Category: News

South Melbourne FC is proud to announce the re-commitment of Veale Partners as a Platinum Partner ahead of the 2016 season.

Like SMFC, Veale Partners has over 50 years of history. It is a three-partner medium sized accountancy firm that works hard to achieve the pinnacle in business and personal objectives for its clients.

Veale Partners was a proud sponsor of the SMFC Juniors for a few seasons before also sponsoring the Senior Men’s team as a Corporate Partner in 2015. This season, the Veale Partners logo will feature on the playing shorts of all SMFC players, from the Senior Men’s and Women’s teams right down to the Juniors.

Mario Vinaccia of Veale Partners spoke with smfc.com.au about his firm re-committing its partnership with SMFC in 2016. “We at Veale Partners are extremely happy to be involved with a club that has a rich history and promising future. We recognise the values portrayed by SMFC in developing young players for the future of the game which is strongly aligned with the values we hold true in developing our young professionals and team members alike.
We look forward to a great season ahead.”

South Melbourne FC is extremely excited to formally launch our new playing strips for the 2016 National Premier League season.

The playing strips have been produced by our Platinum Partner BLK Sport, who signed a three-year deal late last year to be the official SMFC apparel supplier for all of our registered teams.

In 2016, BLK Sport will provide playing gear to our Senior Men’s and Women’s sides, plus our entire Youth set up. The new playing apparel has been designed by BLK to combine a blend of our traditional elements and colours, whilst also having a modern and fresh feel.

After consulting some of our playing legends from the 1960s, we decided to pay tribute to that era – particularly to the late Takis Mantarakis – by adding hooped socks to our home kit. Hooped socks were worn as part of our home strip during the early 1960s and will be worn in 2016 to give us a new unique look compared to other NPL clubs.

Our entire merchandise range will be available for purchase through BLK’s custom-built website in the coming days, as well as on match days at Lakeside Stadium.

Watch the launch video

South Melbourne FC is excited to announce the return of the 2015 SMFC PS4 NPL Tipping Competition.

Prizes for the top three lucky winners include:

First Prize:
SMFC soccer ball signed by the 2016 Senior Squad

Second Prize:
2017 Adult Membership

Third Prize:
2 tickets to the 2017 SMFC Jersey Presentation Night

Its easy to enter, and lots of fun. In each round you will tip for a home win, draw, or away win. You will get 1 point for a correct win or 1 point for a correct draw. The current round will close 1 hour before the first game of each round is to be played. If you forget to submit your tips in for a round, you will get the lowest score of the round minus 1 point. If you start late, you will be allocated the average points of the competition.

To enter the tipping competition, please go to http://tipping.smfc.com.au/

South Melbourne FC would like to confirm the signings of Matthew Millar from Melbourne City and Philzgerald M’baka from Getafe in Spain.

Millar has joined the club following a season at Melbourne City, with the 18 year old utility playing many different roles in their Youth team. He made his debut for the Melbourne City A-League side in 2015 and scored a powerful header in their FFA Cup match against Perth Glory.

A former Australian youth international, Millar will be a midfield asset for Chris Taylor’s side, both in the middle and the right-hand side of the park.

Phitzgerald M’baka joins the club from Spanish La Liga side Getafe.

Born in France, the 23-year-old left-footed attacking midfielder arrives at Lakeside Stadium having come through the Paris Saint Germain academy. M’baka represented France at Youth level before being chosen to play for his native Congo in the 2017 African Nations Qualifying Campaign.

Football Director Nicholas Maikousis is confident that the new additions will add something extra to the squad. “I want to welcome both of these lads to our club. Matty Millar is a player we have had an eye on for the past few seasons and we believe he will fit in nicely with our squad. Philzgerald is a raw talent and we hope that he can translate his youth form in Europe to the NPL Victoria and other competitions that we feature in this season.”

We welcome both players to our club and wish them the best for 2016.

South Melbourne FC is delighted to announce that NUGAS Victoria will be a Community Partner in 2016.

NUGAS Victoria (National Union of Greek-Australian Students) is a non-for-profit organisation established to promote Greek community, culture and education in Victoria. As its name suggests, NUGAS Victoria has been very active in Victorian tertiary institutions and has worked hard to ensure that both modern and ancient Greek continues to be taught to students. Through its many members and volunteers, NUGAS Victoria also provides support to other community groups such as aged care.

As part of its partnership with SMFC, each member of NUGAS Victoria will receive the opportunity to register for a three match pass so that they can support the Senior Men’s and Women’s teams at Lakeside Stadium this season. SMFC will join NUGAS Victoria in having a presence at the 2016 Antipodes Festival (27-28 February) and will work with its new Community Partner on various other projects.

SMFC Operations Manager George Kouroumalis welcomed the new partnership. “NUGAS Victoria has been around for many years and i remember being a member myself when i was at university. They have since done a fantastic job working within the community and especially with engaging young people at tertiary institutions. We look forward to working with NUGAS Victoria this year.”

Nugas Victoria President Tass Sgardelis was also excited about the partnership. “We are delighted to be working with South Melbourne F.C. this year. We are always looking for ways in which we can provide better value for our members, and we’re excited to build this partnership with such a historically and culturally significant club in our community.”

South Melbourne FC is excited to announce Goody’s Burger House as a new Gold Partner for the 2016 season.

Goody’s has over 160 restaurants, including over 140 throughout Greece and Cyprus. Goody’s are expanding their operations to Melbourne in 2016 and will open their first unique store in the CBD, with the opening date set for April this year.

With a fully recharged atmosphere and the menu of an authentic burger house, Goody’s Burger House will be looking to replicate its European success and become the new benchmark in fast casual dining in Melbourne.

Speaking with smfc.com.au, Goody’s spokesmen George Iliopoulos & Con Tangalakis were excited with the new partnership. “South Melbourne is an iconic brand in Australian football and we immediately wanted to link Goody’s in Australia with such a large club. We are extremely excited to be part of the South family in 2016 and we look forward to working with the club on various initiatives throughout the season.”

Also speaking to smfc.com.au, SMFC Operations Manager George Kouroumalis echoed the excitement. “For many of us that have travelled to Europe, the Goody’s brand and concept is something familiar with us all and as a club we are excited to team up with the Australian arm of this wonderful organisation. We have some wonderful fan based initiatives that we will roll out in 2016, allowing for all of our supporters to also enjoy the Goody’s experience here in Australia. We thank George Illiopoulos and Con Tangalakis for their support.”

South Melbourne is pleased to announce its fifth signing of the summer, with Amadu Koroma joining the squad for the 2016 season.

The 24-year-old winger makes his way to Lakeside Stadium off the back of a strong season with Green Gully, in which he made 15 league starts.

While predominantly a midfield player, Koroma is also capable of playing a more advanced role and will add versatility and depth to Chris Taylor’s roster.

The Sierra Leone-born defender initially immigrated with his family to Tasmania where he begun his footballing career with the Glenorchy Knights.

His move to Victoria came in 2011, where he has since enjoyed spells at the Melbourne Knights, St Albans Saints and Port Melbourne.

South Melbourne FC Football Director Nicholas Maikousis spoke to smfc.com.au about our latest acquisition. “Amadu has completed a large part of the pre-season with our team as a trialist and has impressed everyone at the club with his work rate and form throughout our friendly matches.”

We welcome Amadu to the South Melbourne family and wish him the best for the upcoming season.

South Melbourne FC would like to confirm the release of Jason Hicks, with both parties mutually terminating his contract with immediate effect.

Since the termination, Jason has since joined he Melbourne Knights.

With four days remaining in the transfer window, the move allows the club to have more flexibility before the deadline.

Stay tuned to our website and social media pages for the latest news as it comes to hand.

We wish Jason all the best for 2016 and beyond.

South Melbourne FC is excited to announce the renewal of its partnership with Kieser Training this season, with Kieser becoming a Platinum Partner and the club’s primary supplier of medical services in 2016.

As part of the arrangement, Kieser will feature on the back of the SMFC playing shorts for a third consecutive season. This extends to all of our teams in 2016, including the Senior Men’s and Women’s teams.

Kieser Training is a network of Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation, Strength and Conditioning centres that focus on delivering the best possible outcomes for clients. Their programs provide long-term solutions to musculoskeletal problems and enhance day-to-day performance and quality of life. As part of its partnership with SMFC, Kieser Training will be working with the Senior teams in the three key areas being prevention, physiotherapy and performance.

SMFC Director of Corporate Sales Nicholas Maikousis was pleased with the extension of the partnership. “Kieser Training have been a wonderful and integral member of the SMFC family for the past two seasons and I am personally delighted that they have re-committed in 2016. Injury prevention and rehabilitation are very important aspects of football, so it is vital that someone like Kieser is able to continually treat and care for our players.”

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.

South Melbourne FC is pleased to confirm Chris Marshall as our new Senior Football Advisor in 2016.

Over the past few seasons, Marshall has assisted Senior Coach Chris Taylor in a football performance role throughout training sessions and match days. He will continue this role in 2016 in addition to the newly created position.

Speaking with smfc.com.au, SMFC Senior Coach Chris Taylor was pleased with Marshall’s expanded role at the club. “Chris has been a vital member of the team over the past few seasons and has played his part in our on-field successes, we are therefore very pleased that he is staying with us and extending his duties to be more “hands on” in 2016. He has a wealth of football knowledge both in Australia and Europe and the senior coaching staff and playing squad look forward to working with Chris as part of our team again this season.”

We wish Chris all the best in his new role.