To the entire SMFC Family,

There is nothing better than celebrating a win at home in the original Melbourne Derby, especially at such a crucial time in the season and doing it in style putting five goals past the Melbourne Knights. It is an historic rivalry built over decades of passionate competitive and aspirational football played at the highest level in Australia. There are so many in the South Melbourne family who spent cold and wet afternoons at Middle Park, Olympic Park and Bob Jane Stadium enjoying the atmosphere, dedication and commitment we once again experienced this weekend.

Inspired by the achievements and experiences of football on the national stage over the years, South Melbourne FC now stands ready to present itself as the most suitable entity to secure the next Hyundai A-League Licence.

As an existing operating club with ready-to-use facilities we are confident in our position to showcase South Melbourne to the Australian and international football community.

To share this opportunity, I would like to invite all of our members and season pass holders to an A-League Bid Information Night to be held at 6:30pm on Thursday 26th July at the 1959 Bar & Grill at Lakeside Stadium.

I am proud to continue leading the A-League Bid Team through this period and as many of the team as possible will attend the Information Night to share their experience and engage directly with you to answer questions. We are excited the FFA has acknowledged the status and capability of the club together with its potential to once again compete on the national stage. It is this excitement we want to share with you in a little more detail.

We will have on display extracts from the initial bid documentation to demonstrate the level of detail we went to in preparing our business case.

Members of the bid team and I will make presentations and outline key elements of what we have already provided to the FFA and what is required of us in the next step.

We acknowledge there may be some elements of the bid which are legally sensitive and/or commercial-in-confidence which we are unable to share, however it is our aim to be as open and transparent as possible. The club is well positioned to put its best foot forward and secure one of the two Hyundai A-League Licences available seeing South Melbourne FC making a return to the national tier of Australian Football.

The 1959 Bar & Grill will be open throughout the evening with a $20 buffet dinner and half price drinks. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the evening.

Bill Papastergiadis

Chairman – South Melbourne FC & South Melbourne FC A-League Bid Team

A-League Bid Information Night

6:30pm on Thursday 26th July

1959 Bar & Grill at Lakeside Stadium

South juniors secure the Caruana Cup

The 23rd Caruana Cup Gala Day was held on Saturday 7 July with South Melbourne FC fielding an Under 11 girls team. Hosted by East Bentleigh Soccer Club, the Cup offers one of the first opportunities for junior girls to experience competitive football.

Coach John Sugunananthan spoke to smfc.com.au saying “I am really proud of the girls for showcasing their football talent, playing attacking entertaining football and taking risks. The key theme of the tournament for the girls was to have the courage to take on players in 1v1 duels with this approach starting from the goal keeper. At training we focused on their individual skills especially their 1v1s and this was reinforced during the games. The girls football heroes such as (SMFC’s own) Lisa De Vanna, Sam Kerr, Messi and Ronaldo are stars in the girls eyes as they can run at players and take them often leading to goals. We want our girls to play like their heroes. For this age (12 and under) at training we focus on their football foundations such as first touch and 1v1.

This tournament provided an opportunity for the girls to play competitive football. It was a joy to see their smiles especially when they beat a player in a 1v1 and then go onto score a goal. One of the most memorable moment for me was a player (Lulu) telling me “I love doing 1v1s”, we as coaches of juniors must encourage this skill, the players love doing it. I never ask these girls to pass the balls. Just look at the world cup, the best have fantastic individual skills especially their 1v1 ability.

“The tournament was very well run. The parents were all great supporting and cheering on the efforts of all the girls from all the teams. I want to recognise the efforts of our Team Manager for the tournament Georgia Denisenko who was fantastic organising us for the tournament and Michelle Anthony who helped the girls manage their own rotations – we empower the girls to decide who starts, where they play/who they sub with, they need to play in different lines (back, mids, forward) during the game and even playing time to maximise their development, we also rotate our goal keeper.”

Tournament Results

Round 1: South Melbourne FC def Hampton Junior Soccer Club 6:0

Round 2: South Melbourne FC BYE

Round 3: South Melbourne FC def Berwick City 9:2

Semi-Final : South Melbourne FC def East Bentleigh SC 4:0

Grand Final : South Melbourne FC def Westside Strikers FC 3:1

Bentleigh Greens v SMFC – Kingston Heath Soccer Complex – Friday 13 July 2018 at 8:15pm

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights

2018 (R07): SMFC 1-1 Bentleigh Greens (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (SF): SMFC 2-2 Bentleigh Greens (Lakeside Stadium) *Bentleigh win 5-3 on penalties
2017 (R25): SMFC 2-0 Bentleigh Greens (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R12): Bentleigh Greens 0-0 SMFC (Kingston Heath)
2016 (R20): Bentleigh Greens 3-1 SMFC (Kingston Heath)

Overall Head to Head (League & Finals):
Played: 21
SMFC Wins: 8
Bentleigh Greens Wins: 8
Draws: 5

SMFC v Box Hill United – Lakeside Stadium – Saturday 14 July 2018 at 4:15pm

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights
2018 (R11): SMFC 2-1 Box Hill United (Lakeside Stadium)
2018 (R02): Box Hill United 2-3 SMFC (Wembley Park)
2017 (R19): Box Hill United 1-2 SMFC (Wembley Park)
2017 (R10): SMFC 1-1 Box Hill United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R01): Box Hill United 3-0 SMFC (Wembley Park)

Overall Head to Head (since 2011):
Played: 15
SMFC Wins: 9
Box Hill United wins: 5
Draws: 1