Last time I posted one of these back in 2017, I said that it was the last one that I'd found on the Wayback Machine that was still in working order... but I was wrong! I've found another one, and bless, it's from someone who still goes to games!
NAME:
James Belias
AGE:
21
SUBURB:
Buxton (home of the ‘Buxton Burger’). Actually, I live in South Clayton.
INTERESTS:
Becoming the world’s greatest DJ and being the music editor of Lots Wife, the Monash Uni newspaper.
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS:
Racing Genk, Torquay United, AEK Athens, Hamburg and Oubasi Goldfields and Border Security. But South Melbourne are the number one priority and interest.
ARE YOU A MEMBER?
Yep.
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
No idea, but I think I was going to the soccer before I could walk and my first words were probably a chant of some sort. Seriously, dad used to take myself and my two brothers to Middle Park as a weekly outing. Fanatasicm grew steadily…
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
I remember going to the Grand Final in 90/91 and going bananas as a little kid, and repeating the process against Carlton in 97/98 and Sydney United in 98/99. Surely that is the pinnacle of supporting a club? Another great memory is seeing Paul Trimboli and Micky P at Chadstone Shopping Centre
Also, the World Club Championships was incredible too. Wish I went, but I went nuts at the TV. I’ll never forget the Vasco supporters before kick off against South. Amazing scenes.
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
When we played Perth Glory at Lakeside on a Wednesday night. I forget which season, but it was a battle for top spot and we scored 2 goals in a couple of minutes to take the lead and finally win 2-1. A great night, and Jimoin the comedian was there going nuts for South!!
Another favourite game was against Marconi at Middle Park years ago. No idea which season, but Tsolakis scored a penalty and Awaratife added a corker seconds later to seal an impossible victory. (The Clash of the Titans – Season 1992/93).
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
I can only speak of who I have seen actually play and all I need to say is that there’s only one Paul Trimboli.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
There are too many things to list, but I like the way South caters for soccer fans in Melbourne and competes, I believe, quite well for the very competitive Melbourne sporting dollar. I think there are some great supporters doing great things for the club too.
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
I get annoyed at the way certain parties at South (both internal and external) cling to the Greek heritage of South. Sure the club has an ethnic history, and we should never forget that, but still referring to the team as ‘Hellas’, which means Greece, has been played for too long.
I also dislike the seats opposite the grandstand. They encroach upon the remaining standing area too quickly for my liking. I hate sitting and watching the football.
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
I won’t dignify that with a response.
WHY?
Coz South Melbourne are the pride of Victoria and the most famous Australian sporting club in the world! GO SOUTH!!!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME JAMES.
Showing posts with label What South Means To Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What South Means To Me. Show all posts
Wednesday, 6 March 2019
Sunday, 4 June 2017
One (more) thing that was bothering me
Despite having largely overcome the seven year ordeal of not having a social club, South Melbourne Hellas continues to face many obstacles in its day to day existence. These obstacles include, but are not limited to:
I am talking of course about that broad collective which contains former and especially latent South Melbourne Hellas supporters. Now, most of us have dealt with the defiantly former South fan, and their myriad of mostly retrospectively contrived reasons for no longer supporting us. Frankly, I'm not in the mood to deal with those folks right now. But the latent as opposed to merely treacherous fan tends to fly under the radar. Oh, we talk about them a little bit - more so in the past - when we need them to perform one of two symbolic functions.
The first of these functions sees reference made to The Great Lost and Wandering Tribe of Hellas when we talk about all the fans that will come back to Lakeside once we re-enter the A-League. The second instance is when we talk about their absence as it affects us in our guise of misery inducing second tier status. 'If only a quarter (or similar number) of the 6,000 odd regulars of the NSL era who have left us would come back, we'd be better off in so many ways on and off the park' is the somewhat mangled mystery meat combination lament.
Unlike the deliberately and self-consciously trendy infidels who now support 'other' teams and who boast about their disloyalty towards South, the latent fan is harder to find. You may find an elder gentleman sitting at a barber shop, kafeneio, or perhaps in a cemetery. But there are also younger and more tech savvy variants who are easier to find by use of a simple device: the posting of South Melbourne Hellas pictures or videos of our glorious NSL teams and players. Do that on Facebook and to a much lesser extent Twitter, and watch them metaphorically scurry out from underneath the proverbial fridge, only to disappear once the business of South Melbourne Hellas as it exists now comes to hand.
Now I can empathise with these people. The NSL was undoubtedly awesome, especially if you were a South fan. You watched one of the league's most popular and successful teams, which played in one of the competition's better stadiums, and the club you supported carried about itself an air of invincibility and cockiness that likewise added a spring to your step.
But nowadays the club is - as this blog has talked about in far too much depth - something you no longer recognise or wish to recognise as the club you spent so much time, money, and emotion supporting. Your heart is broken by seeing South become re-associated with clubs that it had left behind. Watching the club play every second week in industrial zone paddocks, and every other week from behind the running track, is a torture the now latent fan cannot bare.
[Let's also not discount the problem of your mates or relatives no longer coming to games - it makes motivating oneself for the grind that much harder if you had a social group you were involved with and which is now no longer interested. People attract people, a crowd attracts a crowd, but once you slip underneath a certain critical mass, attendances, interest and relevance can dissolve very quickly.]
And let's not get started on the standard of play! So they stay away, and cloistering themselves at home, or at the footy, but especially in the soft, warm cloak of nostalgia. Meanwhile, those South fans still attending games rationalise the behaviour of latent fans as soft, or weak, or even as irresponsible. Me, I probably think all those things and more when I think about these latent Hellas fans, but at the heart of the matter, I understand the compulsion to stay away. I don't agree with it, but believe me, I do understand.
The same issues that keep those types away don't just magically disappear for those of us that still do attend. Every car trip into a suburban outpost, every long multi-modal and poorly serviced public transport trip to some ground that doesn't have an elevated view or even a concrete terrace, every loss to a team that five minutes ago was playing three or four divisions lower - all of it takes a toll on those still going to games. The flip-side to that is that there is also a camaraderie among the fans, especially those that do the business week in and week out; there is joy, there is comedy, and there is also victory, compromised as it may be by our circumstances.
So because I understand their reasoning, when I see these latent fans reminiscing about the 'good old days', I don't jump in and judge them. It doesn't do any good, and is certainly not likely to get them to come back. I'd rather set the example via my own attendance and this blog, where I contribute to the general South experience in order to do my small bit to keep the club as a going concern.
Recently however on Twitter, there was a passionate but also hilarious discussion on South's A-League bid shenanigans, especially some of the very loose handling of facts by certain members of the bid team. During that discussion, one of these self-confessed latent Hellas fans - one notable not only to myself but also to others for his tendency to only talk about South as a historical instead of ongoing concern - accused some South fans who were discussing and disagreeing with the conduct of South Melbourne's A-League bid team as exhibiting 'disreputable' behaviour.
One assumes this scalding (and for that writer, also quite uncharacteristic) epithet was directed to persons like myself, and possibly to folk like T. Arvanitis of Murrumbeena, who posted what was otherwise considered a very worthwhile bit of commentary on South's A-League bid media strategy on this blog. My normal response to such a provocation would be to remain in character, play a straight bat, and ask a question along the lines of 'disreputable how?'.
Instead of doing that - maybe because it was getting late and because tolerance to latent fans had worn thin - I responded with a hastily cobbled together response (including a choice typo) which played the man and not the issue. One could see it as giving back what I'd received, but it still felt a little unbecoming. The response to my riposte was to accuse me of having an agenda, whatever that meant to the particular person making that accusation (there was no follow up explaining what my agenda may be).
I don't know how he read something so sinister into my Twitter oeuvre, but if I were to admit to having an agenda, as a South fan it would be: to go to as many games as possible in order to support the team; to add a dry, curmudgeonly wit to the general atmosphere; and to lend my assistance to the club where I reasonably can. As a blogger, my aims are to do what I've always done: to provide a source of South news, opinion and assorted nonsense that is independent of South's official media channels; to increase the level of South fans' interests in the club's off-field operations; and to present a different public front to non-South fans about what this club is about. Sometimes this will compliment the club's efforts, and sometimes they will take an oppositional tone.
But to get back to the main point. Yes, it's sad that we have latent fans who for whatever reason can no longer bring themselves to attend South matches. That's their choice, and if they want to define themselves by reminiscence alone, there's not much we can do. Those of us who are still attending games appreciate what we have, not just what we had. So by all means if you're a latent fan, enjoy your fill of nostalgia - but don't go complaining about contemporary happenings at the club on or off-field, or the media's treatment of the club - because if you're not going to games yourself, you should probably reconsider the merits of your indignation.
Ultimately, the club exists for the living, not the dead. It's all in or not in at all. Lastly, it's never too late to come back - others who have drifted away have come back - even I've done it. It's not all bad.
- The arcane machinations of state and national soccer bodies
- A now seemingly permanent second tier status
- Media obscurity except in the most unusual and desperate of situations
- The assimilation/absorption oriented nature of Australia's Anglo-Celtic centric form of multiculturalism
- The club's own intermittent or frequent (your call) bouts of incompetence
- Modern difficulties of managing work/life balance
- Neos Kosmos, Neos Kosmos English Weekly, Ta Nea
- State Sport Centres Trust
- Winter
- A-League hooligans
- Opposition sides
- Negative bloggers
I am talking of course about that broad collective which contains former and especially latent South Melbourne Hellas supporters. Now, most of us have dealt with the defiantly former South fan, and their myriad of mostly retrospectively contrived reasons for no longer supporting us. Frankly, I'm not in the mood to deal with those folks right now. But the latent as opposed to merely treacherous fan tends to fly under the radar. Oh, we talk about them a little bit - more so in the past - when we need them to perform one of two symbolic functions.
The first of these functions sees reference made to The Great Lost and Wandering Tribe of Hellas when we talk about all the fans that will come back to Lakeside once we re-enter the A-League. The second instance is when we talk about their absence as it affects us in our guise of misery inducing second tier status. 'If only a quarter (or similar number) of the 6,000 odd regulars of the NSL era who have left us would come back, we'd be better off in so many ways on and off the park' is the somewhat mangled mystery meat combination lament.
Unlike the deliberately and self-consciously trendy infidels who now support 'other' teams and who boast about their disloyalty towards South, the latent fan is harder to find. You may find an elder gentleman sitting at a barber shop, kafeneio, or perhaps in a cemetery. But there are also younger and more tech savvy variants who are easier to find by use of a simple device: the posting of South Melbourne Hellas pictures or videos of our glorious NSL teams and players. Do that on Facebook and to a much lesser extent Twitter, and watch them metaphorically scurry out from underneath the proverbial fridge, only to disappear once the business of South Melbourne Hellas as it exists now comes to hand.
Now I can empathise with these people. The NSL was undoubtedly awesome, especially if you were a South fan. You watched one of the league's most popular and successful teams, which played in one of the competition's better stadiums, and the club you supported carried about itself an air of invincibility and cockiness that likewise added a spring to your step.
But nowadays the club is - as this blog has talked about in far too much depth - something you no longer recognise or wish to recognise as the club you spent so much time, money, and emotion supporting. Your heart is broken by seeing South become re-associated with clubs that it had left behind. Watching the club play every second week in industrial zone paddocks, and every other week from behind the running track, is a torture the now latent fan cannot bare.
[Let's also not discount the problem of your mates or relatives no longer coming to games - it makes motivating oneself for the grind that much harder if you had a social group you were involved with and which is now no longer interested. People attract people, a crowd attracts a crowd, but once you slip underneath a certain critical mass, attendances, interest and relevance can dissolve very quickly.]
And let's not get started on the standard of play! So they stay away, and cloistering themselves at home, or at the footy, but especially in the soft, warm cloak of nostalgia. Meanwhile, those South fans still attending games rationalise the behaviour of latent fans as soft, or weak, or even as irresponsible. Me, I probably think all those things and more when I think about these latent Hellas fans, but at the heart of the matter, I understand the compulsion to stay away. I don't agree with it, but believe me, I do understand.
The same issues that keep those types away don't just magically disappear for those of us that still do attend. Every car trip into a suburban outpost, every long multi-modal and poorly serviced public transport trip to some ground that doesn't have an elevated view or even a concrete terrace, every loss to a team that five minutes ago was playing three or four divisions lower - all of it takes a toll on those still going to games. The flip-side to that is that there is also a camaraderie among the fans, especially those that do the business week in and week out; there is joy, there is comedy, and there is also victory, compromised as it may be by our circumstances.
So because I understand their reasoning, when I see these latent fans reminiscing about the 'good old days', I don't jump in and judge them. It doesn't do any good, and is certainly not likely to get them to come back. I'd rather set the example via my own attendance and this blog, where I contribute to the general South experience in order to do my small bit to keep the club as a going concern.
Recently however on Twitter, there was a passionate but also hilarious discussion on South's A-League bid shenanigans, especially some of the very loose handling of facts by certain members of the bid team. During that discussion, one of these self-confessed latent Hellas fans - one notable not only to myself but also to others for his tendency to only talk about South as a historical instead of ongoing concern - accused some South fans who were discussing and disagreeing with the conduct of South Melbourne's A-League bid team as exhibiting 'disreputable' behaviour.
One assumes this scalding (and for that writer, also quite uncharacteristic) epithet was directed to persons like myself, and possibly to folk like T. Arvanitis of Murrumbeena, who posted what was otherwise considered a very worthwhile bit of commentary on South's A-League bid media strategy on this blog. My normal response to such a provocation would be to remain in character, play a straight bat, and ask a question along the lines of 'disreputable how?'.
Instead of doing that - maybe because it was getting late and because tolerance to latent fans had worn thin - I responded with a hastily cobbled together response (including a choice typo) which played the man and not the issue. One could see it as giving back what I'd received, but it still felt a little unbecoming. The response to my riposte was to accuse me of having an agenda, whatever that meant to the particular person making that accusation (there was no follow up explaining what my agenda may be).
I don't know how he read something so sinister into my Twitter oeuvre, but if I were to admit to having an agenda, as a South fan it would be: to go to as many games as possible in order to support the team; to add a dry, curmudgeonly wit to the general atmosphere; and to lend my assistance to the club where I reasonably can. As a blogger, my aims are to do what I've always done: to provide a source of South news, opinion and assorted nonsense that is independent of South's official media channels; to increase the level of South fans' interests in the club's off-field operations; and to present a different public front to non-South fans about what this club is about. Sometimes this will compliment the club's efforts, and sometimes they will take an oppositional tone.
Ultimately, the club exists for the living, not the dead. It's all in or not in at all. Lastly, it's never too late to come back - others who have drifted away have come back - even I've done it. It's not all bad.
Thursday, 23 March 2017
Fanatic of the Week no. 5 - Marshall Sayer
This is the last one of these I could find that was still in working order. Maybe some more digging another eight years time from now will unearth some more of these.
If you would like to add your name to the gimmick, I'm happy to receive emails answering all the questions below.
Welcome to our sixth 'Fanatic of the Week'. This week’s fanatic is Marshall Sayer from St. Kilda who hasn’t missed a South Melbourne match in Victoria for three seasons.
See below for full fanatic profile:
-------------------------------------------
NAME: Marshall Sayer
AGE: 17
SUBURB: St. Kilda
INTERESTS: Soccer, music, socialising with friends, footy
FAVOURITE CLUBS:
South Melbourne, Arsenal, Fiorentina
ARE YOU A SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMBER?
Of course
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
14 years old
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
The two Grand Final wins in 1997/98 & 1998/99
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Against Melbourne Knights in 1998 (2-2), when Bill Damianos hit a beautiful 40 yard strike into the top corner
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
Michael Petkovic
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
The team performing the best in the country, development of complete multiculturalism amongst supporters, the complete turn around from last season, and the boys in the administration offices
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Nothing
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
No way
WHY?
I could never support any other team simply because I love South Melbourne just that little bit too much!
THANK YOU MARSHALL FOR YOUR TIME!
If you would like to add your name to the gimmick, I'm happy to receive emails answering all the questions below.
Welcome to our sixth 'Fanatic of the Week'. This week’s fanatic is Marshall Sayer from St. Kilda who hasn’t missed a South Melbourne match in Victoria for three seasons.
See below for full fanatic profile:
-------------------------------------------
NAME: Marshall Sayer
AGE: 17
SUBURB: St. Kilda
INTERESTS: Soccer, music, socialising with friends, footy
FAVOURITE CLUBS:
South Melbourne, Arsenal, Fiorentina
ARE YOU A SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMBER?
Of course
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
14 years old
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
The two Grand Final wins in 1997/98 & 1998/99
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Against Melbourne Knights in 1998 (2-2), when Bill Damianos hit a beautiful 40 yard strike into the top corner
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
Michael Petkovic
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
The team performing the best in the country, development of complete multiculturalism amongst supporters, the complete turn around from last season, and the boys in the administration offices
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Nothing
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
No way
WHY?
I could never support any other team simply because I love South Melbourne just that little bit too much!
THANK YOU MARSHALL FOR YOUR TIME!
Thursday, 16 March 2017
Fanatic of the Week no. 4 - Nicholas Haddad
This is an interesting one - one where a little kid has been roped into the segment. This one actually had a photo as well, though we'll refrain from publishing it.
Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.
This week’s fanatic is young Nicholas Haddad from Rowville who has been a member of the Trimmers Club since he was born just over two years ago.
See below for full fanatic profile:
------------------------------------------
NAME: Nicholas Haddad
AGE: 2
SUBURB: Rowville
INTERESTS: Soccer and Hi-5
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS:
South Melbourne
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Yes - Trimmers Club Member
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
One year old
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Watching players with their little children
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Going to my first game
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
Paul Trimboli (Trimmers)
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli (Trimmers)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Happy people and the jumping castle, blue flags waving and saying "Go Blues"
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Fires are bad (Flares)
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
No
THANK YOU NICHOLAS FOR YOUR TIME!
Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.
This week’s fanatic is young Nicholas Haddad from Rowville who has been a member of the Trimmers Club since he was born just over two years ago.
See below for full fanatic profile:
------------------------------------------
NAME: Nicholas Haddad
AGE: 2
SUBURB: Rowville
INTERESTS: Soccer and Hi-5
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS:
South Melbourne
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Yes - Trimmers Club Member
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
One year old
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Watching players with their little children
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Going to my first game
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
Paul Trimboli (Trimmers)
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli (Trimmers)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Happy people and the jumping castle, blue flags waving and saying "Go Blues"
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Fires are bad (Flares)
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
No
THANK YOU NICHOLAS FOR YOUR TIME!
Thursday, 9 March 2017
Fanatic of the Week no. 3 - Manuel Bouw
After doing a little bit more digging, I'm am temporarily resuscitating this segment which first came to light (so far as I know) on the official site in 2001, and then became a short lived segment here during 2009. It's nice to add this and the ones that will follow to both the 'Fanatic of the Week' collection, but also the 'What South Means to Me' collection.
FANATIC OF THE WEEK!
Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.
This week’s fanatic is Manuel Bouw from Mooroolbark who likes the club because it has an exciting team with cheap membership.
See below for full fanatic profile:
----------------------------------------
NAME: Manuel Bouw
AGE: 20
SUBURB: Mooroolbark
INTERESTS: Sport
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne & Liverpool
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
I was last season, but this season I'm not, because I spent my $ on travelling overseas to watch the English premier league, but I'll be a member for next season!
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
18 years
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Andy Vlahos doing a somersault off the sideline advertising after scoring on his debut
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
When we pumped the Knights 3-0 in November of 1999
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
John "the headmaster" Anastasiadis
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli (I never saw Paul Wade play, so I can't comment on him)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
A good stadium with seats close to the ground, an exciting team, cheap membership and roasted peanuts for $1
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Getting on the tram after a match that doesn't go all the way through to Collins Street
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Never ever
WHY?
Having been to watch the soccer at Olympic Park, the MCG, Highbury & White Hart Lane in London, as well as many other grounds, South Melbourne is the only team which makes me feel welcome, and at home.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME MANUEL.
FANATIC OF THE WEEK!
Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.
This week’s fanatic is Manuel Bouw from Mooroolbark who likes the club because it has an exciting team with cheap membership.
See below for full fanatic profile:
----------------------------------------
NAME: Manuel Bouw
AGE: 20
SUBURB: Mooroolbark
INTERESTS: Sport
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne & Liverpool
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
I was last season, but this season I'm not, because I spent my $ on travelling overseas to watch the English premier league, but I'll be a member for next season!
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
18 years
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Andy Vlahos doing a somersault off the sideline advertising after scoring on his debut
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
When we pumped the Knights 3-0 in November of 1999
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
John "the headmaster" Anastasiadis
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli (I never saw Paul Wade play, so I can't comment on him)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
A good stadium with seats close to the ground, an exciting team, cheap membership and roasted peanuts for $1
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Getting on the tram after a match that doesn't go all the way through to Collins Street
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Never ever
WHY?
Having been to watch the soccer at Olympic Park, the MCG, Highbury & White Hart Lane in London, as well as many other grounds, South Melbourne is the only team which makes me feel welcome, and at home.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME MANUEL.
Monday, 30 January 2017
Indirectly toward Hellas - A new piece by Savvas Tzionis
This is another slightly rambling piece by frequent blog commentator Savvas Tzionis about the circuitous paths some people had in becoming South Melbourne Hellas fans. While many of our supporters had the fortune of being born into the club so to speak, others have endured more convoluted paths to become one of us. So here is Savvas' journey, with several digressions along the way.
My initial piece from a couple of years ago detailed my journey as a South supporter. What follows is akin to a movie prequel (like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). It tells of my journey as a child through the sporting landscape, where misconceptions often ruled (like thinking that 'black humour' was comedy performed by Black Americans!), towards my final destination as a South Melbourne Hellas supporter.
Starting with my earliest memory of soccer. It's 1974 and I am visiting a takeaway food outlet in Dandenong with my father and his younger cousins, as they decide whether or not to purchase this particular business. As I sit there bored, as all children must endure, I am staring at a poster on the wall of Manchester City vs West Ham. In a world of black and white television and print media, the claret and light blue colours were quite beguiling. I decided that Man City (they were the prominent team in the poster) is my English team. I also decided in that same year, when My Sporting Life was truly born, that I would support whoever was on top of the ladder in the VFA (Dandenong) and the State League (Prahran Slavia). My primary support, however, was for Carlton in the VFL and was instilled prior to 1974 through my father's influence.
My support for Dandenong lasted until both they and the VFA itself withered away after the 1970s. Man City managed to hold on to my affections until Charlie George slid across the turf after scoring for Derby County in 1975 (he sub-consciously looked Greek to me!). But by the end of the 1975/76 season, somehow I was lamenting the loss in the FA Cup final that my Man United suffered at the hands of Southampton. It then took me another five or so years to realise that the FA Cup was NOT the equivalent of a VFL premiership (misconceptions of youth!). And then started the hateful frustration seeing Liverpool dominate (I was always more a socialist than a Man U supporter) until the early 1990s.
My support for Prahran Slavia was just as short lived as Man City. On a particular Sunday I decided it was time to watch live State League soccer on commercial television (chortle, chortle!). The two teams were Melbourne and South Melbourne. I decided that... Melbourne (!) was my team. (years later after they had in fact disbanded, I discovered they were known as Melbourne Hungaria, but I suspect commercial TV never stated this). Melbourne lost the match, and by the time my uncle decided to take me to Esther Park to watch his team Heidelberg play Mooroolbark in 1975 (my twitter discussion confirmed the year), I recall I was a South Melbourne Hellas supporter (I don't think I even knew what Hellas stood for. I knew about Ελλάδα and Greece! But I didn't equate Hellas and Ελλάδα! Although I knew that South Melbourne Hellas was a Greek team and that naturally, that is my team). Confused? Importantly, my uncle left Australia to return to Greece in 1976 so no more local soccer for me.
Whilst all this was happening I was reading a book that was given to me about soccer and learning a little about the rules, and some 'strange' facts that were revealed at the end, such as the fact that England didn't win every World Cup, and that some strangely named country called Uruguay had won two (more misconceptions of youth! What a New Dawner I was!).
At Middlefield Primary School (an ethnic microcosm of Australian society at that time) in the suburb of Blackburn North, Australian Rules was my first love, but somehow by Grade 5 (1976) and Grade 6 (1977) I was playing in our soccer team, rather than the Football team. We were coached by our disinterested Grade 6 Scottish teacher, Mrs Cannon, until the older brother-in-law of one of the players asked and was given permission to coach us. All of a sudden, from a motley bunch of kids who had no idea and who were getting beaten 6-0 by our local rivals (Blackburn North Primary school, our own personal Shelbyville!) we were winning 9-0 against other schools, and progressed to the semi-finals against, poetically, Blackburn North. Inspired by our coach (Johnny Laczko, who we were aware, was Hungarian) and led by our captain, Wayne McKenzie (our local version of Johnny Warren?), we made it all the way to a penalty shoot-out after holding them to a 0-0 score line. The dream ending was not to be as we only scored one goal! We were more disappointed for our coach, who was visibly upset, than for ourselves. I think part of that was that here was an 'adult' who treated us as equals, and not, as the saying goes, children that needed to be 'seen and not heard!
During that year of 1977, I also remember getting excited about the advent of Channel Ten showing German soccer (I had some idea that they were playing the best football at that time, through both their club and national teams). I stayed up and started watching the 10pm telecast between Mönchengladbach (Munching gladbag?!!) and some other team. But like Homer Simpson, when he was trying to watch baseball without alcohol, I was quickly bored by the interminable back passing and slow play. I switched off, and so did everyone else it appears. These weekly telecasts didn't last the year! The idiots at Ten didn't bother with editing the match (they made a similar mistake 10 years later with Wrestlemania II)! So it was back to focusing on the 'best soccer in the world', the English game where games on The Big Match only took 40 minutes and were always 'exciting'. And how could any of us not like the kindly host, Brian Moore (who reminded me of a nice version of Arthur from On the Buses). This was a supposedly tumultuous period ion Australian Soccer with the advent of the NSL, but I was oblivious to it. All my Fathers side of the family were migrants from the early 1950's and VFL devotees. I wonder if they looked down on soccer and its adherents amongst the recently arrived migrants from Greece? The attitude of my father wouldn't have been helped by my uncle getting into a fist fight at one particular game in 1976 at Middle Park, with another Greek over the fact that some of us kids were sitting on top of the outer wire mesh race, blocking the view of some spectators! I think we left the game before it even started! LOL Yep, once my uncle left these shores, there was no soccer outlet for me at this stage.
So by 1980, in my high school teen years, soccer had taken a back seat. Had the advent of the NSL actually lessened the appeal of the game to the local soccer following population? Or had my uncle's return to Greece removed an avenue to attending games? My father was interested in neither soccer nor, (don't scoff!) professional wrestling (I suspect it attracted a similar clientèle!). Of course my VFL team, Carlton, was in the middle of its most dominant era, which helped steal my focus. Yet at high school we would still play games of schoolyard soccer. However, when a student shouted 'Kosmina!' when scoring a goal, I assumed he was talking about some elegant Continental European player!
I really was detached from the local game, except for the one moment in 1981 when I attended two games in one day with my auntie's new husband (Footscray JUST vs South at Schintler Reserve, and Preston Makedonia (my first introduction to this group of people!) vs Heidelberg at a pulsating Olympic Park at night . But that was it until 1983 when, finally, I was becoming more interested in the NSL via SBS. I recall Preston were leading the table but that South, after having sacked Rale Rasic and signing Len McKendry, were charging up the ladder. With the pressure of HSC, I was always looking at a distraction, and having a bit more freedom at age 17, I attended, via public transport, two pivotal matches (South won both) against the all powerful Sydney City Hakoah and Marconi with my non Greek friends Tony Henshaw and Mick Collier (the same Mick Collier who attended the amazing Bulleen v Heidelberg game last season with me).
Together with the 1982 World Cup, which our Italian-born Economics teacher would force us to discuss, there were these brief moments when soccer would take a hold of my consciousness. But there always appeared to be a roadblock to taking it a step further. My father's lack of interest, my uncle's absence after 1976, the 'bad guys' (Italy and West Germany) playing off for the 1982 World Cup at the expense of the 'good guys' (Brazil and France), the dominance of my VFL team, Carlton, school years, living in the 'burbs rather than inner suburbs. These road blocks would remove themselves as negating factors, coinciding with the freedom of being an adult and getting a licence in 1985. And a connection to South Melbourne and local soccer in general was finally able to flower.
Postscript
Interestingly, when my family visited Greece in 1980, I was shocked to hear my uncle tell me that he didn't attend the local soccer in Patra. His reasons were vague but I had just assumed that, because soccer was so popular amongst Greeks in Melbourne, that in Greece itself it must be infinitely more popular. But years later I deduced why he didn't attend. Greece was not a first world country with money to spare on attending soccer matches. The local team was Παναχαϊκή. They played in a dilapidated stadium, and they were a struggling team. Add to this the fact that most Achaeans supported a major Athenian team, and you get a sense of how the A-League was able to draw supporters away from the older clubs. But here is the interesting postscript. My uncle did eventually become a regular attendee at Παναχαϊκή games about seven years ago. There is hope for our own South Melbourne!
My initial piece from a couple of years ago detailed my journey as a South supporter. What follows is akin to a movie prequel (like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). It tells of my journey as a child through the sporting landscape, where misconceptions often ruled (like thinking that 'black humour' was comedy performed by Black Americans!), towards my final destination as a South Melbourne Hellas supporter.
Starting with my earliest memory of soccer. It's 1974 and I am visiting a takeaway food outlet in Dandenong with my father and his younger cousins, as they decide whether or not to purchase this particular business. As I sit there bored, as all children must endure, I am staring at a poster on the wall of Manchester City vs West Ham. In a world of black and white television and print media, the claret and light blue colours were quite beguiling. I decided that Man City (they were the prominent team in the poster) is my English team. I also decided in that same year, when My Sporting Life was truly born, that I would support whoever was on top of the ladder in the VFA (Dandenong) and the State League (Prahran Slavia). My primary support, however, was for Carlton in the VFL and was instilled prior to 1974 through my father's influence.
My support for Dandenong lasted until both they and the VFA itself withered away after the 1970s. Man City managed to hold on to my affections until Charlie George slid across the turf after scoring for Derby County in 1975 (he sub-consciously looked Greek to me!). But by the end of the 1975/76 season, somehow I was lamenting the loss in the FA Cup final that my Man United suffered at the hands of Southampton. It then took me another five or so years to realise that the FA Cup was NOT the equivalent of a VFL premiership (misconceptions of youth!). And then started the hateful frustration seeing Liverpool dominate (I was always more a socialist than a Man U supporter) until the early 1990s.
 |
| The old Esther Park turnstile entrance. Photo. Les Street. For more photos in this series of NSL Melbourne venues, visit this forum thread |
Whilst all this was happening I was reading a book that was given to me about soccer and learning a little about the rules, and some 'strange' facts that were revealed at the end, such as the fact that England didn't win every World Cup, and that some strangely named country called Uruguay had won two (more misconceptions of youth! What a New Dawner I was!).
At Middlefield Primary School (an ethnic microcosm of Australian society at that time) in the suburb of Blackburn North, Australian Rules was my first love, but somehow by Grade 5 (1976) and Grade 6 (1977) I was playing in our soccer team, rather than the Football team. We were coached by our disinterested Grade 6 Scottish teacher, Mrs Cannon, until the older brother-in-law of one of the players asked and was given permission to coach us. All of a sudden, from a motley bunch of kids who had no idea and who were getting beaten 6-0 by our local rivals (Blackburn North Primary school, our own personal Shelbyville!) we were winning 9-0 against other schools, and progressed to the semi-finals against, poetically, Blackburn North. Inspired by our coach (Johnny Laczko, who we were aware, was Hungarian) and led by our captain, Wayne McKenzie (our local version of Johnny Warren?), we made it all the way to a penalty shoot-out after holding them to a 0-0 score line. The dream ending was not to be as we only scored one goal! We were more disappointed for our coach, who was visibly upset, than for ourselves. I think part of that was that here was an 'adult' who treated us as equals, and not, as the saying goes, children that needed to be 'seen and not heard!
So by 1980, in my high school teen years, soccer had taken a back seat. Had the advent of the NSL actually lessened the appeal of the game to the local soccer following population? Or had my uncle's return to Greece removed an avenue to attending games? My father was interested in neither soccer nor, (don't scoff!) professional wrestling (I suspect it attracted a similar clientèle!). Of course my VFL team, Carlton, was in the middle of its most dominant era, which helped steal my focus. Yet at high school we would still play games of schoolyard soccer. However, when a student shouted 'Kosmina!' when scoring a goal, I assumed he was talking about some elegant Continental European player!
I really was detached from the local game, except for the one moment in 1981 when I attended two games in one day with my auntie's new husband (Footscray JUST vs South at Schintler Reserve, and Preston Makedonia (my first introduction to this group of people!) vs Heidelberg at a pulsating Olympic Park at night . But that was it until 1983 when, finally, I was becoming more interested in the NSL via SBS. I recall Preston were leading the table but that South, after having sacked Rale Rasic and signing Len McKendry, were charging up the ladder. With the pressure of HSC, I was always looking at a distraction, and having a bit more freedom at age 17, I attended, via public transport, two pivotal matches (South won both) against the all powerful Sydney City Hakoah and Marconi with my non Greek friends Tony Henshaw and Mick Collier (the same Mick Collier who attended the amazing Bulleen v Heidelberg game last season with me).
Together with the 1982 World Cup, which our Italian-born Economics teacher would force us to discuss, there were these brief moments when soccer would take a hold of my consciousness. But there always appeared to be a roadblock to taking it a step further. My father's lack of interest, my uncle's absence after 1976, the 'bad guys' (Italy and West Germany) playing off for the 1982 World Cup at the expense of the 'good guys' (Brazil and France), the dominance of my VFL team, Carlton, school years, living in the 'burbs rather than inner suburbs. These road blocks would remove themselves as negating factors, coinciding with the freedom of being an adult and getting a licence in 1985. And a connection to South Melbourne and local soccer in general was finally able to flower.
Postscript
Interestingly, when my family visited Greece in 1980, I was shocked to hear my uncle tell me that he didn't attend the local soccer in Patra. His reasons were vague but I had just assumed that, because soccer was so popular amongst Greeks in Melbourne, that in Greece itself it must be infinitely more popular. But years later I deduced why he didn't attend. Greece was not a first world country with money to spare on attending soccer matches. The local team was Παναχαϊκή. They played in a dilapidated stadium, and they were a struggling team. Add to this the fact that most Achaeans supported a major Athenian team, and you get a sense of how the A-League was able to draw supporters away from the older clubs. But here is the interesting postscript. My uncle did eventually become a regular attendee at Παναχαϊκή games about seven years ago. There is hope for our own South Melbourne!
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Metamorphosis (in a Robert Manne sort of way)
This is a guest post by one of South of the Border's most frequent contributors to the comments section, Savvas Tzionis. It's an interesting ramble about a very unorthodox journey towards, away from and finally back to South. Cheers, Savvas!
This is the story of a South Melbourne fan who went from being an anti NSL (and by definition, anti-South to some extent) zealot to an anti A-League agitator (by definition, a very much pro South Melbourne fan).
I grew up in Greek family with a Cypriot father who passed on down to me, not a love for soccer, but his passion for the Carlton Football Club, much like his own uncle passed on the passion to him when my father arrived in 1951 as a 17 year old (my father's uncle having arrived in the 1920s.)
Soccer was, and has remained for him, a secondary sport. For me, the 1986 World Cup made a indelible impression on me. It councided with a nadir in the VFL, highlighted for me with the pre game entertainment at the 1986 grand final where John Elliott's Fosters Lager was horribly ubiquitous! Thus the journey began. South games, which I rarely attended, were now part of my ritual. For up to ten years from 1986 to 1994, both Australian rules and soccer were part of my diet, with Australian rules still the dominant partner.
Then in 1994, the once great game of Australian rules quite suddenly lost its aesthetic appeal, and soccer found itself number one. But, concurrently, I was also frustrated by the ethnocentric nature of the sport. The clubs seemed to be run by ultra-nationalists who had no interest in broadening the game's appeal.
I then moved to Sydney in 1998 for a year, and was fortunate enough to time my arrival with the introduction of the Northern Spirit. Those Friday night games were something else. I stood amongst the non official cheer squad (as opposed to the larger 'official' cheer squad on the opposite side), who were a motley group of English, Australian, and Southern Europeans. The English were the leaders, and rightly so, because they had the wittiest lines! It confirmed to me that we were not harnessing the latent interest in the game.
Once I returned to Melbourne, and in the wake of the missed 1997 Iran debacle which stifled the opportunity to grow the game, I drifted away from the sport to the point where I stopped going altogether. There were other external factors, but the deteriorating aura surrounding Australian soccer was of no interest to me. But when the Howard goverment was encouraged to enter the debate, I smelt a nasty rat.
I became a trolling internet soccer forum abuser, accusing the new regime of pseudo racism, and labelling its key element of change, the A-League, as the B (British and second rate!) League. I decided to attend Souths first game back in the State League against our erstwhile rival, Heidelberg. I didn't want to admit it, but it was such a sad affair, in spite of the large crowd, that I never went again (bar the odd Monday night game at Bulleen, near my home) until 2012 when I felt the urge to start attending South games again.
Why? Various reasons. My retreat from mainstream society was manifesting itself in various ways, and coming back to the Hellas fold was one of those ways. I also felt an urge to do my bit to hold on to a bit of the old Greek Australian society, and returning to Hellas was one way of doing this.
Throughout this metamorphosis, I look with chagrin to my attitude towards fans of our rival, Melbourne Knights. In the past, I saw them as the evil beast of Australian soccer; but now I grudgingly respect their steadfastness, and their realistic views of what many people think of 'ethnics', for want of a better word. Perhaps one factor is the modern history of Croatia being under a (albeit relatively benign) communist dictatorship, which engendered a mistrust in 'best intentions', very much a trait of over governance, which the FFA can be accused of.
My initial steps back into the fold were a little timid. My first game back was against the lowly, and destined to be relegated, Moreland Zebras. Interestingly it coincided with South Melbourne Hellas' return to Lakeside after the refurbishment. I barely knew the players. Looking back now, I chuckle that my earliest memory was of Kyle Joryeff scoring twice in that game. By mid season, he was gone! Although I had dived straight in and purchased a membership, I was only attending home games for the first two years. But from 2014, I found myself attending even early round cup games. I think the trigger was the chance to visit the old NSL grounds like Chaplin Reserve to see the once middle strength Sunshine Geirge Cross. I now knew every player (not easy with the high rotation of player lists, a marked, but understandable contrast to the NSL days.) and this was a key reconnection to the club.
My two most memorable matches during this time were the penultimate 2012 game against Bentleigh Greens which sealed our fate for that year, and the 2013 elimination final against Green Gully. Extreme disappointment, followed by an elation I hadn't felt since probably the 1991 NSL grand final. Where this new chapter will take me, is perhaps out of my hands. I would like to think the club, on the back of the return to the newly improved Lakeside Oval and the finalisation of the 40 year lease, has some real foundations in place for a return to better times. The team is finally back where it belongs on top, and I TRUST(!) the Social Club will be ready soon!
A couple of people who I would like to mention is the author of this blog, Paul, whose writings have been one of the reasons I have not only returned, but have taken it up a step, (to quote George Costanza from the Hamptons episode) in supporting South.
And to George, who I met through a mutual friend back in the early 1990's, on the terraces in the outer at Middle Park. Upon returning to SMH, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him at Lakeside, still attending, 15 years after I last saw him, still attending with his non driving father. His response to seeing me was akin to Mario from Mario's Pizza in the Frogger episode from Seinfeld ... 'Where've you been?!'
He stuck at it, whereas so many of us left.
This is the story of a South Melbourne fan who went from being an anti NSL (and by definition, anti-South to some extent) zealot to an anti A-League agitator (by definition, a very much pro South Melbourne fan).
I grew up in Greek family with a Cypriot father who passed on down to me, not a love for soccer, but his passion for the Carlton Football Club, much like his own uncle passed on the passion to him when my father arrived in 1951 as a 17 year old (my father's uncle having arrived in the 1920s.)
Then in 1994, the once great game of Australian rules quite suddenly lost its aesthetic appeal, and soccer found itself number one. But, concurrently, I was also frustrated by the ethnocentric nature of the sport. The clubs seemed to be run by ultra-nationalists who had no interest in broadening the game's appeal.
Once I returned to Melbourne, and in the wake of the missed 1997 Iran debacle which stifled the opportunity to grow the game, I drifted away from the sport to the point where I stopped going altogether. There were other external factors, but the deteriorating aura surrounding Australian soccer was of no interest to me. But when the Howard goverment was encouraged to enter the debate, I smelt a nasty rat.
I became a trolling internet soccer forum abuser, accusing the new regime of pseudo racism, and labelling its key element of change, the A-League, as the B (British and second rate!) League. I decided to attend Souths first game back in the State League against our erstwhile rival, Heidelberg. I didn't want to admit it, but it was such a sad affair, in spite of the large crowd, that I never went again (bar the odd Monday night game at Bulleen, near my home) until 2012 when I felt the urge to start attending South games again.
Why? Various reasons. My retreat from mainstream society was manifesting itself in various ways, and coming back to the Hellas fold was one of those ways. I also felt an urge to do my bit to hold on to a bit of the old Greek Australian society, and returning to Hellas was one way of doing this.
Throughout this metamorphosis, I look with chagrin to my attitude towards fans of our rival, Melbourne Knights. In the past, I saw them as the evil beast of Australian soccer; but now I grudgingly respect their steadfastness, and their realistic views of what many people think of 'ethnics', for want of a better word. Perhaps one factor is the modern history of Croatia being under a (albeit relatively benign) communist dictatorship, which engendered a mistrust in 'best intentions', very much a trait of over governance, which the FFA can be accused of.
 |
| South Melbourne squad from round 1, 2012, prior to the 4-0 win against Moreland Zebras. Photo: Cindy Nitsos. |
My two most memorable matches during this time were the penultimate 2012 game against Bentleigh Greens which sealed our fate for that year, and the 2013 elimination final against Green Gully. Extreme disappointment, followed by an elation I hadn't felt since probably the 1991 NSL grand final. Where this new chapter will take me, is perhaps out of my hands. I would like to think the club, on the back of the return to the newly improved Lakeside Oval and the finalisation of the 40 year lease, has some real foundations in place for a return to better times. The team is finally back where it belongs on top, and I TRUST(!) the Social Club will be ready soon!
A couple of people who I would like to mention is the author of this blog, Paul, whose writings have been one of the reasons I have not only returned, but have taken it up a step, (to quote George Costanza from the Hamptons episode) in supporting South.
And to George, who I met through a mutual friend back in the early 1990's, on the terraces in the outer at Middle Park. Upon returning to SMH, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him at Lakeside, still attending, 15 years after I last saw him, still attending with his non driving father. His response to seeing me was akin to Mario from Mario's Pizza in the Frogger episode from Seinfeld ... 'Where've you been?!'
He stuck at it, whereas so many of us left.
Monday, 2 February 2015
Me interviewed on Behind the Game podcast
A week or two ago I did an interview with Brogan Renshaw, founder and host of a podcast called Behind the Game. I had no real idea what it was going to cover (and afterwards we both relaised we hadn't ta;lked about my research into soccer and literature), and after doing the interview I was afraid there were going to be too many pauses, but it actually turned out OK. The interview goes for almost 50 minutes, or if you really can't be bothered just read the gist of what we talked about below.
It's early days yet for this podcast, so there's perhaps a few too many Western Sydney Wanderers people attached (and I even recommended one to Brogan to interview) but the more recent interviews tend to drift away from that, and I think it'll be a series worth keeping an eye (or ear) on.
It's early days yet for this podcast, so there's perhaps a few too many Western Sydney Wanderers people attached (and I even recommended one to Brogan to interview) but the more recent interviews tend to drift away from that, and I think it'll be a series worth keeping an eye (or ear) on.
- Woe is me for being an outsider (no credibility as a soccer person).
- How I got into South.
- Feeling part of the community.
- Attempt to marginalise myself as much as possible (Eurosnobs, pay TV).
- A-League inclinations (or the lack thereof), and double standards in expectations.
- Bitterness (parlance, emotion and being outside the conversation).
- More marginalisation (backing myself in a corner).
- Brogan tries hard to find the right words.
- How the hell does a club like South get back to the top under the current regimes (political and cultural)?
- Fondest soccer memory.
- Least fondest memory (OK, maybe more than one, and the dangers of 'what ifs')
- Betraying my father, betraying Heidelberg, dodging a bullet.
- Why do I still go to South games? (regrets, you'll only go in for your mates)
- Old Soccer/New Football (throwaway line my arse).
- Who's paying for the current marginalisation of the old soccer?
- The healing process. (hint: it's bullshit)
- National Club Identity Policy (as if I wasn't going to talk about that)
- Blogging! (Why?)
- Success and pitfalls, style vs service.
- The damn audience.
- Friends and enemies.
- Information control and the Whole of Football meeting (you can also hear me opening and closing a bottle of water at some point here).
- The Greek national team (meh), the Socceroos (I don't want to be meh) and the Asian Cup.
- Eddie McGuire.
- What does the future hold for South?
- The end.
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Vic Uni St Albans Campus artefact Wednesday - South fan profile
When Victoria University academic and sometime blogger Ian Syson wants someone to help clean out and/or organise his office space, he calls in the professionals. And by professionals, I mean me, because I did get paid to do it a couple of times.
As part of said organising process, I get to keep duplicate books (usually novels - I still need to read Mary Barton and Dr No) as well whatever other crap Syson decides he no longer needs. Thus I ended up in the situation whereby I came into possession of some decade old soccer magazines. Most of these were copies of Soccer International (about 4-5 copies, if you want them, contact me) and one copy of Action Soccer.
The photo below is from Action Soccer, a magazine I know next to nothing about. This version of it had the banner on the front claiming to be 'your essential guide to thr 1999-2000 NSL season', and I guess it performs that function adequately. There's all sorts of curious timepieces in there of course. Club profiles, rising star pieces, a Socceroos pullout poster, and a photo of Vaughan Coveny showing off his nipples.
But the bit I decided to pull out of there this time - I may revisit this magazine in future when struggling for artefacts to upload - was a fan profile. It was part of a set of four, and apart from ourselves, it included Carlton, Northern Spirit and Perth Glory profiles (which if people who support(ed) those teams want, I can provide via email).
It's a pretty spot on profile - fickle, but not that bad, limited chants as they were at the time with more focus on abuse/opinion, and of course good travelling support. I don't know about the rest of them, but the bloke in blue smack bang in the middle of the inset photo still comes to games. Hell of a guy. Click on the photo to enlarge it - maybe you're in there somewhere.
As part of said organising process, I get to keep duplicate books (usually novels - I still need to read Mary Barton and Dr No) as well whatever other crap Syson decides he no longer needs. Thus I ended up in the situation whereby I came into possession of some decade old soccer magazines. Most of these were copies of Soccer International (about 4-5 copies, if you want them, contact me) and one copy of Action Soccer.
The photo below is from Action Soccer, a magazine I know next to nothing about. This version of it had the banner on the front claiming to be 'your essential guide to thr 1999-2000 NSL season', and I guess it performs that function adequately. There's all sorts of curious timepieces in there of course. Club profiles, rising star pieces, a Socceroos pullout poster, and a photo of Vaughan Coveny showing off his nipples.
But the bit I decided to pull out of there this time - I may revisit this magazine in future when struggling for artefacts to upload - was a fan profile. It was part of a set of four, and apart from ourselves, it included Carlton, Northern Spirit and Perth Glory profiles (which if people who support(ed) those teams want, I can provide via email).
It's a pretty spot on profile - fickle, but not that bad, limited chants as they were at the time with more focus on abuse/opinion, and of course good travelling support. I don't know about the rest of them, but the bloke in blue smack bang in the middle of the inset photo still comes to games. Hell of a guy. Click on the photo to enlarge it - maybe you're in there somewhere.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Con Harismidis, Tony Ising, Chips Rafferty and Online Petitions From Days Of Yore
A twitter discussion earlier this year on the greatness that is Con Harismidis got me searching for whatever was left of his internet presence. I didn't find much that wasn't already on this blog - if someone can find his mainstream press appearances that would be good.
What I did find was this petition from an unknown pre-A-League date. It was a simpler time, when people still believed that online petitions could make a difference.
There are 225 signatories to it. Rather than include all of the submissions, let's take a look at some of the more worthwhile entries.
Tool
The NSL club you currently support: Pert GloRi
The International club you support:Engerland
Birthplace: Oztraliya
Comments : I waiting 26 yr 4 a fu.c.king no ethnik klub in melboun!!
Birthplace : Melbourne
Comments : Soccer just isn't an Aussie game. Get over it.
Chips
The NSL club you currently support: Northern Spirit
Comments: The wogs hijacked the domestic game in 1957 . Now it's time to take what's rightfully our back.
australiansoccer.net
The NSL club you currently support: South Melbourne
The International club you support: South Melbourne
Birthplace : Australian Soccer
Comments : I love australiansoccer.net
Cropower
The NSL club you currently support: Sydney United
Comments : Whats wrong with the NSL ?? Too many wogs is that it ?
Daniel N
The NSL club you currently support: South Melbourne
The International club you support: Red Star Belgrade
Birthplace: Melbourne
Comments : APL should go ahead only with non racial backed teams. Soccer is a sport for all nationalities. Good to see scum like Melbourne Knights out. HELLAS OLE!
Australia S
The NSL club you currently support: Butt munch
The International club you support: Liverpool
Birthplace : Bollawonger Canyon
Comments : Lets face it guys we're crap at soccer. Leave it to the English.
Con H
The NSL club you currently support: Hellas
The International club you support: Hellas
Comments : Hello everybody. I am Con Harismidis. My favourite player is Con Boutsianis. My other favourite player is John Anastasiadis. Hellas is best team in league. There is no Hellas there is no league. Hellas is best.
Jason F
The NSL club you currently support: none cos i didnt feel welcome at any
The International club you support: Liverpool
Birthplace : Melbourne
SIMUN
The NSL club you currently support: MELBOURNE KNIGHTS & SYDNEY UNITED
The International club you support: HAJDUK SPLIT
Birthplace : perth
Comments : ..what this country needs is a competition not an auction, I thought that the best team was the one that always won, not had the most money..if this APL is going to succeed it needs to have more advertising , I hate to say it but like the AFL, turn on any channel and theres a AFL add right there, thats why AFL have 40,000 spectators to an everyday round game not just at a final..we need to start showing the people of AUSTRLIA why its called THE WORLD GAME and why we can travel all over the world to play it unlike AFL where you need to learn a totally new sport verse another nation(aka IRELAND)
John
Comments : Soccer is a poofs game AFL RULES
chris p
The NSL club you currently support: Northern Spirit
The International club you support: Glasgow Celtic
Birthplace : Sydney
Comments :soccer belongs to the people not stakeholders.
manny k
The NSL club you currently support: Sydney Olympic
The International club you support: Man U & Leeds
Birthplace : Sydney
Comments : can't wait for the new APL to start....i've waited for over 15 years for the ethnic clubs to disappear so that the comp could be city vs city..just remember...more kids play soccer than league, union & afl put together
Bryce M
The NSL club you currently support: Brisbane Strikers
The International club you support: Arsenal FC
Birthplace : QLD
Comments About time that a change happended in ozzie soccer. Im sick of being ashamed of our australian league. There is a reason why console games forget to include our league.
Tony I
The NSL club you currently support: Melbourne Victory
The International club you support: Socceroos
Birthplace : Melbourne
Comments : Let's all support the APL.
Nick S
The NSL club you currently support: South Melbourne
The International club you support: Celtic
Birthplace : Melbourne
Comments : It wouldnt be a real league without the most successful Australian side, its like the premier league without ManU, Liverpool or Arsenal
What I did find was this petition from an unknown pre-A-League date. It was a simpler time, when people still believed that online petitions could make a difference.
Dear Soccer Australia or whichever body of authority this petition may concern in the future,
We, the undersigned, the fans of Australian soccer, are excited about the prospect of a new, quality premier national competition.
We believe that an independent, quality and fully professional premier national soccer competition is essential to the success of Australian soccer, both on and off the field.
The creation of such a competition is critical if the game's most important stakeholders, the fans, are to truly embrace Australian soccer.
You owe it to yourselves, to the players, to the fans, to all Australians past, present and future, to thoroughly consider the hard work and efforts of the Australian Professional Footballers' Association and go about implementing the appropriate strategies in order to establish a league that truly embodies the gigantic potential for soccer in Australia.
We wish to express our support for the PFA's proposed Australian Premier League by signing our names to this petition.
The future is in your hands, we sincerely hope that you take full advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and make your decisions carefully and wisely.
There are 225 signatories to it. Rather than include all of the submissions, let's take a look at some of the more worthwhile entries.
- Make of this post what you will.
The NSL club you currently support: Pert GloRi
The International club you support:Engerland
Birthplace: Oztraliya
Comments : I waiting 26 yr 4 a fu.c.king no ethnik klub in melboun!!
- It was followed hot on the heels by this:
Comments : Soccer just isn't an Aussie game. Get over it.
- Younger audiences of Australian soccer forums may not remember when the poster known as Chips Rafferty was all for draining the pond.
The NSL club you currently support: Northern Spirit
Comments: The wogs hijacked the domestic game in 1957 . Now it's time to take what's rightfully our back.
- This person was more interested in self-promotion.
The NSL club you currently support: South Melbourne
The International club you support: South Melbourne
Birthplace : Australian Soccer
Comments : I love australiansoccer.net
- Cropower sums up the discussions that were happening at the time, in both tone and content.
The NSL club you currently support: Sydney United
Comments : Whats wrong with the NSL ?? Too many wogs is that it ?
- I think you'll pick up the problem with this post without too much help.
The NSL club you currently support: South Melbourne
The International club you support: Red Star Belgrade
Birthplace: Melbourne
Comments : APL should go ahead only with non racial backed teams. Soccer is a sport for all nationalities. Good to see scum like Melbourne Knights out. HELLAS OLE!
- Anyone ever been to Bollawonger Canyon?
The NSL club you currently support: Butt munch
The International club you support: Liverpool
Birthplace : Bollawonger Canyon
Comments : Lets face it guys we're crap at soccer. Leave it to the English.
- The man himself, Con Harismidis
The NSL club you currently support: Hellas
The International club you support: Hellas
Comments : Hello everybody. I am Con Harismidis. My favourite player is Con Boutsianis. My other favourite player is John Anastasiadis. Hellas is best team in league. There is no Hellas there is no league. Hellas is best.
- Jason, born in Melbourne, supports Liverpool, but didn't feel welcome at NSL games. How do you argue against things like this?
The NSL club you currently support: none cos i didnt feel welcome at any
The International club you support: Liverpool
Birthplace : Melbourne
- Simun has a few ideas on what should have been done.
The NSL club you currently support: MELBOURNE KNIGHTS & SYDNEY UNITED
The International club you support: HAJDUK SPLIT
Birthplace : perth
Comments : ..what this country needs is a competition not an auction, I thought that the best team was the one that always won, not had the most money..if this APL is going to succeed it needs to have more advertising , I hate to say it but like the AFL, turn on any channel and theres a AFL add right there, thats why AFL have 40,000 spectators to an everyday round game not just at a final..we need to start showing the people of AUSTRLIA why its called THE WORLD GAME and why we can travel all over the world to play it unlike AFL where you need to learn a totally new sport verse another nation(aka IRELAND)
- John sounds like a charming fellow.
Comments : Soccer is a poofs game AFL RULES
- Chris sees a difference between people and stakeholders. What odds he has a job at the FFV these days?
The NSL club you currently support: Northern Spirit
The International club you support: Glasgow Celtic
Birthplace : Sydney
Comments :soccer belongs to the people not stakeholders.
- Manny supports Olympic, but doesn't want Olympic in a national league. I wonder if he's still following them in the NSWNPL?
The NSL club you currently support: Sydney Olympic
The International club you support: Man U & Leeds
Birthplace : Sydney
Comments : can't wait for the new APL to start....i've waited for over 15 years for the ethnic clubs to disappear so that the comp could be city vs city..just remember...more kids play soccer than league, union & afl put together
- Bryce nails down not having the NSL on console games as the burning issue.
The NSL club you currently support: Brisbane Strikers
The International club you support: Arsenal FC
Birthplace : QLD
Comments About time that a change happended in ozzie soccer. Im sick of being ashamed of our australian league. There is a reason why console games forget to include our league.
- Not the first time Tony Ising used a less than orthodox manner of promoting his Melbourne Victory idea - but that story's for another time.
The NSL club you currently support: Melbourne Victory
The International club you support: Socceroos
Birthplace : Melbourne
Comments : Let's all support the APL.
- I'm with Nick, I still don't consider it a real league. I just hope Nick is still around South somewhere.
The NSL club you currently support: South Melbourne
The International club you support: Celtic
Birthplace : Melbourne
Comments : It wouldnt be a real league without the most successful Australian side, its like the premier league without ManU, Liverpool or Arsenal
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
The Problem With South Melbourne Hellas - guest post
Another anonymous poster, with another heartfelt missive. Remember when no one used to contribute?
So here I was driving in my car after the game with bottom side Dingley, trying to work out what has gone wrong with the club I have supported since I was knee high. I thought to myself where do i start? Who do I talk to? Where do I go? Am I the only one who cares for the club of the century that I still cant sleep at night when we loose games? If there is any one else why don't we see it at match day? Where have all the Hellas supporters gone to remind the representatives of where they are playing and what a privilege it is to wear the South Melbourne Hellas shirt?
It got me thinking a little more... I just couldnt put my finger on it until ... The problem is... All the other clubs , players and supporters know what its like to be South Melbourne - they haven't forgotten who we are as we saw the bottom side play us off the park. So I thought a little more about it and said to my self YOU KNOW WHO HAS FORGOTTEN WHO SOUTH MELBOURNE IS? US! The board, the supporters and the players.
We have all taken it for granted South Melbourne is South Melbourne, we are untouchable, no one can be better than us (soccer fans used to come just for a souvlaki and watch the best team play every second Sunday FFS), we don't need to be ruthless on the field or swift in signing the next Trimboli or making the headlines for being the best, it's all going to just happen. Supporters don't scream anymore they just accept mediocrity, they accept apologies from players sticking their finger up.
In years gone past players wouldn't even have the balls to do such things. let alone live to tell us his bullshit apology (and Gavalas, maybe the supporters need to know and I quote "your membership pays my wages, I'm only playing for the money, I can find 100 other clubs to play at". Are these the people you want at your club? What happens to playing people who knew what it was like to play at South Melbourne, the club that made them the players they were? The club they were proud of and we were proud of them - not the people we have now who think it's OK to rock up to training and laugh that they drew to the bottom side because they take it for granted playing at South Melbourne and they have made it a choir.
People knew who South Melbourne was, people were scared of South Melbourne, everyone wanted to be South Melbourne. But as I write this, I who have watched since I could walk, I who as a kid dreamed to be a player one day like so many others ask myself why do I even bother, where is this club heading? No one cares anymore, why do I still get grey hairs. So I wonder as each day goes past amongst the board in house fighting amongst each board members own interests, is there hope, will the real South Melbourne once again shine? What happened to those days at Middle Park or the glory days of Bob Jane Stadium?
Who is going to stand up and say I'm South Melbourne Hellas and I fight for that club - not the club who is trying to change who it is and sell its soul to the devil!
So here I was driving in my car after the game with bottom side Dingley, trying to work out what has gone wrong with the club I have supported since I was knee high. I thought to myself where do i start? Who do I talk to? Where do I go? Am I the only one who cares for the club of the century that I still cant sleep at night when we loose games? If there is any one else why don't we see it at match day? Where have all the Hellas supporters gone to remind the representatives of where they are playing and what a privilege it is to wear the South Melbourne Hellas shirt?
It got me thinking a little more... I just couldnt put my finger on it until ... The problem is... All the other clubs , players and supporters know what its like to be South Melbourne - they haven't forgotten who we are as we saw the bottom side play us off the park. So I thought a little more about it and said to my self YOU KNOW WHO HAS FORGOTTEN WHO SOUTH MELBOURNE IS? US! The board, the supporters and the players.
We have all taken it for granted South Melbourne is South Melbourne, we are untouchable, no one can be better than us (soccer fans used to come just for a souvlaki and watch the best team play every second Sunday FFS), we don't need to be ruthless on the field or swift in signing the next Trimboli or making the headlines for being the best, it's all going to just happen. Supporters don't scream anymore they just accept mediocrity, they accept apologies from players sticking their finger up.
In years gone past players wouldn't even have the balls to do such things. let alone live to tell us his bullshit apology (and Gavalas, maybe the supporters need to know and I quote "your membership pays my wages, I'm only playing for the money, I can find 100 other clubs to play at". Are these the people you want at your club? What happens to playing people who knew what it was like to play at South Melbourne, the club that made them the players they were? The club they were proud of and we were proud of them - not the people we have now who think it's OK to rock up to training and laugh that they drew to the bottom side because they take it for granted playing at South Melbourne and they have made it a choir.
People knew who South Melbourne was, people were scared of South Melbourne, everyone wanted to be South Melbourne. But as I write this, I who have watched since I could walk, I who as a kid dreamed to be a player one day like so many others ask myself why do I even bother, where is this club heading? No one cares anymore, why do I still get grey hairs. So I wonder as each day goes past amongst the board in house fighting amongst each board members own interests, is there hope, will the real South Melbourne once again shine? What happened to those days at Middle Park or the glory days of Bob Jane Stadium?
Who is going to stand up and say I'm South Melbourne Hellas and I fight for that club - not the club who is trying to change who it is and sell its soul to the devil!
Thursday, 27 June 2013
A Heartfelt Plea From an Anonymous Reader
Not sure why this couldn't just have been posted in the comments section, but one of our readers pleaded for us to have this posted as open-letter, so here goes.
3-0 loss to Northcote, eh? You fucken recycled sods. Pull your fingers out of your asses and play some football. I am sick and tired of excuses from the top down. The fish rots from the head, and after Sunday's loss, Gus has shown he lacks in the substitution department once again. The sub he made in regards to Keenan off Cartanos on was a joke of the highest order. Firstly, Keenan tweaked his hammy at training on Friday night, secondly, when he did it again on Sunday the bench had no idea, thirdly, you have an experienced Fernando, and instead you bring on a raw Cartanos. This is where the game was lost. I’m not having a go at Cartanos for that, I am having a go at Gus. What the fuck are you doing?
How could you play an injured Keenan? How could you not see when he did his hammy? Why not bring on Fernando? I can’t wait to hear your excuse on SMFCtv on Wednesday night. Don’t blame injuries, or suspensions, every team needs to go through those. Blame yourself. You have no faith in the players you have. Cliques have formed in the team and you are doing nothing about it.
The players also have a lot to answer. None of you realise how good you have it at South. From the changerooms right down to the TV shows, and the rest of the professional setup at South. You fucken arrogant showponies. You’re all fucken talk. You couldn’t play yourselves out of a paper bag at times. Some of you shouldn’t even be allowed to watch the games from the grandstand. You can’t handle the abuse from the fans, yet you don’t play decent football. This is South Melbourne, we expect wins, especially when you're all apparently ‘excellent’ players. I use the word ‘excellent’ very loosely. You ungrateful plebs.
The fans are reaching boiling point. I have no idea where the reaction will occur first. You people are playing with people's passions. Yet, none of you spineless pricks have any passion. You’re all happy to get your pay cheque, yet don’t give a flying fuck about what you’re actually doing out on the park. If I was the board at South, I wouldn’t pay you clowns a cent until the end of the season, and that’s only if you make the Grand Final.
Solution: Sack Gus, and about 4 players. None of them are worthy of representing South at A-N-Y level.
3-0 loss to Northcote, eh? You fucken recycled sods. Pull your fingers out of your asses and play some football. I am sick and tired of excuses from the top down. The fish rots from the head, and after Sunday's loss, Gus has shown he lacks in the substitution department once again. The sub he made in regards to Keenan off Cartanos on was a joke of the highest order. Firstly, Keenan tweaked his hammy at training on Friday night, secondly, when he did it again on Sunday the bench had no idea, thirdly, you have an experienced Fernando, and instead you bring on a raw Cartanos. This is where the game was lost. I’m not having a go at Cartanos for that, I am having a go at Gus. What the fuck are you doing?
How could you play an injured Keenan? How could you not see when he did his hammy? Why not bring on Fernando? I can’t wait to hear your excuse on SMFCtv on Wednesday night. Don’t blame injuries, or suspensions, every team needs to go through those. Blame yourself. You have no faith in the players you have. Cliques have formed in the team and you are doing nothing about it.
The players also have a lot to answer. None of you realise how good you have it at South. From the changerooms right down to the TV shows, and the rest of the professional setup at South. You fucken arrogant showponies. You’re all fucken talk. You couldn’t play yourselves out of a paper bag at times. Some of you shouldn’t even be allowed to watch the games from the grandstand. You can’t handle the abuse from the fans, yet you don’t play decent football. This is South Melbourne, we expect wins, especially when you're all apparently ‘excellent’ players. I use the word ‘excellent’ very loosely. You ungrateful plebs.
The fans are reaching boiling point. I have no idea where the reaction will occur first. You people are playing with people's passions. Yet, none of you spineless pricks have any passion. You’re all happy to get your pay cheque, yet don’t give a flying fuck about what you’re actually doing out on the park. If I was the board at South, I wouldn’t pay you clowns a cent until the end of the season, and that’s only if you make the Grand Final.
Solution: Sack Gus, and about 4 players. None of them are worthy of representing South at A-N-Y level.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
This club is alright, I suppose
That's the slogan I want for next year. Did you know that 'I Love This Club', the slogan for the 2010 membership campaign - looks great on a car sticker - is actually a volunteer in-joke? It's true. It got attached to every stupid, funny or bewildering situation, comment or character that made a post-ironic, post-modern, coping with the absurdity of the universe impression amongst the people who spend far too much time at the club.
Me, I don't spend that much time at the club, and so I never really took any ownership of the term. That, and Aristotle said that you can only love something which has the capacity to love you in return. So, does the club have the capacity to love me? I don't know. It depends I guess, whether you define the club as either an abstract collective of people, who are capable of love, or as merely the name by which a loose association of otherwise disparate individuals pools their collective wealth and time in order to watch some blokes kick a ball around for the glory of becoming Victorian champions.
Then again, if we follow the words of Thomas Aquinas, that to love is to will the good of another, than I guess, maybe, if the club is considered a suitable other, and perhaps even if not, at least the players out there can be loved, and since they are the team playing on behalf of the club - playing on behalf of the club, of course, though for payment, in exchange for their temporary loyalty, and because the fans of the club actually playing would lead to a massacre. Money talks, bullshit walks. You won't find that in Aristotle. Well, at least not in such blunt language.
Me, I don't spend that much time at the club, and so I never really took any ownership of the term. That, and Aristotle said that you can only love something which has the capacity to love you in return. So, does the club have the capacity to love me? I don't know. It depends I guess, whether you define the club as either an abstract collective of people, who are capable of love, or as merely the name by which a loose association of otherwise disparate individuals pools their collective wealth and time in order to watch some blokes kick a ball around for the glory of becoming Victorian champions.
Then again, if we follow the words of Thomas Aquinas, that to love is to will the good of another, than I guess, maybe, if the club is considered a suitable other, and perhaps even if not, at least the players out there can be loved, and since they are the team playing on behalf of the club - playing on behalf of the club, of course, though for payment, in exchange for their temporary loyalty, and because the fans of the club actually playing would lead to a massacre. Money talks, bullshit walks. You won't find that in Aristotle. Well, at least not in such blunt language.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
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.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Fanatic of the Week - Paul Mavroudis
So we've exhausted our stash of genuine vintage Fanatics of the Week. And I'm bored and dismayed - and just because I'm typing this up on a rainy Saturday afternoon for release on a Wednesday, it doesn't mean that I won't be bored and dismayed at the moment it's published or when you read it.
FANATIC OF THE WEEK
Saturday, 14th March, 2009
This week’s fanatic is Paul Mavroudis who likes the club because, to paraphrase Lift To Experience "we have to, not because we want to".
----------------------------------------
NAME: Paul Mavroudis
AGE: 25.
SUBURB: In the Darkness On The Edge Of Town
INTERESTS: 'Football'; the other football; books; alternative 'music'; Wikipedia; collating statistics; blogging; providing highly educational but seldom understood pearls of wisdom on Internet forums; stopping myself from writing cliched serial killer fiction where I annihilate everyone that shits me and handing it in as part of my coursework; public transport; retro gaming; providing constructive criticism of classmates' mostly pisspoor attempts at short fiction; stickers; Fred Negro's 'Pub' strip when it isn't just St Kilda in jokes; a fair few crazy animated television shows; dessert.
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Yes. Until the Hellas Fan Club comes in and sets everything right again, back to the way it used to be, in the Beforetime, the Long Long Ago. Soon I hope. Put us all out of our misery.
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
Probably around 9 years old, the home game against West Adelaide in season 1992/93 where we won won 4-2. They were introduced as our cousins from South Australia or something like that, hmm.
WHITE COLLARS OR BLUE?
Seriously, should it really matter?
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
The day everyone realised Acropolis Now was actually farken shithouse. Which is technically not a memory since it hasn't happened yet, as can be seen from this review of Stephen Hawking's 'Brief History of Time', which I did end up reading the entirety of, and not just get bored by page 3, thank you very much John Safran. Not that I understood all or even most of it, but I got something out of it I think, and Carl Sagan's question in the introduction to that book about why we can remember the past but not the future struck a quixotic physical and philosophical chord.
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
The 2006 VPL Grand Final, because within a few seconds a whole bunch of people forgot we'd just won a championship and were more interested in throwing rocks at other people who were piggy backing for a day on the fat woman's current club in order to pursue some sort of justice for issues of blood, land, culture and history located mostly in the Balkans and who were also throwing rocks. Halcyon days.
FAVOURITE DEGRASSI MOMENT
The scene where Wheels is for some inexplicable reason wearing a Footscray guernsey.
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
James Spanos. Doesn't even have to do anything to be part of the senior team. Doesn't make mistakes. Known by people who don't even know of the actual players.
FAVOURITE BISCUIT
Arnott's Kingston, the grownups chocolate biscuit.
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli. Stupid question.
ASTERIX OR TINTIN?
Asterix, but they're both pretty cool.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Oh wow, where do you begin? For starters, I like the lies. The little ones, like why we didn't wear the South Melbourne United heritage strip, to the medium ones, to the big ones, with the claims of 10,000 strong crowds at pretty much every game in the 1980s, because the people making those claims either have dementia or only went to the games with 10,000 people, and not to the games with 800 people against teams such as Brisbane Lions.
I also love the fact that we've never played in South Melbourne.
I love the hypocrisy which pours fourth constantly out of every orifice, especially with regards to the A-League and the AFL.
I love people living off past glories and thinking it's enough to last a lifetime.
I love the fans who see only what they want to see and never what's actually in front of them.
That's just the stuff off the top of my head.
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
The food could be better at times.
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
No.
WHY?
Well, the league doesn't exist anymore, so I guess it's impossible to support another NSL team.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME PAUL!
My pleasure.
FANATIC OF THE WEEK
Saturday, 14th March, 2009
This week’s fanatic is Paul Mavroudis who likes the club because, to paraphrase Lift To Experience "we have to, not because we want to".
----------------------------------------
NAME: Paul Mavroudis
AGE: 25.
SUBURB: In the Darkness On The Edge Of Town
INTERESTS: 'Football'; the other football; books; alternative 'music'; Wikipedia; collating statistics; blogging; providing highly educational but seldom understood pearls of wisdom on Internet forums; stopping myself from writing cliched serial killer fiction where I annihilate everyone that shits me and handing it in as part of my coursework; public transport; retro gaming; providing constructive criticism of classmates' mostly pisspoor attempts at short fiction; stickers; Fred Negro's 'Pub' strip when it isn't just St Kilda in jokes; a fair few crazy animated television shows; dessert.
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Yes. Until the Hellas Fan Club comes in and sets everything right again, back to the way it used to be, in the Beforetime, the Long Long Ago. Soon I hope. Put us all out of our misery.
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
Probably around 9 years old, the home game against West Adelaide in season 1992/93 where we won won 4-2. They were introduced as our cousins from South Australia or something like that, hmm.
WHITE COLLARS OR BLUE?
Seriously, should it really matter?
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
The day everyone realised Acropolis Now was actually farken shithouse. Which is technically not a memory since it hasn't happened yet, as can be seen from this review of Stephen Hawking's 'Brief History of Time', which I did end up reading the entirety of, and not just get bored by page 3, thank you very much John Safran. Not that I understood all or even most of it, but I got something out of it I think, and Carl Sagan's question in the introduction to that book about why we can remember the past but not the future struck a quixotic physical and philosophical chord.
Our ability to remember past but not future also coincides with the arrow of entropy. The reason, Hawking says, is that whenever a memory is made, in either a brain or a computer, the smidgen of energy required to light up a neutron or move an electron is released as heat. Heat ---roiling, chaotic heat--- increases entropy. Memories, then, because they release heat, increases disorder, too. Entropy increases from yesterday to tomorrow. That`s why memories are made in the past --- to Hawking a more convincing explanation than the pedestrian statement that one can remember only what has already occurred." (Newsweek, January 4, 1993.)
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
The 2006 VPL Grand Final, because within a few seconds a whole bunch of people forgot we'd just won a championship and were more interested in throwing rocks at other people who were piggy backing for a day on the fat woman's current club in order to pursue some sort of justice for issues of blood, land, culture and history located mostly in the Balkans and who were also throwing rocks. Halcyon days.
FAVOURITE DEGRASSI MOMENT
The scene where Wheels is for some inexplicable reason wearing a Footscray guernsey.
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
James Spanos. Doesn't even have to do anything to be part of the senior team. Doesn't make mistakes. Known by people who don't even know of the actual players.
FAVOURITE BISCUIT
Arnott's Kingston, the grownups chocolate biscuit.
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Paul Trimboli. Stupid question.
ASTERIX OR TINTIN?
Asterix, but they're both pretty cool.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Oh wow, where do you begin? For starters, I like the lies. The little ones, like why we didn't wear the South Melbourne United heritage strip, to the medium ones, to the big ones, with the claims of 10,000 strong crowds at pretty much every game in the 1980s, because the people making those claims either have dementia or only went to the games with 10,000 people, and not to the games with 800 people against teams such as Brisbane Lions.
I also love the fact that we've never played in South Melbourne.
I love the hypocrisy which pours fourth constantly out of every orifice, especially with regards to the A-League and the AFL.
I love people living off past glories and thinking it's enough to last a lifetime.
I love the fans who see only what they want to see and never what's actually in front of them.
That's just the stuff off the top of my head.
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
The food could be better at times.
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
No.
WHY?
Well, the league doesn't exist anymore, so I guess it's impossible to support another NSL team.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME PAUL!
My pleasure.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Fanatic of the Week no.2 - Anthony Christodoulou
Ok, so we didn't have any responses about the whereabouts of Helen Menidis. Last roll of the dice here with the only other Fanatic Of The Week file we managed to have access to.
FANATIC OF THE WEEK
Friday, 29th June, 2001
This week’s fanatic is Anthony Christodoulou from Noble Park who likes the club because it is much more than a soccer club, it's a way of life
----------------------------------------
NAME: Anthony Christodoulou.
AGE: 19.
SUBURB: Noble Park.
INTERESTS: All sports, soccer, going out with friends, meeting new people, watching T.V, having a good time & watching South Melbourne play.
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne, Endeavour Hills Soccer & Sporting Club, Liverpool, Olympiakos, Celtic, Barcelona, Kaiserslautern, PSG, Ajax & Fiorentina.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Yes I am & will be till the day I die!
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
6 years – South vs Heidelberg, 1988/89 Season at Middle Park – What a debut!! >; P
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Probably falling through the players race at Bob Jane Stadium after we beat Carlton in the 98/99 Grand Final, then spending the night in hospital, only to return the next day to Bob Jane for family day!
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Every single game I watch is memorable, but one that really sticks out, is when we beat Olympic 2-0 with 9 men, 4 days after losing to them 6-0 at Belmore.
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
I’m a keeper myself, so I have to say Petka. But all the boys are top guys.
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Charlie Egan.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Everything, from the administration, to the fans, to the team, to the stadium itself. Basically the whole set-up.
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
I suppose the only thing I dislike is all those ‘critics’ up in the stands, but what can you do, each person has their own opinion, so you just have to build your bridge and get over it >;P
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Hahaha….. HELL NO!!!
WHY?
I live and breathe this club, as anyone who has supported this club or is married knows, once your with South Melbourne, your with South Melbourne for life & until death do us part!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME ANTHONY!
FANATIC OF THE WEEK
Friday, 29th June, 2001
This week’s fanatic is Anthony Christodoulou from Noble Park who likes the club because it is much more than a soccer club, it's a way of life
----------------------------------------
NAME: Anthony Christodoulou.
AGE: 19.
SUBURB: Noble Park.
INTERESTS: All sports, soccer, going out with friends, meeting new people, watching T.V, having a good time & watching South Melbourne play.
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne, Endeavour Hills Soccer & Sporting Club, Liverpool, Olympiakos, Celtic, Barcelona, Kaiserslautern, PSG, Ajax & Fiorentina.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Yes I am & will be till the day I die!
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
6 years – South vs Heidelberg, 1988/89 Season at Middle Park – What a debut!! >; P
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Probably falling through the players race at Bob Jane Stadium after we beat Carlton in the 98/99 Grand Final, then spending the night in hospital, only to return the next day to Bob Jane for family day!
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Every single game I watch is memorable, but one that really sticks out, is when we beat Olympic 2-0 with 9 men, 4 days after losing to them 6-0 at Belmore.
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
I’m a keeper myself, so I have to say Petka. But all the boys are top guys.
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Charlie Egan.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Everything, from the administration, to the fans, to the team, to the stadium itself. Basically the whole set-up.
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
I suppose the only thing I dislike is all those ‘critics’ up in the stands, but what can you do, each person has their own opinion, so you just have to build your bridge and get over it >;P
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Hahaha….. HELL NO!!!
WHY?
I live and breathe this club, as anyone who has supported this club or is married knows, once your with South Melbourne, your with South Melbourne for life & until death do us part!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME ANTHONY!
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Fanatic Of The Week - Helen Menidis
This probably breaks at least some aspect of copyright and privacy laws, and probably lacks a bit of decorum, but there's two things I'll say about it before we get into the nitty gritty. Firstly, it's still on the net, and therefore I can use it as long as I make valid comment; and secondly, you people can do an online search with my name and see my halcyon days of making faux-teenage intellectual comments on Monsanto and Trent Croad, and the other Paul Mavroudis who's the president of Melbourne's 'Thessaloniki Association'.
Anyway, while searching through the ancient archives of South Melbourne websites past, I found an interesting semi-regular segment called Fanatic of the Week. Naturally, everyone claims their loyalty to South forever in these things... but where are they now? Are they still supporting the club? Unfortunately the archives don't work in their entirety... so this segment will last for three weeks or so. Shame really... some people are getting off lightly. We'd love to know if these people have jumped off South and onto some other bandwagon and professed their new undying love for that cause - or whether, against the odds, they're still hanging round the joint.
In it's own way, this is a similar idea to the Pumpkin Seed Eaters 'Poulimeno of the Week' (which should be 'Poulimeno of the Month' seeing as how it's a monthly show... and perhaps should have been 'Poulimeno of the Fortnight' seeing as it used to be a fortnightly show, but I digress), but with the added possibility of some genuine redemption for the individual and South itself, if they're still following this great club. And now on with the show; this edition first hit the internet airwaves Friday 8th June, 2001.
FANATIC OF THE WEEK
Friday, 8th June, 2001
Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.
This week’s fanatic is Helen Menidis from Ringwood who misses Ange Postecoglou as senior coach of the club.
See below for full fanatic profile:
----------------------------------------
NAME: Helen J Menidis
AGE: 20
SUBURB: Ringwood
INTERESTS: Soccer, shopping, travelling and sleeping
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
No, but I will be next season
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
My family and I have always followed this club and I watch all the games on TV, but my first ever game attended was the Major Semi-Final 2nd Leg against Wollongong this year. I also attended the Preliminary Final against Sydney Olympic and the NSL Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium in Sydney.
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Meeting all the players and staff behind the team.
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Our win at Olympic Park because I was there and it was much better than watching it on TV.
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
All of them. I see them a lot and they are a friendly and down to earth bunch of guys.
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Ange Postecoglou because he was a fantastic player and a legendary coach. He had the passion that champions are made of as a player and a coach, and took the boys all they way to give them the great reputation of being Australia's Most Successful Club. I miss him as a coach!
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Everything
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Nothing
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Never
WHY?
Because they are the team I strongly support, and I will always cheer them on through good times and bad.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME HELEN.
Anyway, while searching through the ancient archives of South Melbourne websites past, I found an interesting semi-regular segment called Fanatic of the Week. Naturally, everyone claims their loyalty to South forever in these things... but where are they now? Are they still supporting the club? Unfortunately the archives don't work in their entirety... so this segment will last for three weeks or so. Shame really... some people are getting off lightly. We'd love to know if these people have jumped off South and onto some other bandwagon and professed their new undying love for that cause - or whether, against the odds, they're still hanging round the joint.
In it's own way, this is a similar idea to the Pumpkin Seed Eaters 'Poulimeno of the Week' (which should be 'Poulimeno of the Month' seeing as how it's a monthly show... and perhaps should have been 'Poulimeno of the Fortnight' seeing as it used to be a fortnightly show, but I digress), but with the added possibility of some genuine redemption for the individual and South itself, if they're still following this great club. And now on with the show; this edition first hit the internet airwaves Friday 8th June, 2001.
FANATIC OF THE WEEK
Friday, 8th June, 2001
Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.
This week’s fanatic is Helen Menidis from Ringwood who misses Ange Postecoglou as senior coach of the club.
See below for full fanatic profile:
----------------------------------------
NAME: Helen J Menidis
AGE: 20
SUBURB: Ringwood
INTERESTS: Soccer, shopping, travelling and sleeping
FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
No, but I will be next season
WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
My family and I have always followed this club and I watch all the games on TV, but my first ever game attended was the Major Semi-Final 2nd Leg against Wollongong this year. I also attended the Preliminary Final against Sydney Olympic and the NSL Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium in Sydney.
FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Meeting all the players and staff behind the team.
MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Our win at Olympic Park because I was there and it was much better than watching it on TV.
FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
All of them. I see them a lot and they are a friendly and down to earth bunch of guys.
BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Ange Postecoglou because he was a fantastic player and a legendary coach. He had the passion that champions are made of as a player and a coach, and took the boys all they way to give them the great reputation of being Australia's Most Successful Club. I miss him as a coach!
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Everything
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Nothing
WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Never
WHY?
Because they are the team I strongly support, and I will always cheer them on through good times and bad.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME HELEN.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Billy Nats Is Hellas Mad!
A few weeks back I received a message out of the blue from one Billy Natsioulas, asking if he could contribute to South of the Border. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, and within a couple of days, Nats had got the following piece to me. I kept it on the backburner for awhile, seeking to release it during the week we played the Knights, an appropriate choice I thought. Anyway, if like Nats you would like to send in a piece talking about your love affair with South, or a great game or favourite player, by all means send it this way. Hopefully the floodgates open and we get a whole heaps submissions from players and fans alike. But now over to Nats, and his story.
Hellas Mad
This isn’t some half arsed suck up job and by no means is it my autobiography. I just have a lot of time to think things through and understand whatever happened to my so called soccer ‘career’. While I was doing this I got an understanding where this love for the game began. My dad and brothers were 'Hellas Mad'. This piece is to analyse what made me Hellas Mad, a football lover and a South Melbourne player.
Every home game, my brother, my cousin and I would hop into the back of my dad’s old Corolla and make what seemed like a long journey to Middle Park. We always got there early and parked around 10 minutes away to make sure we got parking that was easy to get out of. I would tie on my Hellas headband thinking that I was so cool. I have three vivid memories of growing up as a Hellas supporter.
The Past
Firstly, the 1991 Grand Final – My dad and I had left a family christening early to watch the final 15 minutes of the game. My dad drove like a lunatic to get to Olympic Park on time and we ran up the stairs, only to realise we were watching the game from the Croatia fans' side of the ground. Nevertheless, we watched and we hoped for an equaliser. My dad thought it was over and in typical wog style we conceded defeat and left early to beat the traffic. As we got into the car we heard the roar, game must have been finished. It wasn’t until we got home that we realised that the roar was for a South equaliser and we miraculously won the championship on penalties. Even watching the replay we couldn’t understand how we won that shootout.
Secondly, a friendly around 1992 between the great Hellas and the suburban Oakleigh at their old ground at Caloola Reserve, allowed me the chance to meet my heroes. Mehmet Durakovic, sporting a plastered broken arm took me under his wing and introduced me to each player. I got all their autographs and was over the moon, but as soon as I got out of that room my older brother stole the autograph book and claimed it as his own… PRICK!
The final memory comes from March 1994, 11,000 people packed into Middle Park to see Hellas vs Croatia. Wadey missed a penalty in the 94th minute that would've given South the game. On the way out we were met by the Croatian fans who started rolling big stones at us from the top of the hill. My dad took us through the trees and snuck us under the fence to safety before finding his way through the crowd and meeting us on the other side.
My career and the present
Who would've thought that after 16 years of supporting South that I would play for their dire enemies, the Knights. Well, that’s where I ended up. Credit to them, they gave me every opportunity and treated me brilliantly. Funny thing was the best game I played for them we got thumped 5-0 against South and a 35 year old Paul Trimboli scored two and tore future Socceroos Roddy Vargas and Adrian Leijer to shreds.
I had made a good name for myself at the Knights but when the NSL died and South came knocking it was just too easy for me to say of course I’ll sign. However, along with the initial signature there aren’t many highlights. Training with a retired Trimmers was great and even though he could barely move he still took the piss out of us. The first game against Heidelberg was great, the Championship in 2006 was brilliant but that’s where it all ends for me. Whether its a curse put on me by some old Croatian lady or simply bad luck my time at South reads as follows: 2005 – Glandular Fever (season); 2006 – Torn Hamstring and Lacerated Thigh (season); 2007 – Torn groin, concussion and head split open; 2008 – ACL knee reconstruction (season).
Not forgetting for a second all the mental issues which come with that kind of run of poor luck, which challenged my ability to get motivated week in week out, which probably doesn’t need to be put into details because everyone knows. I was spent and ready to give it up and many told me to do the same.
So why do I want to come back? I see the same desire in the eyes of my little brother and my students towards South that I had as a kid. I see their love for this club, I see others that have come before me with that same love. No other club has the team spirit that we have because we are honoured to put that top on every week. No other players can walk into clubrooms with the luxuries we have and look up at the names that have come before us. No other club has people like Trimmers and Jimmy Armstrong still around the place because even though they are legends of this game, they themselves know that this club is more special than any individual.
Until I am told I am no longer wanted at South I will keep coming back every year. Even when my body can no longer take it, I will be there supporting Hellas. Like my career, the club has had its dark days and setbacks. But it still has meaning for so many people, even though some try to deny it. Every time I look at my teammates I see that love. Every time I look at my brothers, my old man, my friends and my girlfriend I see that love. Hell, even when I speak to the old Greek bus driver Jimmy at my school, who’s been supporting this club since 1970 I see that love. South Melbourne is not a football club, it is a culture. I no longer play for my football ‘career’. I simply play for that shirt. I know that when I am gone, there will be plenty more to take my place and I will be there to support them… Long Live Hellas!
Hellas Mad
This isn’t some half arsed suck up job and by no means is it my autobiography. I just have a lot of time to think things through and understand whatever happened to my so called soccer ‘career’. While I was doing this I got an understanding where this love for the game began. My dad and brothers were 'Hellas Mad'. This piece is to analyse what made me Hellas Mad, a football lover and a South Melbourne player.
Every home game, my brother, my cousin and I would hop into the back of my dad’s old Corolla and make what seemed like a long journey to Middle Park. We always got there early and parked around 10 minutes away to make sure we got parking that was easy to get out of. I would tie on my Hellas headband thinking that I was so cool. I have three vivid memories of growing up as a Hellas supporter.
The Past
Firstly, the 1991 Grand Final – My dad and I had left a family christening early to watch the final 15 minutes of the game. My dad drove like a lunatic to get to Olympic Park on time and we ran up the stairs, only to realise we were watching the game from the Croatia fans' side of the ground. Nevertheless, we watched and we hoped for an equaliser. My dad thought it was over and in typical wog style we conceded defeat and left early to beat the traffic. As we got into the car we heard the roar, game must have been finished. It wasn’t until we got home that we realised that the roar was for a South equaliser and we miraculously won the championship on penalties. Even watching the replay we couldn’t understand how we won that shootout.
Secondly, a friendly around 1992 between the great Hellas and the suburban Oakleigh at their old ground at Caloola Reserve, allowed me the chance to meet my heroes. Mehmet Durakovic, sporting a plastered broken arm took me under his wing and introduced me to each player. I got all their autographs and was over the moon, but as soon as I got out of that room my older brother stole the autograph book and claimed it as his own… PRICK!The final memory comes from March 1994, 11,000 people packed into Middle Park to see Hellas vs Croatia. Wadey missed a penalty in the 94th minute that would've given South the game. On the way out we were met by the Croatian fans who started rolling big stones at us from the top of the hill. My dad took us through the trees and snuck us under the fence to safety before finding his way through the crowd and meeting us on the other side.
My career and the present
Who would've thought that after 16 years of supporting South that I would play for their dire enemies, the Knights. Well, that’s where I ended up. Credit to them, they gave me every opportunity and treated me brilliantly. Funny thing was the best game I played for them we got thumped 5-0 against South and a 35 year old Paul Trimboli scored two and tore future Socceroos Roddy Vargas and Adrian Leijer to shreds.
Not forgetting for a second all the mental issues which come with that kind of run of poor luck, which challenged my ability to get motivated week in week out, which probably doesn’t need to be put into details because everyone knows. I was spent and ready to give it up and many told me to do the same.
So why do I want to come back? I see the same desire in the eyes of my little brother and my students towards South that I had as a kid. I see their love for this club, I see others that have come before me with that same love. No other club has the team spirit that we have because we are honoured to put that top on every week. No other players can walk into clubrooms with the luxuries we have and look up at the names that have come before us. No other club has people like Trimmers and Jimmy Armstrong still around the place because even though they are legends of this game, they themselves know that this club is more special than any individual.Until I am told I am no longer wanted at South I will keep coming back every year. Even when my body can no longer take it, I will be there supporting Hellas. Like my career, the club has had its dark days and setbacks. But it still has meaning for so many people, even though some try to deny it. Every time I look at my teammates I see that love. Every time I look at my brothers, my old man, my friends and my girlfriend I see that love. Hell, even when I speak to the old Greek bus driver Jimmy at my school, who’s been supporting this club since 1970 I see that love. South Melbourne is not a football club, it is a culture. I no longer play for my football ‘career’. I simply play for that shirt. I know that when I am gone, there will be plenty more to take my place and I will be there to support them… Long Live Hellas!
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