Day: February 23, 2009

Monday, 23 February 2009 11:21 PM

By James Belias

South Melbourne FC kicked-off its 50th Anniversary celebrations in great style on Saturday night, as the club officially launched season 2009 with a star studded invitation dinner.

The luxurious event held beneath the stars on the Albert Park club’s lakeside stadium pitch attracted local dignitaries, media personalities and past greats of South Melbourne FC including multiple Championship winning captain and coach Ange Postecoglou, the inspirational Jimmy Armstrong, the legendary Jim Pyrgolios and former President George Donikian.

Upon arrival, guests were escorted onto the hallowed turf of Bob Jane Stadium to enjoy champagne and canapés prior to the commencement of proceedings.

Guests mingled and shook hands with former South Melbourne FC players such as Takis Mandarakis, Jim Pyrgolios, Jimmy Armstrong, Dean Anastasidis, Ange Postecoglou, George Papadopolos, Peter Tsolakis, Manny Anezakis, Giovanni Batticiotto, Marko Fode, Frank Micic, Con Mandalis, Chris Kalafatidies and Ulysses Kokkinos amongst others.

Board member and the evening’s MC George Triantos gave a rousing speech, welcoming guests and naming each of the former players in attendance, who each received warm and generous applause.

Club President Leo Athanasakis also welcomed the 300 strong crowd and invited everyone to be a part of what will undoubtedly be a historic year for the Australian soccer giants.

Senior coach Michael Michalakopoulos then paid tribute to the senior squad who barely hours earlier had been crowned 2009 Hellenic Cup Champions after defeating Heidelberg United 3-0 in the final. Michalakopoulos told eager listeners that the club is aiming only for the 2009 Victorian Premier League championship to celebrate the club’s 50th year.

Ramazan Tavsancioglu was announced as the 2009 club captain with returning great Vaughan Coveny and defender Steven O’Dor honoured with vice captaincy roles. Fan favourite ‘Rama’, as he is affectionately known, also spoke of the player’s focus and desire for success in 2009.

The three captains then removed their jackets, to reveal South Melbourne FC’s three strips for the 2009 season, much to the delight of the crowd on hand.

Three stunning heritage strips were unveiled, with the first two (by apparel sponsor Errea) representing two of the clubs foundation clubs which merged to form South Melbourne FC in 1959.

A striped blue and white shirt paying tribute to Hellenic was an immediate hit with the crowd, as was the more familiar white with red ‘v’ South Melbourne United. These two strips will only be worn for the first two matches of the season, against Dandenong Thunder (this Sunday) and in round two against Heidelberg.

The long awaited main playing strip by 2009 apparel sponsor adidas, which will be South Melbourne’s 2009 shirt for the remainder of the season, was then unveiled with unanimous approval judging by the applause from the crowd.

South 2009 shirt sponsor was also announced, with MiRoamer, a company making massive in-roads in Europe with their internet radio technology, renewing their major sponsorship. Antenna Pacific, Coffex Coffee, Kinisi Live, and OBC Interiors who are sponsoring the back of the playing shirt, were also announced as sponsors.

Long-time South Melbourne fan and multimedia developer Paul Zarogiannis compiled a 13 minute tribute video which saw emotions running high after it was screened to the appreciative guests. The video which features photos and videos from South 50 year history is absolutely incredible and a “must-see” for all South Melbourne FC fans, young and old.

The night concluded with player auctions, a silent auction and a raffle – all of which raised a considerable amount for South Melbourne FC. Another highlight was the impromptu speech by former President, Channel 10 news reader and media celebrity George Donikian who amused all with the story of his recent prime-time pro-South ‘propoganda’ on Triple M!

As the present players celebrated their Hellenic Cup triumph and guests mingled with the former greats, one could not help being captured by the atmosphere and the feeling that something great is brewing for South Melbourne FC in 2009, the club’s 50th year.

All football lovers are encouraged to join the club as members in 2009.

 To view all images from this event, please click here

Monday, 23 February 2009 10:44 AM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC completed 2009 pre-season preparations in the best possible way by defeating rivals Heidelberg United 3-0 in the final of the Hellenic Cup on Saturday afternoon.

Heidelberg had enjoyed a rare period of domination over South in recent years, taking four points off the blues in the 2007 season and then defeating South in both home & away matches in 2008. The Bergers went into the match as reigning Hellenic Cup champions and having beaten Lalor Florina in the North/West semi final. South went into the match on the back of a thrilling 3-2 win over the Oakleigh Cannons in the South/East semi final, with a Vaughan Coveny goal in the last minute of extra time winning the tie for the lakeside club.

Heidelberg began the match the stronger of the two sides, winning several corners but failing to make any use of their dominance. Their best chance came from a low shot from the right that beat South goalkeeper Tomi Tommich at his near post, but luckily the ball hit the side netting and stayed out. Despite starting slowly and nervously, South eventually got into the game and created several opportunities of their own. Gianni De Nittis went close, forcing a good save from Heidelberg’s goalkeeper after a lovely cut-back ball from Goran Zoric.

Vaughan Coveny, who will complete a personal milestone of 100 South Melbourne goals if he can score just three goals in the upcoming season, showed his class before halftime when his shot put South into the lead. The ball fell to his feet at the edge of the area and the big Kiwi hit a lovely shot with his left foot, with the ball flying across the face of the Heidelberg goal and into the bottom corner of the far post. The goal was almost identical to the effort that Coveny scored in the previous week against Oakleigh.

From there, South completely dominated the match and should have been 2-0 up before the break, however a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping kept the score at just 1-0. That changed shortly after the re-start, when a Bergers foray forward was stopped by South, who quickly surged forward in a counter-attack. An excellent ball played over the Bergers defence found Zoric on the left hand side. With an acre of space to run into, Zoric charged towards goal, dummied the keeper then passed the ball across to the incoming De Nittis, who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the empty net.

With this 2-0 lead, South did not want to make the mistake of slacking off like the previous week, when Oakleigh scored two quick goals to get back into the contest. Fernando De Moraes made sure that would not happen against the Bergers, whilst living up to the saying “saving the best for last” with a goal of high class that killed the game off. Zoric found himself one-on-one with the keeper but his effort was spoiled. The ball fell to De Moraes outside of the penalty area. The Futsalroo had the composure and the time to stop, assess where to place his shot, then hit a beautiful curling effort which sailed into the top far right corner of the net, leaving the Bergers keeper completely rooted to the spot.

Despite the match being over as a contest, South were keen on keeping a clean sheet. Coach Michael Michalakopoulos substituted Tommich for youngster Andrew Sfetkopoulos, giving the ex-Altona Phoenix player time in between the sticks. Heidelberg’s only serious chance was a shot that hit the post but apart from that the Bergers were reduced to long-range shooting that was comfortably handled by the South defence.

Zoric was named as player of the match, and captain Rama Tavsancioglu spoke of the trophy “hopefully not being the only trophy that we will win this season.” The Hellenic Cup triumph was South’s third, after beating Yarraville Glory 2-0 in 1984 and Oakleigh 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time in 2007.

South’s first match is against newly promoted Dandenong Thunder at Bob Jane Stadium on Sunday 1st March, kick-off at 6pm. Supporters are strongly encouraged to come out in force to make sure that the team gets its 50th year underway in style.

Click here to view the Hellenic Cup Photo Gallery