campaign highlighting the importance and centrality of the club to Australian Croatian identity, and the importance of Croatian identity to the club. A Croatian club for Croatians - pretty much everyone won't be excluded as a matter of practice, but the emphasis has been turned inward - while most of the old school wog clubs of any note have dithered on which direction to take - the vague promises of the future or the direction the Knights have chosen. Will it work? I have my doubts. It all seems too much like St George Budapest circa 1975, but with even less optimism and less opportunity to make something great out of it. It all seems rather reactionary than anything resembling a genuine plan.

What does this have to do with South? Well apart from them stealing entire passages from our own membership campaigns - see the 'Member get member section' of their 2010 membership brochure - it provides a chance for the two different reactions to the post-NSL landscape to be somewhat compared. Of course, the clubs come from different angles, have always had different reasons for being, and substantially different cultures - but it'll be interesting to see if either plan works. South's 'Need more Greeks' contingent is largely defeated, but as the events of the recent 2009 finals loss to Hume showed, sadly not entirely gone (Shane Nunes was racially abused by a couple of our so called fans, as well as hearing the catch cry of needing more Greeks who'd play with passion for the shirt, allegedly).

And it also shows two clubs who, in spite of the FFV's utter neglect in promoting or reforming the VPL, are at least taking matters into their own hands. It's not always entirely someone else's fault when things go wrong. Sometimes it can even be no one's fault at all. But at least taking a stance, following one direction, wherever it may lead, is a sign that these two clubs at least are seeking to take control of their own destiny. It's easier for some than others, of course. Cash, cultures, locations, history and demographic compatibility with the urgency of now, plus the question of how long committees with grand dreams can be held together. We'll see in time where it all ends up. And here I was thinking there wouldn't be anything to write about for the next couple of weeks.

Good night all round - Richmond 1 South 3

The Pies held on for a one point win, South came from behind and withstood a late rally, both finishing pretty much at the same time. Kranskys as good as ever, donuts delicious, my mate Gains making his South away game debut, while another regular was noticeably absent perhaps fearing being killed by some guy on a forum he may not even know. We'll find out soon enough if he survived. Not sure where Zimmerman was - maybe he doesn;t like me anymore. The Heyington Bridge Crew appears to have died - they lasted longer than I thought they would, but it appears the gimmick wore thin eventually.

In the game itself, Tommi Tommich did well, Yusef Yusef came on late, his first bit of senior action for a very long time after his knee injury. Petrovic and Yousseff did well in the middle. Stella destroyed Karahan. Overall, good performance, room from improvement as per usual, and hopefully we can carry that form into a tough two weeks at home against Gully and Hume. smfcTV already up with the best packaged version yet of the highlights, and interviews with Shane Nunes and Sam Torrens.

South in the Suburbs quite good; South Melbourne wins game, also good

Ok, so I didn't have to work today, so I was able to go and spend all my money buying memberships and shit in Oakleigh. I got me my usual South Gold membership (with voting rights and and keyrings and shit), and I also paid for a jersey and for my spot at the jersey presentation night. Wow. I'm awesome. That was $345 dollars straight to the South kitty; it could've ended up in a worse place to be honest.

On my shirt I've asked if we can get numbers, and they said they'll get back to me on that. It's all a bit of a blur now, but for some reason if it were to happen I'd be getting Shane Nunes' number 2. I didn't ask about names, but if they were available as well, one would have to go the whole hog. Either that or break Shane's heart, but do the right and pay due homage to the great James Spanos. Anyway, quite a few South peeps turned out for the occasion, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Below: Everyone else will be posting photos of the entire team in a nice shot and smiling and shit. I'm going to be different and give you a photo of them getting ready for that shot.



So it was then on Kingston Heath, where the search for Spanos continued in vain. The consoloation prize was seeing a pretty decent South line up clean up Panserraikos (formerly South Springvale Serres, who we played last year), but seriously, the souvlaki was pretty ordinary, dry as fuck turkish bread, no cacique, and they didn't even put salt on the cucumbers in the salad. For fuck's sake.

Below: Fernando and friends celebrate scoring a penalty against their fearsome opposition.

I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the quite nice 'Large Yoyo' I had from Nikos Quality Cakes, nor of the Nestle peach flavoured iced tea. Good luck to Jim and Raf on their wedding tomorrow.

Meshless

Notice something missing? Where was my beloved blue mesh? Luckily it wasn't terribly cold, but still, the mesh was missed. Photo by Pavlaki. Cliff's match report tomorrow.

2008 Jersey Presentation night roundup

So so night. Was sold out which was good. Had Michael Zappone as host trying to butter us up, and not doing a terribly smashing job, but he wasn't helped by the rudeness of a few people who kept talking over him. Service at Kinisi was pretty crap. Rarely if ever asked if we wanted drink refills, and tried to serve food like your mother ('you will eat it and like it', more or less). I heard rumours of dessert, but can't confirm its existence. Anyway, pleasure to be on the same table as Shane Nunes and Benji Vahid, they were good company, even with the extended discussion about freeways and such. For the record, Fernando De Moraes and Ricky Diaco came out equal first at the player auction. Other stuff that sorta happened:

* Which handsome and educated boardmember was hogging the attractive hostesses, who were meant to be flogging off raffle tickets?
* Which chump played $500 to be in a photo with said hostesses when they could have got one for free?
* How did that wine glass get broken on an adjoining table?
* Which ex-South goalscoring machine was drunk at the front of a Cold Chisel gig at Bombay Rock back in the early 80s?

I forgot to take my gift bag home with me, with the coffee and bucket-hat. Thanks also to any players I happened to be in photos with. Not sure if I'll do this again next year, but we'll see.

Family Day 2008 wrap up

This started off real slow, but by the end was in full swing. Kids were having a great time with the rides, face painting and such, but the highlight of course was the impromptu match with mixed teams of kids and senior players. In fact it was also very pleasing to see a whole bunch of the senior squad there, who were also more than happy to give their autographs to the littleuns, even coach Johnny A' who was asked somewhat stupidly by one pathological idiot to sign a couple of kids jerseys while clutching a half eaten souvlaki. Also good to see new recruit Shane Nunes bringing in the future missus and their toddler while I was on my way out. I welcomed them to the club in a real farkknuckle way, being of course the social inept person that I am, but it's the thought that counts.

I went there with the intention of buying a beanie, paying for the jersey night and potentially picking up my membership. When it turned out they didn't have any beanies, I decided instead to buy one of last year's jerseys at the insanely good price of $40, a saving of 30 bucks! I had a gander at the new season's top; frankly I thought they looked shit, and if you happen to think so too, getting one of last years seems like a good option. Then again, I'm hardly reknowned as a style icon, and they might be more up your alley. Alas, memberships were not available on the day to pick up, as the cards will apparently arrive tomorrow, but there's still plenty of time before the start of the season, and of course those magnificent balls are yet to arrive.

Away from the main action. there were a few interesting tidbits divulged as well by a well meaning but loose-lipped player. Recent departure Tansel Baser may not even make it on the park for his new club Coburg United, the osteitis pubis he suffered from during last year still giving him grief. A new keeper to replace the once prospective Neill Young has been found from somewhere in Sydney, first name Nick or something like that. Some players are carrying niggling injuries, but should be right for round 1.

I also had a blue and white gelato (a bit much at $4, when I can get them from Laverton Market for $3 and with more on top), the thematic significance of which was recognised by the same bright spark who after she recovers from whiplash and finding homes for players, will be creating a kick arse logo for this site, not that there's any pressure, because this blog's doing quite well without one, and we wouldn't want to rush the impending masterpiece. As my old man likes to say, "to kalo pragma argi na gini (the good thing takes a while to make)".