Category: News

Sunday, 14 April 2013 6:30 PM

By John Kyrou (Photos by Cindy Nitsos)

Click here to view match photos

South Melbourne FC continued its 100% winning start to season 2013 with another convincing 0-3 victory, this time against the Southern Stars at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Saturday evening. A double from Marinos Gasparis and a late goal from Shaun Kelly completed a very comfortable victory for the away side.

Southern Stars came into the game on the back of an extremely positive 0-0 draw against defending Victorian Premier League Champions Dandenong Thunder last weekend. The result was Zaya Younan’s first point as a coach at Premier League level and one that gave his side confidence ahead of the South match. The away side came into the game on the back of a commanding 0-3 victory against Green Gully last Saturday, its first win at Green Gully Reserve since returning to the Premier League in 2005.

South Melbourne began the game with great intensity and forced a corner kick in the opening 25 seconds of the match. It was a sign of things to come as the away side took control of possession and created several chances in what was a brilliant first half performance. After half an hour of sustained pressure, South finally opened the scoring when Gasparis’ long-range shot took a deflection as the ball wrong-footed Abdulkerim Koc and flew into the back of the net. Gasparis should have scored his second just before the break when the ball fell to him near the penalty spot, however he shot wide of the left post.

Gasparis got the second goal he richly deserved only two minutes after the halftime break, when his low free kick from outside the area beat Koc, when perhaps the goalkeeper could have done a bit better. However, there was nothing that the young goalkeeper could do for South’s third goal of the night, when Renco Van Eeken’s cross from the right found an unmarked Kelly at the back post. The centre-half hit the ball into the ground and across the goal into the far corner of the net to wrap up the three points for South Melbourne. Amazingly it was Kelly’s fifth goal for South in nine appearances for the Club, a remarkable statistic for a centre-half.

Coach Peter Tsolakis was delighted with the result, stating that “I thought we totally dominated, the most pleasing thing for me is keeping another clean sheet. We said in pre-season that if we can keep clean sheets, we’ve got enough attacking players to score goals.”

The Under-21s also enjoyed an excellent victory over the Stars, with Sebit Muon’s header (60′), Luis Bulboa’s rocket from long range (71′) and Baggio Yousif’s well-placed strike (90+1′) wrapping up a 3-0 victory.

South is back at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex this Friday night, this time taking on the Bentleigh Greens. Kick-off is at 8:15PM.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTHERN STARS 0-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-1)

Goal Scorers:
0-1: Marinos Gasparis (31′)
0-2: Marinos Gasparis (47′)
0-3: Shaun Kelly (82′)

Key Stats (provided by Steven Orchard):
Total shots: Southern Stars (2) – South Melbourne (25)
Shots on target: Southern Stars (0) – South Melbourne (14)
Corners: Southern Stars (0) – South Melbourne (10)
Saves made: Southern Stars (11) – South Melbourne (0)

Southern Stars:
1. Abdulkerim KOC (GK), 6. Andrew VIOLA, 7. Devon BONNE, 8. Kalonzo KABONGO, 11. Joshua WOOD, 12. James WALKER, 13. Halil GUR, 14. Joshua BOWEN, 16. Ali TURGUT, 18. Rama TAVSANCIOGLU, Ilya GRIN

South Melbourne FC:
1. Peter GAVALAS (GK), 7. Joe KEENAN, 10. Tyson HOLMES (6. Dimi TSIARAS 88′), 11. Brad NORTON, 12. Rhys MEREDITH (14. Andy VLAHOS 75′), 13. Luke BYLES (C), 15. Dimi HATZIMOURATIS, 16. Alan KEARNEY, 18. Marinos GASPARIS (20. Andrew CARTANOS 78′), 19. Shaun KELLY, 23. Renco VAN EEKEN

SMFC Man of the Match: Marinos Gasparis
Venue: Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Date: Saturday 13 April 2013

Thursday, 11 April 2013 11:40 PM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC travel to Kingston Heath Soccer Complex this Saturday evening to play the Southern Stars in Round 2 of the Victorian Premier League. Both sides had a positive start to the season last week and will be looking to continue the good form this week. It is the second week of four consecutive away matches for South.

Southern Stars go into this weekend’s match on the back of a solid 0-0 home draw against defending champions Dandenong Thunder. It was an excellent point for Zaya Younan’s side, with Younan celebrating his first point in charge as a coach at Premier League level. Southern Stars have former South players Jason Ricciutti and Rama Tavsancioglu on their list, with the latter captaining South during 2009 and 2010 and to this day remains very popular with South supporters.

South goes into the game on the back of a crushing 0-3 victory away against Green Gully last Saturday. Renco Van Eeken, Tyson Holmes, Rhys Meredith and Alan Kearney all had solid debut games for South, with Van Eeken (or RVE as he is now affectionately known) scoring South’s third goal of the afternoon. South have Dimi Tsiaras available for selection this week after he served the second of his two-match suspension against Gully. Fernando De Moraes is also available after not being selected in the squad last week. Tom Matthews will be missing for another month after breaking his arm in the week leading up to the Green Gully match.

If selected, Andy Vlahos will play his 50th League match with South, including two seasons with the Club in the old National Soccer League. Vlahos first played for South in the 1999/00 NSL season as Ange Postecoglou’s side missed the finals. The following year (2000/01), Vlahos scored 13 goals as South finished as Minor Premiers before losing 2-1 against Wollongong Wolves in the Grand Final. After a decade, Vlahos returned to South last season and contributed with two goals from nine appearances. In total he has represented the Club in 49 League games and scored 17 goals.

The corresponding fixture between the two sides last season (Saturday 28 July 2012) was arguably the biggest highlight of South’s season. Southern Stars twice took the lead against the run of play through Nick Harrhy, before two South goals in injury time won the three points for the away side. Steve Burton equalised in the 91st minute with a nice strike before youngsters Andrew Cartanos (on debut) and Phil Petreski linked up on the left to cross the ball for Nick Jacobs to head home the winning goal in the 94th minute.

Saturday’s match kicks off at 6:00PM at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex.

SMFC TV – Last time we met

Wednesday, 10 April 2013 10:11 PM

One of the highlights on South Melbourne’s event calendar is the annual Jersey Presentation Night. This year’s event is set for Friday 10th May at Beachcomber at the St Kilda Baths at 7pm. A two-course meal, with beer, wine, and soft drink will be provided.

As a principal partner of the Club, Beachcomber is set in the perfect location with its spectacular and uninterrupted views of Port Phillip Bay. The evening will provide an excellent opportunity to meet the playing group in a relaxed and informal environment.

MC for the evening will be SBS Sports Presenter David Basheer, and the event will feature a football panel discussion comprised of SMFC Senior Technical Director Mehmet Durakovic and SMFC Hall of Fame legend Michael Peterson.

All eyes will be on which South player records the largest bid in the annual fundraising player auction.

Wednesday, 10 April 2013 9:52 PM

South Melbourne FC is delighted to announce it will be holding its annual Family Day event on Saturday May 4th from 5pm onwards.

The SMFC Family Day is a FREE event, and will provide the perfect opportunity for fans to head down to purchase or pick up their membership and merchandise before the first home match of the season against the Richmond Eagles on Saturday 11th May.

South Melbourne FC will be hosting the Oakleigh Cannons in the fourth round fixture of the FFV State Knock Out Cup. Entry for this fixture is FREE.

It promises to be a day filled with fun activities.

Monday, 8 April 2013 10:02 AM

South Melbourne FC is delighted to announce the return of SMFC TV for the 2013 Victorian Premier League season. SMFC TV will continue to be screened on Channel 31 at Wednesday 7pm each week.

The first episode of SMFC TV is scheduled for Wednesday 10th April at 7pm. This week’s episode will cover the Round One match against Green Gully.

The show will continue to provide match highlights, player and coaching staff interviews, showcase our junior development program and stars of tomorrow. Furthermore, SMFC TV will focus directly on bringing the latest news from the club, as well as providing all South Melbourne FC and general football fans with a modern and fresh view of the club.

SMFC General Manager, Peter Kokotis speaking to smfc.com.au said “We are extremely delighted with the news that SMFC TV will be continuing for another season. SMFC TV provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the club to a wider audience, as it will cover all facets of the Club.”

South Melbourne FC encourages all football fans to tune into the show, and enjoy the best of Victorian football.

Should you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback for SMFC TV please email the club at multimedia@smfc.com.au.

SMFC TV

Each Wednesday night
Channel 31
7pm

Sunday, 7 April 2013 9:16 PM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC opened the 2013 Victorian Premier League season in style with a professional 0-3 victory against Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday afternoon. A first-half header from Brad Norton and second-half goals from Marinos Gasparis and Renco Van Eeken sealed the three points for South, who won at Green Gully for the first time in almost 27 years.

It was well documented that South had not won at Green Gully since 8 September 1986. In fairness, the sides did not meet each other for many years between 1986 and 2005 as South remained in the National Soccer League whilst Green Gully returned to the Victorian Premier League. Regardless, South had not been victorious at Green Gully Reserve for nearly 27 years and since returning to the Premier League in 2005 the Blues had failed to win in nine attempts (including a penalty shoot-out loss in the 2005 finals series).

South were dealt with a major blow going into the match, with the news that right-back Tom Matthews had broken his arm during the week and would be missing for 4-5 weeks. This was on top of Carl Recchia’s season-ending knee injury and Dimi Tsiaras already missing for the Gully match through suspension. Coach Peter Tsolakis made a bold move in putting a forward player in Dimi Hatzimouratis into Matthews’ right-back role. Van Eeken, Alan Kearney, Tyson Holmes and Rhys Meredith all made their debuts for South, whilst Luke Byles captained the side for the first time following Steven O’Dor’s retirement at the end of the 2012 season.

The away side began the match strongly, applying plenty of pressure on Gully’s defence. After half an hour South were awarded a penalty when Gully keeper Kieran Gonzalez was judged to have brought down Van Eeken as he challenged for a header. The penalty seemed unfortunate against Gonzalez, however the goalkeeper stood tall and saved Van Eeken’s spot kick to keep the scores at 0-0. The opening goal arrived only five minutes later, when Kearney’s cross from the left side was headed home by Norton. Gully almost equalised before the break but a header from a corner kick was put wide of Peter Gavalas’ goal.

The home side were more lively in the second half but the South defence comfortably dealt with any dangerous crosses into the box by Andy Vargas and continued to assert their authority on the match. The three points were sealed just before the hour mark, when Van Eeken provided a defence-splitting through-ball for Gasparis to run onto before chipping the advancing Gonzalez for South’s second goal of the afternoon. Van Eeken turned from provider to scorer when he latched onto a through-ball from Meredith and put the ball past Gonzalez and into the back of the net for a goal on his debut. South could have had even more goals but in the end were more than happy to settle for three goals, a clean sheet, three points and a near 27 year long hoodoo finally broken.

In the Under-21s match played prior to the Seniors, a Baggio Yousif goal was not enough as Green Gully scored two late goals to defeat South 2-1.

South’s next match is away against the Southern Stars at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex next Saturday 13 April at 6:00PM.

FINAL SCORE: GREEN GULLY 0-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-1)

Goal Scorers:
0-1: Brad Norton (35′)
0-2: Marinos Gasparis (57′)
0-3: Renco Van Eeken (80′)

Key Stats (provided by Steven Orchard):
Total shots: Green Gully (5) – South Melbourne (20) 
Shots on target: Green Gully (1) – South Melbourne (8)
Corners: Green Gully (5) – South Melbourne (8)
Saves made: Green Gully (5) – South Melbourne (1)

Green Gully:
Kieran GONZALEZ (GK), Daniel JONES, Mitchell BISSINGER, Stephen DOWNES, Jason HAYNE (Michael ANDERSON 65′), Tom CAHILL, Matthew SANDERS (Osagie EDERARO 78′), Sean HARDING (Christopher DIB 90+1′), Andy VARGAS, Brian VANEGA, Scott MUIRHEAD

South Melbourne FC:
01. Peter GAVALAS (GK), 07. Joe KEENAN (05. Phil PETRESKI 83′), 10. Tyson HOLMES, 11. Brad NORTON, 12. Rhys MEREDITH (14. Andy VLAHOS 85′), 13. Luke BYLES (C), 15. Dimi HATZIMOURATIS, 16. Alan KEARNEY, 18. Marinos GASPARIS (20. Andrew CARTANOS 77′), 19. Shaun KELLY, 23. Renco VAN EEKEN

SMFC Man of the Match: Alan Kearney
Venue: Green Gully Reserve
Date: Saturday 6 April 2013

Friday, 5 April 2013 11:38 AM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC opens the 2013 Victorian Premier League season on Saturday when Peter Tsolakis’ side travel to Green Gully Reserve to play Green Gully. South will be attempting to break a 27 year hoodoo at the ground, having not won there since 1986.

South heads into the match on the back of positive pre-season friendly results, with victories against Port Melbourne, Heidelberg United, Altona Magic and Northcote City in recent weeks. The side also finished the 2012 Premier League season strongly and are now undefeated in three League matches.

Coach Peter Tsolakis has kept the majority of his squad from last season, with the departures being Kyle Joryeff (released during last season), Gianni De Nittis (released during last season), Jason Trifiro (Western Sydney), Glen Trifiro (Sydney United), Jason Saldaris (returned to Perth) and Steve Burton (returned to Perth). Former Captain Steven O’Dor retired from football due to professional work commitments and has been replaced by Luke Byles as Captain. New additions to the squad for 2013 are Queenslanders Rhys Meredith and Tyson Holmes, Alan Kearney (Southern Stars), Carl Recchia (Moreland Zebras), Renco Van Eeken ( Netherlands ) and Sebastian Mattei (Melbourne Heart Youth). Furthermore, a number of players have been promoted from the Under 21 side to the Senior Team, those being Andrew Cartanos, Phil Petreski, James Karvelis, Baggio Yousif, Matko Budimir and Anthony Giannopoulos.

It is well documented that one of South’s bogey grounds is Green Gully Reserve, a venue that South have not experienced a victory in since 8 September 1986. On that day, goals from Bobby Russell and Manny Anezakis gave South a 0-2 victory. South has not defeated Green Gully at that venue since returning to the Victorian Premier League in 2005. In fact South has only managed two points from a possible 24 and this does not even include the penalty shoot-out loss against Gully in the Major Semi Final in 2005. In further bad news, South has only scored five times at Green Gully Reserve since that win in 1986. In the corresponding fixture last season on Saturday 14 April 2012, South took an early lead via an own goal before Gully overpowered South for a 3-1 victory.

South Melbourne will be without the services of Carl Recchia who will be missing for the entire year after a bad knee injury sustained during pre-season. Dimi Tsiaras is also suspended following his red card against Bentleigh Greens in the second-last round last season. Kearney will most likely be deployed as a makeshift defensive midfielder in Tsiaras’ absence. Apart from those two, Tsolakis has a full squad to choose from going into the match. A positive that South can take into the game is the fact that Gully traditionally start the Victorian Premier League season slowly before asserting their authority later in the year; Saturday could be the ideal opportunity to take advantage of this and at the same time break the hoodoo. Another positive is that Roddy Vargas – a player that always plays so well against South for Gully – is suspended for this weekend’s match.

Saturday’s match kicks off at 3:00PM at Green Gully Reserve.

SMFC TV – LAST TIME WE MET

Friday, 5 April 2013 10:50 AM

South Melbourne FC is delighted to announce that Luke Byles has been appointed as Captain for the 2013 Victorian Premier League season. Byles replaces the recently retired Steven O’Dor, who held the captaincy from 2011. Head Coach Peter Tsolakis has elected to have three vice-captains, with Dimi Tsiaras, Fernando De Moraes and Tom Matthews all deputies under Byles.

Luke Byles arrived at Lakeside Stadium in late 2011 following a strong season at Heidelberg United that year. Prior to that he had played at Southampton ’s reserve side in the 2003/04 English Premier League season. The centre-half made 20 appearances for South Melbourne in all competitions in 2012 and impressed all with his strong aerial presence and hard tackling game. In addition, he has proven to be a real character in the locker room and was one of the people behind the recent SMFC Harlem Shake video that went viral online and recorded close to 220,000 views on YouTube.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, Tsolakis added that “Luke Byles was a natural choice for the captaincy role for his natural leadership qualities. I would like to congratulate Luke on his appointment as captain, and joins the list of famous players who have captained our great club such as Paul Trimboli and Ange Postecolglou”.

South Melbourne FC congratulates Luke Byles on his appointment as Captain and wishes him and his three deputies the best for the upcoming season. South’s first 2013 Victorian Premier League match is against Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday 6th April.

Thursday, 4 April 2013 10:33 AM

South Melbourne FC is pleased to announce that Star21 is our Major Partner again for the 2013 Victorian Premier League season.

This will mark the third year running that Star21 has been the Club’s major sponsor. Star21 is well known for supporting many elite and community based sporting clubs in Victoria. Star21 is one of Telstra’s largest national business and corporate partners having won ‘Telstra Business Dealer of the Year’ award for the last three years in a row. Not only did Star21 win this award for the third year in a row in 2012, but it was also acknowledged by Telstra for being in the top 3 of both the ‘Telstra Enterprise Partner of the Year’ and ‘National Business Dealer of the Year’ awards.

Star21 specialise in all facets of telecommunications and help businesses integrate their voice, data, internet and mobile requirements. We encourage all of our Corporate partners to get on board with Star21 with their telecommunications services and receive a customised offering and superior customer service. Earlier this month, Star21 launched its new Business Solutions Centre in Abbotsford. To mark the launch, SEN Radio broadcasted live from the new centre with a number of sporting identities in attendance.

Furthermore, Star21’s sponsorship extends to the Youth Development Program. The Star21 logo will proudly feature on the back of the playing shirt for all junior sides. This additional investment will directly support the development of our talented junior players.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, SMFC General Manager Peter Kokotis said, “we are both delighted and excited to renew our existing major partnership with Star21 for the third year running, and ask all South fans and members to contact Star21 for all their business telecommunications requirements. We hope that this long-standing relationship between both organisations will continue for many years to come”. For more information on Star21 please visit www.star21.com.au or 1300 782 721

Message from Bill Asimakidis of Star 21

Wednesday, 3 April 2013 10:57 PM

South Melbourne FC is pleased to announce their squad for the 2013 Victorian Premier League season.

The team is brimming with a combination of youthful exuberance, talent and experience.

A number of core players have been retained in addition to being reinforced with a number of talented and experienced players. South Melbourne entered the transfer market signing a number of talented individuals to strengthen the side across the park. New signings for South included exciting Queenslanders Tyson Holmes and Rhys Meredith, Alan Kearney from Southern Stars, the return of Carl Recchia from Moreland Zebras, Dutchamn Renco Van Eeken, and Melbourne Heart Youth goalkeeper Sebastian Mattei.

Furthermore, a number of players were promoted from the Under21 side to the Senior Team. These players included Andrew Cartanos, Phil Petreski, James Karvelis, Baggio Yousif, Matko Budimir, and Anthony Giannopoulos.

Departing from the squad from last year included Jason Triffiro (Western Sydney Wanderers), Glen Trifiro (Sydney United 58), Jason Saldaris (returned to Perth), Steve Burton (returned to Perth), Kyle Joryeff (released), and Steven O’Dor (retired).

SMFC President Leo Athanasakis speaking to smfc.com.au said ‘there has been a great of hard work gone into recruiting and preparing a team that the South faithful can be proud of this season. There are some young exciting prospects which are set to make their mark throughout the year. I would like to thank the Football Department for their hard work over the summer in recruiting and managing the requirements of the Senior squad. I urge the fan to get behind the playing squad and support the players throughout the season”.

2013 SMFC Playing Squad

1. Peter Gavalas
Goalkeeper

2. Tom Matthews
Defender

3. Rhodri Payne
Defender

5. Phil Petreski
Midfielder

6. Dimitri Tsiaras
Midfielder

7. Joe Keenan
Midfielder

8. Fernando De Moraes
Midfielder

9. Trent Rixon
Forward

10. Tyson Holmes
Midfielder

11. Brad Norton
Defender

12. Rhys Meredith
Forward

13. Luke Byles
Defender

14. Andy Vlahos
Forward

15. Dimitri Hatzimouratis
Forward

16. Alan Kearney
Midfielder

17. Carl Recchia
Midfielder

18. Marinos Gasparis
Midfielder

19. Shaun Kelly
Defender

20. Andrew Cartanos
Midfielder

21. Sebastian Mattei
Goalkeeper

22. James Karvelis
Defender

23. Renco Van Eeeken
Forward

24. Nick Jacobs
Midfielder

25. Matko Budimir
Defender

26. Baggio Yousif
Forward

32. Anthony Giannopoulos
Midfielder

Coaching Staff

Peter Tsolakis
Senior Coach

Robert Graskoski
Assistant Coach

Frank Piccione
Team Manager