Friday, 5 April 2013 10:50 AM
South Melbourne FC is delighted to announce that Luke Byles has been appointed as Captain for the 2013 Victorian Premier League season. Byles replaces the recently retired Steven O’Dor, who held the captaincy from 2011. Head Coach Peter Tsolakis has elected to have three vice-captains, with Dimi Tsiaras, Fernando De Moraes and Tom Matthews all deputies under Byles.
Luke Byles arrived at Lakeside Stadium in late 2011 following a strong season at Heidelberg United that year. Prior to that he had played at Southampton ’s reserve side in the 2003/04 English Premier League season. The centre-half made 20 appearances for South Melbourne in all competitions in 2012 and impressed all with his strong aerial presence and hard tackling game. In addition, he has proven to be a real character in the locker room and was one of the people behind the recent SMFC Harlem Shake video that went viral online and recorded close to 220,000 views on YouTube.
Speaking to smfc.com.au, Tsolakis added that “Luke Byles was a natural choice for the captaincy role for his natural leadership qualities. I would like to congratulate Luke on his appointment as captain, and joins the list of famous players who have captained our great club such as Paul Trimboli and Ange Postecolglou”.
South Melbourne FC congratulates Luke Byles on his appointment as Captain and wishes him and his three deputies the best for the upcoming season. South’s first 2013 Victorian Premier League match is against Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday 6th April.