Wednesday, 24 June 2009 10:19 AM
In what will be an exciting day for South Melbourne FC, the club is hosting the inaugural “Foundation Round” on Sunday against Whittlesea Zebras at Bob Jane Stadium.
The day will focus on celebrating the foundation and formulation of South Melbourne FC in 1959, following the merger of three clubs: Hellenic, Yarra Park and South Melbourne United.
In 1960, South played it’s first official game as a club, where as part of the merger agreement, their home shirt was the famous Red V with a white background that was made well-known by South Melbourne United in previous years.
The shirt would be South Melbourne Hellas’ first official home shirt as a club and would be worn by some great players throughout the highly successful 1960’s. Between 1959 and 1976, South Melbourne stamped its name on Victorian football by capturing 8 state league Championships in 1960 (First Division), 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1974 and 1976 and three Ampol Cups in 1969, 1970 and 1976. The club was also Dockerty Cup Champions in 1974 and 1975.
On top of the team success, South also had numerous club legends that played throughout this 1960’s period in the famous red and white shirt. This included the likes of Ernie Ackerley, Jimmy Adam (deceased), John Bedford, Antonis Hatzieleftheriou, Jordan Ieremiadis (deceased), Boulis Kambouropoulos (deceased), Antonis Karagiannis, Michael Mandalis, Takis Mantarakis, John Margaritis, Con Nestorides, George Papadopoulos, Jim Pyrgolios and SMFC’s first Socceroo, Ted Smith.
In what will be a tribute to the birth of the club and the memories of such legends, South will wear a special limited edition Red V shirt for the home game against Whittlesea on Sunday in a crucial contest for both teams.
The game kicks off at 4pm, with festivities including post match interviews with players in the social club after the game.
To view a full detailed history about the formation of SMFC, please click here.