Preston vs South live at Lakeside

Someone's put their cojones on the line and managed to come up with this nice little solution to all those who don't want to venture out to BT Connor Reserve tomorrow. The game will be streamed live at Lakeside, with doors open at 4pm, with the bar and kitchen open. That's where I'll be. And before anyone makes the accusation that I'm doing it for the money, I do have a media pass remember - so I could get in and not pay a cent - it's the principle of the thing. They didn't think I was worthy enough to enter last year, let's continue that tradition.

Boutsi's 100th NSL goal

Who could forget it? Marconi needed to beat us by four goals to make the finals. They suffered a setback when Boutsi scored a 40 metre half volley lob over Michael Turnbull. And then he came up with this to bring up his ton, and seal the visitors fate well and truly.

Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel? Round 3 - Preston Lions vs South Melbourne

Last Time They Met

I think it was about half way through last year. They won 2-1, avenging their loss at home earlier in the season. The winner was one of those mishit crosses that goes in. Funny that.

Preview
Not that we can't win - we did it last season, and actually haven't lost there since we dropped down to the VPL - but I don't think we will. A good fighting draw is my guess.

Jenny Mikakos and cancer

South receiving the love and giving it out in equal doses. First up, MP Jenny Mikakos says some stuff, about us. the same way Nicola Roxon wastes valuable Federal Parliament time saying how delightful it is to go down to Point Gellibrand and watch the Towners beat those rapscallions from Box Hill.

Visit the relevant VicHansard page

Then we also got into the news... or at least were able to out it on our own webpage, that we donated some of our players, from both men's and women's teams, time and some merchandise to cheer up some kids who are sick with cancer. Now cancer can be funny, but this time no jokes from me. Great stuff by whoever thought of the idea, and to the players and club for making it happen. People interested in the organisation involved can head to Challenge's website for more details.

Needed more shots of Victorian soccer

SBS TV bit on the tip top relationship between the FFA and the state Federations. According to FFV Prez Tony Dunkerley anyway. 

Fanatic of the Week no.2 - Anthony Christodoulou

Ok, so we didn't have any responses about the whereabouts of Helen Menidis. Last roll of the dice here with the only other Fanatic Of The Week file we managed to have access to.


FANATIC OF THE WEEK

Friday, 29th June, 2001

This week’s fanatic is Anthony Christodoulou from Noble Park who likes the club because it is much more than a soccer club, it's a way of life

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NAME: Anthony Christodoulou.

AGE: 19.

SUBURB: Noble Park.

INTERESTS: All sports, soccer, going out with friends, meeting new people, watching T.V, having a good time & watching South Melbourne play.


FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne, Endeavour Hills Soccer & Sporting Club, Liverpool, Olympiakos, Celtic, Barcelona, Kaiserslautern, PSG, Ajax & Fiorentina.

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Yes I am & will be till the day I die!

WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
6 years – South vs Heidelberg, 1988/89 Season at Middle Park – What a debut!! >; P

FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Probably falling through the players race at Bob Jane Stadium after we beat Carlton in the 98/99 Grand Final, then spending the night in hospital, only to return the next day to Bob Jane for family day!

MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Every single game I watch is memorable, but one that really sticks out, is when we beat Olympic 2-0 with 9 men, 4 days after losing to them 6-0 at Belmore.

FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
I’m a keeper myself, so I have to say Petka. But all the boys are top guys.

BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Charlie Egan.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Everything, from the administration, to the fans, to the team, to the stadium itself. Basically the whole set-up.

WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
I suppose the only thing I dislike is all those ‘critics’ up in the stands, but what can you do, each person has their own opinion, so you just have to build your bridge and get over it >;P

WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Hahaha….. HELL NO!!!

WHY?
I live and breathe this club, as anyone who has supported this club or is married knows, once your with South Melbourne, your with South Melbourne for life & until death do us part!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME ANTHONY!

SMFCTV Episode 3

The truth about Coveny's South Melbourne stats

It has been widely circulated that Vaughan Coveny had played some 247 odd games, and 88 goals for South. The information was collated by myself from OzFootball stats and used for Wikipedia as well. It was brought to my attention by John Kyrou that these stats were incorrect, and that Vaughan has in fact played 278 league matches for us, and scored 97 goals. While I can't quite pinpoint the place where I made the error, my suspicions turn towards not counting finals matches. Happily though, the error has been corrected, and Horsey only needs 3 more goals for his South ton.

SM United Jibbed

Where was our only real heritage strip?

That was disgraceful - South 0 Bergers 1

The 50th anniversary game of the century! Round 2, South Melbourne vs Heidelberg United

Last Time They Met
Preview
I've been too busy giving the bourgeoisie hell in working class writing this week to type out something meagingful. Ok, that's not entirely true. Just on Friday afternoons. And spent the rest of the time doing the following
1. Arguing with Hellas fans
2. Trying to get smfcboard opened up
3. Arguing with Melbourne Knights fans
4. Dropping a subject I was somehow enrolled in twice.
5. Adding heaps of people on Facebook.
6. Knocking back invitations to join some crew in Mob Wars
7. Telling that summer league agenda spouting twat Teo Pellizzeri to answer the damn question.
8. Getting reeady to join the Offset 2009 crew.
9. And other things.
Anyway, I provided plenty of stuff for this week, so get off my back. Should be a good game but. We'll be wearing the red and white jersey of South Melbourne United this week. The question on everyone's lips though: will there be hooped socks? It's the hooped socks that make the original South Melbourne Hellas strip complete and well balanced aesthetically.

Footage of the AFL's new ad filmed at BJS

There've been some misleading photos in the press about the new AFL ad, and what it will look like. We here at South of the Border have actual footage of the filming which took place at Lakeside, and which the AFL will use to destroy not just the A-League, but soccer itself.

Reardo Luka's gone... and someone's not well pleased about it.

It's business...

Reardo LUKA did not have a chance to play for the senior team at South Melbourne FC in the 2009 season. Better saying it, the club's managers did not give him a chance to play for that team he strongly dreamed and genuinely believed would be involved.

After he broke his leg playing for SMFC in 2007, Reardo worked to prepare himself non-stop in both ways, physically and mentally, to challenge the existing 'high standard in that standard of players' and the 'sharp requirements' for professionalism in this category of soccer, looking forward to a magnificent season with SMFC.

My harsh criticism goes to the club's managers that did not value his huge efforts to recover quickly and his hard work to get back on track for the sake of this club and for sure to give a positive contribution for this club.

Looking after their club’s interests, an interest to gain big things and other profitable deals, momentarily out of reach, the managers ruled out Reardo, demolishing his sincere belief that the club would give him a chance… and if he didn’t work as they expected in the club’s preseason games, he would be out of this squad and surely seek other options.

Now, Reardo has registered himself to play for Werribee Bees SC in 2009, a second division team, as he seeks to gain some ‘confidence’ lost after that terribly bad news from his previous SMFC managers… and by playing close to home, he looks to fulfill his family duties as well.

Good luck SMFC and cheers!

Fanatic Of The Week - Helen Menidis

This probably breaks at least some aspect of copyright and privacy laws, and probably lacks a bit of decorum, but there's two things I'll say about it before we get into the nitty gritty. Firstly, it's still on the net, and therefore I can use it as long as I make valid comment; and secondly, you people can do an online search with my name and see my halcyon days of making faux-teenage intellectual comments on Monsanto and Trent Croad, and the other Paul Mavroudis who's the president of Melbourne's 'Thessaloniki Association'.

Anyway, while searching through the ancient archives of South Melbourne websites past, I found an interesting semi-regular segment called Fanatic of the Week. Naturally, everyone claims their loyalty to South forever in these things... but where are they now? Are they still supporting the club? Unfortunately the archives don't work in their entirety... so this segment will last for three weeks or so. Shame really... some people are getting off lightly. We'd love to know if these people have jumped off South and onto some other bandwagon and professed their new undying love for that cause - or whether, against the odds, they're still hanging round the joint.

In it's own way, this is a similar idea to the Pumpkin Seed Eaters 'Poulimeno of the Week' (which should be 'Poulimeno of the Month' seeing as how it's a monthly show... and perhaps should have been 'Poulimeno of the Fortnight' seeing as it used to be a fortnightly show, but I digress), but with the added possibility of some genuine redemption for the individual and South itself, if they're still following this great club. And now on with the show; this edition first hit the internet airwaves Friday 8th June, 2001.



FANATIC OF THE WEEK

Friday, 8th June, 2001

Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.

This week’s fanatic is Helen Menidis from Ringwood who misses Ange Postecoglou as senior coach of the club.

See below for full fanatic profile:
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NAME: Helen J Menidis

AGE: 20

SUBURB: Ringwood

INTERESTS: Soccer, shopping, travelling and sleeping

FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne


ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
No, but I will be next season

WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
My family and I have always followed this club and I watch all the games on TV, but my first ever game attended was the Major Semi-Final 2nd Leg against Wollongong this year. I also attended the Preliminary Final against Sydney Olympic and the NSL Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium in Sydney.

FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Meeting all the players and staff behind the team.

MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Our win at Olympic Park because I was there and it was much better than watching it on TV.

FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
All of them. I see them a lot and they are a friendly and down to earth bunch of guys.

BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Ange Postecoglou because he was a fantastic player and a legendary coach. He had the passion that champions are made of as a player and a coach, and took the boys all they way to give them the great reputation of being Australia's Most Successful Club. I miss him as a coach!

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Everything

WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Nothing

WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Never

WHY?
Because they are the team I strongly support, and I will always cheer them on through good times and bad.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME HELEN.

SMFCTV episode 2 2009

South of the Border Confessional - Goal Weekly

Confession time again... I have not been a frequent purchaser or reader of Goal Weekly. I took its role for granted, and justified not buying it because I could get most of the news I wanted on the web. But this was the totally wrong attitude to take. Therefore I'm going to make a commitment to become a regular reader of the magazine, in support of the fine work put in by its contributors and staff to provide Victorian soccer fans with regular print news and opinion.

Under 21s start season off with a bang

Now at the time I was at the Limerick Arms up the road eating food that other people had paid for, but while I was doing that, South's much maligned under 21s scored a 3-0 win over Dandenong. How about that.

2009 SMFC Membership experience - plus a mystery solved!

Rather than stretching it out over a few days as per last year, we're doing this all in one go. The actual obtaining of the membership was an absolute delight, especially when compared to previous years. One line in the social club for people who have already paid for theirs, and another at the usual tent for people who hadn't. Simple and effective, at least for those of us who love paying for memberships as soon as possible.

In the picture on the right, we have some of the goodies that come with a South Gold membership. The keyring has been described as 'officially without leave', and one has to agree. It is stunning. It works well with my 3RRR keyring, which doesn't come with a South membership. There's a sticker, of which I had already swiped one from the office during a trip there, and also have another two from the Jersey Presentation Night. One is on my car, and another on my 5 subject notebook. There's also a nice lanyard... for some reason the membership card (not pictured) was not equipped with a slot to attach the lanyard to, but you can get a hole clipped by your friendly security guard or boardmember waiting at the social club entrance on match days. I use my lanyard for attaching my usb key... card can go in my wallet.

But it's not like I need a membership card anymore anyway, now that I have an FFV Media Pass! Oh yeah, thanks to being the FFV Writer In Residence's official lackey, I now have the opportunity to not only visit opposition grounds for free, but also take advantage of media facilites, attend press conferences, and all sorts of other benefits hitherto unrevealed to me. And the solved mystery? Groundskeeper Argiri calls me 'president' because of my classy hat, which I'll have to make my signature now at South games. Maybe.

Shit game, shit result - South Melbourne 0 Dandenong Thunder 1

The first half was mostly slop. The second half was less slop, if only because Thunder were sitting back on their lead and let us have more of the ball. One could whinge about Rama's farcical own goal... but that would be taking away credit from the Thunder who, while not even remotely technically brilliant, harassed and fought hard for most balls and deserved to be one up at the break though we did hit the post. Second half we had some chances, two missed handballs in the box, an advantage play denied and some bizarre fouls and non fouls... but to be fair, we barely deserved a point in the great scheme of things.

Our strength lies in playing the ball on the ground, as was seen last week against Heidelberg. Once the space is shut down though, instead of sticking to the game plan, panic sets in and we take up long ball tactics. Despite the obvious problems we caused their defence when we ran at them, we didn't stick with it consistently, and started lofting long balls wide and high. We lost too many 50/50 contests, and weren't at the fall of the ball when set pieces dropped in the box. Neither side will get to the finals based on today;s performances; the difference being - and its one we shouldn't forget in a hurry- is that's about as well as Dandenoing Thunder are going to play, whereas we have do have the potential to play far, far better than that... we've seen as recently as last week,

SMFC brings you live scores via Twitter

No more using potentially dodgy Asian and European betting sites for your South score updates! If you're a Twitter user head to http://twitter.com/smfc and do your thing. Or you could just turn up to a game. See the real thing. Just saying is all. Mildura Vasili is excused of course.