Brad Norton signs on for 2021 season

Apart from whatever Football Victoria thinks it can concoct in terms of a short-forum tournament for the tail-end of this miserable year, it appears that the rest of 2020 for South fans will be spent like this - ticking off signings and re-signings for season 2021. And maybe the announcement of some sort of limited edition merchandise if we're lucky. Who knows how this year's AGM will get held, but I'm sure people will figure it out.

Anyway, not a new signing this time, but another re-signing, with Brad Norton committing to South for the 2021 season, which will be his tenth in blue and white. It's been a very long time since we had a ten year player at the club, and Brad has done well to last as long as he has. Think about this - he's not only survived the last two and a bit seasons of upheaval (in some respects for him, the easier said than done bit), but he's survived the clean-out that accompanied Chris Taylor's arrival.

So who was the last ten-year player at South? From the players who played for us only post-NSL, Fernando de Moraes managed nine seasons; among the next best, Ramazan Tavsancioglu, six. The best of the rest probably somewhere around that five or six year mark. 

Then there are those players who spent time with us both in the NSL and after it. Tansel Baser had five NSL seasons at South, and two more in the VPL era for a total of seven - there will be those who think that Tansel could've made it a few more, had he not been shuffled out the door perhaps before his time was done. Someone saw his injury riddled body and made a decision, which in hindsight turned out to be wrong, as Tansel had a good few years at Hume City after us.

Con Blatsis, like Baser, was part of that mid-1990s Frank Arok-era youth intake. He also had five NSL seasons at South, and played in our first two VPL seasons; but while remaining on our senior list from 2007-2009, Blatsis never managed another game due to injury.

Vaughan Coveny had racked up nine NSL seasons at Lakeside, and three more in the VPL in stints broken up by his participation in the A-League, as well as the 2004 season spent with Essendon Royals - so twelve seasons all up, including three erratic VPL seasons, which gets Horsey comfortably over the line. 

The other player that comes to mind is Dean Anastasiadis, who had four mid-1990s NSL seasons with us, and two more seasons right at the end of the NSL at Lakeside - though in the 2003/04 season he appears not to have managed a game, with most goalkeeping duties taken up Eugene Galekovic, and the remaining handful by the artist formerly known as Michael Theoklitos. In our hour of need after the NSL however, Deano came back for four more season to make it to ten years all up, even if we might have been better off with a different keeper in the last couple of those seasons. 

So there it is, or perhaps (fingers crossed) there it will be - our first post-NSL era ten-season player. If all goes to plan, Norton will be our first ten season player since Dean Anastasiadis; the first player to play ten consecutive seasons at South since Vaughan Coveny, if we leave out the necessity of players like Coveny having to play elsewhere in 2004 following the dissolution of the NSL, (Anastasiadis also played with Coveny at Royals that year).

Figuring out this stuff is not the worst way to pass the pandemic time.

Show me the money! artefact Wednesday - Hellenic Cup cheque

In this week's artefact segment we head back to the year 2007. Truly, it was a great time to be alive. South weren't yet in the A-League (any minute now some must have thought), but we had a state championship to defend, and a social club in which to socialise while eating bain marie dim sims.

There was also no South of the Border to upset people and take up my precious time; instead I was spending too much time posting on forums. And while we're still stuck in this interminable death spiral of irrelevance, at least back then the pre-seasons were more interesting if for no other reason than due to the existence of the Hellenic Cup.

Ah, the Hellenic Cup. Instead of spending your weekends travelling to public transport black holes to see a bunch of people try out for South that you'd probably never see again, with no food on hand and nothing even remotely at stake in a game played over three thirty minute periods, you could do the following.

You could go to a ground that had food, multiple teams in multiple categories playing in 70 minute matches on rock hard grounds in a compressed fixture, and for which pleasure you were asked to pay an exorbitant entry fee. It was expensive, it was often shoddily organised, but compared to this aimless schedule based almost exclusively out of venues that Chris Taylor seems to have the keys for, it was brilliant. South playing too far away from home in a midweek fixture? No worries, you could get out to the other side of the draw and get some spying going on. Oh, and there was prize money! Good prize money at that, too, rivalling what you'd get for winning the VPL championship proper.

In the 2007 Hellenic Cup final itself, played out of Northcote, we beat Oakleigh in a penalty shoot-out, celebrated with a low key pitch invasion, and collected 10,000 dollarydoos for our efforts. I don't know whether or not a giant novelty cheque is as legitimate as a normal one, but this item was in the boardroom when I took the photo now many years ago - so many years, in fact, that the various Christian denominations will probably agree on a date for Easter before we actually build a social club.

Much as you'd expect - Whittlesea United 0 South Melbourne 5

Scarf draped loosely across my shoulders, along with Gains I head out on a day that was clearly not made for scarves. In Thomastown, we walk along Main Street, and I pause for a moment to look at a house I lived in as a small child nearly 30 years ago, a house I can't remember, where a cat would walk along the top of a short brick fence. Not knowing which side of the creek to go on, I choose the western side, and we end up walking past a practice match on a footy oval. The left footer taking his shot for goal about 35 out on a 45 degree angle hooks his kick to the right, knowing he's missed as soon as it leaves his boot. The rusted scoreboard shows no signs of life. Crossing over to the right side of the creek, we find the ground we're meant to be at; it turns out that we inadvertently dodged the bloke collecting money on the other side, but I attempt to make up the difference by buying a kofte roll and can of drink combo, good value at $10. Andrew Mesorouni accidentally begins his order at the canteen with 'three keftede, er, kofte rolls'. The game itself is much as you'd expect, a slightly weakened South side doing most of the attacking, though United manage to scrape the crossbar while the scores are still level. Eventually the home side concedes, and the game is more or less won there. Milos Lujic and Andy Brennan score before the break, while Matthew Theodore, Luke Adams, and Andy Kecojevic score after it. There's a photo of Kecojevic celebrating his goal, and deep in the background I'm also pictured, arms aloft; it's 5-0 in a relative canter and I'm celebrating, cynical façade abandoned. At the end of the game, the Hellas fans applaud their team, but not before applauding Tansel Baser, on the other side today, but still loved. We take a different route back to the station, past a TAB with an old wino drinking out of a brown paper bag. The station's steps look ominous from the other side of the street, so we take one overheated elevator up and one air conditioned elevator down, and head back home.

Next week
A really big game away against Bentleigh Greens on Friday night.

Around the grounds
Empires of Dust
A late decision to go to this game nevertheless resulted in me getting to the ground on time. Richmond's technical director Micky Petersen may think that being on the spectators' side of the fence grants him some sort of protection from being able to abuse the officials, but he'd be wrong. Richmond dominated the midfield in the first half with physicality and desire, going into the break 2-0 up but a keeper down, as he was stretchered off after a collision. Bulleen improved in the second half, but left their run too late despite pulling a goal back. When The Smiths wrote 'How Soon Is Now?', were they looking into the future when Melbourne would have screens at tram stops telling you that your tram was there 'now', but actually nowhere in sight? Anyway, I missed the 10:00PM Werribee train, and thus spent the next half hour eating dark chocolate M&Ms,

Mandatory 2015 FFV election commentary
Ripping off Mark Boric's column on this issue, I will attempt a modicum of transparency. I had lunch a couple of times with outgoing president Nick Monteleone, as part of historical committee functions. If nothing else, he's frank and forthcoming. I met Nicholas Tsiaras once at Wembley Park. He was wearing a high viz vest and got me free beer. I met Tony Ising once a long time ago at a social kick about, and probably left no lasting impression. I've spoken to Kimon Taliadoros briefly once or twice over the years, as happens if you move within certain circles. I uncharacteristically choose to disassociate their internet personas from their real life selves. The other candidates I know nothing about. Like ancient Athens, this democracy is limited to a select few. Where's my vote Crawford? What point would any sort of advocacy on my behalf achieve?

I'm fucken great/Behold your bitter avatar!
A small group of well meaning people have been posting unsolicited posts of bewilderment and praise of my writing, specifically my Heavy Sleeper World Cup reviews on Shoot Farken last year, wondering how I wasn't nominated for the Football Fans Down Under (FFDU) awards. Here's one example.

Just voted in @FFDU awards. Any system that has failed to nominate @PaulMavroudis for writer of the year and @ShootFarken is flawed.
— Ian Syson (@IanSyson) March 10, 2015

I was going to ignore all this, but I've already made comment on this previously on Twitter, so why not again?

@DonSutherlandMF no idea who they are. They've got less credibility than the mob who gave South that Oceania award.
— Paul Mavroudis (@PaulMavroudis) February 7, 2015

I have no idea who the hell the FFDU are, and why people give them so much credence - their website mostly seems to be interested in the local fan clubs of several UK football clubs - but it's seems mostly like a bit of harmless fun, and a good way for people with more ambition than myself to get their names out there as well as get some more publicity for their work. When canvassing for last year's awards came up, I had this to say of one of the nominees

@myfootballtoday @Engel_Schmidl @FFDU Footy Almanac? I know it has 'some' soccer, but it's an Aussie rules site.
— Paul Mavroudis (@PaulMavroudis) May 15, 2014

Which shows how seriously this whole thing should be taken. And yes, I did nominate myself (along with other people I liked; Joe Gorman the only name I can definitely remember) once for these things, but I never bothered with the canvassing for votes. And then at some point during the week, I had one of my trademark moments of delayed clarity.

This recent focus on me being the rational or 'thinking man's' bitter, is becoming increasingly disturbing.
— Paul Mavroudis (@PaulMavroudis) March 12, 2015

To fish? To bait? To accept the title allotted to me, and surrender to the partisan seas? Or to remember the hard lessons learned several years ago, and choose my own path. Whatever happens, I'm sure it'll manifest itself as a suitably insular and humourless experience.

Final thought
Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Lakeside opening video

1995 Dockery Cup Final

The 1995 Dockerty Cup Final, with thanks to our friend Boo once more. Tansel Baser has a great game, Curcija's name gets pronounced differently to what is these days, Frank Arok looks more grizzled than usual. Deano has his surname on his shirt, but no one else does. And what a nice trophy it is. Perhaps one day we can not only play in this competition again, but maybe even win it, too.

First half



Second half and presentation ceremony

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.

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)".

2007 Hellenic Cup Final - South 1 Oakleigh 1 (South wins 4-2 on pens - soccer forum artefact)

Touching a ref is just something that you should never ever do, no matter what the comp, one of those things that goes beyond the game itself, so should make no difference what kind of comp he was playing in.

Hellenic Cup semi final - South Melbourne 2 Western Suburbs 0

South beat Suburbs 2-0, both goals in the 2nd half from De Vito and Baser.