Category: News

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 5:45 PM

A glittering World Football Gala was held at the Hurlingham Club in London that attracted a galaxy of football stars and luminaries to the annual awards ceremony. The event was hosted by former FIFA General Secretary Mr Michel Zen-Ruffinen, and assisted by Lydia Dushkoff.

As part of the annual football awards which are conducted by the International Football Federation of History and Statistics (IFFHS) in association with Matchworld Football SA, the Club of the Century from each confederation was honoured. South Melbourne FC was awarded the highly prestigious award of Club of the Century for the Oceania Confederation. The other winners included:

• Europe – Real Madrid CF (Spain)
• South America – CA Penarol Montevideo (Uruguay)
• Africa- Asante Kotoko FC Kumasi (Ghana)
• Asia – Al-Hilal FC Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
• Central and North America – CD Saprissa San Juan de Tibas San Jose (Costa Rica)
• Oceania – South Melbourne FC (Australia)

South Melbourne FC President, Leo Athanasakis, Major Sponsor George Parthimos from miRoamer, Board Member Tony Margaritis, along with playing legends Paul Trimboli and Jimmy Armstrong travelled to London to accept the award on behalf of the Club. Speaking with smfc.com.au, Leo Athanasakis said “it was a truly amazing and humbling experience. It was one of the proudest moments of our great club to honoured with such a prestigious award. To be in the company of such famous football stars and luminaries was something that I will cherish and never forget”.

South Melbourne FC joins an elite group of six clubs such as Real Madrid to be known as Club of the Century.

During the 20th century, South Melbourne FC were:

• Winners of the 1999 Oceania Confederation Club Championship.
• Finalists at the 2000 World Club Championships in Rio de Janeiro.
• Four times national champions of Australia.
• Eight times state championships of Victoria.
• Winners of the NSL Cup on two occasions.
• Winners of numerous other tournaments and trophies.

Click here to view the World Football Gala Photo Gallery

 

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 4:27 PM

The World Football Gala was held on Tuesday May 11th at the Hurlingham Club in London. As part of the annual awards, the 2010 ceremony conferred the Club of the Century award to a club from each Confederation. Joining an elite club of six clubs, South Melbourne FC was conferred with the Oceania Confederation Club of the Century Award.

Please click here to view photos of the glittering event.

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 10:00 AM

Do not miss this week’s episode of SMFC TV, as we show highlights of the recent World Football Gala in London, where South Melbourne FC was conferred the honour of Oceania Confederation Club of the Century.

We also review the match highlights of the clash between South Melbourne FC and Sunshine George Cross.Furthermore, we hear from Marinos Gasparis, Joe Keenan, Yusef Yusef, and Head Coach Vaughan Coveny as well in the post-match interviews. In addition, the show will review all the scores from around the Victorian Premier League.

SMFC TV

Channel 31
Every Saturday 10.00am -10.30am

Sunday, 16 May 2010 10:13 PM

 

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC consolidated its position in the top four of the Victorian Premier League with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Sunshine George Cross on Sunday afternoon at John Cain Memorial Park. The win has come at exactly the right time following two consecutive League defeats and in the final League game before the squad flies to Singapore to face Gombak United in the first round of the 2010 RHB Singapore Cup.

South started the match very positively and was unlucky not to open the scoring in the opening stages of the first half. Gianni De Nittis had a goal-bound header saved magnificently by George Cross goalkeeper Martin John. Moments later, a Rhodri Payne cut-back from the left found De Nittis unmarked at the back post. With John scrambling across his goal to block, De Nittis went for power instead of placement and his shot flew over the bar.

Despite these misses, it was only a matter of time before the home side opened the scoring and South eventually did so just before halftime. Marinos Gasparis received the ball at the edge of the box on the left side of the field and his excellent first touch set him up to hit a curling shot across John’s goal and into the top far corner. The goal was just reward for the home side, who had played excellent football in the first half but had not been rewarded on the score board up until that point.

After the break, South continued to enjoy large amounts of possession but could not score a second goal to kill the game off. With twenty minutes to go, the lead was doubled when South broke up a Sunshine move forward and counter-attacked swiftly. Fernando De Moraes fed Joe Keenan with a delightful through-ball and the Englishman calmly placed the ball past John for his second League goal this season as well as the second goal for the match.

With a two goal lead established, many thought the afternoon’s work was done and that South would see the game through comfortably. However Sunshine’s intensity picked up immediately following Keenan’s goal and the away side pulled a goal back only minutes later to set up a tense finish. Stuart Nicholson won possession in midfield and he took on the entire South defence as he charged into the area before shooting the ball past Peter Zois, eliminating the South goalkeeper’s attempts for a clean sheet.

South were still in control of the match but needed a third goal to ensure the three points. South continued counter-attacking magnificently but could not convert a series of excellent chances created. With the match into injury time and with the home fans urging the referee to blow the final whistle, South finally made sure of the points when substitute Yusuf Yusuf scored his first League goal for 2010 when he finished off a shot that was teed up for him by hitting the ball across John and into the far corner.

With the Gombak United match on Wednesday week, South Melbourne FC has moved next week’s match against Altona Magic (initially scheduled for May 23) to July 4 and the following week’s match against Bentleigh Greens (initially May 28) to June 11. However the team has a practice match against NTC this Wednesday night at Darebin’s DISC pitch 3 before the squad flies out to Singapore next Monday evening.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 3-1 SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS (HT: 1-0)

South Melbourne:
Peter Zois, Rhodri Payne, Steve O’Dor, Eddie Cetkin, Joe Keenan (Sebastian Petrovic 80′), Carl Recchia, Gianni De Nittis (Yusuf Yusuf 69′), Rama Tavsancioglu, Joseph Youssef, Marinos Gasparis, Fernando De Moraes
(Scorers: Marinos Gasparis 44′, Joe Keenan 70′, Yusuf Yusuf 90′)

Sunshine George Cross:
Martin John, Matthew Cini, Fidell Richards, Andrew Nabbout, Christos Konstas, Douglas Cameron, Stuart Nicholson, Evan Christodoulou, Ben Cogger, Barry Devlin, David Calleja
(Scorer: Stuart Nicholson 74′)

SMFC Man of the Match: Marinos Gasparis
Venue: John Cain Memorial Park
Date: Sunday 16 May 2010
Crowd: 1,000

Friday, 14 May 2010 10:42 AM

On Saturday’s episode on SMFC TV, we review and show extended match highlights of the clash at the Kingston Heath Soccer Complex between South Melbourne FC and Oakleigh Cannons SC. Furthermore, we hear from Joseph Youssef, Fernando De Moraes, and Head Coach Vaughan Coveny as well in the post-match interviews. In addition, the show will review all the scores from around the Victorian Premier League, and showcase our Junior Development Program..

SMFC TV

Channel 31
Every Saturday 10.00am -10.30am

Friday, 14 May 2010 10:26 AM

On this week’s episode of southRadio, we review the match between South Melbourne FC and Oakleigh Cannons SC at the Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, as well as preview the upcoming contest against Sunshine George Cross. In addition, we look back on the last meeting of the two clubs and that memorable goal by Fernando De Moraes.

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

Click here to download episode 12 of southRadio (MP3 -8.3Mb) – Right Click and Save As

Click here to download the show directly from iTunes

Friday, 14 May 2010 9:37 AM

 

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC welcomes Sunshine George Cross to its second ‘home away from home’ at John Cain Memorial Park on Sunday, in what is looming as a must-win game for the club. South is in the top four but has suffered two defeats in a row. At the same time, there are several clubs including George Cross that are just behind South on the ladder and are keen to overtake.

South suffered an unfortunate 2-1 defeat at ‘home’ to Oakleigh at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex last Saturday, whilst last Monday George Cross fought back from a one goal deficit to claim a 1-1 draw against Dandenong Thunder at Knights Stadium. That point gave George Cross the same number of points as South in 2010 and as a result Sunshine are sitting in fifth position. This means that South is due to play its fourth match in a row against a top five opponent this coming weekend.

Sunshine as a side will be an extremely physical and tough opponent to break down and as a result South’s players will need to be patient in trying to break down and score past Martin John and his tough defence. A particularly fascinating showdown will be between John and South’s Fernando De Moraes, who caused a moment of controversy on the final day of the VPL season last year when he threw the ball back to John after an injury, before taking the ball off him and scoring the goal that qualified South for finals football.

The matches between the two sides are always well-fought and Sunshine has enjoyed a reasonably good record against South since the two sides began meeting again in the VPL from 2005. Until Fernando’s cheeky winning goal last year, South had not defeated George Cross since the 0-2 victory at Chaplin Reserve in 2007. The match will be the 56th League meeting between the teams, with South winning 25, George Cross 16 and with 15 draws.

Three points are absolutely crucial for South as this is the final League match that the Blues play before departing for Singapore to play Gombak United in the first round of the RHB Singapore Cup on May 26. If other results go the right way, South could end the round in second position, at worst the side could find itself out of the top five. Either way, a positive result is needed to get the League season back on track and to enter the Cup in reasonable form.

The match against Sunshine George Cross kicks off at 3pm on Sunday at John Cain Memorial Park in Northcote.

Please note that due to SMFC’s participation in the RHB Singapore Cup:

• The round 12 match against Altona Magic is postponed from 23 May to 4 July
• The round 13 match against Bentleigh Greens is postponed from 28 May to 11 June

Last time we met

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 1:30 PM

MEDIA INFORMATION                                        
Football Association of Singapore
100 Tyrwhitt Road, #01-02 Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore 207542=20
Tel: (65) 6293 1477 Fax: (65) 6293 3728
www.fas.org.sg

For immediate release

Tough draw for invited teams in RHB Singapore Cup 2010

Debut teams South Melbourne and Kitchee SC face strong challenge.

SINGAPORE, 1 May 2010: The draw for the 2010 RHB Singapore Cup took place this afternoon at Bukit Panjang Plaza, with the four invited teams drawn in arguably the tougher half.

League champions Singapore Armed Forces FC and current league pace-setters Gombak United and Etoile FC were all drawn in the same half as the invited teams who hail from Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Thailand.

South Melbourne and Kitchee were officially announced as the two new teams invited to take part in this year competition alongside 2009 RHB Singapore Cup finalist Bangkok Glass and Phnom Penh Crown.

South Melbourne faces a tough debut having drawn S.League high flyers Gombak United who are incidentally coached by Australian Darren Stewart.

Said South Melbourne chairman Nick Galatas, “South Melbourne FC is excited to be a part of this year RHB Singapore Cup. It is a fantastic tournament with a growing reputation which includes some of the top clubs in the region. We look forward to our first match against Gombak United.”

Hong Kong side Kitchee SC will face S.League newcomers Beijing Guoan Talent in their maiden appearance in the RHB Singapore Cup.

Said Ken Ng, Chairman of Kitchee SC, “It is an arrangement with foresight on the part of FAS to invite the foreign teams to participate in the Singapore Cup, as the opportunity offers all the teams, Singaporean or foreign alike, some valuable experience to learn from international or regional oppositions.  It also promotes  relationships within the football fraternity of Singapore and the regions where the invited teams come from. We hope that the Singapore fans will enjoy our style of play, which is quite unique in Hong Kong.”

The Warriors face a tough tie against Bangkok Glass while Cup holders Geylang United will begin their defence of the trophy away to Balestier Khalsa. Phnom Penh Crown, who will be making their fourth consecutive appearance in the competition, will take on 2010 League Cup winners Etoile FC.

Commenting on the new additions, Mr Jason Wong, Country Head of RHB Bank Singapore, said, “We believe that this welcomed addition will add much vibrancy and excitement to the local football scene. The opportunity of playing against foreign teams from countries such as Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Thailand will expose our players to strong competition, which is fundamental in driving the development of local football talent. In addition, the introduction of a World Class Youth Development Syllabus and development of a National Training Centre as emphasised in the FAS 2010-2015 Strategic Plan will be key to the nurturing of local talent.”

Mayor Zainudin said, “It is a privilege for the Cup to be associated with the bank that has been noted not just for its support of local football but also its pioneering approach to business service and its active involvement in the community. The RHB Singapore Cup is now one of the region’s premier tournaments and we look forward to continuing our close partnership with RHB Singapore to elevate the
Singapore Cup to far greater heights.”

As title sponsor of the Cup, RHB Bank Singapore extended their sponsorship of the prestigious regional football tournament in 2008 for another three years, bringing its total sponsorship value to $3 million.

RHB Bank also actively engages in football-related community initiatives, such as its sponsorship of the NTU Goal for Fund charity event and formation of the St. Andrew Junior School football club, Saints FC.

This year, RHB will be bringing its community efforts up a notch by organising football clinics, together with the Singapore Sports Council and the FAS, throughout the year for underprivileged children. This first of these special training sessions was conducted for the children of the Association of Persons with Special Needs (APSN) with players from the Young Lions in February this year.

Elaborating on RHB’s community efforts, Mr Wong said, “The sport of football provides an invigorating learning platform to create memorable experiences and at the same time, teach our youth important lessons such as sportsmanship, determination and teamwork. This is a worthy cause that RHB will stay committed to and we hope to continue reaching out to the community through more specially-organised sports
activities.”

The first RHB Singapore Cup 2010 match is scheduled to kick off on 24 May 2010 with the final taking place on Sunday 14 November 2010.

Please find attached fixtures for 2010 RHB Singapore Cup Draw.

-End-

About RHB Banking Group

The RHB Banking Group is the fourth largest fully integrated financial products and services group in Malaysia. It gives focus on four Strategic Business Units comprising Retail Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, Islamic Banking and International Banking  are collectively grouped under RHB Capital Bhd, which is listed on Bursa
Malaysia.

RHB Bank is the fourth largest bank in Malaysia with total assets of over RM86 billion and shareholders funds of RM4.6 billion (as at September 2007). It is one of 10 anchor banks in Malaysia with over 180 branches throughout the region.

For more information on RHB Banking Group please log on to www.rhb.com.my

About RHB Bank Singapore

In Singapore, RHB Bank was first established in 1961 and is a fulllicensed bank with a network of 7 branches situated strategically in various locations and 2 Bureau De Change at the Singapore Changi Airport.  As a full-licensed bank, we offer a comprehensive range of financial products and services including consumer, commercial and corporate, treasury and investment banking.

For more information on RHB Bank Singapore log on to www.rhbbank.com.sg

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 1:28 PM

South Melbourne FC will be honoured tonight at the 2010 World Football Gala to be held at the exclusive Hurlingham Club in London.

As part of the annual football awards which are conducted by International Football Federation of History and Statistics (IFFHS) on behalf of FIFA, the Club of the Century from each confederation is to be honoured. South Melbourne FC has been awarded the highly prestigious award of Club of the Century for the Oceania Confederation. The other winners are:

• Europe – Real Madrid CF (Spain)
• South America – CA Penarol Montevideo (Uruguay)
• Africa- Asante Kotoko FC Kumasi (Ghana)
• Asia – Al-Hilal FC Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
• Central and North America – CD Saprissa San Juan de Tibas San Jose (Costa Rica)
• Oceania – South Melbourne FC (Australia)

At the Gala event, each club of the century will be presented with its award, including a golden trophy and a certificate, by a world-famous footballer. The event will also be attended by a number of captains of national teams which have qualified for the World Cup 2010 and legends of world football such Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Jose Mourihno (Inter Milan Head Coach), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain National Head Coach), Iker Cassilas (Real Madrid), Xavi (Barcelona), Josep Guardiola (Barcelona Head Coach), and members of the FIFA Executive Committee.

As part of the World Football Gala, a number of awards are also to be given. A list of these awards are as follows:

– The World‘s best Referee 2009
– The World’s best National Coach 2009
– The World’s best Goalkeeper 2009
– The World‘s best Playmaker 2009
– The World’s Top Goal Scorer 2009
– The World’s best Club Coach 2009
– The World’s best Top Division Goal Scorer 2009
– The World‘s most effective Top Division Goal Scorer 2009
– Club World Ranking 2009
– The strongest National League in the World 2009

South Melbourne FC President, Leo Athanasakis, Major Sponsor George Parthimos from miRoamer, Board Member Tony Margaritis, along with playing legends Paul Trimboli and Jimmy Armstrong have travelled to London to accept the award on behalf of the Club.

During the 20th century, South Melbourne FC were:

• Winners of the 1999 Oceania Confederation Club Championship.
• Finalists at the 2000 World Club Championships in Rio de Janeiro.
• Four times national champions of Australia.
• Eight times state championships of Victoria.
• Winners of the NSL Cup on two occasions.
• Winners of numerous other tournaments and trophies.

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 1:13 PM

South Melbourne FC, in association with Rotana Travel would like to announce a number of exciting travel packages for the Club’s involvement in the 2010 RHB Singapore Cup.

A number of  two, three, and four day packages have been developed to suit all requirements. The travel packages include:

• Return airline tickets with Emirates
• Inclusive of departure taxes
• Accommodation at the 4 star Parkroyal on Kitchener Road Hotel, located near the Jalan Besar Stadium
• Breakfast 
• Transfers to and from Changi Airport
• Entrance to the match South Melbourne FC vs. Gombak United

South Melbourne FC’s participation in the 2010 RHB Singapore Cup marks a return to international football, with its last participation in an international tournament being the 2000 World Club Championship in Brazil where it competed against Manchester United, Vasco De Gama, and Necaxa.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for South fans to see their beloved team representing Australia on the world stage once more.

To enquire about these travel packages, please contact Rotana Travel on 9681 6688. Please ensure you mention the Club’s name to receive the travel packages. 

To download a copy of the flyer and details of the travel packages, please click here.