Category: News

Wednesday, 12 January 2005 11:14 PM

After more than 450 NSL matches, 3 NSL Player of the Year Awards, a treble of NSL titles and 6 SMFC Best and Fairest awards, Paul Trimboli has formally announced his retirement from football.

The 36 year old veteran had been training with the South Melbourne FC squad for the upcoming VPL season, but has decided to draw the curtain on his stellar career.

“Johnny Anastasiadis was keen to get me along and help mould the new squad, but after a while my body made it clear that it was time to move on” says a circumspect Trimboli, “there will no doubt be some sadness that comes with this, but I believe it was the right decision for me and the club”.

Commitment to the club where he has played all but 22 of his NSL matches spanning 3 decades brought him back, and he is hopeful that SMFC will be challenging for the VPL title for years to come. “South are always competitive. If we aren’t winning championships, we’re not far off it and I doubt that is going to change”.

SMFC President George Donikian has nothing but the upmost praise for the retiring champion. “Words can’t describe what Paul Trimboli means to this club, he has been a brilliant servant of the club in the way he has conducted himself both on and off the field. He was a member of our team of the century and his presence on the pitch will be dearly missed”.

While not having an official role with the team for the rest of 2005, Trimboli says his heart will always be with the famous club. The former Socceroo will no doubt be a regular fixture in the stands at SMFC matches this season including the club’s opening round clash with Heidelberg United on 30 January at Bob Jane Stadium.

Wednesday, 12 January 2005 11:13 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne have gone down for the third time in consecutive pre-season friendlies losing to the reigning VPL champions the Bulleen Zebras by 3 goals to nil.

An overall dour game saw South coach John Anastasiadis persist with a line-up missing key players Ante Kovacevic and new South signing Kostas Salapasidis.

Using 9 players who started against Oakleigh, Anastasiadis gave a chance to a couple of trialists who made up the rest of the eleven.

The game started in a somewhat lazy manner, both teams failed to assert any sort of dominance with Bulleen happy to sit back and let South knock the ball around. Chances were not being created with both sets of goalkeepers having little work to do.

South did manage to create one memorable chance in the first half when right winger Ryan Dinse played through Vaughn Coveny who with only the keeper to beat appeared to have managed to sneak it under ex-South custodian Michael Theoklitos only for the latter to get a hand on it and hence prevent it from crossing over the line.

The 2nd half saw South with the greater possession but ultimately the experience of the VPL champions proved to be the difference.

Bulleen got their first near the start of the second stanza when an attack from the right was whipped across the South box with an incoming Zebras player on hand to easily tuck in on the back post past a stranded Dean Anastasiadis.

South almost immediately replied when they won a penalty soon after going behind. Up stepped Coveny who saw his shot brilliantly saved by master shot-stopper Michael Theoklitos who palmed away after diving to his right.

Bulleen got their second in a similar manner to their first. A ball from the right eluded the entire South defence with a fast tracking Bulleen player on hand to calmly finish from an acute – though very close to goal – angle into the roof of the South net.

With South continuing to have more of the ball young South midfielder Bill Nastioulas almost conjured a goal out of nothing. With his back to goal and just outside the box, Natsioulas flicked the bobbling ball up and in one sweet motion unleashed a well placed low right-foot volley that Theoklitos did well to keep out.

The game was nearing its climax when Bulleen nabbed a third. A comical error from South’s replacement keeper saw him come out to either catch or punch a high ball. He failed to make contact and collided into a team-mates back, with no time to recover, the ball fell to a lurking Bulleen player who with the easiest of tasks slammed home for the final goal of the evening.

Friday, 7 January 2005 9:00 PM

South Melbourne FC are pleased to announce the signing of former Olyroo Kosta Salapasidis for the upcoming 2005 VPL season.

The 26 year old Adelaide native will be a vital cog in SMFC’s midfield, with his attacking flair sure to excite the Bob Jane Stadium faithful this season.

“I’m ecstatic I joined a proud club like South Melbourne which I supported as a boy, the same team my father won a championship with in the 1960’s” says the former Parramatta Power, Wollongong and Adelaide City star. He also noted that “the club offers a brilliant environment to continue my playing career with its football set-up and I am excited about our first match against arch rivals Heidelberg later this month”.

Apart from a distinguished NSL career of 17 goals in 116 games, Salapasidis has enjoyed stints at clubs in Greece, Switzerland and Spain as well as playing an integral part of past Young Socceroos and Olyroo line ups.

SMFC coach John Anastasiadis is delighted at the club’s latest signing. “The experience and attacking penetration that Kosta brings is exactly what we were looking for” says Anastasiadis, “he has an excellent football pedigree having spent time abroad and in the national set up at youth level and we trust he will add another dimension to the sides attacking options.”

Salapasidis will commence training immediately and expects to be in full flight for the club’s opening VPL match against Heidelberg United on January 30 at BJS.

Wednesday, 5 January 2005 11:31 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South have completed their second serious pre-season hit-out against fellow VPL opposition going down to the Oakleigh Cannons by 2 goals to 1 at Jack Edwards Reserve, Oakleigh.

The Albert Park based club can consider themselves unlucky to go down after dominating possession and creating more chances throughout the encounter.

Selection wise, South fielded an almost exact replica of their first 11 against Essendon with the exception of exciting Scottish winger Ryan Dinse who came in on the left wing. Defensively South started with veteran custodian Dean Anastasiadis between the sticks, Tsonis, Tsirtsakis, O’Dor at the back with a young trialist playing as left wingback. In the centre of the park, Bill Nastsioulas and Evan Karavitis were responsible for South’s engine room, with Dinse and Koutsoupias on the left and right wings respectively. Up front, Kiwi striker Vaugh Coveny led the line along with Jesse Krncevic.

South began the game the quicker to settle, knocking it around quite confidently, the Lakeside based club created their first chance when a Koutsoupias centre was met by the rising Krncevic who did very well to outjump his marker and head over.

Ryan Dinse was enjoying a very solid game on the left wing, looking extremely sharp and with quick feet, the Scotsman was causing the Cannons defence all sorts of problems. Then somewhat against the run of play, Oakleigh broke forward, a decent shot was hit on target with Anastasiadis saving well, only for the oncoming ex-South midfielder George Goutzioulis to tuck home the rebound.

To South’s credit they didn’t let this setback lower their approach. Karavitis in particular was continuing to show promise in the centre of the park and in general South’s passing game was extremely attractive to watch. Late in the first half South had a goal disallowed. Koutsoupias had sent in a great ball from a right sided free kick, the ball seemed to evade everyone with South big-man Arthur Tsonis nipping in at the back post to slot home. South’s celebrations were cut short after the goal was flagged back for what must’ve been an infringement in the air.

Ryan Dinse should’ve capped off a superb first half display by capitalising on an Oakleigh defensive error which left him one-on-one with a vastly out of position Oakleigh keeper. With the ball bouncing, Dinse rushed his chip and sent his attempt well over.

After weathering the storm, Oakleigh once again went for a foray into South’s defensive half and came up with their second of the night. Ex-South defender Nick Tolios unleashed a tremendous 25 yard volley that was dipping ferociously under the crossbar only for a fully stretched Anastasiadis to fingertip onto the woodwork with once again an oncoming Oakleigh player in the right place at the right time to tuck home.

South went into the change rooms at half time upbeat with their positive performance but no doubt somewhat disheartened with that lack of a tiny bit of luck which saw them behind on the scoresheet.

The 2nd half was a somewhat tighter affair but once again South had the lion-share of possession.

Midway through the second stanza Koutsoupias was extremely unfortunate to not be given a penalty. Facing his direct marker down the right, Koutsoupia’s quick feet left his marker for dead drawing clear contact inside the box. Somewhat unexplainably the referee waved play on with luck once again evading South.

To Oakleigh’s credit they were unfortunate not to nab a third when – late in the contest – they forced a superb save from South’s second string keeper who was brought on at half time in the place of Anastasiadis. The South keeper managed at full stretch to turn the ball past his right-hand upright and out for a corner.

With the game nearing its finale, South had another chance go begging. Karavatis found the ball at his feet on the right hand side. He looked up and quickly spotted the darting Dinse making a superbly disguised run in behind the Oakleigh defence. Karavitis sent a superb ball over the top and with only the keeper to beat, the Oakleigh custodian did well to spread himself and hence smother the winger’s effort.

The final whistle was moments away when South finally got some reward for their encouraging display. Vaughn Coveny was played in behind the Oakleigh defence after a superb through ball by the South midfield. With plenty of NSL goals to his name, the Kiwi speedster took the ball in his stride, entered the Oakleigh area and crashed his shot comfortably past the helpless Oakleigh keeper.

Thursday, 30 December 2004 10:18 PM

Thursday, 30 December 2004 10:17 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

(Please be aware some corrections where made as at 31/12/2004 1.30pm)

South kicked off their 04/05 pre-season campaign with an unlucky 0-1 defeat in the somewhat unfamiliar surroundings of the Calabria club in Brunswick West.

The game served as the first serious pre-season hit-out against fellow VPL opposition for the Albert Park based club.

With the majority of the squad assembled South Coach John Anastasiadis was given the opportunity to have a thorough, yet preliminary look at his playing stocks.

Familiar faces from the old NSL that were present in the /starting line-up included GK Dean Anastasiadis, winger and ex-Melbourne Knights player Bill Natsioulas as well as South/ war horse Vaughn Coveny who along with Jesse Krncevic was in charge of leading the line. Not to be outdone, Essendon also fielded two South old boys in the form of Steve Iosifidis and Michael Curcija.

Both teams took a sufficient amount of time in adjusting to the pace of the game, in fact during the first 10-15 minutes clear cut openings were no where to be seen.

The lull of goalmouth action came to an end when midway through the first half Jesse Krncevic was played in behind the Essendon defence and with only the keeper to beat, the Essendon keeper positioned himself well and hence blocked the ensuing shot on goal.

With little to no spark present in the game, South did have one overwhelming positive. The form of ex-Whittlesea Stallions winger/striker Peter Koutsoupias was a clear eye opener. With genuine pace down the wing, a strong build, quick feet and a powerful shot, Koutsoupias was proving to be a handful for the Essendon defence. His first half strike outside the box from the left produced a solid save from the Essendon keeper.

VIS graduate Evan Karavitis was also having a solid game in the centre of the park, sitting slightly in a defensive midfield position he looked particularly sharp on the ball, with good strength and quickness. The Lakeside club were also quite assured at the back, with Arthur Tsonis, Arthur Tsirtsakis and Steven O’Dor managing to easily repel any Essendon threat.

The second half saw the introduction of Tex Apostolikas where he went up front in place of Coveny. Apostolikas caught the eye almost immediately with a nice run at the Essendon defence which resulted in a decent shot. The second stanza also saw Natsioulas get into the game and start looking a genuine threat. On a couple of occasions he managed to go past his direct marker and whip in a ball, unfortunately for South no-one could meet the crosses, but the signs were no doubt positive.

Towards the end of the second half South had a goal disallowed after excellent work down the right wing by Koutsoupias resulted in a goal mouth scramble that eventually fell to Krncevic who tucked it away from 6 yards only to see the goal pulled up for what appeared to be either an infringement or offside.

After clearly winning honours, South succumbed to a very late sucker punch. Essendon managed to quickly break and get the ball to ex-South striker Michael Curcija’s feet in the box, Curcija calmly laid it off, and after one more pass an Essendon player was left with a clear shot on goal from 12 yards out, his shot was scuffed but still managed to beat South’s replacement keeper – a substitute for Dean Anastasiadis at the break – who was wrong footed by the mis-hit.

So all in all, a decent first hit-out for South, positives included the form of young guns Koutsoupias, Natsioulas, Apostolikas and Karavitis.

Wednesday, 29 December 2004 5:33 PM

South Melbourne FC is looking for proven food operators/caterers to undertake the operation of the Social Club kitchen.

The successful applicant will need to have a proven track record in operating and managing food businesses in addition to being able to comply with all necessary food standards.

All proposals to be emailed to Venue Manager at admin@smfc.com.au by the 15 Jan 2005 or call the club on 9645 9797.

Wednesday, 15 December 2004 5:54 PM

Yesterday, on the hallowed turf of Bob Jane Stadium, a young footballer made a huge step towards realising his dreams. 13 year old Alex Tabor was presented with his first individual player sponsorship by Four ‘N Twenty and received some advice from former-South Melbourne Youth player Ahmet Ikiz, who now plies his trade in Turkey.

President of the South Melbourne Junior Soccer Club, Peter Papos, a few friends and his proud parents looked on as Alex was presented with a sponsorship worth $7,500, which has been provided to cover football-related costs such as elite training, equipment and travel expenses.

Alex, who attends Caulfield Grammar, is the youngest player to join the South Melbourne Soccer Training Academy and is a current member of the Victorian Development Squad.

He has recently returned from a successful European trip where he represented Oceania in the Coerver Coaching Oceania Tour. During this tour Alex scored seven goals in six matches, against teams such as the FC Barcelona Youth Academy.

South Melbourne FC President, George Donikian was also on hand to witness the presentation.

“We are very proud that one of the newest members of the South Melbourne family was rewarded for his magnificent efforts during his recent overseas tour”, Donikian said.

“It’s fantastic that Four ‘N Twenty, an iconic Australian food brand, saw it fit to sponsor not only grassroots football, but also a very promising young player by the name of Alex Tabor.”

Everybody at South Melbourne FC would like to congratulate Alex on his achievement and wish him all the best for his future footballing endeavours.

Wednesday, 15 December 2004 10:14 AM

South Melbourne FC have taken a large step to assuring their financial viability for the 2005 VPL season by announcing Rocket Batteries as its major ‘shirt’ sponsor.

“It’s all about building blocks, and slowly we’re climbing them” said South President George Donikian at a sponsors launch at Bob Jane Stadium. “We are about 40% of the way there, and considering where we’ve come from that’s terrific. But there is still more work to do to reach our goals”.

The buzz at the club’s VIP night was positive, with a host of sponsors and partners of the club, both past and present, on hand to celebrate the approaching VPL season.

“We extend our warm thanks to Lou Vetouladithis and Eddy Bithavas at Rocket Batteries for their ongoing support and we are sure we will offer them a fantastic return on their investment”. The club has also announced a string of other sponsors including Doric Marble, Laiki Bank and Limnos Poultry that will help underpin the clubs short and medium term viability.

“OnlySport have come on board as our kit sponsor and have produced an exclusive South Melbourne strip that looks fantastic and we’re hoping to have some merchandise available early in January.”

South Melbourne’s on field stocks are boosted with the confirmation that some of the teams best players of last year are backing up, including Vaughan Coveny, Ante Kovacevic along with favourite sons Paul Trimboli and Con Blatsis. Coach John Anastasiadis is building a team with an experienced ‘spine’, supported by a crop of promising young talent.

And it’s a philosophy of sound defence on which, perhaps surprisingly, the former South striker is building his team. While promising the club’s fans some good entertainment in 2005, Anastasiadis emphasises that he believes good football starts in the back half of the field, drawing a left field analogy. “The great NBA basketball coach Pat Riley used to have teams known for ‘Showtime’ play, but that flash was built on a foundation of rock solid defence – you can expect the same from South Melbourne in 2005”.

Quite literally off-field, Donikian has hinted at some aesthetic changes to the clubs Albert Park home. “We are looking at making some minor changes, like moving seats inside the stadium to create greater comfort and atmosphere for our patrons”. The club has engaged a new grounds keeping team and despite Melbourne’s heavy rain of late, the pitch is set to be in good shape when the blue and whites host cross town rivals Heidelberg United in little over 6 weeks time.

It is shaping as a make or break season for the proud Melbourne club, returning to the VPL after 27 successful years in the NSL, something that the new President is aware of. “It’s a new chapter, and the best part is we get to write it. And we plan to write it as fun, successful and above all positive”.

Tuesday, 7 December 2004 7:00 AM

South Melbourne FC is calling for volunteers to help in ground care, stadium maintenance and general cleaning.

Working Bee:
Date: Saturday 11th December and Sunday 12th December
Time: 10.00 am – 5:00pm (both days)

If you can help in anyway, please be present on either or both of these days. Lunch/refreshments will be provided.

Enquiries:
Club Office 9645 9797 10am-2pm Mon – Fri
George 0419 136 189