Last Friday night saw South Melbourne FC hold one of its annual fundraising events, with the 2015 Jersey Presentation Night taking place at Principal Partner Beachcomber Cafe in St Kilda. The Jersey Night sees Corporate Partners, members, players and coaching staff gather to enjoy an informal evening together and over 200 guests were in attendance.
The host for the evening was Fox Sports Football’s Tara Rushton, who welcomed the guests to the event and opened the evening by acknowledging the support from the Club’s Corporate Partners, including Major Sponsor Plastamasta / Knauf.
South Melbourne FC President Leo Athanasakis welcomed the guests and thanked the Principal Partners for their continued support. Mr Athanasakis then presented Tara Rushton with a South Melbourne FC membership, making her an honorary member of the Club in 2015.
Under 20s coach Sasa Kolman was then invited to the stage to give a brief summary of the Under 20s so far in 2015. Mr Kolman then introduced the Under 20s players onto the stage as the up-and-coming youngsters were properly acknowledged by the South Melbourne family.
Following the dinner break, Tara Rushton invited Tom Kalas to chair a panel discussion involving Kimon Taliadoros (former SMFC player and currently with Football Federation Victoria), Mal Impiombato (General Manager of the Westfield FFA Cup and PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues), Santo Cilauro (entertainer) and current SMFC Head Coach Chris Taylor. The discussion covered the issue of promotion/relegation in the A-League as well as the current performance of the Socceroos under SMFC legend Ange Postecoglou and the importance of the Westfield FFA Cup and the NPL competitions Australia-wide.
The Honourable Martin Foley MP was then invited to address the guests and outlined that a deadline had been set for the end of April to provide a resolution to the ongoing social club issue. Mr Foley also went on to explain how proud he was that he was the Club’s number one ticket holder for an eighth consecutive year.
The annual Player Auctions then commenced, with auctioneer George Metax from Barry Plant Preston taking over the microphone and securing the highest bids from Corporate Partners for each player in the Senior squad.
Nearly 400 raffle tickets were also sold throughout the night, with the lucky winners receiving the following prizes:
1st Prize – $1000 Bob Jane T-Marts gift card – Jimmy Lambropoulos
2nd Prize – BenQ Portable Electrostatic Speaker worth $400 – Nick Katsis
3rd Prize – e.l.f. Cosmetics pack worth $200 – Bill Papastergiadis
4th Prize – Signed 2015 SMFC playing shirt – John Piccione
South Melbourne FC would particularly like to thank Steve and Jim Paraskevas, as well as Michael Dean from Beachcomber Cafe for their tremendous support and warm hospitality in assisting the Club to hold another successful event at their wonderful venue.
Furthermore, South Melbourne FC would like to thank its Corporate Partners who contributed to the fundraising activities on the night as well as all the guests in attendance.
The successful Corporate Partners in the Player Auction are listed below:
01. Nikola Roganovic – Blue Thunder Security
02. Tim Mala – K&A Accountants
03. Kristian Konstantinidis – MW Lomax
04. Michael Eagar (C) – Veale Partners
05. Luke Adams – Sports Camps Australia
06. Bonel Obradovic – GPZ Legal
07. Nick Epifano – Mirabella Lighting
08. Mathew Theodore – Blue Thunder Security
09. Milos Lujic – Moray and Agnew Lawyers
10. David Stirton – Tom Kalas
11. Brad Norton (VC) – Advantage Pharmacy / e.l.f. Cosmetics
12. Iqi Jawadi – Plastamasta / Knauf
13. Dane Milovanovic – MW Lomax
15. Cody Martindale – AIS Insurance
17. Andy Brennan – Clean Energy Australia
21. Jake Barker-Daish – K&A Accountants
23. Andy Kecojevic – K&A Accountants
27. Leigh Minopoulos – Configuration Management Services
77. Stephen Hatzikostas – Victoria Fruit Palace
Coach. Chris Taylor – Moray and Agnew Lawyers