Author: George Kouroumalis

Photo by George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne FC is pleased to advise that Stephen Hatzikostas is the Club’s first mid-season transfer window signing.

Hatzikostas arrives at Lakeside Stadium from the Bentleigh Greens, where he has featured for a couple of seasons including playing in their 3-2 VPL Grand Final loss against Northcote City last season. He also had previous playing experience at the Melbourne Victory and the Oakleigh Cannons. Hatzikostas will provide more depth and grunt to South’s already hard-working midfield as the Club looks to consolidate its position at the top of the National Premier League Victoria ladder.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, SMFC Football Director Nicholas Maikousis said “we are delighted to welcome Stephen to our side and look forward to him showing his great skills on the park, which will further strengthen our midfield”.

South Melbourne FC welcomes Stephen Hatzikostas to the Club and wishes him the best for the rest of the season.

South Melbourne FC would like to announce the following people have won the World Cup Prize Pack courtesy of the club.

Emily Mclaughlan
Stathi Krikas
Leo Sideras
Renee Ballantyne
Kalebh Horrocks

Please contact George Kouroumalis on mutlimedia@smfc.com.au to redeem your prize.

Thank you for all those who participated.

By George Kouroumalis

It may have been a freezing Friday morning in Melbourne but it didn’t stop all those involved with our club sacrificing some sleep to pay the ultimate respect to the ANZACS at the Shrine of Remembrance.

Every senior listed player and member of the coaching staff was in attendance, as well as each member of the junior coaching staff, club media representatives and board members and volunteers.

The entire South contingent met on St Kilda Road at 4am, walking as one to the shrine for the 6am dawn service, where they were surrounded by thousands of Victorians, inclusive of many former men and women who had served for our nation, as well as many family members associated with such heroes.

Our Captain Michael Eagar is both an Australian and New Zealand resident, with the service giving him an understanding of the sacrifices that were made by troops of both nations to assist in paving the way on how we live life today.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, an emotional Eagar said “It was a wonderful experience to come to the shrine with the club and be involved in paying some respect to the brave men and women who lost their lives for our countries. Sometimes sport pales into insignificance when you sit back and realise the sacrifices that were made in order to ensure that the future generations (like ourselves) could live in a free society and essentially have the choices to do whatever we want.

It was great to see not only every member of the playing group, but all the senior and youth coaching staff, board members and club volunteers all as one and representing this great club”

Senior coach Chris Taylor also praised all club officials for all attending, stating that “it was fantastic to see all aspects of the club represented this morning at the service and that the entire club was committed to paying respect to these brave and selfless people.

At the start of the season we all made a commitment for one another, whether that was on the park as a playing group or off the field in continuing to drive the club forward.

When you hear about the commitment that the ANZACS made for one another and the stories of how many people did not come back to their family and friends, it really hits home that the commitment we have all made is quite minor compared to the ultimate sacrifice many made to make the world a better place”

We would like to thank everyone who represented the club with dignity this morning and would urge anyone who has not yet been to the service to do so in the future.

Lest we forget

South Melbourne FC is pleased to launch its new-look official website ahead of the kick-off of the National Premier League season tonight.

The new website has been given a modern and fresh feel and was designed and implemented by George Kouroumalis, the Club’s digital media and marketing specialist. We would also like to thank John Kyrou and Con Dimitrakakis for assisting with the content throughout the changeover and redevelopment.

The SMFC Media Team of Paul Zarogiannis, David Henning, Kyrou, Cindy Nitsos, Michael Dimoudis and Steven Orchard have also contributed by producing much of the content (SMFC TV, southRadio, statistics and photographs) that features heavily on the new website.

South Melbourne FC wishes to thank everyone involved in the upgrade (especially George Kouroumalis) and hopes that everyone enjoys the new official website.

Photo by George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne FC is delighted to advise its partnership with Kieser Training for the 2014 football season. Keiser Training will be the primary provider of medical services for the Club.

Kieser Training is a network of Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation, Strength and Conditioning centres focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for customers. Their programs provide long term solutions to musculoskeletal problems, as well as enhancing day to day performance and quality of life. Kieser Training has five centres located around Melbourne with a sixth centre to be opened in Geelong early in 2014.

As part of its partnership with South Melbourne FC, Kieser Training will be working with the club’s senior squad in three key areas:

Prevention – over the next few weeks, they will be screening of all senior squad players to identify those at risk of injury and to put into place programs to ensure they are available for all games. They will be using not only the Kieser Training technology but will also use a unique movement analysis technology from DorsaVi, which has recently been adopted by Manchester United.
Physiotherapy –providing physiotherapy services for the club both at training and on match days.
Performance – where players have a deficit in strength and conditioning they will have access to their world-class facilities in South Melbourne in order to improve their performance.

The partnership with Kieser Training will extend to all paid up SMFC members and players enabling access to their facilities at rates normally reserved for its existing members. Furthermore, Kieser Training will be spending time with the junior teams to help educate them on injury prevention, injury management as well as when and how to introduce strength and conditioning programs for junior athletes in a safe and professional environment.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, Managing Director Tony Smith said, “Kieser Training is delighted to be involved with the South Melbourne FC, arguably Australia’s most successful football club. In late 2012 we launched our Clubs and Communities Program in order to extend our services to select sporting clubs, schools and local community groups and the relationship with South Melbourne FC is the latest example of this program. South Melbourne FC joins the ranks of other leading clubs with which we have relationships including Melbourne Rebels, Melbourne University Cricket Club in the Premier League, Target Trek cycling team in the National Road Series as well as numerous other clubs. With Teniele Holmes as Medical Services Co-ordinator and James Cole as Senior Physiotherapist we are looking forward to helping the club achieve great results in 2014”.

SMFC Football Director Nicholas Maikousis said to smfc.com.au, “we are very excited to be announcing our partnership with Kieser Training, as they will be working closely with our playing squad to provide an extensive range of services which will assist with injury prevention and recovery, as well as training and match day requirements. The level of medical attention and servicing will be second to none, and will provide the players with a great advantage”.

For all media enquiries, please contact SMFC General Manager Peter Kokotis on (03) 9645 9797.

By John Kyrou (Photo by George Kouroumalis)

South Melbourne FC is pleased to confirm the signing of Milos Lujic ahead of the 2014 season. The centre-forward arrives from Northcote City in what has been a straight swap between the clubs, following Trent Rixon’s return to Northcote after two years with South Melbourne.

Lujic arrives at Lakeside Stadium following an outstanding 2013 season that saw him score 21 goals in the Victorian Premier League, including a goal in the 3-2 extra time win over Bentleigh Greens in the Grand Final. He scored 18 goals in the regular season, including scoring a double in six different matches. He then went on and scored another three goals in the finals series, two of which came against South in Northcote’s 5-0 demolition job at SS Anderson Reserve on Sunday 13 October. Along with Michael Eagar, Lujic was a vital part of Northcote’s success in 2013 and South coach Chris Taylor will be delighted to have secured both players for the 2014 season.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, Football Director Nicholas Maikousis said “we are quite excited with the addition of Milos to the squad. Milos is someone who we have admired and followed his progress for a while now. He had an extraordinary season at Northcote City where he played a leading role in their championship season, and will further strengthen our attacking options”.

South Melbourne FC welcomes Milos Lujic to the Club and wishes him the very best for the new season.

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne FC is excited to announce that Graham Hockless has joined the club for the 2014 season, with the club appointing him as Assistant Coach.

Graham will replace last year’s assistant Rob Graskoski who has taken a position at Selangor FC along side Mehmet Durakovic.

Initially from Hull in England, many South fans will know Hockless for his stellar Victorian Premier League career over the past decade. In spells for Richmond, Heidelberg, Green Gully and Port Melbourne he was regarded as the premier midfielder in the competition and captured the 2008 Gold Medal award for the best player in the Victorian Premier League.

He also played a leading role in Green Gully capturing back-to-back Victorian Premier League Championships in 2010 and 2011, while he also won the Jimmy Rooney Medal in the 2010 final for the man of the match.

Known as a leader on the park, Hockless will link up with Chris Taylor and provide South with a different dimension to their coaching ranks, with the freshly retired 31 year old’s knowledge of the local game being one of his strong points.

We wish Graham all the best for the 2014 season and hope that he can combine with head coach Chris Taylor to give the club a successful season on the park.

Friday, 26 July 2013 1:56 PM

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne FC take on Dandenong Thunder this Sunday in what is expected to be an intriguing affair between both sides sitting just outside of the top five.

Both sides are coming off relatively unconvincing wins in the FFV State Knockout Cup midweek, with a very sluggish South coming from two goals down to defeat Preston 4-2 at Lakeside Stadium, while Dandenong were also tested by lower opposition, winning their fixture on penalties against Werribee.

South will go into the match without suspended pair Peter Gavalas and former Dandenong midfielder Iqi Jawadi, both of whom were sent off in last Sunday’s defeat at home to Bentleigh. However in more positive news South will have new signings Luke Hopper, Jonathan Munoz and Christian Maynard available, with the latter certain to replace the suspended Gavlas in goals.

South is also expected to have Shaun Kelly return from a hamstring injury, joining Brad Norton and former Dandenong duo Bryan Bran and Tim Mala in a formidable back four.

In the only meeting between the club’s this season, South Melbourne were soundly defeated at George Andrews Reserve by 3 goals to nil, with new South signing Luke Hopper finding the back of the net for Dandenong.

Kick-off at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday July 28th is at 3pm.

Last time we met

Friday, 26 July 2013 11:30 AM

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne FC has made a remarkable comeback to avoid embarrassment against Preston in the FFV State Knockout Cup on Tuesday Night.

South were without all of its recent signings due to them being cup tied, as well as Alan Kearney, who had to serve a one match suspension after being sent off in the last round of the Cup against Northcote City.

Despite dominating the play, the only meaningful chance of the half came when Preston caught the South napping, with Sanni Dauda scoring a speculative shot from range.

Preston was reduced to ten men three minutes before halftime after Michael Santoro was handed a second yellow card for a quickly taken free kick without the referee having blown his whistle.

Preston doubled it’s advantage early in the second half, when horrendous marking from the corner allowed for Dauda to bury a volley from inside the six yard box.

With South staring down elimination and the home crowd getting quite boisterous, Rhys Meredith latched onto a wonderful cross by Fernando De Moraes to pull a goal back for the home side.

South continued to pile on the pressure and were rewarded in the 81st minute when Meredith and Andy Vlahos combined to cause mayhem in the Preston defence, forcing Igorce Kolevski to turn the ball into his own net.

South were now dominant and moments later a super free kick by Fernando De Moraes found it’s way through everyone, slamming into the back of the net and sending the small but vocal crowd into delirium.

Fernando then topped off a man of the match performance by scoring a second of the night just before full time.

South now face Green Gully in the Semi Final of the State Knockout Cup, with the fixture likely to be on either August 20 or 21.