South Melbourne FC travels to the Olympic Village on Saturday night to face traditional rivals Heidelberg United for a spot in the 2016 NPL Victoria Grand Final.
Aside from the fact that two rivals will be clashing in a do-or-die Semi Finals match, Saturday night’s derby is intriguing for a variety of reasons. The two sides can hardly be separated in 2016 – both finishing equal-second on the league standings – with Heidelberg taking second spot on goal difference. This gave the Bergers last weekend off and forced South to play a cut-throat Elimination Final against Hume City that Chris Taylor’s side comfortably won 3-0 at Lakeside Stadium.
There have been eleven goals scored between the sides in two league meetings in 2016. South smashed Heidelberg 6-0 at Lakeside Stadium in the opening round of the season, however George Katsakis’ men returned serve with a 5-0 thumping of South in the return game at the Olympic Village. The results gave both sides their highest ever winning and losing margins against their rivals in 83 league/finals meetings that stretches all the way back to 1964.
The two sides can’t be separated in finals meetings, having met in four previous finals matches for two wins apiece. In the VPL/NPL era, Heidelberg defeated South 1-0 at the Olympic Village in the 2005 Preliminary Final but South gained revenge six years later with a 1-0 win at SS Anderson Reserve in the 2011 Elimination Final.
Saturday night’s match at the Olympic Village kicks off at 6:30pm. The winning team will progress to play either the Bentleigh Greens or the Oakleigh Cannons in the Grand Final on Sunday 11 September.
SMFC v Heidelberg – Head to Head (League & Finals)
Matches Played: 83
Wins (SMFC): 41
Wins (HUFC): 23
Draws: 19
First match: South Melbourne 2-1 Heidelberg (30 March 1964, Middle Park)
Last match: Heidelberg 5-0 South Melbourne (29 May 2016, Olympic Village)
Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 6-0 (21 February 2016, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Winning Margin (HUFC): 5-0 (29 May 2016, Olympic Village)
Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 7 (7-3 win) – (2 April 1967, Middle Park)
Most Goals in a Match (HUFC): 5 (5-2/5-0 wins) – (3 July 1977/29 May 2016, Olympic Park/Village)
Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): 4-2 (21 October 1984, Olympic Park)
Biggest Finals Win (HUFC): 4-1 (18 October 1980, Olympic Park)
| VSL | Home | Away | Finals |
|
1964 |
2-1 | 3-1 | – |
|
1966 |
2-0 | 4-2 | – |
|
1967 |
7-3 | 1-1 | – |
|
1968 |
3-2 | 3-2 | – |
|
1970 |
1-0 | 2-1 | – |
|
1971 |
0-0 | 1-0 | – |
|
1972 |
0-0 | 1-0 | – |
|
1973 |
2-4 | 1-0 | – |
|
1974 |
4-0 | 0-1 | – |
|
1975 |
0-1 | 0-2 | – |
|
1976 |
2-1 | 2-1 | – |
| NSL | Home | Away | Finals |
|
1977 |
1-1 | 2-5 | – |
|
1978 |
1-1 | 1-4 | – |
|
1979 |
0-1 | 0-3 | – |
|
1980 |
0-0 | 2-1 | 1-4 |
|
1981 |
2-1 | 0-0 | – |
|
1982 |
0-1 | 0-2 | – |
|
1983 |
1-1 | 3-2 | – |
|
1984 |
2-0 2-0 |
2-0 | 4-2 |
|
1985 |
1-0 | 1-0 | – |
|
1986 |
0-1 | 2-3 | – |
|
1987 |
1-1 | 1-1 | – |
|
1989 |
4-1 | 1-1 | – |
|
90/91 |
2-1 | 2-2 | – |
|
91/92 |
5-0 | 3-1 | – |
|
92/93 |
1-2 | 2-0 | – |
|
93/94 |
4-0 | 3-2 | – |
|
94/95 |
4-1 | 3-1 | – |
| NPL | Home | Away | Finals |
|
2005 |
0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 |
|
2006 |
3-1 | 2-0 | – |
|
2007 |
3-3 | 0-3 | – |
|
2008 |
1-2 | 1-2 | – |
|
2009 |
0-1 | 0-1 | – |
|
2010 |
1-1 | 0-2 | – |
|
2011 |
0-0 | 2-2 | 1-0 |
|
2012 |
2-1 | 5-2 | – |
|
2014 |
3-0 | 3-0 | – |
|
2015 |
1-2 | 1-1 | – |
|
2016 |
6-0 | 0-5 | ? |
Heidelberg was not in the same division as SMFC in the following seasons: 1965, 1969 (State League); 1988, 1989/90, 1995/96 to 2003/04 (National League); 2013 (Premier League)