South Melbourne Crisis 2012 - Another SMFC Media Release

The latest salvo fired in this saga - my brief thoughts at the end of the media release.

Media Release - South Melbourne FC Supporter Update

Friday, 16 November 2012 9:39 AM

Whilst the off season may appear to be to be a quiet time at our Club, the Board has been busy addressing the many, mostly exciting and positive, off field issues currently affecting the Club.

As most of you are aware, at the recent Information Evening held at the stadium, the Board informed our Members of our Club’s response to the NCR, its advanced and progressive junior program and the redevelopment of its social club together with the rest of the space it occupies exclusively at Lakeside Stadium.

The Board has also been finalising the Leases and other Agreements which the Club will enter into with the State Sport Centres Trust and Parks Victoria, respectively, as required by our Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Victorian State Government. The process involved in negotiating and completing these agreements is a long and laborious one but is progressing well and is almost completed. The Club has appointed independent external Solicitors to assist it with this process and to ensure that it achieves the best outcome. Whilst the Lease and related agreements in relation to the stadium are almost completed, the Club is also close to finalising arrangements for the newly constructed pavilion in Albert Park to be open for our use next season.

In light of the above positive developments, the Board was bemused and puzzled, to say the least, to read the two recent articles published in The News Weekly, which is the English language section of the Ta Nea Greek language newspaper. The breathless attempt by The News Weekly to conjure a story from thin air was surely not worthy of even the most desperate journalist. Then again no journalist put his name to their articles which whilst not surprising is hardly acceptable.

The newspaper itself characterised the “information” contained in the articles as emanating from “unnamed callers” and it essentially comprised of a series of allegations, questions and rumours. The articles are ill informed, badly written, defensive and simply embarrassing to read. The Club was even more surprised, therefore, to then find that radio station 3XY devoted most of its Sunday Sports Program last Sunday night to the “issues” raised by The News Weekly articles after not covering news from the Club at all over the last year. 

The Board is far too busy to even try to understand why that may be the case but we are sure that many of our supporters and members will have their own views.

Nevertheless, the Board is conscious that some of our supporters and members may have become concerned by this recent persistent and misleading media coverage, bordering on a campaign. For that reason, we thought it appropriate to update our supporters and reiterate the things I have said above in relation to the Club’s progress on off field matters.

Last, but not least on the positive news, is our most passionate subject and the reason for our existence; our football team. The Board continues to work constructively and progressively towards building a top class and successful football team. You will see evidence of this during the summer and hopefully, conclusive proof next season! Our forthcoming end of year social function, which will have a different feel and emphasis this year, will no doubt be a chance for all those who attend to have a great night whilst discussing the season just passed and our prospects next year.

Sadly, however, the Club is also involved in one less pleasant development. It is true that the Club has been sued and is presently defending an action brought against it by Wellington Investments (Aust) Pty Ltd in the County Court of Victoria at Melbourne. Wellington Investments, as many of you will know, is a Company with which Messrs. Tony Toumbourou and Chris Christopher, two great Club benefactors, were previously involved and which is now run by Mr. Toumbourou’s sons, Messrs. Peter and Jason Toumbourou. 

The claim by Wellington Investments relates to the sum of $120,000 which Messrs. Tony Toumbourou and Chris Christopher pledged in the middle of 2004 and which Wellington Investments subsequently paid to assist the Club to raise the sum of $450,000 required by the Deed of Company Arrangement (“DOCA”) which it entered into when it went into voluntary administration after the disbandment of the NSL in 2004. Most of the sum of $450,000 was contributed by many concerned supporters of the Club with the balance of $120,000, paid by Wellington Investments. With the eleventh hour contribution of Wellington Investments enabling the Club to reach the target of $450,000, the Club was able to emerge from administration and to enter into its new era.

Recently, Wellington Investments has demanded repayment of the whole of the sum it advanced to the Club comprising the amount of $120,000, plus interest, bringing its total claim against the Club to $200,000. It also seeks its costs. Wellington Investments has demanded immediate payment of the money and refused to accept the Club’s offer to pay it $150,000 in 5 quarterly instalments commencing earlier this year. This offer was made some months ago.

The Club is protecting its interest and those of its members and supporters in the County Court litigation. In preparing its case for Court, the current Board has formed the view that whilst the sum of $120,000 was certainly advanced by Wellington Investments for the benefit of the Club, which the Club has always acknowledged and been grateful for, the terms of the advance were such that the Club is not liable to pay Wellington Investments the sum it seeks. It is also important for our supporters and members to know that in the course of this Court proceeding which was commenced by Wellington Investments in order to establish that the Club owed it money, and before the Court has decided the case, Wellington Investments threatened to appoint a Receiver to the Club. It became necessary, therefore, for the Club to seek an injunction against the appointment of a Receiver to prevent the Club from disappearing as we know it and in all likelihood, losing all its entitlements under the MoU with the State Government. The Court granted the injunction after it was strenuously opposed by Wellington Investments.

The Club would prefer not to be involved in Court proceedings if it can avoid it and to that end, it has proposed and will continue to propose what it considers a fair resolution of the claim by Wellington Investments and to consider any reasonable settlement proposal put to it. Everyone should bear in mind, however, that the reference in The News Weekly to “and a number of business men”, is in fact, a reference to Mr. Peter Toumbourou. Further, the reference to “loans of almost half a million dollars” is entirely false as even Mr. Toumbourou alleges only a loan of $120,000. The Club will continue to keep its members and supporters informed of the progress of this Court action which is presently due to be heard in December 2012.

Finally, our Board and the Club understands that not everybody will always agree with every decision nor with every direction it adopts. People are entitled to voice their opinions and criticism and the Club welcomes constructive criticism and accepts that opinions of all sorts, constructive or otherwise, will be freely expressed. Our Club will object, however, to articles purporting to report news, being comprised of nothing more than the opinion of an unnamed few, causing unnecessary concern amongst some of our supporters. 

The Club’s volunteer Board and overworked General Manager are busy enough with their many responsibilities without being at the beck and call of whichever media organisation sees fit to publish or air unsubstantiated and misleading information. The Board has in the past and will continue in future to make its various members available to engage in constructive discussion in relation to our Club and the same in general, including answering relevant questions and dealing with constructive criticism. 

There is much more positive and constructive news to come, so stay tuned … to us.

Nick Galatas

Chairman

It's about time the club put out a more definitive statement. Would it have nullified a lot of the 'debate' had it been put out earlier? That's hard to say, and my guess would be 'probably not'. But it may have helped at least steer the debate towards a more factual direction.

Certainly, it's great to see a no nonsense naming of the disputed loan figure and the attempts to resolve the issue. Not that this means that South is guaranteed a court victory, but get it out in the open about where this situation came from and where it's going and why.

It's also good to see some more elaboration on the process of doing the final sign off regarding the Lakeside lease, though to be fair, this was also covered in the Neos Kosmos English Weekly article.

Joe Friday agrees, all that's needed are the facts.

One thing I must take umbrage with, is that they should have avoided getting personal with those they're disagreeing with. These sections come across as unprofessional and petty, even to those who would likely agree with those sentiments. Leave that stuff to the blogs and forums.

And while it's understandable that they would want to pump their own tyres, feeling proud and excited about the coming season and the corner we've been told we've turned, a 'just the facts ma'am' approach would have been more suitable.

SM Hellas Crisis 2012 - Stathi Rombotis

Here's a very interesting article which popped up in the Greek Herald/Ellinikos Kirikas, Sydney's Greek paper.

For those who can't read or understand Greek, the basic story is this,

Basically this South supporter, Stathi Rombotis is saying, that after seeing all the mud thrown at South by 'the few, thankfully', he tried calling 3XY during their radio show, to be given air time like other people had been given. He claims he was told by one of the hosts, Kostas Paterakis, that he would only be dealt with off air.

When Rombotis asked why, he claims Patarakis gave him the impression that he didn't want to hear the voice of South Melbourne on the air. So Rombotis finishes off by now asking, why hadn't they (3XY Radio Hellas) talked about South for a whole year? Why are they so scared of letting Rombotis have his opinion heard on air like other callers?

Good questions, Stathi. I wonder what the answers will be.

You know you have a problem...

... when you start dreaming about blogging.

Worlds of Football Conference begins tonight

Really looking forward to this, partly because I'll be presenting my first ever academic paper on Australian soccer in literature, and soccer in Australian literature.


This will be the second time Victorian University is hosting its Worlds of Football Conference. Last time was back in 2010. It's meant to cover all football codes, but I'm most interested in the soccer articles. Here are my notes from the previous conference.

This year's program looks reasonably promising, Dr Kevin Moore from the National Football Museum in England is giving the keynote address tonight at the MCG.

Les Street will be giving a paper based on his masters thesis on NSL venues, with the paper focusing on Sydney venues. Sadly, he's scheduled to be directly against my paper - I was looking forward to his presentation the most.

Chris Egan is giving a paper on the founding of Perth Glory - it's part of his efforts to write a book on the first 15 years of Perth Glory.


Some of the other Aussie soccer papers:

• Francesco Ricatti, University of the Sunshine Coast, and Matthew Klugman, Victoria University ‘“Connected to Something”: Soccer as a Site of Transnational Passions, Memories, and Communities forItalian Migrants’
• Ian Syson, Victoria University, ‘The Calm and the Storm: Soccer Reporting in Melbourne, 1908-14’
• Roy Hay, Sports and Editorial Services Australia, and Les Murray, SBS Sport, ‘Proving a Negative in History: The Non-Appearance of the Hungarian Football Team at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956’
• Trevor Ruddell, MCC Library, David Studham, MCC Library, and Helen Walpole, National Sports Museum ‘Representing a Divided Australia: Uniforms of Australia’s National Football Teams

In terms of non-Australian content the details are as follows:

• Peter Ochieng, Victoria University, ‘Rule of Three: How Resources Separate Winners from Losers at the Africa Cup of Nations’
• Brian Moroney, Victoria University ‘The UltraS of Italian Football: A Justified Violence?’

Les Murray will also be on a panel session on 'the future of football', with Steven Alomes, which I know Syson is really looking forward to. Melbourne Heart's Scott Munn will be on a panel discussing 'football in the West'.

I'll be providing a rundown after the conference of how everything went.

3XY Radio Hellas stick to its guns...

... and fires a few more shots across the South Melbourne bow.

Last night's sports program on 3XY Radio Hellas was some of the most incredible radio I've ever heard. Among the many feelings the program evoked were fascination, disbelief and incredulity. It was also often an unnerving listening experience. The stakes have been raised.

Throughout the extraordinarily lengthy coverage given to the issues covered in the Ta Nea's recent articles - I would hazard that at least 70-80 minutes of their alloted 130 minutes was spent on the matter - there was the constant and very defensive catchcry about the lack of a personal agenda in pursuing these matters.

What was particularly mind boggling to them (and to me, although for different reasons) is the way that the Ta Nea articles have created a sense of panic among South's supporter base. They're confused because they believe they are reporting the truth - however I'm confused as to why they're confused about the panic that's spread which is an inevitable result of the articles they've written.

The great swathe of South supporting family, for better or worse, relies on either the South official site or the local Greek press for its information. The former has been near silent on the issues as covered by Ta Nea, excluding whatever material they've published before. The latter saw a chance for some cheap thrills, and have run with it.

The net effect? People brought up in a culture where corruption from authority figures is seen as de rigueur - indeed those who are not corrupt are as σουρδοι, a word from Kozani meaning naive, innocent, with an unusual negative attachment to it - buying into these conspiracies.

One major breakthrough is that the Greek Media Group, in one of its guises, finally put names to the disaffected former committee members. These are now confirmed to be George Koukoulas, Lucky Chrisomalidis and Tom Karatzas.

Among the other claims that the program made either directly or indirectly:

• That the club disrespected the two people who loaned the club money back in 2004, Chris Christopher and Tony Toumbourou.
• That the club has disrespected former president Leo Anezakis and his family.
• That the club was being run like a dictatorship.
• That anyone who agreed with the board is a sycophant. 

Prominent longtime supporter George Karantonis (who also hosts a Greek sports radio show on community radio station Southern FM) was also on the show. Karantonis is a regular contributor to the 3XY sports program. He complained about:

• The fact that South no longer controls Lakeside.
• The $2.50 Ticketmaster ticket surcharge on games at Lakeside.
• That South is the only club not working with the other clubs to, I assume, oppose the NCR reforms (an approach other supporters are also concerned with).
• Treatment of life members (one of his favourite causes)
• Regarding the $300,000 annual government stipend (I suppose about it not being used correctly), acting as if it that money is clear profit.
• About the changes to the junior academy, berating both the costs, while claiming that the club will pocket about $30,000 profit from the program.
• Smoking bans inside the stadium on match days (though he was corrected by one of the hosts, who mentioned that this is no different to AAMI Park or the MCG)

Another longtime supporter and volunteer, named Argiri, was also given time to air his grievances. His main complaint was that the club's plans for the social club would be disastrous, having being attempted before under previous administrations with no success. This was the same position he took at the meeting where the club's plans for the social club were detailed - for details of that meeting, see this post.

There was no mention however, that rightly or wrongly, most of the supporters in attendance were supportive of the club's direction on this matter. The way the matter was presented on the show was thus incredibly skewed toward Argiri's (and George Koukoulas') minority position.

Equally, when they had asked people to call in, the reaction to those callers (all off air) that seemed to criticise the Greek Media Group's approach was noticeably hostile. If this is the 'Greek community's team' (a laughable and long outdated notion), surely those who support the current committee have just as much right right to have their views heard fairly as do the naysayers?

The presenters and contributors also asked what the board have achieved in the past seven years. The focus was often on on field results, and well, who hasn't been annoyed by them? Equally they could ask their frequent guest Aki Ioannas of Oakleigh what they've achieved in the same time period. Or any of the big spending clubs who haven't managed to snare a title.

If we're talking about off-field issues though, well, including those persons who are now on the outer, the board has actually done a pretty decent job of keeping the whole thing afloat for as long as they have, to the point where it seems we've turned things around and are ready to build again instead of just survive.

What's odd though, is that despite all the problems and mistakes the club has made over the past seven years, and all the enemies and enmities that they've racked up, that not one of those three aforementioned persons, who have spent varying amounts of time on the committee since the end of the NSL, are apportioned any of the blame for these failures.

I Hope You Guys Know What You're Doing Department
The relative silence on all these issues being undertaken by the club is intriguing, and not without risk. By not responding, they're obviously taking the chance that the momentum of this anti-committee campaign will eventually run out. Combine that with a belief that the proof will be in the pudding - Toumbourou's sons dealt with, social club and lease sorted, balance sheets in the black - and the hope that news of these possible successes will filter through to the hoi polloi.

Mud sticks. But I suppose getting dragged into a street fight isn't worthwhile either - you end up lowering yourself to the level of those making vague accusations, hiding behind phony anonymity, and you lose anyway. And what chance is there of actually changing people's opinions, when people would rather believe the worst?

The notion that 3XY/Ta Nea has offered an opportunity to the board to tell their side of their story, and that they've knocked it back, won't play well in the sticks. But if the board wants to stick to their approach, especially after reportedly being black banned from the program for about a year anyway, that's their prerogative.

Here's hoping that it all goes to plan.

Ephemera
Also interesting was later on they had a representative from Bentleigh Greens on the show, who was at a loss to explain the poor crowds his team got in 2012 despite playing well, making finals etc. He seemed to put the blame squarely on Joe Public (and in my mind, not necessarily without good reason), but I couldn't think of why the hosts let him get off so easily for making that call, and especially how $12 was not expensive in terms of ticket prices, when earlier assertions were made that South's current committee were to blame for poor attendances since the end of the NSL, and that the Ticketmaster surcharge, which the club does not control nor receive, was somehow excessive.

Lastly, Hellenic Cup committee chairperson/president (and a 'χωριανό' of my dad) Jim Massis stated that the Hellenic Cup would not be held next year, as the organising committee had not received any expressions of interest to host the event. He appeared to apportion blame towards the restructure of the league system, rather address the issue of host clubs not making any money from the competition. Is this the end of the tournament? Wait and see I guess.

FFV CEO Mark Rendell Departs FFV

Some of our readers may have seen the 'Lawn Bowls Rendell Bows Out' article that I wrote for Goal Weekly. For the rest of you, here's the article in question, with one minor addition.


Mark Rendell's resignation as Football Federation Victoria CEO couldn't have come at a more crucial time, amid the biggest proposed reforms in Victorian soccer seen in decades. With Rendell hosting National Competitions Review information sessions as recently as mid-September, his sudden exit has caused much speculation as to the reasons for his resignation.

The fate of the NCR, as it was to be enacted in Victoria, could now be in limbo. The FFV, and Rendell in particular, were adamant that they would not baulk from the process. Yet many of the state's leading clubs are strongly opposed to the reforms. While four or five clubs are rumoured to be working with the FFV, only South Melbourne has come out and openly stated its intention to engage with the process with any sort of enthusiasm.

Coming across from Bowls Australia, where he had spent 11 years as either a director or CEO, Rendell was always on a hiding to nothing, especially from the game's conservative male soccer factions. Within days of his hiring he had been dubbed 'Mr Lawn Bowls', a nickname that stuck.

Rendell's experience in lawn bowls seemed to inform his approach at the FFV, with an emphasis on expanding participation, especially in womens soccer. This focus on female soccer, while worthy, received criticism from some quarters as bordering on the obsessive. Many of those complainants also felt that the FFV's promotion of the Victory and Heart (but especially the former) saw little in the way of value returned. They argued that it wasn't the FFV's job to promote private businesses, especially with a limited budget to use on its own concerns.

But for all the criticism leveled at Rendell and the FFV on their lack of interest in elite senior men's soccer, there were attempts to try and revive interest in the VPL. The grand final was played at AAMI Park, this year in conjunction with an A-League match. Last year saw the return of cup football for the first time since 2004, though interest seemed to fall significantly this season, amid complaints about costs and poor organisation. The FFV also ran weekly live VPL matches on the internet, though some wondered if that money wouldn't have been better spent on other media ventures.

There was also the attempt at creating a player development structure independent of clubs, who were perceived to be exploiting junior players in order to pay senior player wages. Rendell was thus an advocate of weakening the control that clubs had over the game, a system of governance in place since the early 1960s. Reforms which sought to grant more power to the majority of ordinary participants – players and parents - were enacted via forced changes to club constitutions and the creation of the zone system. Others, though, felt that the net effect of the zone system was to place different mouths at the same trough, with the majority of the game's participants still more or less powerless.

The FFV also sought to reconnect country soccer to the metropolitan system. In addition to absorbing regional federations under its own banner, the FFV also attempted to bring in the Victorian Champions League, a zone based summer league for all age groups.

However, the VCL senior men's competition never got started, and soon enough its senior women's counterpart fell over as well. There were complaints about travel; about the same sorts of biases being involved in selections; about making kids play throughout the entire year; about forcing junior players to play in the VCL if they wanted state selection. Still, there were those who looked forward to the VCL season, and it created a bridge between country and city soccer.

The FFV also got rid of the Super League system, often characterised by its constituents as a flawed but fixable system. The dissolution of the Super League system was widely panned by people involved at junior level. Mismatches became more frequent, diminishing the social experience of weaker players, while reducing the amount of high level competition faced by more talented players.

During Rendell's tenure, the FFV found itself in court against two of its clubs, Whittlesea Zebras and South Melbourne. Both times the FFV lost – the Zebras' court case in particular, in which the FFV was involved in turfing the Zebras out of Epping Stadium, seriously damaged the FFV's reputation among its constituents. The financial costs were also substantial.

There was also an emphasis on stamping out poor behaviour on and off the field. While docked points were used, the main deterrents used were fines. Several clubs were punished with five figure amounts – difficult enough for teams at the top of the league pyramid to deal with – all but impossible for clubs at the bottom. The FFV claimed that its zero tolerance approach was working, while others wondered if punishing clubs instead of the individuals responsible was the right way to go.

The move to the St Kilda Road headquarters also created discord. It hadn't been so long since the FFV had moved to the Darebin International Sports Centre – now it was moving again, and this time away from its grounds at DISC.

The Knox Regional Football Centre was unveiled this year with much fanfare, but there are allegations that proper due diligence was not performed, and that the facility is bleeding money.

There have also been criticisms of the service that the FFV provides. The switch to the new results system (albeit due in large part to an FFA initiative) started off clunky and is still not seen as satisfactory by many of the game's constituents. In an era when a young Victorian cricketer can trace their statistics across every year of their career, the inability of the FFV to even have correct best and fairest vote tallies is inexcusable.

Whether sourced from within the game or outside of it, the new CEO has their work cut out for them. Among their tasks will be contending with the factional fighting and self-interest which Rendell was not able to stamp out. They'll have to quickly come to grips with the NCR reforms, whose final blueprint is due in January 2013.

They'll be in charge of a large and unwieldy organisation that appears to have high staff turnover, and a reputation of not delivering quality outcomes for its constituency. And perhaps hardest of all, they'll have to find ways of making the game more affordable for participants, as the costs of playing soccer in Victoria continue to rise.

More on Ta Nea's South Melbourne 2012 Crisis

Following last week's article on the Wellington Investments loan debt, Ta Nea has followed it up with another piece on what they're calling an 'exclusive exposé on the South Melbourne Football Club'.

Now I'd put up a scan of this latest article as was done for the previous effort, but I couldn't come up with an image capture that I felt was of adequate quality. In other words, it was too pixelated and grainy and stuff.

This time the article starts off with a justification being made as to why they're reporting on this issue, with a heady dose of emotion thrown in. I'm not too fond of the emotional blackmail attempt, because as a news service they have every right to report on South Melbourne or any other issue they want to.

As with last week, they list a series of issues or questions they believe the club needs to answer, this week using a numbering system as opposed to the infamous letter based method which saw 'point c' fail to show up (or point γ for γαμώτο as recently tweeted by Athas Zafiris).

The first point covers much the same ground as the first point covered in last week's article - namely, the status of the Lakeside lease, and why the final papers haven't been signed yet. Which is odd because South president Leo Athanasakis addressed that issue in the Neos Kosmos article, which only came into being because of Ta Nea's original article.

What's strange is that later on in in this week's Ta Nea article, there is reference made to the aforementioned Neos Kosmos article, but more on that later.

I'm not sure if this is deliberate misinformation or just poor wording, but they also write that South relinquished Lakeside Stadium, when in fact South relinquished the remaining six or so years of its exclusive lease - lest there be any confusion on the matter, South never owned Lakeside or any portion of it.

The second question is an intriguing one - 'are there any disgruntled suppliers of the club?'. I would have loved to seen some elaboration on this question from Ta Nea, but alas, the question just dangles there, only partially formed.

Their third point asks why SMFC does not contribute financially to the South Melbourne Women's FC. If I had to answer that, I'd probably say it's because the two clubs are separate entities, who are still (reportedly, anyway, though progress has been so slow as to make you wonder), trying to reach agreement as to how to move forward, hopefully under the same umbrella. I was under the assumption that this was fairly widely known. I wonder if SMWFC were asked to comment on this article?

Question four is more or less a repeat of last week's point 'd', asking where the $30,000 a month received from the government is going. Mismanagement is certainly being implied here, but nothing specific is detailed, and I really wish there had been. This kind of vague writing does no service to the issues, nor to Ta Nea. What's worse, if the implied mismanagement allegations are not true, will they be corrected in a prominent manner?

Question five actually tackles the issue of the juniors revamp in a relatively half decent manner. The price hike is quite significant, and it means that there will be talented players for whom South Melbourne will not be an option. One wonders though, again, how much research Ta Nea conducted on this matter? Did they attend the club's info night? Did they read my report of that info night?

Which brings us back to the Neos Kosmos article and the issue of the club's lease. One detail not brought up by either Neos Kosmos, or Ta Nea in its two articles, is the apparently imminent beginning of South's social club redevelopment, which will be entirely funded (at least according to the board) by a government grant of about $900,000. If the lease was on such thin ice, wouldn't it be worth reporting on that matter also? Or is it only access to the Lakeside Stadium playing field that is in doubt?

Now, I'm all for the protection of journalistic sources, and especially of corporate or government whistle-blowers, who need the protection of anonymity. But when Ta Nea identifies the positions that their sources have held at South, the anonymity of these sources is pointless, and only hurts the credibility of their reporting. Also problematic is that once again, there is a lack of a byline on the article.

I'm also interested in Ta Nea's sudden interest in the decline in South's membership numbers and attendance at AGMs. Again, if they had done even the most basic research, they would find two very obvious reasons for this. In terms of South's AGM numbers, since attendance is open only to social club members and life members, and not to season ticket holders, naturally there will a lower turnout for these things.

Is it the right approach? I'm not so sure. I think season ticket holders should be allowed to attend, though they should be barred from voting on matters relating to South Melbourne Hellas Soccer Club, which is the umbrella group which runs everything else. Melbourne Knights reportedly allow all of its members or season ticket holders to attend their AGM. But our arrangement is not unusual. Melbourne based AFL clubs use much the same system as we do.

In terms of membership numbers, blaming this board (or any board, for that matter) for that is ludicrous. I'd ask them to name just one sporting team in Australia, that's fallen permanently from the top tier, who have retained a significant amount of their top tier supporter base. Their assertions early on in the article, about the community supporting the club through the glory days of the 1970s, 90s etc, somehow fail to mention the lack of support the community has given to the club since the club returned to the VPL

When someone claims to be conducting an exposé, I want something substantial, something that will genuinely uncover gross incompetence or corruption. These articles have done neither. Frankly, half-arsed reporting like Ta Nea's recent articles belongs on blogs, not in the 'legitimate press'.

Ta Nea, Toumbourou and the administration legacy - UPDATED

Some people may not be aware that when the club went into administration back in 2004, one of the ways we avoided going under was due to a loan by Messrs Christopher and Toumbourou.

The nature of that loan has been subject to some conjecture over the years. While we're not going to speculate on the exact details - because at this blog, we don't know what they are - the general perception (rightly or wrongly) among those who know of this loan have seen it as a non-interest loan, to be payed back when the club got back on its feet.

Seeing as the club has seldom if ever made a profit in its 53 year existence, even in the good old days, the debt has hung over the club like a sword of Damocles. This loan debt has been mentioned at every AGM I've been to since 2006. I'm not able to recall the exact figure of the debt, but an amount of $120,000 gets thrown around a bit.

Despite being donated by two individuals, the debt was consolidated under the company name Wellington Investments. It now appears that one of the parties who made the loan, the son of Mr Toumbourou, has asked for the debt to be repaid.

It is my understanding that there are disagreements about the nature of the loan between the club and Mr Toumbourou's son, and that thus far, mediation has failed to resolve the issue. Mediation attempts are apparently still being made, but failing that, the two parties may be heading to court in December.

All of this has not been helped by the following article published in Ta Nea last Wednesday:

Now I have no qualms with any media outlet reporting on this issue, but this is such a terrible article on so many levels.

• Who wrote the article (the byline is not visible on this version)?
• What's with the poor expression found in the article (though goodness knows how many times we've been guilty of that)?
• Which VPL clubs operate on a budget of $150,000 to $200,000?
• The predictably uninformed understanding of the club's deal with the government, especially when it comes to the $300,000 annual renumeration figure.
• The vague allegations of the club being 'in strife'. What does that mean exactly?
• Why not name the two 'disappointed businessmen'? If their motive for the imminent return of their money has been the poor management of the club, why have they not made their concerns public at an AGM?
• Whether one agrees with it or not, the issue with the $3,500 charge for juniors has been well covered, so I'm not sure what rumours they are referring to.
• Where is point 'c'?

There are also bound to be insinuations made from our supporters about the fact that this was published in a Greek Media Group publication, which also owns and operates Greek community radio station 3XY Radio Hellas. Owned by Melbourne Victory shareholder Harry Stamoulis, people will see this as another part of the conspiracy against South Melbourne.

It does not matter whether it is a personal or institutional crusade against the club, but when added to previous behaviour from that organisation - reputedly being blackballed from 3XY Radio Hellas' sports program, the lack of coverage of Melbourne Heart in Ta Nea, Stamoulis affiliations with disgruntled former supporters/sponsors etc - it does not paint a pretty picture.

The club responded to the article with this media release, the entirety of which follows:

South Melbourne FC wishes to inform its members, supporters and sponsors that the article titled, “Sth Melbourne F.C. Appearing in court in November”, which appeared in The News Weekly section of the Ta Nea newspaper contains numerous inaccurate statements.

Preparations to enter into the agreements for the Club’s long-term use and occupation of Lakeside Stadium following the Memorandum of Understanding the Club entered into with the State Government are progressing as scheduled.

The Club is in a sound financial position and will publish its financial accounts prior to the end of the year in accordance with its long-standing practice.

Whilst the Club has been sued by Wellington Investments, the company previously operated by club benefactors Messrs Tony Toumbourou and Chris Christopher and run by Mr Toumbourou’s sons, the Club does not wish to comment on the detail of the case. It wishes to note only that the claim relates to a time when the club was placed into administration following the disbandment of the National Soccer League. The Club is protecting its rights and those of its members in the course of the litigation. On a more serious note, the Club is unfortunately forced to investigate its legal options in respect of this error – riddled and misleading article in order to protect its well - earned good reputation within the community.

More positively, mention is also made in the article of the Club’s junior program of which the Club is very proud. All places in its Youth Development Program have been filled for next season and the Club looks forward to the development of its future stars.

For all media enquiries, please contact Nick Galatas on admin@smfc.com.au

It's a confident response, and from what I can gather, the club seems more confident of winning this battle (should it go to court) than our previous court date with the FFV from 2010 (which of course predictably won the battle, though not the war). Me, I'm never confident when it comes to court cases, especially with the sort of hubris our club is prone to suffering from.

It'll also be interesting to see how Ta Nea's rival Neos Kosmos deals with the story. There may have been something in their English language supplement last Saturday, but it's not online yet, so we can't gauge their angle. Whatever happens though, we at South of the Border will try and keep up to date with this issue, possible court dates and speculative potentially libelous innuendo included.

UPDATE - NEOS KOSMOS JOINS THE FRAY
It appears that Neos Kosmos have decided to get in on the act. Here is their article on the matter.

A prominent Melbourne businessman is taking South Melbourne FC to court over a loan secured in 2004. It is alleged the terms of the loan included time limits and a debenture charge over the assets of the club, and they have since been breached.

The money, he claims, is in excess of two-hundred thousand dollars. Although negotiations for repayment had started several years ago, they have since soured and there is current legal action afoot. The club has been a flag bearer for Hellenism in Melbourne and Australia in general and now finds itself on the brink of receivership, should the court action prove successful. 

Further, it is understood that the club entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Government of Victoria in 2009 where the club received payments in excess of $25,000 per month. This MOU facilitated the creation of a lease, ensuring the long term tenure at Lakeside Oval. To this date, it is understood, that this lease has not been executed by all sides. 

All of which the club categorically denies. Leo Athanasakis, the club's president, assures that the club is in no economic strife. "The Club is in a sound financial position and will publish its financial accounts prior to the end of the year in accordance with its long standing practice," he said. 

"The club has no debt other than this liability now to him. The club owes nothing to players, owes nothing to other creditors." In fact, he says, the club will be "declaring a profit of close to $150,000". The president explains the delay is normal, with most sporting clubs waiting six months for the government's approval. 

"The Lease has now been signed six months ago and it's currently within parliament as the process dictates with other leases that involve crown land. It happens with bowling clubs, tennis clubs or any other club that signs a lease with the government, they go through the same process and they all take about six months before they come back. 

"So it has been signed by South Melbourne and the government and they go through parliamentary process, red tape in other words," he says. 

The club will also be seeking legal advice over what he calls "riddled and misleading" article published in Ta Nea. The article only uses unnamed callers to back up its claims the club is in financial turmoil and blames the club of unfairly raising the cost of subscription for juniors to $3,500. The subscription, the president says, is not for juniors, but is a highly intensive training regiment for 14-21 year-olds. 

The program has already sold out, offers 5 days training a week and has full time staff outside of the normal teams.

Like the Ta Nea article, there is no byline. Also like the Ta Nea article, it does not name the businessmen involved who are seeking to take South Melbourne to court. It is also concerning or intriguing depending on your point of view, to see such wildly different numbers being talked about in terms of the loan. Ta Nea says $120,000; Neos Kosmos says in excess of $200,000.

At least the article goes to the trouble of further investigating some of the claims made in the Ta Nea article. It elaborates on the juniors situation, and goes into some detail about the Memorandum of Understanding with the government on our lease arrangement.

Lastly, for now, I'm interested to see the claim made by Athanasakis that this is the last remaining debt that the club has on its books. If true, that'd be a pretty good turnaround in such a relatively short space of time.

Athanasakis on 3XY Radio Hellas Tonight

The issue of the loan made to save the club back in 2004 has come home to roost. Some of you may have seen the article in Ta Nea on Wednesday. Apparently President Leo Athanasakis will be on 3XY Radio Hellas (1422AM, but sadly probably in Greek) at sometime between 8PM and 10PM to discuss that and related matters.

We'll be providing a full round up of the issue after that interview either late tonight or at some time tomorrow.

UPDATE:

It appears as if the detail in Ta Nea about Athanasakis appearing on 3XY Radio Hellas tonight is not true. Just another to list the of incorrect assertions made in that article.

Fernando and Futsalroos kick off world cup campaign tonight

As nicked from The World Game site

Watch Australia take on the world's best nations at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012 LIVE (to eastern states) on SBS in November.

The Futsalroos face a tough assignment to qualify from the group stage with matches against Italy, Mexico and Argentina, but you can follow their progress right here. SBS will also show the semi finals and final LIVE and streamed LIVE online.

FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012 on SBS: (all times AEDT)

• Friday 2 November - Italy v Australia, SBS TWO, 8.55pm
• Monday 5 November - Australia v Mexico, SBS TWO, 8.55pm
• Thursday 8 November - Australia v Argentina, SBS TWO, 8.55pm

(If Australia qualifies out of the group stage, check TWG for a knockout rounds schedule)

• Friday 16 November - semi-finals, SBS TWO, 8.55pm
• Sunday 18 November - final, SBS TWO, 11pm

I Still Call South Melbourne Home

Words by SouthPole

I've been on forums that never close down
From soccer-forum to twg and old smscboard town
But no matter how far or how wide I roam
I still call smfcboard home

I'm always browsing, I love being free
And so I keep leaving the Hellas for Victory
But my heart lies waiting over the foam
I still call South Melbourne home

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world
Away from their family and friends
But as the FFA gets older and colder
It's good to know where your journey ends

And someday we'll all be together side by side
When all of the sellouts come back to Lakeside
I'll realize something I've always known
I still call South Melbourne home

But no matter how far or wide I roam
I still call South Melbourne, I still call South Melbourne, I still call South Melbourne home
But no matter how far or wide I roam
I still call South Melbourne, I still call South Melbourne, I still call South Melbourne home

All kinds of awesome

Australian soccer statistician, historian and record keeper par excellence Andrew Howe has really outdone himself this time.

Customised Google Map of all 100 NSL venues.

There'll be corrections and additions to be made for sure, but it's something awesome all the same. There's also a version for all national league venues combining the A-League and NSL, but I don't think it's up to the standard of this one yet.

Late, sloppy rundown of last week's club meeting

With apologies for the very large delay in getting this post out.

Last week's meeting had much to recommend it. The club explained its plans for the social club, elaborated its approach to the FFV's establishment of the National Competitions Review recommendations and sought to explain how our academy system would fit into those plans.

The presentations mollified a lot of the hostility that had been building up with regards to our engagement with the NCR process in particular. Yet there are still questions which remain unanswered, and troubling questions about the conduct of certain board members and their affiliates.

Social Club
The social club plans were the first point of discussion. The lack of a social club facility was a bone of contention among many supporters, for two reasons. Firstly because maintaining control of that space was meant to provide the club with susbtantial income independent of football, and secondly because it would provide the club with a sense of place and ownership over at least part of Lakeside Stadium. Quite a few supporters have made the observation that the venue does not feel like it is 'ours', and the line that it was better to do things right rather than quickly were beginning to wear thin.

Previous presentations on the matter had suggested that a privately operated restaurant/bistro would be accompanied by corporate suites and offices. The plans presented last night were substantially different. While maintaining the bistro element of the original plans, the corporate suite option was excised in favour of a futsal court. I must admit, I was not the only one with significant concerns about this change.

The questions from the audience were obvious. What benefit would we have in operating a futsal court in a precinct which already had five futsal courts? Why go from the corporate suites to the futsal court option? The answers were illuminating, and satisfactory to me at least, though not without concerns about how we go about our day to day business with regards to our presence in the venue.

According to the board, our lease stipulates that we must use our exclusive areas for football purposes. Thus, the option of renting out our revamped facilities to entities such as medical centres etc would be prohibited. A futsal court, which would not only be useful for our juniors, would also be able to exploit the apparently bursting at the seams situation down at the pit lane facilities.

Not everyone was satisfied with this plan, even after the explanation. One time board member George Koukoulas was particularly vocal in his opposition, both to the futsal court itself, and the rationale behind, arguing that the restrictions that the board claimed somewhat forced them towards their direction were not true. He seemed to lose the public battle on that front, for the time being at least, his approach falling flat with much of the membership.

The club is looking to run the futsal and bistro operations itself. One older gentleman objected to this arrangement, claiming that the club had tried taking this route before and it hadn't worked. It didn't seem to wash with most of the attendees. The club is also apparently not looking to borrow any funds beyond the government grant to fund the redevelopment, which raised a few eyebrows.  The board believes its revenue estimates are relatively conservative - opinion on that matter differed within the audience.

Being dependent on a government grant, the plans had to be audited by the relevant authorities. The board stated that contracts have been signed, work is ready to go within two weeks, and they are hoping for a March completion date. I asked if the basic plans/drawings could be put up online, they said yes, but we'll see ow it goes I suppose.

National Competition Review
There has been much exasperation about the board's apparently full steam ahead approach with the NCR. The board reiterated that they would prefer to work inside the tent and assist the FFV is creating a workable reform process. In addition, the board claimed they would not sign anything unless changes were introduced which were in line with our expectations of the future working of this new era.

They claimed that 4-5 other clubs were also taking up discussions with the FFV, though they did not specify which clubs were doing so. I had also heard this rumour before, with several names being bandied about, but with no way of actually confirming the validity of that rumour. If it is true, it seems to be that one club from state league 1, and four or so clubs from the VPL are trying to engage with the FFV. Considering that there have been meetings between the other 11 VPL clubs and an apparent unanimity in opposing the FFV's NCR reforms, that bloc of 11 may not be so united.

We'll have to wait until December/January for the next stage to be clearer about what form this new competition will take, and whether the club will support it.

Additional Concerns
Within what I considered the mostly good news being delivered, I was concerned about several issues. Firstly, that the issue of integrating women's football into the academy system, a key component of the 'Elite' program requirements, was not broached at all. In fact, women's football and our attempts to try and build a bridge with South Melbourne Women's Football Club did not rate a mention. Hopefully there are some significant updates on this matter by the time the AGM comes around. This saga has been going on too long.

The academy system will favour the wealthy. It is hard to know how we will attract the best talent with costs of around $3000, regardless of the possibility of two or three scholarship positions. The board made the reasonable comment that the costs were influenced by the lack of money coming from the top. In Australia, this kind of system of four days a week training, with all the trimmings, is a new concept. The hope was that once the club renovation took place, and surplus money started flowing in, that costs could be lowered. That sounds great, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for costs to fall.

If the club chooses to head down this path, it needs to commit to it for a good five years at the absolute minimum. It's likely that we won't get to see the fruit of this labour for some time, until players that have come through the system in its entirety are being produced. Only then can we really ascertain the program's success. In an industry and in a club culture of very short term goal setting, it'll take some holding of their nerve to make it that far.

The attempt to if not shut down debate, then at least try and insinuate that negative or critical comments made on internet forums, did not sit well with me. The club does not and should not control the opinions of its membership. Yes, often times the discussion from the supporters can get out of hand, misrepresent an issue, or paint the club in a negative light - but that's the modern age. If the club seeks to fight back on foreign media soil, it would be best to do that openly, and not hiding behind aliases especially while threatening to reveal the identities of your average supporter. Unfortunately, this subject was also not covered to my liking.

Flattery Will Get You Everywhere Department
Lastly, I was very surprised to see Tom Kalas use a portion of a blog post of mine - from the infamous Kubler Ross Model spectacular - as part of his presentation. It kinda made my head spin for a little bit, not for the fact the he reads this blog, which I was already aware of, but that he saw fit to use it for the purposes of selling our reincarnation, re-interpreting the depressing missive into a justification for change. When Gil Scott Heron said that the revolution would not be televised, some forty odd years ago now, I doubt that he had in mind that it would be blogged instead.

Jerry's Final Thought
I expected a much more hostile and heated meeting. It got tense at times, there was shouting, people talking over one another, but that's not unusual for something like this. To my surprise, most of the attendees seemed open minded about the proposed changes, even if they weren't necessarily convinced by all of them. If that's the least that comes of out of this process, maybe this club does have a worthwhile future.

1970s Championship Player Bill Hasapis passes away

Taken from the official site.

South Melbourne FC is saddened to learn of the passing of former player Bill Hasapis, who played for the Club between 1972 and 1974.

Mr Hasapis represented South during its 1972 and 1974 Victorian State League Championship winning seasons. He was an integral part of the 1972 side that beat George Cross on goal difference to win the title. He missed a fair amount of 1973 but then returned to play his part in the 1974 Championship winning side that won the title by four points over George Cross. He played with some of South’s greatest players, including Jim Armstrong, Jim Pyrgolios, John Bedford, Steve Walker and Mike Mandalis just to name a few.

South Melbourne FC President Leo Athanasakis remarked that it was "a great shame to learn of the passing of a two-time Championship winning player in Mr Bill Hasapis. He left his mark in the rich and illustrious history of our great Club by contributing to the 1972 and 1974 State League Championship teams. Bill was presented a replica of his playing shirt by the club at the 50th Anniversary Gala Ball in 2009. On behalf of the entire family at South Melbourne FC, I send my sincere condolences to Mr Hasapis’ family and friends in this difficult time."

WHY DOES LIFE HAVE TO BE SO HARD SO FRIGGIN HARD?

IT IS JUST SO FRUSTRATING BEING CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WHITE COLLAR CORPORATIST BRIGADE ON ONE SIDE AND THE STILL DON'T GET IT THAT THE NSL IS DEAD PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE AND WHATEVER OTHER SIDES COME INTO THE EQUATION. WHY CAN'T WE JUST GET ONTO THE MIDDLE PATH ALREADY?! PLEASE HELP US LORD BUDDHA, SURELY EVEN ENLIGHTENMENT CAN'T BE SO DIFFICULT TO ATTAIN AS THIS?

NCR debate heating up

Two things to take note of.

Firstly, the club will be hosting a members forum this Wednesday to discuss the social club redevelopment and our engagement with the NCR process. I'm a bit concerned about the crazy rumours that we will creating be a fustal court in our space - what happened to the bistro idea?

As for the  NCR, the board have a lot of work to do in convincing supporters that their approach is the correct one to take. Not that it isn't, or that they can't - I'm waiting to see what their rationale is - but personally attacking concerned members of the club on internet forums isn't the smartest thing to do, especially when you hide behind a veil of anonymity.

Marmaras and Wade inducted into FFV Hall of Fame

No bias involved at all, not like the History Committee gets invited anyway. Wish there was something more significant on the FFV website about this stuff.

Interested in finding out who awarded the Bill Fleming Medal (for media award), win this year by Like Sherbon. Last year it was presented by Michael Lynch. Was it the same againt his year?

SMFC Junior Peter Paganis trials with Panathinakikos

Article from the Wyndham Leader. Thanks to the Kiss of Death for alerting us to this article.

Paganis experiences life as a professional soccer player

WERRIBEE'S Peter Paganis experienced life as an elite soccer player last month.

And the 14-year-old wants to do it all again.

Peter was invited for a two-week trial with the prestigious Panathinaikos Youth Football Academy in Greece and impressed PYA technical director John Samaras, scoring seven goals from as many games.

Discussions are in place for the striker to return later this year and even permanently when he turns 15.

Peter will know if he has earned the green light to return next month, with a three-month all expenses paid trip, including schooling, the carrot on offer.

The MacKillop College student trialled with the PYA last year, representing the Football Star Academy, and scored the tournament-winning goal for his team.

Peter, who plays with South Melbourne Soccer Club and has also earned selection for Central City in the Victorian Champions League, said it was a priceless opportunity.

"I was rapt to be chosen," Peter said.

"Every day we had training and they (coaches) showed us different skills and a different way to use the ball."

Peter's mother, Anna, said his passion for soccer was palpable from a young age.

"Peter was always very serious about soccer," she said.

Happy New A-League Season!

In a way, there are actually two posts in this entry, but I think there's a connection there if you only just believe in it.

After another poor season coupled with the ongoing destruction of the misguided belief of our imminent return to the top flight, more supporters who would have once said 'South wherever, forever', are trying to find an ideological out. All of a sudden 'for life' seems to be an incredibly long time.

Many years ago I had a copy of On Death and Dying  by Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross on the chest of drawers next to my bed. I couldn't get into the 'technical' parts of the book, but I would often read the case studies before going to sleep.

For those of my readership who are familiar with that text, well, I'm sure you can now appreciate what a happy go lucky individual I actually am - for that part of my audience who aren't familiar with the book, it's likely they would be aware of the central idea of the book, that of the 'five stages of grief', also known as the Kübler-Ross Model.

The five stages of dying according to this model are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Putting aside for a moment whether this is scientifically or even culturally true, we could have a bit of fun by looking at the model in a South context. Doing so could make it could look something like this:

1. Denial - This isn't happening. There's no way they can have a national league without South Melbourne in it, who will support it? How can you have a league with no history?
2. Anger - I can't believe they are actually doing this without us! Fucking Jew Lowy and racist FFA Anglos! You will fail, three years tops! We should complain to FIFA!
3. Bargaining - Let's make our own league, or play in Singapore or New Zealand. Maybe if we change our name, or take over a failing A-League licence, or go into a partnership...
4. Depression - Woe is me, there's no future for us, why should we bother? Everyone has deserted us, there's no hope, etc
5. Acceptance - Whatever happens, happens. Let's enjoy the time we have left together.

We're getting to the stage where most supporters are finally moving into stage four, and it's not pretty. You could get all indignant at these people, tell them to harden the fuck up - but who am I to hold someone hostage at Lakeside? If people can no longer cope with supporting us at this level and in this incarnation, they have every right to leave.

And it's not something unique to this club. Have a read of the excellent Maroon and Blue by Adam Muyt, on the social history of the Fitzroy Football Club, and you'll see the same diversity of reactions to a 'dying' club.

Are these ponderings an over reaction to the usual off-season blues? I don't think so. It's more than a matter of poor results. It's the way many of our remaining supporters are seemingly unable to see a future for South that is in any way comparable to our glory days.

And I'm not sure there's anything even remotely on the horizon that could change that perception. A return of the social club may slow down the moroseness, for a bit. The NCR, or its more ambitious siblings the 'summer league' and 'Australian Premier League/Second Division' if they get up (FUCKING LOL), might spark something which will defy history.

Wait and see, I suppose.

Every now and again I've been uploading old South related posts from Supermercado's surviving blogs. It's more some sort of feeble attempt at posterity rather than anything stalker related, and I will be looking for other historic materials from other people to upload. Whatever helps me sleep at night I suppose.

I've been publishing them as backdated posts - that is, using Blogger's ability to post things as actual historical posts, I've put them up under the date they were originally published. Meaning that if a post was originally published on 27th October 1995, that's where you'll find it in my old archives. Considering this blog only started in 2007, there's some interesting and not so interesting stuff that has been uploaded here before that time. It creates a different sort of narrative, working not just forwards, but also backwards.

Anyway, I loved the following passage from this post, just ignore the wild predictions. I mean, who could have honestly thought that the A-League would have lasted this long?

Well there’s a hole in my heart

As deep as a well

For another summer with no NSL

We can’t get in the A-League

So we’ll do the next best thing

Go on the net and WHINGE! WHINGE! WHINGE!

Click on the Supermercado tag to find more South related blog posts from the days when blogging was hip and I was a depressed malcontent who responded to being booted out of Melbourne University, back to back Collingwood grand final losses, and South being banished from the national league, by spending six months in my pajamas watching Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake and Passions.

And finally, just for the record, I would have gone to the 'derby', but Revenge of the Nerds is going to be on tonight, and how often do you get to see a movie of that calibre on network TV?

That, and I'll be recovering from stage two of a root canal procedure.

RIP Hammy McMeechan

I was sad to hear of the recent passing of 1960s Slavia and Croatia player Hammy McMeechan.

Now Hammy wasn't a South player (more on that later), but I got to meet him once when me and Ian Syson were doing research.

I think that at the time, Syson was writer in residence at the FFV, and I was helping do some interviews. They were fairly ramshackle affairs, interesting, but without a specific narrative emerging.

One of the interviews was with Hugh Murney, which we talked about here. What I neglected to mention at any point after that interview, is that this discussion lead to one of the more crucial moments in Syson's quest to find soccer hidden Australian history, as well as inspiring me in my studies over similar terrain.

The Game That Never Happened - the day Slavia played a charity soccer match against a VFL XI - would have remained forgotten had it not been for our interview with Meechan. Without this meeting and this story, our research efforts would have taken a substantially different course.

We met him at Forest Hill Chase, a shopping centre straight out out of Kath and Kim. We'd been waiting there for a while, at some generic coffee and cake outlet. Eventually this bandy legged old bloke turns up, and we have a wonderful chat lasting, according to Syson at least, for about two and half hours.

We talked about his career, about that game against the VFL players, about what he'd done since his playing retirement - he was still a keen coach of junior players even in his latter days.

I remember impressing him with my knowledge of now obscure Melbourne clubs and their lineages - for once that OzFootball database work came in handy in the real world.

We politely disagreed about the future. He saw something good on the horizon, a new era for the game, a logical continuation of his footballing life. I saw, and I suppose still primarily see, the end of an era, with only a marginal place in the future for me and my club. But he never accused me of selfishness for having that view.

It's a pity that we never got to meet again. His one major regret from his playing career? That he never got to play for South.

“Don’t get me wrong, Ian,” he warns. “I had a fabulous and successful time playing for Croatia and I made many life-long friends there. But what I always admired about Hellas was the crowd: its size, its passion and its noise. I would have loved to have played there every second week with that crowd behind me for at least a season or two.”

For more information on his career, see Roy Hay's obituary on Goal Weekly.

1960s championship player Vamvakas passes away

The following is all from this official site article.

South Melbourne FC is saddened to learn of the passing of former goalkeeper Harry Vamvakas (pictured second from right in the above picture). Mr Vamvakas was an inaugural member of the first South Melbourne Hellas side that competed in 1960 in the Victorian Metropolitan Division 1 North (modern-day equivalent being State League 1). The side easily won promotion into the Victorian State League (now the Premier League) by winning every single game except for a 3-3 draw with Corio and won the League by 11 points over second-placed Moonee Ponds.

Mr Vamvakas was also a member of South’s 1964 Victorian State League Championship winning side. That season he rotated the goalkeeping with Panayiotis Tsitsos and Sam Kagioglou but still made his contribution as South beat George Cross to the title by a single point to win its second VSL Championship (following the 1962 triumph).

Speaking to smfc.com.au, South Melbourne FC President Leo Athanasakis offered his condolences to Mr Vamvakas’ family and friends. “It is sad to learn of the passing of a former player of our Club, especially due to the fact that Harry Vamvakas was also an inaugural player in South’s first ever season in 1960. We are forever grateful for the contribution that he made to the Club and we are so pleased that he attended the Club’s 50th year Gala celebrations in 2009 to accept his award for playing in Championships for South. On behalf of the entire Club, I wish to offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Vamvakas.”

Two years since The World Game Forum was shut down.

Lest we forget. While the community has regrouped somewhat at Football Anarchy, it'll never be the same as the old two bobber. The following was an example of the heartfelt anguish expressed when news of the forum's death sentence was announced.

OPEN LETTER TO SBS



Dear SBS


I am afraid your dragonion policy of closing down the TWGF forum is inapt and you are just taking forumites negative coments to seriously.

Some of us have been posting anti Aussie sokkah, anti A league posts for ages, but you should not be offended by them. HTFU.

Freaken, Skip, ECP, Benny Hinn, Chips and all the others are actully doing soccer a favor by showing the negative things about the A legue and posting AFL crowd numbers every week.

Some long time posters like Fronty is only joking when he says I piss on your SBS. don’t you understand jokes?
Havent you got a sence of humour. He is just being humerus FFS.

Please rethink your policy and allow us to continue posting.

If you do not, we will have to take more dragonion measures, which I will outine later.

You cannot behave like this without reaper cushions.

Some of our group have powerful contacts in places like Armenia, Croatia, Phillipines, Calabria and Sunshine. This is not be snuffed at


Waiting your immediate action.



This letter has also been posted to SBS Managing Director, SBS Sports, Les Murray and Admin.

Locked Bag 028
Crows Nest NSW 1585

South of the Border Awards 2012

Here are my crappy awards for 2012. I'll also be providing forecasts as to the winners of the 2022 season with my Nostradamus like powers based on the assumption that the National Competitions Review as put forward by the FFV gets up and going.

Player of the year: Dimi Tsiaras. Brad Norton could have won it for inexplicably playing more games then everyone sans Peter Gavalas. Luke Byles would have probably won it if I used a week by week voting system. But Tsiaras when he was playing at defensive mid, seemed to add a bit of cunt to the side. More of him in that position next season please, and less of him pinch hitting in defense as was asked of him in 2012.

2022 winner: Alain Prost Montgomery Trent Spoffington de Beaufort, the latest superstar out of the Xavier/Scotch/St Kevins etc 'my parents were loaded and I play football for South Melbourne' program.

Under 21 player of the year: The Cliff Hussey Memorial Trophy goes to Anthony Giannopoulos. Andrew Cartanos showed something in his stints at the end of the season; I liked Matko Budimir more as the year went on; Nicky Jacobs season was cruelly cut short the week after he bundled in the winner against Southern Stars. But bias propels me to pick 'Gia'. Last year his attitude and leadership qualities stank. This year, he's come along in leaps and bounds in both areas, and he appears to be a less selfish player. I was immensely disappointed he didn't get a run at all in the seniors in 2012.

2022 winner : We won't have under 21s by then. In the words of TISM, if you're not famous by fourteen, you're finished.

Goal of the year: 2012 was a very lean year for spectacular goals at South. So in that spirit, the award goes to Anthony Giannopoulos, for his amazing and sadly not caught on camera scissor against Oakleigh. He could have controlled it, he could have headed it, instead he went for the ridiculous and pulled it off.

2022 winner: After a 55 pass build up, James Spanos Junior, Esq. - inspired by watching Alessandro Del Piero during his Sydney FC stint - will nonchalantly curl one into the top corner.

Best performance: I would have said Oakleigh at home, where we dominated 88 of the 90 minutes, but I preferred Oakleigh away all the way back in round two. After getting beaten up for 30 minutes and being behind, we spent a good hour playing blistering football which made us all think we were due for big things in 2012.

2022 winner : It'll all depend on the KNVB methodology number crunchers.

Best away game of the year: Southern Stars. The chaos when Nicky Jacobs scored the winner was fun.

2022 winner: The Battle of Painkalac Dam against the Elwood City Grebes at the Moggs Creek gala day. Can't wait.

Call of the year: Lot of sadly memorable mentions, mostly originating from the mouth of Steve from Broady - 'the things that keep you up at night', 'get it in the mixer', 'what's for dinner'. But the clear winner had to be 'if they were at Northcote, they would have scored that', said by just about everyone, and by me even in cases and places where relevance was minimal.

2022 winner: In order to facilitate a 'fun, safe and positive environment for our children', all wit, including the sarcastic, withering, snide, sly, offbeat, cynical, existential and beatnik, will be prohibited.

Chant of the year: A few to choose from, but 'quack, quack, quack' from the Mighty Ducks takes the win this season

2022 winner: South Melbourne! (clap, clap, clap) South Melbourne! (clap, clap, clap)

Best after match dinner location: Technically, it was a pre-match dinner location, but Thai Deli on Clarendon Street (next door to the abominable Pizza Hut) was fabulous. Hope be there again soon - being closed on Sundays does make it harder to get there though.

2022 winner : Ontbijtkoek paired with Sisi.

Friends we lost along the way: Clarendon Corner, apparently. I wouldn't write them off so quickly though.

2022 winner : There will be no friends, only parents, and even then, only sometimes.

Barely related to anything highlight of the year: During driveway cricket at Southpole's house, bowling alleged cricket superstar Steve from Broady out for a first ball duck.

2022 winner : Sadly, the above will probably still be the highlight of my miserable existence.

Bill Fleming Medal - who was your player of the year?

Doesn't look like much of a medal. Photo:
Melbourne Knights official site.

After the farce of not being asked by the FFV to provide my nominees for the media's player of the year (and associated awards), despite having an FFV media pass, this year they've sent me the emails for my opinion. Thank Ganesha for that.

They operate via a 3-2-1 set up. Now, I'm not going to tell you who I'm voting for (for the record last year I would have voted for Andy Vlahos, while the winner was Richie Cardozo), but I would be interested to hear who my readership thinks was the player of the year.

So leave your comments - with some supporting evidence if possible - in the comments section. Entries of comedic value from people that only watched South games are welcome, but serious replies are what we're mostly looking for. It doesn't even have to be a South player (guffaw).

There are also awards for article and photo of the year. Again, I have some in mind, but if you've come across any that you think are worthwhile, let us know about them.

Apart from that. let's hope Michael Lynch doesn't get to present the award this year.

A Day To Remember - Heidelberg United 2 South Melbourne 5

Yesterday might not have been an argument for the FFV's proposed National Competitions Review reforms. But it certainly provided a solid argument that something needs to change.

It was an appalling crowd, even taking into account the poor seasons of both clubs, the decline of second tier crowds in general, and the decline of this once great derby. If there were 300 people there as reported by some, then half of them must have been in the Bergers' social club.

The Bergers, as is perhaps becoming the norm with struggling and even not completely struggling teams throughout the divisions, could barely manage to muster a reserves team. Reportedly starting with just nine players, they were 7-0 down before three of their players became injured, and the game was abandoned.

The field was atrocious, one of the worst I've ever seen at this level. Dribbling was almost impossible. Passes were only good if sent skimming across the surface rather than rolling. Players from both sides kept losing their footing, often without opposition interference.

The atmosphere, apart from Clarendon Corner going all out for one last hurrah before moving into at least semi-retirement, was dire. There have been Hellenic Cup matches with more of an edge than this, and not just because of a price hike in the price of souvlakia for the finals day.

The game itself at least had a couple of sides that tried to provide some sort of entertainment value. Heidelberg struggled to get too many chances, but were efficient initially. Some better crossing from our end would have seen a higher score, but who's complaining? Rixon, who came on in the second half for the first time since his six match suspension was ended, smashed a well hit shot against the crossbar. Another goal - possibly in the same sequence of play - was disallowed for offside. But we also had a smidgen of luck for once as well - one of our goals in the first half hit the post, went across the face of goal, hitting the hapless Heidelberg goalie before going in.

It was the first time we'd scored five against the Bergers since the NSL days, and the first time we'd beaten them three times in a row since that era as well. Don't ask for specificities on that though. Shaun Kelly, brought across mid-season for defensive replenishment, ended up as our top scorer for the season with a tally of four goals. Baggio Yousif managed to add his name to the list of South scorers, as did Matko Budimir.

Clarendon Corner had a ten year birthday/reunion celebration of sorts. Word is that the concept is being put into at least semi-hibernation. Six seasons of slop and a lack of new members will do that to people. There were a couple of new banners for the occasion, a march to the ground, solid chanting and some spirited moshpit activity.

Heidelberg Harismidis, in his role as ballboy, had a few chants and cheers directed his way, all in good fun. Somewhere between idiot savant and noble savage, and yet actually being possessed by something completely different altogether, his runs and up and down the sidelines of the VPL grounds will be missed, sort of.

Even George Katsakis, that most diehard of Alexandrians, managed to laugh along with a Clarendon Corner chant at his expense ('my cheesecake shop, is better/bigger than yours', I think it was). Gus Tsolakis pulled out a little party trick with a behind the leg pass from a ball going out of play. It was that kind of day, that kind of season. Both coaches have seen better days.

As far as we have fallen, at this stage at least we have not reached the depths that Heidelberg have fallen to. Yes, we hate them, want to thrash them, but it is also true that upon their eventual demise (should it actually happen) they will take with them a part of us. They are our shadow (our unheimlich, perhaps) - less successful for the most part, a perennial warning to what could happen to us if we ever get too hubristic, which is never too far away at South.

Later this week, we'll start talking about the NCR. Next week some time, I'll dish out my awards and a season review. I don't know about what the Kiss of Death has planned for the finals or for their awards, having being unable to provide content for the last month, and seeing as how they didn't manage to get an awards post up last season.

I can't promise much regular posting after that. Since I actually sorta work now, I have writing and reading that needs to be done for that part of my existence. But the NCR and social club work will keep us all enthralled. There'll be a best and fairest evening and an AGM.

Thank yous of course come at the end of the season, and you can wait your turn.

ΕΚΕΙ! ΕΚΕΙ! ΣΤΗ Β ΕΘΝΙΚΗ!

Once again, no Kiss of Death this week. Something to do with wrinkly fuel hoses or something.

Unlike other weeks where I piss fart around and at least attempt to consider the merits of the other games this round, I can't be bothered this week.

Except for their order, the finals teams are settled, as are the relegation teams.

There has been but one outright positive to come out of this season, and that has been the relegation of Heidelberg.

The fact that some people are too jaded to celebrate even this occurrence says more about them than anything else. That's Generation X for ya though, if you believe in that stuff.

Still, I'd rather win the match, and not just win, but destroy them.

Just an aside, last night I trundled down to the Central Zone forum for the National Competitions Review. Very interesting.

Let's just say for now, that the club has a ways to go before I am convinced of the correctness of the path they are seeking to choose.

Too little, too late - South Melbourne 1 Bentleigh Greens 1

This is really late. I don't even care about the alphabetical gimmick. There's a link to a match report that somebody else did further down.

20 odd other games of slop
That's where the season was lost. Yes, there were injuries, yes, there was bad luck, but there was also a lot of slop provided and bad decisions made throughout the season. Of a possible 30 points against the top five teams, we got 11. Three wins out of those ten matches (Northcote, and Oakleigh twice), and two draws (Bentleigh home, Thunder away). In addition, we dropped two points to the Zebras, three points to Stars, four points to Knights and Richmond - teams that did not make the finals. Got knocked out again by Port in the cup. And gone backwards against Gully.

Francesco Stella
Well done to Frannie, possibly still waiting for an international clearance, but Rangers have agreed to sign him, and he seems confident of getting a go in their first team sooner rather than later. Do your own search for interviews he's given, there's a few out there at the moment.

Chants
I don't know how much longer Clarendon Corner is going to last - apparently there's talk of winding it up, and their appearance have been getting steadily more sporadic - but when they try, they can come up with the lols. The latest noteworthy chant?



Eat your own
Yes, we're all frustrated by the way things have gone this season, and we can safely assume that if you're a regular at South you're just as passionate as you ever were, but some people need to act their age. For better or worse means just that. No need to carry on like a pork chop.

One and only
Was the intro script to a home match always like this in 2012? The ground announcer claimed that 'smfc.com.au was your only source for South news' or some such comment. Now I know we like to talk about South as little as possible on this blog, what with the space needed to be allocated to dinner reviews and pointless ephemera of the pseudo intellectual kind, but maybe saying your one 'official' voice would have been more tactful.

Heartless George Donikian
Former president George Donikian turned up to the game. Was disappointed by the result, but not so much that he wasn't already looking forward to the next A-League season on Twitter straight after the game.

Absolutely, more VPL fans need to sample A-League if they haven't. Heart FC is the team to embrace.

I don't really care  what people do in their out of South time A-League wise, as long they're open about it. But to try and drum up support for that franchise (which beat a South aligned bid, or have we forgotten?) straight after the game while we are still grieving for a cruel end to another failed season is insensitive at best.

Or to put it another way, fuck your A-League and Heart shit off, George.

Ace Reporter Ian Syson
And he did a match rundown/report of the match!My favourite part?

6.06. Second half underway. 

Got stuck in presidents room.

This lasted for about 28 minutes. Do read it, because I'm not going to bother recounting the day's on field events.

Next Week
Probably the most pointless derby of all time against the Bergers. Win lose or draw, we can't go anywhere important. They're doomed to State League 1 next season. Hopefully play some kids. That Cartanos kid did OK against Bentleigh.Can we at least turn into a carnival atmosphere.

Zenith
Congratulations to my Perth Glory supporting buddy Chris Egan, who has been selected to give a paper at the Worlds of Football conference in Melbourne in November.


And a huge happy birthday to Tony, no last name required, you know who you are. Good bloke, good friend, who always has my back when I piss off the wrong people.

I eat too much to die, and not enough to stay alive, I'm sitting in the middle waiting - Round 21, 2012

Apologies first up for the morbid title of this week match preview title.

No Kiss of Death again this week. Just watching the visitor stats fall week by week makes me consider putting the Kiss of Death on as paid staff. Which would be a brilliant idea except for the fact that I have no money, and even if I did, I could not compete with the Kiss of Death's current employer.

20:30 Friday 7th September, Oakleigh Cannons vs Northcote City, Jack Edwards Reserve
I was going to be at this game, seeing as how South's finals chances depend on it heavily. Then Moreland City and Altona East's postponed game got rescheduled for Friday night, and I was off to see that. And the I became a code traitor, thanks to Travis Cloke pulling a finger out of his flat track bully arse and getting Collingwood over the line against Essendon and into the top four, ready for a Friday night spanking against Hawthorn and me $65 out of pocket watching it from the top deck of the Ponsford. Good thing no one reads thing to tell me off. If Northcote can get two wins, they're in. Four points from the last two rounds, and they start worrying about other results. Less than that, and their crappy goal difference will see them miss out, surely. Oakleigh are still gunning for the double chance, so they won't be looking to let up just yet. I don't like them, but the Cannons should do enough here to be able to take their foot off the pedal next week. Oakleigh 2 Northcote 0.

20:30 Friday 7th September, Richmond vs Melbourne Knights, Kevin Bartlett Reserve
The arrival of Alessandro Del Piero is a massive coup for the Sydney FC, the A-League and Australian soccer. Not that I really care about any of those three things, and even less so for risky gimmicks like this which could backfire spectacularly. No, what I found most telling was the rather predictable response from certain bitter individuals, who poo-poohed the idea from start to finish, worrying about the cost, his age, the airy-fairyness of it all. All while neglecting Australian soccer's history of guest stint gimmicks (and even though Del Piero will be at least playing a whole season), including the excitement generated a few years ago by the mere rumour that Greek international and 1998 European Golden Boot winner Nikos Machlas would be coming to South, even just for a little bit. Anyway, both Richmond and Croatia are still in with a remote chance of making finals, provided they win both their matches and everyone else falls over. Meaning that if one of these teams can win this match, results in other games this round could flatten their finals chances anyway. More likely scenario is that it'll be a draw, and both teams will quietly remove themselves from the equation. Richmond 1 Keniggets 1.

15:00 Saturday 8th September, Green Gully vs Dandenong Thunder, Green Gully Reserve
The FFV, in their collective wisdom, have decided to stage grand final day this year after a Melbourne Heart game. And not just any Melbourne Heart fixture - the Wellington Phoenix one. Shades of Melbourne Victory's Parade of Champions farce much? Got to give the FFV and Melbourne Heart credit for trying though. The FFV probably thinks this is the only way to a) get a half decent crowd to watch the game and b) increase the possibility of Michael Lynch and/or David Davutovic being at the spectacle, maybe writing something, getting it published... though I'm not convinced  by the strategy - a similar initiative didn't do too well in Launceston last year - I'm willing to be proven wrong. It doesn't really phase me too much. The whole thing is just about dead anyway, and I get in for free regardless because of my media pass, which I'm actually beginning to wonder 'how the hell do I actually have one of these?'. Do my match reports stack up? Nah. Do my match previews, when I fill in for the Kiss of Death, provide any sort of meaningful insight? Is just commenting on the social ephemera surrounding the game make up for every other thing the blog is deficient in? I'm not convinced it is so. Thunder won the Dockerty Cup last week. Despite dominating, I also felt they were a bit lucky - Port Melbourne really should have pinched it at the end. They've wrapped up the minor premiership, so now the only thing left for them is to decide whether to put the cue in the rack for a couple of weeks. I don't think their form going into the finals should suffer too much if they do take that course. Gully needs just a point to secure a finals spot, but a bit more to get the double chance. Tough call. Gully 1 Thunder 0.

15:00 Saturday 8th September, Southern Stars vs Hume City, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Do yourselves a favour, and go and see the Napoleon exhibition currently at the NGV. I used a joint Game Masters/Napoleon ticket, and I wish I had only needed the latter. An incredible human being made for an incredible moment of history, yet the exhibit never neglects his immense hubris. Apart from the overarching story itself, go for the connections of late 18th and early 19th century France to Australia; go for the hat; and go for the metric clock and calendar. As to this fixture, fascinating little game here. Stars nothing to play for. Hume still gunning for finals. Expectation that little Turkish brother will roll over for big Turkish brother. But people are saying it won't happen. By the end of this game South fans, and everyone else, will have a much clearer idea what it will take to make the finals. I think Hume will win this game legit though, being the better team and all. Stars 0 Hume 2.

15:00 Sunday 9th September, Moreland Zebras vs Heidelberg United, Epping Stadium
Good riddance to bad rubbish. Zebras 2 Bergers 1.

17:00 Sunday 9th September, South Melbourne vs Bentleigh Greens
Special treat for everyone next week. This writer's near silence on the FFA and FFV's National Competitions Review will be one step closer to being broken, after I head to the FFV's presentation of the initiative to the Central Zone peoples next week (with Gains!). Last home game for the season. The equation for us is pretty simple. Win this week. Win next week. Hope other results go our way. Make finals. Keep winning. Bentleigh are no pushover though. They aren't spectacular, but they're above competent, and they only need a point to secure a finals place. I see a draw here, 1-1, but goodness I hope I'm wrong and we win and then smash the Bergers next week and go on to win the blessed thing.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much spare time

This is certainly worth a go.

Origin of the Socceroos

No game for us this week. Therefore no previews, a little less angst. But reading week old ephemera about last week's match isn't everyone's cup of tea, so time to put up something new.

Academic and Australian football historian Roy Hay is back in the country after a UK sojourn to cover the Olympic Games. Goal Weekly published this article of his last week or thereabouts, looking at where the 'Socceroos' name came from. You know we could've been the called the Emus?

Now With 30% Less Shrugging of Shoulders Than A Regular Blog Post - Northcote City 0 South Melbourne 1

How much attention did I pay to yesterday's match? I can't remember. I remember a bloke with a big blue Greek chocolate wrapper in his shirt pocket. I remember two dimmies and a potato cake. I remember South getting hammered for large periods of the game, and relying on counter attacks, in a neat role reversal from the last time we played. I also remember feeling a smidgen better our season, and that perhaps I should've taken on board the feelings of one of the anonymous comments people who said we were going to win (even though their score was wrong). Can you believe we beat Northcote, at Northcote? Scary, no?

A Comment On The Relationship Between South's Supporters And Players
Krusty: Anybody here have herpes? Huh? Huh? [No one answers] You people are the worst audience I've ever seen.
Man: You're the worst comedian we've ever seen!
Krusty: Oh, great! Well, we'll just sit here silently for the next ninety minutes.
Man: Fine with us.

Clarendon Corner
Genius idea mooted yesterday. Instead of CC vs OM21 (as was the old, short lived end of season tradition), we should have what's left of CC vs the actual South squad. Someone make this happen!

Everyone Hates Brad Norton
Not the most popular player among a certain of section of South supporters, he managed to score what looked like a pretty legit goal yesterday - only for it to be taken away by an offside call that befuddled many of the behind the goals crew. Was it offside? I don't know. For all his faults, he's pinched a crucial goal here and there.

Greek Singers
Try so hard to get rid of the effnik stigma and then you get some Greek singer (never heard of him, 'something' Melas) to toss the coin. Just bring out the goats and dancing groups again, get it over and done with.

Hawthorn Invading Lakeside
Watching channel 10 news today (it was on when I got home, OK?) and saw Hawthorn players running around a familiar venue, though it was named as 'Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre'. No idea what that was about.

Neil Armstrong (with apologies to Neil, his family, and the friends and family of the deceased person who was being honoured at Northcote yesterday)
I don't even know where to begin or how to relate this story. As we walked into the ground before the reserves, there was a minute's silence taking place. We didn't know who it was for, so when Steve from Broady asked the question, I answered probably Neil Armstrong. He seemed a bit surprised by this? Did Neil die? Yeah, was reported this morning. After a bit more chat, it turns out that Steve from Broady though I was talking about South's own Jimmy Armstrong. Then somehow, his brain fade continuing even after we established what I was talking about, he asked, 'did he (that is, Neil) used to come to South games?' What can you do in such a situation, except laugh, while still berating him for his utter stupidity.

Next Match
Not this week. Cup final is on at Lakeside between Port Melbourne and Dandenong Thunder. Might head down there. Might not. Then Bentleigh Greens for our final home match of the season Sunday week. Step 2 of 7 in our must win at all costs to win the title campaign.

Ross Aloisi (Cool Story Bro Department)
Walking towards John Cain at about 1:00, some blokes with FFA gear trot across our path towards one of the nearby fields. One of the blokes has this exchange with me

Bloke: Are South playing today?
Me: Yep.
Bloke: I thought they played last night.
Me: Nup.

Thrilling stuff. Later on Gains and Steve from Broady inform me that was Ross Aloisi, reaffirming how out of touch I am. If it was John Aloisi, would have congratulated him for bleeding the A-League out of a few million while doing fuck all for it. Then again, probably not.

Take This Job and and Shove It! Department
You get to see a fair few dummy spits in the dregs of state league 2 north west reserves. And there were a few to choose from last Saturday at Altona East vs Preston. The bloke who got subbed (after 70 minutes, mind) and took about two minutes to walk off the field would normally win the prize, but credit to Preston's volunteer linesman who was so disgusted by his offside call being ignored (leading to Altona East sealing the game at 3-1) that he threw his flag onto the field and trundled off back to the gravel hill. No carry on after that, just stood with his mates and watched the rest of the game.

Under 21s
Well beaten by Northcote, 3-1. The one goal we did manage was pretty funny though. No further comment.

VPL Discussion/A Story About The Death of Pretence
Ah, the halcyon days of the A-League's formation. When those who sought to extend an olive branch from new dawn to crusty bitter attempted to show their inclusiveness by talking about the VPL in a special thread on their forum. I'm glad that phase is over. Like a divorced couple who still want to be friends for the sake of the children, the hatred that lead to the split eventually returned, just turned into indifference.

Zenith
So, are we the real Northcote yet? There can be only one!