Author: Skip Fulton

South Melbourne FC would like to congratulate and farewell defender Chelsea Blissett, who has secured a full scholarship at the Future Matildas program in Sydney.

Chelsea started playing football at the age of seven in Albury Wodonga where she grew up. She played in the local leagues against boys and had the opportunity to represent the Country NSW team at the National Football Championships on multiple occasions. To progress her football career she made the move to Sydney for an eighteen month period playing with Blacktown Spartans and Marconi Stallions.

In mid-2017 South’s then Under 18s coach Daniel Foden reached out to Chelsea to see if coming to Melbourne and playing at South was something she was interested in. With her family and home town of Albury being closer to Melbourne than Sydney, Blissett reflects back on it being the perfect opportunity and one of the best decisions she’s ever made.

Chelsea’s move to Melbourne was one of those fairytale scenarios and one she considered a big gamble as well. She relocated to Melbourne without a lot of plans in place, she had a football club at South Melbourne but no school and not much else. Blissett was thrown straight into the action at the club, lining up for the Under 18s team on Lakeside Stadium for her first time wearing the royal blue assisting in a 3-2 win over Calder United. A week later, she returned to Lakeside playing in the Under 18s before backing it up immediately after to come off the bench in the 81st minute to make her Senior debut.

Blissett finished off Year 11 living in Point Cook and with the full support of the club she obtained a scholarship to Firbank Grammar for the final year of her schooling. That year in 2018 would be a whirlwind adventure as she was signed to the Senior squad and would play a full season in the top tier of Victorian football. The training and match exposure throughout the year would see her alongside current and former Matildas including Lisa De Vanna and Ella Mastrantonio and experienced W-League players such as Tiffany Eliadis and Alex Gummer.

The tenacity and determination was on show by Blissett and the squad went on an undefeated run of seventeen matches to claw their way back to the top of the League table and secure the Premiership with a win in the last round of the season. Whilst a Grand Final loss at AAMI Park was a bitter pill to swallow, it wouldn’t be long before Blissett was back on the turf at the big stage. Her performances throughout the year had caught the eyes of Melbourne City and her efforts rewarded with a contract for their 2018-2019 season. She made six appearances for City during the season, four of them starting, including her debut in Round 1 against Canberra United.

Blissett was a regular feature at SMFC during the off-season, supporting the young girls throughout their spring training program. She regularly attended and participated in training seasons and handed out jerseys at presentation night to welcome newcomers to the club. By February she was back in training at Albert Park ready for Round 1 against Southern United, where she scored her first goal of the 2019 campaign in a solid win for the team.

Mixed results would be recorded in the first few rounds of this season. Blissett missed the match against the Senior NTC as she had been flown to Sydney to meet with the technical and coaching staff at Football Federation Australia and talk about the Young Matildas, the opportunities offered as a part of that team and their upcoming journey to qualify for the 2019 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship in Thailand.

A footballer’s journey is never static so the time has come for Blissett to pack the bags and make the move yet again, this time however it’s back to somewhat familiar surroundings in Sydney. Chelsea has reached another height in her young career, having been offered a full scholarship as part of the Young Matildas program. Living in Sydney, the program will represent a full-time professional football environment training twice a day.

Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw against Alamein FC therefore was an emotional occasion and represented the last time Blissett would represent SMFC for now. Today (Saturday) she is flying back to Sydney for a Young Matildas training session and an overnight stay before returning to Melbourne to pack up for good. A road trip home to Albury to see family and then to round out the week it’s a drive on to Sydney to embark on the latest episode in the footballing career of Chelsea Blissett.

The club is proud to have played a role in helping develop, guide and mentor Chelsea both on and off the field. We wish her the best for the next stage in her footballing life and we know we will see her back at Lakeside in some capacity in the future as she will always be a part of the SMFC family.

Senior Women return to winning form

South Melbourne FC’s senior women returned to winning form with a significant victory over FC Bulleen Lions on Monday evening.

A sizeable crowd ventured to the Veneto Club in what was a replay of the NPLW Victoria 2018 Grand Final. Looking to reverse the result not just of that fixture but also the previous weekend’s loss to Calder United, the girls went into the match with a renewed focus on team structure.

Coach Mick Gallo made a number of changes to the squad including Natalie Martineau being an omission due to injury and new club signing Adriana Jones making her debut.

The match itself was very evenly poised between the squads with both teams having opportunities to score. Goalkeeper and Player of the Week Erin Hudson came up with some amazing saves to prevent Bulleen from going ahead. It took until the last fifteen minutes for the game to really open up. As both teams moved more fluidly on the counter attack, space opened up and South was the one to capaitalise.

Breaking through the midfield, Sofia Sakalis slid the ball through the back four to allow Kelsey Minton to make a run down the right flank and deep into the area. Drawing the two defenders, she cut the ball back to Sarah Richardson, who with a sly side-foot centred the ball back to Sakalis. Finishing what she started, Sofia’s left foot buried the ball into the back of the net to give South a 1-0 lead in the 82nd minute.

That score would remain as South recorded a second win of the season, positioning themselves in third place on the NPLW ladder.

The team travels to the Knox Regional Football Centre on Sunday to face the Senior NTC. This fixture marks the start of a very busy seven days for the team, which will feature three matches. After the Senior NTC they are back at Knox on Wednesday night to play Alamein and then travel to Stead Park next Saturday to take on Geelong Galaxy United.

FINAL SCORE: BULLEEN LIONS 0-1 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-0)

Goal:
0-1: Sofia Sakalis (82′)

Bulleen Lions:
1. E Shields (GK), 2. T Sernio (9. L Privitelli 74′), 6. C Friend, 7. C Ferreyra Bas (16. K Zafiridis 86′), 8. A Natoli, 11. M Camilleri, 14. K Hall, 17. F Iermano, 18. S Cain, 20. K Morrison, 22. E Dolzan
Unused Substitutes: 12. L Iaconis, 13. H Richardson, 24. K Fotopoulos
Yellow Cards: Nil

South Melbourne:
1. Erin Hudson (GK), 5. Aimee Medwin, 6. Cindy Lay (2. Leah Scroggie 89′), 7. Chelsea Blisset, 8. Sofia Sakalis, 9. Kelsey Minton (4. Emily Rayment 95′), 10. Adriana Jones (38. Giulia Mazzeo 69′), 11. Jamie Pollock, 17. Alex Gummer, 30. Leia Varley, 24. Skye Jensen (3. Sarah Richardson 59′)
Unused Substitutes: 18. Kelsey Quinn.
Yellow Cards: Nil

Striker Kelsey Minton aims to lift silverware and score goals at Lakeside Stadium as she joins our Premiership Senior Women’s team.

Kelsey has played senior football in Victoria since an early age. She started in the Women’s State League with Casey Comets before making the move to Berwick City where she played alongside recent signing, Goalkeeper Erin Hudson.

At Berwick City, Minton had a break out year in 2015 scoring 22 goals and securing the State League 2 South-East Golden Boot helping earn the team promotion to the top level of Victorian football. The following year Kelsey once again appeared at Medal Night when she shared the State League 1 Golden Boot having scored 17 goals.

Minton joined the NPLW from 2017 onwards starting with Alamein FC where she has spent two years.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, Women’s Football Director Gabrielle Giuliano said “Kelsey is a dynamic and aggressive forward and she will give coach Angelo Koutos many options in the attacking third. I am looking forward to watching her settle in and make the most of the fast quality surface we have at Lakeside Stadium.”

Kelsey joined the squad this week as a part of pre-season training at Albert Park under coach Angelo Koutos.

South announces Nejc Kolman as Under 20s coach

South Melbourne FC would like to announce the appointment of Nejc Kolman as the Coach of our Under 20 Men’s team for the 2019 NPL Season.

Nejc started his footballing life at the age of six in the town of Tolmin, Slovenia. At the age of twelve he went to play in the first division juniors at ND Gorica where he won the league in the U16s and U18s. It was during his time at Gorica his talents were noticed and he received a call up to the Slovenian national youth team representing his country on 14 occasions, scoring once and participating in qualifiers for the European Championship.

At the age of eighteen, Kolman signed his first professional contract playing in the Slovenian First Football League. He first played for Nafta Lendava FC and then in his second year he transferred Primorje FC.

At twenty Kolman moved from Slovenia to Spain where he linked up with Racing Club de Ferrol and then Sociedad Deportiva Compostela. Kolman experienced success at SD Compostela winning two championships including a promotion to the Segunda División B.

Nejc spent a short six month stint in Bulgaria before returning to his native Slovenia for a season in the country’s top league with NK Celje and Tolmin. It was after this time he made the decision to travel to Australia.

Kolman trialed with the Senior squad during the 2015 pre-season playing a number of friendlies however some injuries contributed him not being offered a position. He was picked up by Heidelberg United for the season helping them in finish third in the league and then transferred across to the Moreland Zebras for 2016 and 2017 before hanging up the boots. In his three years in the NPL Victoria, Nejc played 76 matches scoring 13 goals.

In 2018 Kolman turned his hand to coaching, joining South Melbourne FC for his first stint in the technical area. He was responsible for the Under 14 boy’s team and the Under 20s Men’s team. The Under 14s finished in 4th place and also traveled to the USA to participate in the Iber Cup. The Under 20s finished second in the league, six players had game time with the seniors and four made their senior debut for the club.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, Director of Youth Football Andrew Mesourouni saying “Nejc introduced a youthful, positive and engaging coaching style to the two squads he was managing in 2018. He was able to leverage his senior playing experience in Europe and in the NPL Victoria in a manner which translated well for his players. This reflected well for the teams with success on the pitch but also from a development perspective for individual players. A number of Under 20s trained regularly with the Senior squad and made their senior debut during the year”

The club wishes Nejc and the Under 20s success in the coming 2019 NPL Victoria season.

Midfielder Cindy Lay joins South for 2019

South Melbourne FC is proud to welcome experienced midfielder Cindy Lay to join our Premiership Senior Women’s team for the 2019 NPLW Victoria Season.

Cindy started playing football at home before joining the Under 9s at Altona City. After two years at Millers Road, Lay made a move and joined Sunshine George Cross where she played three seasons in the youth boys program. At the age of 14 she was identified by Football Federation Victoria and commenced a six year relationship playing for the state Elite Athlete Program (later renamed National Training Centre).

Lay and her football journey kicked into high gear in 2012 when she was first selected as part of the Melbourne Victory W-League squad. It would start a three year period at the top of her game as she played at the top tier of Australian football with Victory, continued at the NTC and then Bulleen in the state Premier League and also received a call up to represent Australia in the Young Matildas.

In 2016 the National Premier League launched in Victoria and Cindy joined the newly created Calder United entity. Lay was an integral part of the team securing the Premiership and Championship in the first year. She continued at Calder last year before taking up a leadership role in a young and developing Box Hill line-up early in 2018.

In 2019 Cindy will join the midfield of our Premiership Senior Women’s team under coach Angelo Koutos.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, Women’s Football Director Gabrielle Giuliano said “Cindy will provide a mature and experienced presence in our midfield next year. I’ve had the opportunity to see her develop her football skills over the years and am excited to now see her in the blue and white here at South Melbourne. The standard of women’s football in Victoria is improving each year and to stay at the forefront of the game we will be looking at players like Cindy to be the foundation of our premiership defence next year”.

Cindy will join the South Melbourne Women’s team when they commence their pre-season preparations in the coming weeks.

South welcomes Erin Hudson to Premiership Team

South Melbourne FC is proud to welcome experienced goal keeper Erin Hudson to join our Premiership Senior Women’s team for the 2019 NPLW Victoria Season.

Erin started football journey at the age of 11 playing in Melbourne’s south-east suburbs at Berwick City. After two years she was between the sticks in the U16s team before making her State League 1 debut in 2013 aged 15. Hudson was picked up by now Arsenal women’s coach Joe Montemurro when he took charge of the Football Victoria National Training Centre (NTC) where she enjoyed playing in the Women’s Premier League.

At the start of the National Premier League in 2016, Hudson transitioned to Bayside United FC playing seventeen matches. The following year she moved to Alamein FC where she cemented her place as the number one keeper starting every fixture in her two years at the club.

This time last year Hudson was reunited with Joe Montemurro at Melbourne City FC when she was signed on a short-term injury replacement contract and made the squad for four W-League matches. Erin presents a vocal, competitive and commanding presence on the pitch and will fit in well with the South Melbourne squad as she looks for a new challenge and opportunity in her football career.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, Women’s Football Director Gabrielle Giuliano said “I am looking forward to having Erin as a part of our squad in 2019. She has proven herself as being a confident and experienced goal keeper and will form an integral part of our defensive structure as we build towards our premiership defence next year.”

Erin will join the South Melbourne Women’s team when they commence their pre-season preparations in the coming weeks.

South announces Koutos as Senior Women’s Coach

South Melbourne FC would like to announce the appointment of Angelo Koutos as the Coach of our Senior Women’s team for the 2019 NPLW Season.

Angelo started his football career in 1975 at the age of nine in the South Melbourne Hellas juniors playing in the same teams as Ange Postecoglou and Manny Anezakis. After six years he moved to Richmond SC and Caulfield City playing in State League and the Victorian Premier League respectively. Koutos traveled to Greece at the age of 20 where he played in the Greek 1st and 2nd division with Pierikos FC for 8 years, before returning to Melbourne to join Heidelberg United in the National Soccer League (NSL)

After playing for two years, he shifted from the pitch to the coaches room serving as Assistant Coach for the Collingwood Warriors in the NSL and then as the Senior Coach of Heidelberg in the Victorian Premier League. He took a break from football starting a family and moving to Greece where in 2008 he returned to coaching at clubs including Pierikos FC and AEP Iraklis.

Koutos returned to Australia serving as the Technical Director and Under 13s coach at Alamein FC in 2016 and then the U17s coach at Manningham United in 2017. Angelo joined South Melbourne at the start of the 2018 season as the Under 16 Girls coach and Assistant Coach to Socrates Nicolaidis. When Nicolaidis returned to the USA, Angelo took over responsibilities as Senior Coach.

Koutos continued the success of the Senior Women’s team as they defeated Bulleen in the last round of the season to secure the NPLW Victoria Premiership before going close to winning the double, going down in the Grand Final at AAMI Park.

Director of Women’s Football, Gabrielle Giuliano spoke to smfc.com.au saying “I am pleased we have been able to secure the services of Angelo next year. He experienced success with the team this year and now will be able to formulate his own squad of existing and new players and develop a game plan to take us into 2019. As always, we will give Angelo and our coaches all of the necessary support in what we see as another huge season for the Senior Women’s team.”

SMFC wishes Angelo all the best for the 2018 season.

Photo: a-league.com.au

Michael Valkanis to lead SMFC Development Program

South Melbourne FC can today announce it has appointed Michael Valkanis to the position of Head of Football Development.

Looking at todays sporting environment, you can see the signification contribution South Melbourne FC has had and continues to have on Australian football. You will recognise names such as Kevin Muscat, Paul Trimboli, Vaughn Coveny, Joe Palatsides and Patrick Kisnorbo. Each of these individuals had the honour of playing for South Melbourne FC in the National Soccer League and were given the opportunity to enjoy life long careers in football through the pathways our club blessed them with.

There are however two names that are synonymous with our Football DNA, Ange Postecoglou and Michael Valkanis. These two footballers developed their careers South Melbourne FC starting as juniors and progressing to play senior football in the National Soccer League before representing our country as Socceroos. Both Ange and Michael have further progressed their career as highly regarded football coaches.

Four months ago, Michael Valkanis approached Football Director Andrew Mesourouni and offered to help reinvigorate the club’s youth program, bring back the historical Football DNA and help develop the countries most talented players. Michael has committed to giving back to the club which provided him the start to his football career.

Michael has introduced Daniel Geradi to the club who will serve in the role as Sporting Director. Michael and Daniel will work alongside Strati Xynas (Boys Technical Director) and Mick Gallo (Girls Technical Director) and our coaching staff. Trials and the selection process for our 2019 National Premier League youth squads.

Football Director Andrew Mesourouni spoke to smfc.com.au saying “for me personally to have Michael as an icon in the clubs history support our youth program is the greatest honour in my time at the club. Michael’s appointment will facilitate the latest evolution of us producing the country’s next crop of talented players whilst representing South Melbourne FC and creating pathways for those players here in Australia and internationally. An integral component of this is being able to capture our Football DNA and educate and entrust young players with it so they can pass it onto the next generation.

As well as a successful playing career, Michael has developed his coaching and management career in Australia and internationally. Upon retirement from the A-League and Adelaide United in 2009 he was appointed as Adelaide’s Academy Manager. Valkanis was soon appointed as Head Coach of the clubs National Youth League Team and then as the interim coach of the Senior Team. The arrival of Josep Gombau allowed Valkanis to work as an assistant under the Spanish manager introducing a possession-based football style and a dogmatic approach by bringing in FC Barcelona legend Guillermo Amor as the club’s technical director. In 2016 Adelaide won their first A-League Championship and under Valkanis the Youth League team won the State League 1 competition earning promotion to the South Australian NPL and then on to win the National Youth League A Conference.

In June 2016, Valkanis joined Melbourne City as the senior assistant coach to John van ‘t Schip and quickly celebrated success defeating Sydney FC 1–0 in the 2016 FFA Cup Final to win the clubs first ever silverware. A few months later in January 2017, after the resignation of Melbourne City manager John van’t Schip, Michael Valkanis was appointed manager of the club for the remainder of the season. The team finished 4th and was eliminated in the finals series.

In June 2018 Michael Valkanis moved to Europe to pursue his coaching career as assistant manager for Dutch Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle FC and reuniting again with Manager John Van’t Schip.

Michael will manage and guide the youth program at South Melbourne FC whilst maintaining his role with PEC Zwolle FC.

The following is the message sent from Michael Valkanis to the clubs youth players and parents.

Developing the Total Footballer…

Hello players and parents,

I started playing football when I was 7 for the South Melbourne Hellas juniors back in 1980. By the age of 12 my childhood dream was to one day play for the blue and white senior team. South Melbourne Hellas was the biggest club in Australia at the time. As a part of the junior system at the club and experiencing its football environment, I was able to not only fulfil a childhood dream but I was able to follow my passion and play football professionally overseas. South Melbourne Hellas enabled me to make a career out of the game I loved.

The clubs huge support base has always demanded success. The expectation on players and coaches has been significant and this has materialised with a culture of always playing attractive attacking football. Upon reflection I see what a huge part the club played not only in shaping me as a footballer but also guiding the fundamental beliefs and principles I now use as a coach. It has steered the way I envisage how I want to see the game of football to be played.

I now have the opportunity to help put in place a youth program that will play a significant role in identifying talent and overseeing the selection of potential future South players. Most importantly the program will help develop, guide and nurture our future footballers in these important years while they chase their dreams as I did once upon a time.

Players in our program will be part of a long-term strategy and must have an ambition to play at the highest levels of the game both nationally and internationally. South Melbourne will aim to help develop junior footballers in a program using a Total Footballer curriculum framework, representing the culture of the club and utilising the clubs current resources to help in junior player development.

Our objective is to help develop the Total Footballer while emphasising individual development within a team context. We will develop our Total Footballer by following our building blocks process relative to the developmental phase. Our focus through these phases will be on core skills – technique, tactical understanding, physical and productive habits and behaviours to help the player not only in game preparation but life in general.

Where others train 1 team we want to train 20 individuals. Where others see a youth program of 10 teams, we see 200 individuals. We will strive to educate the players on every aspect of the game as we implement a playing style and work towards improving every player to fulfil their potential within the team. The technical resources of a team cannot only be measured in terms of what you go out and buy but by what you produce internally, within the club, starting with our own junior development program.

Our methodologies and holistic training methods will help develop our players and at the same time bring our playing philosophy to life. Implementation of our program will recreate our identity, our Football DNA, that will be synonymous with our badge, colours and history of our great club playing attractive, attacking high energy football.

We strive to inspire, influence and impact our young players to not only help become good footballers but also great people.

Our Objectives:

• South Melbourne to develop talented, intelligent and responsible footballers.
• South Melbourne to play a distinct style and have a clear football vision and philosophy.
• Providing the environment to give players the best opportunity to develop as footballers and play the highest possible level.
• Giving young players the best training sessions possible to improve their level.
• Striving to create the best players and persons as possible.
• Helping build our club culture and philosophy bringing back what we once had.

Regards
Michael Valkanis