HISTORY OF SOUTH MELBOURNE FC

1959 - 1969

The year 1959 saw the amalgamation of three Melbourne football clubs - South Melbourne United, Greek-backed Hellenic and Yarra Park. All three clubs had been struggling and the amalgamation was the brainchild of Theo Marmaras, the then president of Hellenic.

Of these clubs, South Melbourne United was the longest established (circa early 1930s), playing on pitches that now form part of the Australian Grand Prix track. Marmaras went on to become South Melbourne's longest serving president as well as serving as the chairman and president of the Victorian Soccer Federation.

In their first year of competition in 1960, South Melbourne Hellas won the Victorian First Division North championship whilst dropping only one competition point in the process, scoring 79 goals and conceding only 11. In the first year, the club also reached the Semi Final of the Docherty Cup before going down to Hakoah 2-0. The club was not surprisingly promoted immediately to the Victorian State League First Division, finishing in fifth position in 1961.

South Melbourne Hellas 1960
Back Row: Antonis Hatzieleftheriou, Alekos Nanos, Savvas Salapasidis, Chris Picoulas, Antonis Karagiannis, John Bedford, Vekos Nevrous, Bill Kourkoulakos, John Hatzigeorgiou, Harry Vamvakis, Chris Georgoussis
Front Row: George Karpouzas, Stefanos Fortomanos, George Papadopoulos

The next year South took the State League Championship for the first time, under the coaching of Manny Poulakakis, who was brought over from Egypt.

In 1963, South Melbourne reached the final of the Ampol Cup (losing 1-0 to Polonia) but it had a poor season, finishing in 6th place despite signing Tommy Anderson from George Cross.

A further recruiting drive in 1964 yielded Ernie Ackerley (the former Manchester United apprentice), Jim Pyrgolios from Panathinaikos, Sam Service and Jim Adam. The new players started a run of three consecutive State League titles for South (1964, 1965 and 1966). Winger Leo Damianakos from Kalamata was added to the squad in 1965 after waiting a full year for his clearance.

South Melbourne Hellas 1964
Back Row: Harry Vamvakis, Bill Kourkoulakos, John Anderson, Andreas Roussis, Takis Xanthopoulos, Stratos Kalogeros, John Margaritis, Tommy Anderson, Takis Mantarakis
Front Row: Jim Pyrgolios, Mike Mandalis, Boulis Kambouropoulos, John Anderson, Jimmy Adam

Perhaps their most successful season in this period was 1966, when one of Greece's best ever players, Con Nestorides, joined South. 37 year old Nestorides' immediate impact upon joining the club was to double the crowds and secure the 1966 Victorian state league title.

South Melbourne Hellas 1966
Back Row: Stratos Kalogeros, Con Solopotias, John Anderson, Sam Service, John Margaritis, Andreas Roussis
Front Row: Stratos Adamtzikis, Ernie Ackerley, Jim Pyrgolios, Boulis Kambouropoulos, Leo Damianakos

In 1967 South underwent a slump, finishing fourth and losing the Ampol Cup final to Slavia.

Ten Greek players were then brought over but only three were up to standard. By the end of the season all had gone back to Greece. Lou Brocic guided the club to third spot that year. Under Brocic, South won the 1969 Ampol Cup, beating Croatia 2-1, with one of the goals coming from Frank Micic. South repeated the import experiment in 1969, bringing 5 more players over from Greece. Once again it failed and the players all returned home. The club finished in 7th spot on 21 points.

1970 - 1979

In 1970 South turned its recruiting resources locally and secured two of its all time greats, Steve Walker (from Lions for $3500) and Jim Armstrong (from Hakoah for $6000). The club also brought Ulysses Kokkinos back from Greece for $2000. However the club finished fifth, despite winning the Ampol Cup.

In 1971 South missed the title by one point, many people believing that the absence of Kokkinos (trying his luck in Greece again) cost them the championship.

Bill Curran took over the coaching in 1972 and promoted Giovanni Batticiotto (16) and Bill Hasapis (17) into the seniors, as well as recruiting Peter Bourne from English club Burnley. With Armstrong scoring goals galore, South kept pace with the front runner George Cross before overtaking them in the penultimate round. Despite dropping a point in the last round, South won the championship on goal difference.

In 1973 South and George Cross were again front runners but it was the mighty Footscray side who clinched the title. The barren period finally ended in 1974 when with Arthur Xanthopoulos by now established in the side, Bourne dominating in midfield and Armstrong still scoring freely, South took over as early leader and romped away with championship by four points. Armstrong was top scorer with 22 goals. South also won the Docherty Cup, beating Ringwood City 4-1, with goals coming from Marshall, Armstrong, Nick Nechvoglod and Bourne.

South retained the Dockerty Cup in 1975 by beating Sunshine City 2-1, the first goal coming from the best recruit of the season in Jimmy Mackay. However, South had to be content with 2nd place in both the Ampol Cup and the State League.

The club's final year in the Victorian State league, 1976, ended with another championship as well as another Ampol Cup. Peter Ollerton, signed for $9000 from Apia, scored a hat-trick in the final against Footscray, which South easily won 4-1. Ollerton's striking partner was Duncan Cummings, a $10,000 buy from Melbourne. The pair scored 18 goals between them as South romped away with the title by nine points. The club then waited for Mooroolbark to make the first move before joining Footscray and Fitzroy (Heidelberg) as Melbourne's participants in the newly formed nationwide Phillips National Soccer League.

South Melbourne Hellas 1976
Back Row: Manny Poulakakis (Coach), Arthur Xanthopoulos, Howard Andrews, John Kennedy, Peter Ollerton, Jimmy Armstrong, Jim Alexiou, Duncan Cummings, Kris Kalifatidis, Jimmy Mackay, Official
Front Row: Official, Margaritis Hagegmanoil, Peter Bourne, Steven Walker, Mike Pye, Giovanni Battaciotto, John Daperis, Official

Despite big expectations, South Melbourne had a very mixed start to the national league. They had discarded Armstrong, Walker, Bourne and Mackay, claiming they were too old for the new league. In that first year they finished 11th. They had recruited heavily but without that old backbone, they weren't the same team.

In 1978, coach Dave MacLaren embarked on another huge recruiting drive, signing John Hansen and Stuart Baxter from Sweden, Bertie Lutton and Bobby McGuiness from Sydney City, Sammy Wright from Wolves, George Campbell from Aberdeen and promoted George Christopoulos from the reserves. The club finished in a respectable third spot.

South Melbourne Hellas 1979
Back Row: Stuart Baxter, George Christopoulos, Alun Evans, Frank Munro, Sammy Wright, Bertie Lutton
Front Row: Mike Pye, Alan Davidson, John Hansen, George Campbell, Kenny Drakeford

A low point in South's twenty-one year national league experience was 1979. After a positive start to the season, the club had three competition points deducted after it was deemed that import player Tony Turner had not been properly registered with the club. Three coaches, along with high profile Socceroo player Jack Reilly, all left the club that year, which saw South finish last. The only high points of that year were the arrival of Alan Davidson and Steve Blair. They both proved to be revelations and at $1000 a piece, money well spent.

1980 - 1989

John Margaritis took over and he rebuilt the side with experienced players to lift the club back up to third spot. Socceroo Branko Buljevic and former Liverpool star Alun Evans led the scoring with 18 goals between them. The next year, Evans managed 14 on his own and the club climbed to finish second, behind Sydney City.

Striker Charlie Egan was signed from Frankston City in 1982 and he went on to score 20 goals but Margaritis was released after 4 consecutive losses. The controversial Tommy Docherty was lured from England to take charge for an eventful 5 months. The club finished 6th and Tommy was sent home. Former national coach Rale Rasic then took over and he rebuilt the side, signing Oscar Crino, Ken Murphy, Doug Brown, Bobby Russell and John Yzendoorn. The newcomers, along with Davidson, Blair and Egan were to bring the club great success but there were committee problems that overflowed onto the field. The team hadn't settled and the coach was sacked after 13 matches. New coach Len McKendry lifted the side to fourth.

In 1984, South secured first position on the final league ladder (Southern Division). However in this year, a restructure of the national league meant that for the first time, the minor premier were not champions. South had to win the finals series to be declared true champions of 1984. The club powered through the Southern Division finals series, defeating arch-rivals Heidelberg in the Southern Division Grand Final before a 15,000 crowd. South then won out over Sydney Olympic 2-1 in both legs of the 1984 National Grand Final to be crowned Australian champions.

South Melbourne Hellas 1986
Back Row: Arthur Xanthopoulos, Ange Postecoglou, Steve Blair, Garry McDowall, Peter Laumets, Bobby Russell, Charlie Egan, Richard Miranda
Front Row: George Mihos, Carl Halford, Ken Murphy, John Margaritis (Coach), Alan Davidson, John Kanesoulis, Doug Brown

In 1985 South again finished top of the Southern Division but were knocked out of the finals by Brunswick and Preston. 1986 didn't see any improvement and the club finished a dismal seventh in the Southern Division. Brian Garvey took over in 1987 and after an ordinary season, decided on a major overhaul of the team, bringing in youngsters such as Paul Trimboli, David Healy, Kimon Taliadoros, Harry Micheil and Paul Fernandes. The young team put on a memorable season to finish third but lost their two finals matches.

1990 - 2004

South Melbourne Hellas 1990/91
Back Row: Con Boutsianis, Mehmet Durakovic, Danny Wright, Paul Trimboli, Joe Palatsides, Kimon Taliadoros
Front Row: Jim Pyrgolios (Assistant Coach), Steve Tasios, David Healy, Ferenc Puskas (Coach), Ange Postecoglou (Captain), Peter Tsolakis, Michael Michalakopoulos

South finished all five seasons from their NSL Cup winning year of 1990, through until 1994, in the top three. In the midst of this extended halcyon period, a massive crowd of 23,318 gathered to watch probably the most enthralling national league Grand Final ever in May 1991. Here, South defeated Melbourne Knights on penalties after a 1-1 draw and two hours of intensive on-field action resulted in a quite pulsating national league season climax.

South Melbourne 1995/96
Back Row: George Kotses (Southern Motors sponsor), Frank Arok (coach), Mike Peterson, Danny Allsopp, Alex Kuzmanovic, Ivan Kelic, Mike Lilikakis, Con Blatsis, Dean Anastasiadis, Steve Mangos, Alexsander Duric, Ange Postecoglou, Peter Georgilopoulos (physiotherapist), George Vasillopoulos (president)
Front Row: Vaughan Coveny, Bill Damianos, Steve Panopoulos, Craig Lewis, Con Anthopoulos, Paul Trimboli (Captain), Sasa Nikolic, Michael Curcija, Agim Sherifovski, Tansel Baser, Nick Papadopoulos

A move to the Bob Jane Stadium and a nickname change in the mid 90s injected new life into the club. South were known as the Lakers and after the 'failure' - by South's high standards - of the early to mid 90s (five Preliminary Final defeats), South Melbourne were able to shrug the finals monkey off its back by winning the 1997/98 Ericsson Cup. South's supporters were hungry for another championship and the team delivered, defeating Carlton 2-1 in controversial circumstances. However nothing could be taken away from the team and coach Ange Postecoglou, as they were also worthy champions throughout the regular season.

The next season the question was, could South Melbourne win another championship and go back to back? The answer was yes. After unluckily finishing second (by one point) in the home and away season, South won through to the Grand Final and played Minor Premier Sydney United. South fell behind to a 13th minute goal but two goals from John Anastasiadis and one from captain Paul Trimboli saw South Melbourne claim its historic 4th championship.

South Melbourne celebrate inaugural Oceania Club Championship crown, defeating Nadi 5-1 in the final

And as Australian National Champions, South Melbourne was chosen to represent Australia at Oceania Club Championships that took place in September 1999 in Fiji. After an early scare, South Melbourne dominated the competition to set up a birth against Nadi in the final. In one of the most historic games that South Melbourne has taken part in, the team rose to the occasion, defeating Nadi 5-1. As Oceania Champions, South Melbourne had won the right to take part in the inaugural World Club Championships in Brazil in January of 2000 against Manchester United, Vasco De Gama and Necaxa. Although South lost all three of their games, the way they played won them respect from the fans of the other clubs and showed that Australian soccer could compete with the best.

Brazilian legend Romario and Paul Trimboli lead out their respective sides in the World Club Championship game between Vasco and South Melbourne

After the 1999/00 season, back to back Championship winning coach Ange Postecoglou left the club and became the Joeys and Under 20 National Team Head Coach. He was replaced by one of South Melbourne and Australia's talented midfield players in Michael Petersen. In his rookie season as coach, Petersen had a vast array of talent in his squad. Classy Simon Colosimo joined the squad, whilst Con Boutsianis, Michael Petkovic and Mehmet Durakovic returned to Bob Jane Stadium. Another solid and classy defender was found in Patrick Kisnorbo.

South Melbourne only lost three games in a wonderful season, which saw the club win the Minor Premiership by a whopping 8 points. Petersen's men went on to meet reigning Champions Wollongong Wolves in the Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium. Unfortunately the blue and whites narrowly lost the Final 2-1, with goalscoring hero John Anastasiadis netting the only goal for the club in the final game of his career.

Eddie Krncevic became the new coach of the Club after the departure of Mike Petersen. In a very interesting 2001/02 season, South introduced a youth policy, which saw many youngsters take centre stage. Ray Sekulovski and Massimo Murdocca proved be the new exciting products of South Melbourne. After an indifferent start to the season, South Melbourne found itself last at the halfway mark of the season and travelled to Perth having never won a game in the west. South Melbourne drew, as Con Boutsianis returned to the Club after a controversial stint in Auckland.

South never looked back after that, only losing one match in the second half of the season and made history by becoming the first Club to make the top six after being bottom at the halfway mark of the season. South also created more history by announcing their Team of the Century, as well as hosting the Round 5 Melbourne Derby at the Docklands.

In the Elimination finals series, South Melbourne easily accounted for Brisbane Strikers, but on a day where Paul Trimboli celebrated his 400th South Melbourne match, South succumbed to traditional interstate rivals Sydney Olympic in the Minor Semi Final, losing 2-1 at Marconi Stadium.

Krncevic was replaced by former player Danny Wright for the 2002/03 season, but the club failed to reach the finals by a point. Stuart Munro took over as coach for the 2003/04 season, with the club finishing fifth, eventually being eliminated by a penalty deep into extra time against Adelaide United, in what turned out to be South's final game in the NSL.

With the combined factors of the demise of the NSL and poor financial management, South Melbourne fell into voluntary administration and lost most of its squad. With Melbourne being allocated just one license for an Hyundai A-League team, which was widely expected to go to a new franchise, and with South in extreme financial difficulty, South chose not to lodge an application to join the new competition.

2005 - Current

Entering the Victorian Premier League in 2005 as South Melbourne Football Club, and with a new team under former player and new coach John Anastasiadis, the club reached the Preliminary Final of the VPL, going down to their old rivals Heidelberg United. The season was highlighted by fluctuating crowd attendances at home games but also by good performances by a young and talented side, which before the season had been a relegation favourite.

South Melbourne 2005
Back Row: John Gabrielson (Assistant Coach), James Stefanou, Arthur Tsonis, Con Dimitropoulos, Vaughan Coveny (Captain), Dean Anastasiadis (Vice Captain), Steve O'Dor, Jessie Krncevic, John Anastasiadis (Coach)
Middle Row:Arthur Tsirtsakis, Gianni De Nittis, Nic Curtis, Evan Karavitis, Sam De Vito, Sebastian Petrovich, Con Blatsis
Front Row: Steve Georgakakis, Ryan Dinse, Ramazan Tavsancioglu, George Tzirtis, Peter Koutsoupias, Bill Natisioulas, Scott MacNicol, Kostas Salapasidis

In 2006, South finished third on the table courtesy of a strong home record, including a record 7-0 thrashing of old foe Melbourne Knights. South eventually progressed to the final by defeating Green Gully and Altona Magic in successive weeks. In the final itself, once more against Altona Magic, a second half goal by Gianni De Nittis was enough to see South win the game 1-0, and win their eighth Victorian championship, their first in 30 years and first since returning to the competition in 2005.

In 2007, South Melbourne had a poor year, finishing in 7th spot and missing the finals.

International Representatives

South Melbourne FC is proud to be part of the development of Australian football over the last 50 years. South is blessed with the fact that so many talented and entertaining players have represented the club and provided many moments of joy for the supporters. Forty-eight South Melbourne players have represented the Socceroos in 'A' international fixtures. After seeing some of the names on the list, one would easily come to the conclusion that both the Socceroos and South Melbourne have been extremely fortunate to have had these wonderful players represent them.

South continues to be a part of helping the national team, by regularly hosting training sessions at the Bob Jane Stadium when the squad is in Melbourne to prepare for an Asian Cup or World Cup qualifier. The fact that the Socceroos players - many of whom are used to world class facilities at some of the world's biggest clubs - are satisfied with the facilities South Melbourne provides them, shows the respect that South has achieved in always supporting Australian football.

The 48 players who have represented both South Melbourne and the Socceroos are:

• John Anderson
• Ted Smith
• Frank Micic
• Jack Reilly
• Jimmy Mackay
• Branko Buljevic
• Jim Armstrong
• Peter Ollerton
• Mendo Ristovski
• Duncan Cummings
• Peter Laumets
• Kris Kalifatidis
• John Stevenson
• George Christopoulos
• John Yzendoorn
• Alan Davidson
• Steve Blair
• Billy Rogers
• Oscar Crino
• Charlie Egan
• Ken Murphy
• Ange Postecoglou
• Paul Wade
• Garry McDowall
• Mike Petersen
• Vlado Bozinovski
• Warren Spink
• Joe Palatsides
• Jason Polak
• Paul Trimboli
• Mehmet Durakovic
• Kimon Taliadoros
• Damian Mori
• Gary Hasler
• Francis Awaritefe
• Kevin Muscat
• Goran Lozanovski
• Fausto De Amicis
• Simon Colosimo
• Michael Curcija
• Con Blatsis
• Michael Petkovic
• Con Boutsianis
• Patrick Kisnorbo
• Dean Anastasiadis
• Kristian Sarkies
• Michael Valkanis
• Daniel Allsopp