My accidental career path in sports - Peter Filopoulos

Peter Filopoulos, current CEO of Perth Glory, and former general manager of South Melbourne, originally posted the following piece on his own blog. Because of its unique insights into what it was like to be at South Melbourne during the 1990s - an era of rapid transformation for the club both on and off the field, but also an important period for the concept of sports administration in Australia - I asked Peter if it would be OK to republish his piece here, and I'm glad that he's given his permission for me to do so. 

With the exception of one or two things (such as the final score of the first game at Bob Jane Stadium), I have left everything as Peter has written it.

A memoir of my accidental entry into the world of sports administration
Over the years, I am regularly asked by bright eyed young people, how did you get into sports administration? A career in sports has become a major career option progressively over the last fifteen years or so, but this career path wasn't so prevalent when I graduated from university in 1991.

My first job in sports came in December 1993 in a totally unplanned and unexpected manner. Prior to this and as a Bachelor of Business graduate with a major in Accountancy, in 1991, I embarked on my career in this field, firstly with a construction company and then a marketing/licensing business.

Around the same time, a close friend, Peter Abraam, invited me to join a sub-committee at the National Soccer League Club, South Melbourne Soccer Club. Peter was a former player and now on the Board of Directors of this historic club and at the time, working as a Project Manager with the City of Melbourne. South Melbourne Soccer Club was making a conscious effort to attract a younger profile onto their Board, which was at the time predominantly made up of first generation Greek businessmen. Around this time the famous Hungarian, world renown ex player and coach Ferenc Puskas was coaching the Club and had coached the Club to its first national Championship in 1991 since 1984 with Ange Postecoglou as captain.

The 1990/91 South Melbourne Squad with Ferenc Puskas as Coach, Ange Postecoglou, captain. Also in the pic is President, George Vasilopoulos and Major Sponsor, Jack Dardalis from Marathon Foods, a generous benefactor and philanthropist.

My initial involvement was as a Social Club sub-committee member where our charter was to raise much needed revenue and funds to support the Club’s quest in the National Soccer League. Over the course of 1991 and 1992, we managed to initiate a number of successful activities and initiatives resulting in a secondment onto the Board of Directors in 1992. I recall the Annual Presentation Night Balls we used to hold where I worked with fellow Directors such as Peter Abraam (ex head of the Victorian Major Events Corporation), Emmanuel Kotis, Jim Karakoussis, John Dimitropoulos and Peter Cartsidimas. They were amazing nights well renowned within the South Melbourne Soccer Club and Greek communities of Melbourne held in the most prestigious functions rooms around Melbourne.

As a volunteer on this sub-committee, I was able to bring to the table some strong administration skills and one of my first initiatives was to request a computer for the Club. I still recall the looks on people’s faces when I made this request, explaining that I wanted to digitalise a lot of our processes. Peter Abraam was delighted at the time as he had been asking the same for some time. The main reason I had requested a computer is that I wanted to migrate the Club’s Membership database from a manual database to a computerised database. Direct Mail under the old manual system was simply a nightmare. Quite quickly, once we acquired the computer, we managed to migrate the entire database onto a D-Base system at the time and we embarked on a data acquisition campaign so that we could begin a more aggressive membership program. Marketing material would be generated from the computer and Direct Mail became more prevalent. On the back of these campaigns, we had immediate impact. Each week at the Board meeting, I would present hundreds of new membership applications with enclosed cheques and our Treasurer at the time was one happy gentleman. It’s hard to imagine that the Club functioned with only a committee of management in place at the time who met for hours each Thursday evening which often went well into the morning hours. Thankfully we had a great social club where we would gather to have dinner after we had watched the first team training and before the meetings would commence at 7:30pm. The mixed grills prepared by Jimmy and Filio were something to look forward to. Having met Cameron Schwab, then CEO of Richmond AFL team, their management team wasn't very big at all either at the time in comparison. Full time administrative set-ups and careers in sports administration in 1993 were not very prevalent.

After months of this activity and other influences the younger generation had on the Club via seats on the Board, the Board turned their focus to the possible requirement for a full-time General Manager, given that they could see the great outcomes generated from some organised activity. The Club already had what they titled a ‘Marketing Manager’ in a gentleman I remain very good friends with today, Barry Horsfall. The fact is, Barry was a self-funded employee as he was only earning a commission on new sponsorship and adverting deals he would generate. He did a great job in selling signage packages at the old ground, which was demolished in 1994 to make way for the Australian Grand Prix track. He would bring a cheque in for $X and he would immediately be remunerated with his pre-agreed commission of 30%, a formula that worked for some time. This was a win-win and successful arrangement.

Fellow South Melbourne Soccer Club Directors, Peter Cartsidimas and Emmanuel Kotis around 1994 at the South Melbourne Soccer Club Annual Ball and Presentation night.

The discussion of a full-time General Manager occurred whilst I was on vacation and on my return I received a phone call from fellow Director, John Dimitropoulos, then an associate solicitor with a former President’s and Chairman and co-founder of the NSL, the late Sam Papasavas OAM, to advise that the Board was now actively looking for a full-time General Manager and that several people had nominated me as the ideal candidate. The conversation went as follows:

Pete, while you were away, we spoke at the Board Meeting about the need to appoint a full-time General Manager at the Club to oversee the day to day activities of the Club, some of us thought that you may be the ideal candidate. If you are interested, this would require you to step off the board and become our inaugural General Manager. This could change your life for ever.

At the time, I was returning from vacation to accept a job with a national architectural firm as their State Accountant, a great job with an attractive package and consistent with my qualifications. This and subsequent conversations with John, the President, George Vasilopoulos and fellow Director, Peter Abraam, threw a spanner in the works. In speaking to my family, they thought it was a crazy idea. I recall clearly my father asking me if I had lost my mind at the prospect of deviating from my chosen vocation to take up a post with the Club.

A career in sports in 1993, was not a well known or accepted career path, not the way it is today. So much so, the most asked questions at barbecues was, “so what do you do in the off-season?”

Against all advice, my instincts told me otherwise and at the age of 25, I accepted to become the inaugural General Manager of the South Melbourne Soccer Club in December 1993 and commenced immediately. I clearly recall waking up on the first day of my new job bouncing out of bed with a spring something I still do over 22 years later. At such a young age, I had so much to learn and was wide-eyed and full of energy as General Manager of the biggest and most successful football club in Australia.

What I didn't know at the time was that I had embarked on a career in sports something I look back on today. This was the platform from which created my opportunities from thereon. John Dimitropoulos was right, this decision was about to change my life forever in a way I couldn't possibly imagine.

The beginnings
From my appointment as General Manager of South Melbourne Soccer Club, it was a baptism of fire. So much to learn, however, it was great to have such good mentors and people that supported me. Peter Abraam in particular, would be on the phone multiple times during the day, steering, mentoring and inspiring me. He still inspires me to this day. We all became such close friends and every one at that time had an influence to my induction into the new role. Many of these friendships remain in place even today, with both players and board members.

Our offices were underneath a grandstand at the stadium which accommodated a board room and a small office where I think I banged my head on the ceiling on several occasions. It was in this office that one day in 1994 I received a phone call from the Head of Sport at Melbourne Grammar School who were searching for a Head Football Coach.  I recommended that they speak to our recently retired star player in Ange Postecoglou who was by this time Assistant Coach with the Club. Ange took on the role and I remember him coming back and telling me it was fantastic and that the school was paying him more for a part-time role than what the club was to be Assistant Coach. Ange delivered that message in a way only Ange can and we often joked about it.

Last Game at Middle Park in 1994 after 34 years of memories

My initiation into the new role went into a spin. Within weeks of commencing, we had received a phone call from the Premier’s office to arrange a meeting with the Club. Upon attending the meeting, we were advised in absolute confidence that Victoria had almost acquired the Australian Grand Prix from Adelaide and that the race track would be in Albert Park Lake. We then learned that as part of this grand plan, the pit straight was going to run right through our then home ground, Middle Park Stadium, home to the Club since 1960 and which we had just signed a 21 year lease for and had plans to re-develop with a new grand stand. Our world had momentarily turned upside down.

An NSL game at new home, Bob Jane Stadium in
December 1995 and the beginning of a new era.

Negotiations commenced immediately for appropriate compensation which resulted in the Club receiving a 21 year lease on Lakeside Oval (now known as Lakeside Stadium), once home to South Melbourne Football Club who was years earlier relocated to Sydney as the Sydney Swans. The lease also incorporated a two-storey dwelling which housed a function centre upstairs and a social club and office space downstairs. It was perfect!

With significant additional funding also provided by the government as part of the relocation package, we raised another $3.5M to build the purpose built football ground and after selling the naming rights, soon to be known as Bob Jane Stadium, which opened in December 2005. It was a facility admired by all in football and this legacy remains today.

This process took a lot of hard and dedicated work and we were fortunate to have so many good people on our Board, lawyers such as Peter Mitrakas and John Dimitropoulos, Architects and Project Managers such as Peter Abraam, strong accountants such as Jim Karakoussis, a PR specialist in Jim Stiliadis and a politically savvy President in George Vasilopoulos at the time who forged a close relationship with the Premier Jeff Kennett, someone who also became our number one ticket holder in 1994.

Then Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett with our President, George Vasilopoulos, farewelling our old home ground at Middle Park in 1994 and announcing our new home ground development at Lakeside Oval.  Also in the picture was Managing Director of major sponsor at the time, Marathon Foods, Jack Dardalis

In July 1994, we had appointed the longest ever serving Socceroos Coach, Frank Arok as our coach after lacklustre 1992/93 (after finishing first) and 1993/94 (after finishing second) NSL seasons where we would reach the finals and bomb out at the Preliminary Final.

Frank was crucial in the identification and recruitment of a raft of upcoming young talent which formed a nucleus for the successes we enjoyed long after Frank’s tenure. Names like Billy Damianos, Tansel Baser, Steve Panopoulos, Con Anthopoulos, Con Blatsis to name a few. Frank brought in a renewed belief in our junior development and plucked these players from our juniors to add to the big names like Paul Trimboli, Con Boutsianis, Ange Goutzioulis, Socceroo captain, Paul Wade, Mike Petersen, Steve Tasios, Francis Awaritife, Mehmet Durakovic to name a few….

With Frank Arok at one of his recent visits to Australia along
with friend Manny Gelagotis who Frank also coached at Gippsland Falcons.

For 1994/95 season, under new coach Frank Arok and his recently retired South player, assistant coach – Ange Postecoglou, we played out of the old Olympic Park in Melbourne, as our new stadium at Lakeside Oval was being constructed, where we again bombed out at the Preliminary Final against Melbourne Knights with a memorable 3-goal performance by the V-Bomber, Mark Viduka.  I still remember the hurt on everyone’s faces after this game and there was even a little scuffle in the dressing rooms involving a couple of players that day which reinforced how much we were all hurting. We had drawn the line in the sand – we wanted and demanded success. This came several years later under a new coach, a young Ange Postecoglou, who picked up the baton from Frank and continued the journey in his own style. Ange was magnificent in instilling a sense of ambition and desire for success.

There were fond memories for the South Melbourne faithful of Olympic Park where we had one our latest Championship during the 1990/91 season in spectacular fashion against cross-town rivals Melbourne Knights in the most amazing penalty shoot-out one could ever imagine.

For the 1995/96 season, construction at our new stadium, Bob Jane Stadium, was completed and we played our first home game on Round 9 on 26 November 1995 against West Adelaide where we lost 3-2. The stadium was a major feature for the National Soccer League and the Club continue to prosper with record membership, crowds and sponsorship.

As we approached the end of the 1995/96 season, we saw the end of the Frank Arok era with three games to spare as it became evident that the Club would miss out on the finals for the first time since 1989 and Assistant Coach, Ange Postecoglou was put in charge as interim coach for the last three games winning all three at which point the search for our new coach commenced immediately and I will touch upon in a later blog as to this journey and the emergence of Ange Postecoglou and the successes of that time in more detail. Ange’s path to where he is today as Socceroos coach is a fascinating tale of passion, commitment, ambition and hard work – I will share my insights into this wonderful story of Ange Postecoglou and his journey from retiring National Soccer League player through to back-to-back championship winning Head Coach of South Melbourne Soccer Club.

I do vividly recall prior to Frank’s removal as coach, after a game where we had lost to Marconi 3-0 at Marconi and a spray Ange gave the players on the long bus trip to the airport which has left its mark on me even today. To be fair the players were misbehaving on the bus and carrying on somewhat and Ange felt it was time he reminded them in the strongest possible way about the badge that they represented and “how they had disgraced it that day”. Little did I know at the time that the Socceroos Coach was born that day. A word was not spoken amongst the traveling party for the remainder of the trip and even remember the players shuffling boarding passes so no one would sit next to Ange on the plane. I don’t think Frank said a word for the entire trip slumped in a chair on the bus reflecting on the performance. I also remember telling my President the following day of Ange’s exceptional display of leadership and how he would one day be our Head Coach.

After a whirlwind meeting at the Board meeting the following week, I recall having to call in Frank Arok the following day and arrange a meeting to advise him that the Board had unanimously decided to terminate his coaching tenure with the Club effective immediately. I couldn't believe that I had just sacked the longest serving ex-Socceroos Coach and a man I admired and learned so much from. He was a friend and still remains a friend to this day. Many will tell you that Frank’s impact at the Club was effective and long lasting. He began a process where he had set the foundations for our successes in the subsequent next few years. Unfortunately the Board and Fans had run out of patience and as a Club we succumbed to the the need for immediate success. Clubs like South Melbourne and its strong fan base, demanded success.

Since taking on the role as General Manager a few years earlier, the Club was achieving record membership, sponsorship, match day attendances and had built a formidable team which was in desperate need of a coach to help reach their potential.   South Melbourne was widely acclaimed as the leading and most professional club in the National Soccer League.  So many worked tirelessly to reach this stage and as a young administrator learning the caper, I rarely was home before 8pm every night.  By 1997 we had an office which consisted of a General Manager, Sales & Marketing Manager, Office Manager, full-time Social Club Manager and a team of Chefs and casual staff.  It was only recently when some one tweeted a match day programme, “In Blue and White”, from the 1998/99 season where we had announced a major sponsor worth $1M over two years which would have rivaled most of the AFL clubs at the time. Having a look at the list of sponsors we had fantastic corporate support.  My entry into the world of sports administration was a whirl wind experience and by the end of the 1998/99 season where we had one back to back Championships under young Coach, Ange Postecoglou, I was beginning to contemplate where this journey would take me next. I had completed six (6) wonderful years but I knew that if I would master this new career path, I needed to expand upon my experience maybe outside of football.

It was in early 1999 that I had meet President, Ian Dicker and CEO, Michael Brown from Hawthorn Football Club via our mutual sponsors Puma.  My next opportunity was about to take shape, which I will also elaborate in a later blog.

During my six years at South Melbourne, I can now say, I was thrown in the deep end and in front of buses, however, I recall these days with fondness and have taken so many learnings from this experience and remain friends with so many wonderful people from that era. It was a ‘sink or swim’ environment and I am proud to say I swum and I swum well.

South Melbourne still exists today and participates in the NPL Victoria based at Lakeside Stadium which has gone through another major transformation and most likely the best facility in the National Premier League.

I am proud to remain a life member of the Club today and I am grateful for the opportunity given to me back in 1993 to take on the reigns as General Manager / CEO which has paved my career to where it is today.  So many fond memories and close bonds that I will never forget.

In my current role as CEO of Perth Glory, I draw upon my experiences and learnings from South Melbourne often and I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received since returning to the game I love, all because I was once involved with South Melbourne which has helped get instant respect.

Peter Filopoulos

More than a little shaky - South Melbourne 1 Oakleigh Cannons 0

First half
Drinks held at new club sponsor The Water Rat - and with no social club, you may as well - and it went well, except for the burger that was too damn dry. Fancy capsicum paste is all well and good, but it's no substitute for a good tomato sauce. Apart from that it was quite enjoyable, cheap pints and a good vibe, though the start of the season always seems to attract pretty much everyone that still cares about the club to turn up. A woman who I assume is associated with the pub asks us how do we refer to our club and we answer, 'South' or 'Hellas', and I add but never 'Souths', which while a smattering of people do use, it has never sounded true to these ears.

(and if ever you're having a discussion about 'Against Modern Football' and ask the AMF proponent what is 'modern football exactly?', and they begin their answer with 'well, for me it's..,', just know you've already won).

Of course a huge part of round one - or more correctly, our first home game - is getting all the membership goodies, including personally being welcomed to the new season by El Presidente. The card is a solid piece of work this season, unlike the flaccid effort from last year, the championship review DVD is a nice little collectors item, but where was the other stuff? Where were the bumper sticker to help my car get smashed in at Somers Street? Where's the little championship pennant? It looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer for those, like, the next home game, whenever that is.

The Valkanis family were also back, outside cooking several large spits of meat. Having already eaten, I was happy to pass this time, but perhaps if they;re back again in several weeks time, I might be keen to relive some old memories. Seeing radio people set up on the balcony, my instinct was that it was the FFV group doing their thing for another year, only to cotton on that it was actually 3XY Radio Hellas. Apart from the weird hybrid Greek-English Singapore Cup match from a few years ago, can anyone remember the last time they bothered to cover one of our games live? And is this going to be a regular occurrence, or a one off? Will they be sharing the love with the other Greek clubs?

I said 'Step pause turn pause pivot step step,' not "Step pause turn pause
 pivot step pause!' Oh, shudder. Photo: Peter Psarros.

The pre-game news circled around the fact that Peter Gavalas had gotten injured at training, and was going to miss six weeks. Now, was this a new injury, or the recurrence of a pre-existing injury he's brought into this year? We'll probably never know, but the immediate consequence was that Nikola Roganovic, out of the game for years, got the call up to the starting eleven. In the end, he did more than most to get us the three points, in what was at best a pretty disjointed performance. Despite Oakleigh's dominance, including a shot off the crossbar, it was us who went into the break 1-0 up after an own goal of all things, which seemed to surprise a lot of people in the ground in the way that it happened, but that's OK. They all count the same, and don't you ever forget that. Mind you, I almost missed because of the mistimed efforts of someone trying to get some choreography started.

The bit in the middle
Sometimes a conversation just follows its own muse. We discussed the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the relative merits of teaching either of those to children, even in children's editions. Having never read the Iliad, it's difficult for me to make educated comment on that, but the Odyssey of course does lend it itself to a certain 'fantastic' means of entertainment (see the movies etc). But you have to wonder about the blinding of Polyphemus after Odysseus and his men got him drunk (and yes I know they had to do something to escape otherwise certain death, but it is a pretty gruesome scene). But at what age do you introduce the kids to the scene where Ares and Aphrodite have an affair, and Hephaestus traps them in a fine net and gets the rest of the gods to see them trapped. Then we ended up at Philip K. Dick, and how as good as Blade Runner was, it failed to capture the full complexity of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep; I also recommended my friend read Dick's Ubik, not because it's a great novel, but it because it's a real head fuck. After then moving on to discussing the vastly underrated oeuvre of the late Japanese anime filmmaker Satoshi Kon, the discussion finally ended up on Manowar, and how awesome it would be if they toured Australia (both for those who love them  and those who hate them), and how cool it would be if we could somehow get them to play at Lakeside. Also, the fact that they released their own branded condoms, called Warriors Shield.

Oakleigh coach Miron Bleiberg has already won the hearts of Oz Soccer's
Twitterati (follow him @MironBleiberg). Photo: Peter Psarros.

Second half
If we struggled in the first half, the second half was worse, and the most startling thing was the disparity in fitness between the two sides. Yes it was a warm night, but considering how well we ran out the game last week against the Knights, it was disappointing to see us outrun and outlasted throughout most of the match. With very little midfield presence, the defence probably did as well as they could to keep Oakleigh out, but it was Roganovic who saved our bacon on several occasions, including what looked like a ridiculous double save at the end. But it was the bread and butter stuff - coming off his line, his distribution and the sense that he wouldn't screw up (especially as the game wore on) that was most pleasing about his performance. Of course, it's only the first game, and the first out of perhaps 30 odd matches we'll be playing this season, if not more, Considering they got next to no help from the midfield, the defence stood up well enough, though Kristian Konstantinidis' penchant for sliding in for the tackle promises to be both a thrilling and nervewracking phenomenon. Milos Lujic battled hard up front, and I thought Leigh Minopoulos did OK, but we otherwise pretty ordinary going forward. Usually we're on the other end of the kind of game where one team dominates but can't get the points, so there's both concern that we found ourselves in that position, but joy and/or relief that we managed to get the points.

The refereeing was a bit all over the shop, though of course the footage may make the fans (and Miron Bleiberg, for that matter) look like fools again. Then again, considering the very minor fooforah in the comments section of Kiss of Death's most recent post, even that may not be enough. On a related note, every NPL club has reportedly been given a video camera this year to film games, I assume for collation into a weekly highlights package - though at our AGM (I think) it was also noted that FFV would be using the footage to improve the standard of officiating. Oakleigh were very upset that they didn't get given a penalty late on - a free kick just outside the box instead, while South fans seemed upset that it was given a foul at all. There were many other erratic decisions and cards gicen - mostly to us - but the ones that I would really like a second look at are the offside awarded against us which seemed to be still in our own half, and the moment when Oakleigh keeper John Honos seemed to handle the ball outside his own 18 yard box.

Overall, we looked far less in synch than we did the previous week against the Knights, with our midfield in particular struggling to get the ball, let alone shut down their opponents. Nick Epifano is a talented player, and did some nice things, but he needs to sort out his attitude, at the very least regarding second efforts. He did not look like a happy chappy going down the players' race after the game. I was a

The crowd was listed at a touch over 3500, which the usual scamps found especially ludicrous, and why not? We have a well earned reputation of fudging numbers (in both directions), but the club claims that it was legit because we have the scanning technology, and the FFV was happy to also put up that number. Me, I felt (and I emphasise that this is purely a horrendous guesstimate) that it was closer to 2500, which is still a very good turnout for a Thursday night, and a school night no less, but for the next AGM it may be time to ask for a more detailed breakdown of our attendances, which shouldn't be too hard to accomplish if it's all on computers now. Regardless, the marketing team went to a big effort for this game, and should feel proud of what they achieved.

Next week
North Geelong, in the first of a long series of away matches. Gotta figure out the best way of getting there and back, too.

Joe Simunic rocking it modified Austro-Hungarian style, going with sandals
but no socks. Photo: I don't know, I got this off the Football Anarchy site,
 but if someone knows the original source, let me know

Around the grounds
Za Dom Sandals!
No media pass in my grubby little hands just yet, and Gains couldn't make it either, but I decided to head to Knights Stadium anyway to see the home side take on Avondale Heights in what me and Athas Zafiris tried to dub as the #quarryderby. Everyone's favourite exponent of the bear hug was also there, one Aussie Joe Simunic, and he got a remarkably mild and largely disinterested reception from the crowd before the game. Probably a lot more love afterwards, if you know what I mean. Avondale surprised me and a lot of people by dominating the opening half of this game - and not just dominating, but doing it with style. Their style was based around quick passing, keeping it on the ground and lots of runs forward. For their part the Knights looked confused as to how to take on this feisty minnow, and especially the impressive attacking player Chris Irwin. It was Irwin who gave Avondale the lead, helped by chaotic bit of defending by the Knights resulting in a 30 metre lob into an empty net, and thus the second surprise of the night, the relatively large support of the visitors going relatively wild in the grandstand. Going much wilder on the other side of the ground were MCF, who seemed to be involved in some kind of brawl among themselves, about who knows what, but it's not like it hasn't been seen before, Knights came out in the second half looking more like their usual Andrew Marth inspired selves, imposing themselves on the game with more physicality and frontal pressure on the visiting team. The early equaliser was just reward, and the go ahead goal - which came straight after Avondale's second shot off the woodwork for the night - just about wrapped this up, as the visitors simply ran out of gas. Knights picked up a junk time goal at the end to make the win look more impressive than it was.

Final thought
Ren and Stimpy. It's a little tragic that I'm still laughing about this over a week after it happened.

Luck (and good goalkeeping)'s a Fortune - Oakleigh Cannons 1 South Melbourne 2

Usually this fixture is played on a Friday night, but due to Oakleigh's lights being in an apparent state of disrepair, we had the unusual situation of playing this game on a Sunday afternoon. Playing at Jack Edwards in the daytime is weird, especially if you get there early enough to see juniors and their parents leaving the carpark having finished their games. Why didn't they stay for the main game? Too long too wait through the reserves? Probably just didn't care. Take note FFV.

The ground was its usual crappy self. That's not to blame the Oakleigh people for anything, it's just been a fact of life for years now, and you almost feel sorry for the home team's players and coaches who have to play a style of football that's not as easy on the eye as they would like it to be,

For those unaware of the typical state of Jack Edwards Reserve, one word sums it up: sand. You knew it was bad when Gavalas, when taking an early goal kick, kicked up a massive slab of sand like he'd just come out of a bunker from nearby Huntingdale.

This game was also messed up by a strong wind going towards the railway end, to which Oakleigh were going towards in the first half. Still, as is usually the case when these two sides play, the contest was very entertaining, and provided enough heart attack moments to keep everyone on edge for most of the game.

Goran Zoric provided one of those moments early on, when he had a one on one opportunity to open the scoring. In typical Zoric fashion though, he hit it straight at Gavalas who made the first of several good saves.

Pressure up the pitch lead directly to Trent Rixon opening up the scoring. A poor Oakleigh backpass - and any backpass is a risky enterprise on a ground in such poor condition - was intercepted by Rixon, who slotted the ball home to continue his late season revival and take up his season's tally to five goals.

Nick Epifano almost made it 2-0 - nay, should have made it 2-0 - when another errant pass in Oakleigh's defensive area saw him with the opportunity to score, but his shot went wide.

South lucked out at the other end though, when an Oakleigh shot across goal, which looked like it was going out, took a leg break off the pitch and ended up hitting the base of the post and going out.

Despite South having the wind advantage in the second half, it was Oakleigh who dominated proceedings going into the wind. They had several good chances to score, but could not make them count - some desperate defending and great goalkeeping from South keeping them at bay.

Not that South was without chances - Rixon should have done better on several occasions - but a soft penalty to Luke Hopper, which he converted himself gave us a little bit of breathing room. It was most un-VPL penalty if you like, or at least, according to my memory, it was the of penalty we never get called in our favour.

Brad Norton wasn't at his best yesterday - I felt he was playing far too narrowly on an already narrow pitch and so far away from the Oakleigh right winger - but he did manage to put in a great cross to Rixon, who should have done much better with the header to make it 3-0 and ice the game.

Nicky Soolsma needs to learn to use his left foot. If continues to favour his right foot so much, he'll become predictable, and less effective. It was fair to say that after several good games, his second half in this match was less than stellar.

Oakleigh, with their already faint finals aspirations on the line, deservedly got a goal back from a goalmouth scramble following a failure to deal with a corner. No clean sheet again! Chris Taylor won't be pleased with that, and I wouldn't blame him. Conceding goals from set pieces has been a persistent problem, and one that needs to be sorted out soon. As an aside, even by Oakleigh standards there was little celebration of their goal.

Oakleigh's goalkeeper Lewis Italiano managed to cripple himself on the shoddy turf, but we couldn't take full advantage of that. The last ten minutes of this match from us was better, even as it went into a five minute spell of injury time. There was more no nonsense play, and getting and keeping the ball at the end of the ground that we needed to, grinding out the result in the manner that we should have when we went 2-0 up.

Up and over! Trent Rixon evades an opponent. Photo: Cindy Nitsos.

Apart from the set piece issue, there are other defensive issues to be concerned about, with Shaun Kelly seemingly the main target of the fans' frustration at the moment. He especially needs to get the ball away from danger more quickly. Brad Norton's defensive form has slipped as well, making him a prime target for the opposition.

On the plus side, Iqi Jawadi had a good game, as did Brian Bran at the back. Most pleasingly, Trent Rixon is not only looking like he's re-found his form, but he also looks like he's enjoying being out there, which is great to see. He could have had a hat-trick today, but at least he's still scoring- and the partnership with Hopper up front looks promising. Peter Gavalas was man of the match though, without a doubt, making several clutch saves.

What this all means is that we're now in fifth place, with four games to play.That means nine points behind faltering ladder leader Northcote, and while you'd like to think we could overhaul them, we've left our run for that far too late. It means we're six points behind second place Melbourne Knights, three points behind third place Bentleigh and two points behind fourth place Port Melbourne. The beauty (and the terror) of that situation is that we play three of those teams - Northcote, Knights and Port - in the last three rounds.

But we also have to keep ahead of the teams behind us. Hume, who look like they're falling apart somewhat, are still level on points with us, albeit with a decimated goal difference. Gully are only a point further back, with a game in hand against an Oakleigh side who might not have much incentive by the time the catch up game comes around. And four points behind us are Dandenong Thunder, still in with a shot courtesy of their game in hand, though they would be closer if they didn't have that three point deduction.

Steve From Broady's under 21s report
South Melbourne's under 21s were away to Oakleigh Cannons on Sunday afternoon, looking to avoid a fourth loss in a row and entering the bottom four. South kicked off and it was a very scrappy start to the game on a poor pitch - the first 15 minutes were very even, and it took until the 19th minute for the first clear cut chance of the game, when Oakleigh Cannons caught the goal keeper out of position and fired home to give them a 1-0 lead. The rest of the first half was fought out in the midfield and both teams struggled to make any more real chances at goal. 1-0 Oakleigh lead at the half time break.

Oakleigh kicked off the second half and only 10 minutes into the second half Baggio Yousif found his way through the defence and he fired home to level the scores. Only three minutes later Baggio found himself in another goal scoring position and he converted with ease to give South a 2-1 lead 60 minutes in. Oakleigh dominated the rest of the half and 15 minutes from time Oakleigh equalised and 2-2 it finished, another disappointing result for South. Pascoe Vale at home next week, let's see if they can improve, until then, get around it

Steve From Broady's Canteen Report
I was at the Oakleigh Cannons canteen on Sunday afternoon. Not expecting much, I went and had a souv and I must say I was surprised the Valkanises now running the Oakleigh canteen, remembering that they used to run the old South canteen, and it was a trip down memory lane with stringy lamb, heaps of tzatziki and a crunchy roll. It was a piece of food that shit all over most of the shit food that had been dished up this year at canteens. There was also heaps of other great food at the canteen, such as calamari, saganaki etc. I didn't get to try it all, but I must say the Oaks' canteen is the best for variety. I give Oaks' canteen a 9.5 just falling short of Pascoe Vale's canteen.

1. Pascoe Vale 10/10
2. Oakleigh Cannons 9.5/10
3. Hume City 8/10
4. Bentleigh Greens 7/10
5. Richmond 6.5/10
6. Northcote City 3.5/10
7. Southern Stars 2/10
8. Green Gully 1/10
9. Dandenong DQ 

South food truck

• Week 1 - 4.5/10
• Week 2 - 7/10
• Week 3 - 8.5/10
• Week 4 - 5/10
• Week 5 - 5.5/10
• Week 6 - 9/10
• Week 7 - 6/10
• Week 8 - 7.5/10
• Week 9 - 8/10

Next Game
Dockerty Cup semi-final against Gully on Wednesday, at Port Melbourne. Won't have many of the team that lined up against Oakleigh, as they're cup tied, so much of the side will be made up of the gang that's been here since the start of the season. A chance for Fernando and Meredith to shine? Here's hoping. Not super confident about this, but in a one off game, anything can happen, right?

Burst of sunshine breaks through late at Moreland. Photo: Ian Syson

Around the Grounds
Went out on Saturday to Campbell Reserve to watch Moreland City take another step towards the State League 2 North West championship. Preston, fighting for second place and a playoff spot, were their opponents. Preston had the better of the first half, except for the 15 minutes leading into halftime. Moreland opened the scoring during that period. Preston again the better team during the second half, but a dreadful defensive error gifted Moreland their second goal. It ended 2-0 to the home side.

Rather than the feeling that anything was accomplished or lost, there was a feeling of doubt among the crowd. Moreland still not quite there, eight points clear on top with five games to go. Preston on the back foot now, five points adrift of second place Keilor Park. Situation compounded by the uncertainty created by the impending implementation of the NPL in Victoria. A championship is still something to cherish, but what if a playoff spot doesn't actually exist, because everyone will just get sorted into a State League 1 North-West and State League 1 South-East?

NPL Victoria Latest

Richmond pull out, after their members voted against applying. All of this after Anti-NPL Victoria peoples claimed they were out before they'd even had that vote, let alone made a public statement. FFV claims 15 groups have put in bids for licences. Anti-NPL Victoria people make fools of themselves, and alienate others, by making up a nonsense list of applicants. As for the court proceedings, someone on smfcboard has said to mark August 26th in our diaries. If true, here's hoping for a morning session, so it doesn't clash with the class I teach.

Well Thought Out Analogies Department
The Stamoulis run/owned Ta Nea newspaper made a jibe about our crowds, by taking an out of context and narrow crowd photo during our game against Hume City last week, and basically calling us irrelevant, and asking how we could possibly take on the FFV and NPL Victoria with such little support.

As part of their 'mirth' making, they claimed that even Leonidas (of the Battle of Thermopylae fame, natch) had more followers. Never mind that the 300 Spartans also picked up a few thousand soldiers from other Greek city-states to fight for a united cause, when so often these same city-states were more interested in warring against each other.

Having said all that, the comparison to Thermopylae is of course an interesting one, in that while the outnumbered defenders failed in their initial objective, the greater battle was won soon afterwards, making possible the Golden Age of Classical Greece! So thanks, Ta Nea, for offering a timely dose of inspiration to the Anti-NPL Victoria forces, with your welcome analogy.

And I wonder who's playing the role of Ephialtes?

Final Thought
There was something thrilling about having four games on the same time, and enduring the nerve wracking game that we were at while also keeping an eye on the scores from around the grounds.

Thankyou Valkanis Family

Last Sunday's game, amongst other things, was also the end of the very long tenure of the Valkanis family's canteen operation at Middle Park and Lakeside. They won't be coming with us to wherever we're going, which is a pity. Their keftedes in particular will be missed.

They won't be lost to South entirely however, as they will now be providing comfort food to our junior wing. Hopefully they get a chance to enjoy a home senior game for the first time in what must be ages.

So thanks to the Valkanis family for their years of service, and to Filio, Jimmy and Helen  and whoever else they had do a guest stint, for making myself always feel welcome and a part of the South family.

For the record, I bought the final crumbed spicy chicken wing.

ERT Doco Part 3

Last part, continuing with Johnny A, confusion between SBS and channel 31, Ross Alatsas (credited as a journalist, which I suppose is true), in the kitchen very briefly with the Valkanis family, and a bit of the players singing their victory song after beating Altona Magic

Once again to Mildura Vasili, massive thanks for managing to upload as much as he did. Hopefully one day high quality copies are made available, with English subtilting (hell, I'd be happy to do it, if for no other reason than to get something worthwhile from 12 years of Greek school.)