South Melbourne FC is pleased to announce the signing of 25 year old central midfielder Dane Milovanovic for the 2015 National Premier League Victoria season.

Milovanovic is a hard working, versatile and commanding midfielder that provides South with extra toughness in the middle of the park. Having spent time at the Australian Institute of Sport alongside Bonel Obradovic, Mathew Theodore and Milos Lujic, Milovanovic should have no problems in settling into life at Lakeside Stadium.

Dane has played for the Australian National Team at Under 17, Under 19 and Under 23 level, as well as for the Schoolboys side. His excellent form was also noticed by A-League sides Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar, who both included Dane as part of their Youth Team squads. In his time with Adelaide United, he won the Youth Player of the Season and spent time with the senior squad.

Milovanovic is a familiar face to NPL Victoria, having previously played for the Oakleigh Cannons, Bentleigh Greens and for the Ballarat Red Devils. He scored a wonderful goal from a free kick against South when South won 1-2 at Morshead Park on Saturday 3 May 2014.

After leaving Ballarat during the mid-season transfer window, Dane spent the second half of 2014 with New Radiant SC in the Maldives, where he was able to play a major role in the club winning the National League and qualifying for the AFC Cup in 2015. Dane has also played professional football for Sun Hei in Hong Kong and Pelita Bandung Raya in Indonesia.

Speaking to smfc.com.au. Football Director Nick Maikousis was pleased with the acquisition. “Dane is a wonderful footballer who will add some class and toughness in the middle of the park for us. With the loss of Steve Hatzikostas for a large part of the 2015 season through injury, it was certainly an area we have looked to strengthen and by signing Dane we believe that we have done so.”

We wish Dane all the best for the 2015 season at South Melbourne FC.

View Dane’s Video Highlights

South Melbourne FC would like to confirm the re-appointment of Saša Kolman as Under 20 Manager for the 2015 PS4 National Premier Leagues season.

Kolman joined the club in 2014 following a highly successful playing and coaching record throughout Europe, with the former hard central defender playing professional football throughout Slovenia and Spain for the large part of his career.

His coaching career also spans throughout Slovenia, where although playing football, he also coached junior players wherever he played as a professional, including home club NK Tolmin.

In his time with the club, Kolman has been able to transform the Under 20 side into a highly competitive outfit, whilst also making it a priority to focus on player development both as a footballer and as young men.

Saša is not only a highly skilled and respected coach but also an individual that can bring the best out of those young men aspiring to one day play in the South Melbourne Senior side. His transformation of the Under 20 squad in the second half of the season is testament to
the qualities that he brings to the club and implements in his day to day coaching.

SMFC Football Director Andrew Mesorouni speaking to smfc.com.au, said “we are delighted to have Saša working with the U20 side again in 2015. He is a fantastic and innovative coach, as well as a wonderful person to have around the club”.

We wish Sasa all the best for 2015 and beyond.

South Melbourne FC is pleased to launch its membership campaign ahead of the 2015 National Premier League Victoria season.

The ‘We are South Melbourne’ slogan will not only be used for the 2015 membership campaign, but will also feature prominently throughout the Club’s marketing strategy for the new season.

South Melbourne FC is an iconic football club, and has played a leading and integral part in the sport, not only in Victoria but Australia wide. Apart from being the inaugural NPL Victoria champions, South Melbourne is Australia’s most successful football club.

For 2015, we have simplified our membership packages and sought feedback through the online survey and social media from our members on what was important to them, and what would add additional value to our membership program.

Members advised they experienced great frustration in relation to the ticketing delays for the Dockerty Cup match against the Melbourne Knights and the NPL Finals match against MetroStars, which were not included in the 2014 membership package. In response to this, 2015 South Melbourne FC members will be given free entry to all HOME Cup fixtures. This includes all Dockerty Cup and FFA Cup, pending qualification to these competitions.

Whether you attend every single match or follow the Club from afar, there are membership packages that allows everyone to connect with South Melbourne FC.

For those who cannot attend matches, simply sign up to the FREE online membership to show your commitment.

It is very important that you support us by purchasing your membership. We want success both on and off the park and we are aiming to increase and broaden our membership base.

Please review the membership booklet to assist you with purchasing your membership.

Please note : Memberships purchased online can be collected from our opening home match of the season against Oakleigh Cannons on Thursday February 19th at Lakeside Stadium. Should you be wishing to purchase a membership as a christmas gift, the South Melbourne membership team will provide you with a personalised voucher for you to print out and give as a present
on Christmas Day.

We are South Melbourne!

South Melbourne FC wishes to confirm that Bojo Jevdjevic will continue in his position as Goalkeeper Coach during the 2015 National Premier League Victoria season.

Bojo Jevdjevic is a name known to many South Melbourne fans as he was an opposition goalkeeper that played for many clubs against South Melbourne both in the National Soccer League and then in the Victorian Premier League. Bojo represented the Gippsland Falcons and Sydney Olympic in the NSL and represented Springvale White Eagles, Heidelberg United and Altona Magic in the VPL. Ironically, he was the man in between the sticks when Gianni De Nittis headed Fernando De Moraes’ cross past him for the winning goal in South Melbourne’s VPL Grand Final win at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday 24 September 2006.

South Melbourne FC Football Director Nick Maikousis was excited to have Jevdjevic continue his stay at Lakeside Stadium. “Bojo is an excellent person to have as part of our coaching structure. He had a
decorated playing career and since then he has shown a fantastic ability to work with the goalkeepers at our Club to improve them. He also provides a unique and energetic personality around the Club.”

We would like to wish Bojo all the best for the 2015 season!

South Melbourne FC would like to announce that Adidas will continue to be the Club’s official apparel partner ahead of the 2015 PS4 National Premier League Victoria season.

South Melbourne FC has worn Adidas apparel since its 50 year anniversary season in 2009 and is excited to once again have the iconic brand associated with the Club.

Speaking to smfc.com.au, South Melbourne director Andrew Mesourouni added “it will be a great thing to see all of our NPL sides wearing Adidas shirts in 2015. I would like to thank Adidas and in particular Jimmy Campbell for their ongoing commitment towards the Club.”

Merchandise will be available on match days from the Club shop and via the official South Melbourne FC website in February 2015.

After training solidly in Albert Park during the last few weeks of pre-season training, South Melbourne FC’s senior and Under 20 squads were sent to Port Melbourne beach for a gruelling session on Monday night.

Senior Coach Chris Taylor put the players through their paces in a brutal two hour running session across the sand and in full view of interested onlookers.

There were many players that impressed during the session, with right-back Tim Mala and left-back Brad Norton leading the way throughout many of the gut-wrenching drills.

A positive sign for all South fans was the appearance of injured midfielder Stephen Hatzikostas, who was encouraging his peers at every occasion and having a laugh with the small South contingent watching on. Although ‘Hatz’ will be missing for a large part of 2015 due to injury, he is on track to hopefully return playing before the finals series.

South Melbourne FC will be playing numerous friendly matches from early January in preparation for the Round 1 National Premier League Victoria clash against the Oakleigh Cannons. Details of these matches will be posted on www.smfc.com.auand via our social media channels when the information comes to hand.

To view the full photo gallery of the beach session, click on the thumbnails below

South Melbourne FC is saddened at the news that Georgios Samaras has passed away at the age of 91.

Mr Samaras was a prominent member of the Victorian Greek Community in the 1950s and 1960s. Following the merger of Yarra Park, South Melbourne United and Hellenic, he contributed in establishing the newly-formed South Melbourne Hellas in becoming a powerhouse of Victorian football in the 1960s.

Mr Samaras’ son Ioannis (John) Samaras played for OFI Crete, Panathinaikos and the Greek national side throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Ioannis fulfilled a childhood dream when he returned to Melbourne to play one match for South Melbourne FC as a guest player on 6 June 1988. On that day, he scored a goal as South Melbourne defeated Sydney Olympic 2-1 at Middle Park.

Ioannis’ son Georgios (named after his grandfather) is a current Greek international player and plays his club football for West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League. On 24 June this year, he scored a penalty in the 93rd minute to beat the Ivory Coast 2-1 and send Greece through to the Round of 16 for the first time in the country’s history.

South Melbourne FC sends its condolences to the Samaras family in this very difficult time.

On the evening of Saturday 28 July 2012, South Melbourne FC was losing 2-1 away against the Southern Stars deep into normal time at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex. The possibility of playing finals football seemed to be slipping away from South, however within the space of a couple of minutes, the season seemed reinvigorated. Steve Burton equalised in the 91st minute before South youth product Nick Jacobs headed the ball into the net in the 94th minute to seal a 2-3 win for South and cause scenes of delirium amongst the travelling supporters.

Although only 17 at the time, Jacobs was in the South Melbourne senior squad and was always eventually going to get regular playing time in the seniors as he got older. Unfortunately though, his match-winning effort against Southern Stars would be his seventh and final match for the Club after he badly injured his leg the following week during a school sports competition. After a nightmare eighteen months that included many unsuccessful surgeries, a frustrated Jacobs was forced to reluctantly retire from the game that he loved and opted to focus on his academic future and life away from football.

Speaking exclusively to smfc.com.au, Jacobs outlined the battle he went through trying to get back onto the park for South Melbourne. “The scope of the injuries I had sustained over the two seasons meant that I had undergone five surgeries on the same ankle and foot. I found that I was unable to train or compete at the level that I desired, so I decided to retire from football” he said.

After taking a break from all forms of sport for six months, Jacobs then began thinking about ways to get back into playing competitive sport whilst also building on the academic side of his life. A left-field option he eventually decided to explore was playing as a College Punter in the United States of America. “I had heard about some boys going to the USA to play College football, so I contacted and attended a session with ProKick Australia that was run by Nathan Chapman and John Smith. They had previously placed a steady stream of Australians into top line Division 1 College’s all over the United States, so I thought I would have a chance. After a six month training period with Prokick, I subsequently received a four-year scholarship offer from the University of Memphis, which covered all costs and every detail of my day to day life.”

Since July this year, Jacobs has been in the USA playing an integral part in the Memphis Tigers’ season, where the side won a share of the American Conference title. It was the first time that Memphis had won the title since the 1971 season.

Playing in front of an average home crowd of just over 40,000 people each week, Jacobs has quickly found a new home in Memphis and will be a part of the side that will take on BYU in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl on Monday 22 December. The match is expected to be shown live on ESPN around the globe, including in Australia.

Nick has played twelve matches since breaking into the Memphis first team and has impressed many football experts with his form early in his career. A versatile punter who can also be used as a kicker due to his football background, Jacobs has made 16 punts at the top level, gaining 531 yards for his side.

Jacobs is naturally excited about what the future holds for him in the USA. “It has been an amazing experience so far. Twelve months ago it would have been hard to believe that I would be playing against the famous UCLA at the iconic Rose Bowl in Los Angeles and Ole Miss where the crowds were both 75,000. My short-term aim is to complete my degree here in the USA and travel around as much as possible. In terms of playing American football in the future, I will keep trying my best and see where that takes me, however so far it has been like a dream.”

The entire South Melbourne FC family wishes Nick all the best as he continues to pursue a new and exciting dream in the United States following his sad retirement from football. We hope that we can see him playing in for a NFL franchise one day.

South Melbourne FC is in mourning after learning that its first ever coach in 1960, Mr Christos Georgoussis, passed away on the night of Tuesday 2 December 2014.

Mr Chris Georgoussis was a star for Greek club Iraklis in the 1950s and was recognised not only as a legend of that club but also as a member of the Iraklis Team of the Century. His excellent playing career for Iraklis prompted an invitation to play for the Greek national side, however injury sadly prohibited his progress at international level.

Mr Georgoussis then made his way to Melbourne, where South Melbourne United, Yarra Park and Hellenic had merged to form South Melbourne Hellas in 1959. Mr Georgoussis was appointed as player-coach for South Melbourne Hellas’ first ever season of competition in the 1960 Victorian Metropolitan Division One North competition. This was the division below the old Victorian State League (which became the Victorian Premier League and is now known as NPL Victoria).

South Melbourne Hellas statistically enjoyed its best League season on record in that first year of 1960, winning 17 and drawing one of their 18 League matches. This easily won them promotion into the 1961 Victorian State League as League Champions and gave Mr Georgoussis an undefeated record as coach. Only Mick Watson in 1982 (albeit he only coached four games for two wins and two draws) can join Mr Georgoussis in being officially undefeated as a South Melbourne coach throughout the Club’s history. In 1961, Mr Georgoussis stepped down as South Melbourne coach but continued to play under Len Young and then Manny Poulakakis, who replaced Young during the State League season.

Although he was only at South Melbourne for two seasons, Mr Georgoussis had a profound impact on the Club and was behind the move to bring other great players over from Greece. He recommended to the committee of the time (which included the great Theo Marmaras) that players such as goalkeeper George Karpouzas (1960-1963), Jordan Ieremiadis (1960-1964), George Papadopoulos (1960-1966) and John Margaritis (also known as “Yianellos”, 1961-1967) come to Melbourne to play for South Melbourne. Those players – along with many others – combined to make South Melbourne a Victorian powerhouse in the 1960s, winning Victorian State League Championships in 1962, 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Mr Georgoussis is survived by his wife Katina, his family Steve Georgoussis, Greg and Jeannie Daglis and his grandchildren Nicholas, Christopher and Angelique.

Current South Melbourne FC President, Leo Athanasakis, expressed his deepest condolences to the Georgoussis family. “Everyone at the Club is very saddened to learn of Mr Christos Georgoussis’ passing. We have lost a man that was an enormous influence during the earliest days of South Melbourne in 1960. Mr Georgoussis was the man who guided our Club from Division One into the old State League on the first attempt and he helped bring players to the Club that guided us to four Victorian State League Championships throughout the 1960s. We are deeply indebted to Mr Georgoussis for all that he did for our great Club.”

The entire South Melbourne FC family extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr Christos Georgoussis.

Picture 1: South Melbourne Hellas players at the old South Melbourne cricket ground, 1960.

Back Row: George Papadopoulos, Jordan Ieremiadis, Leo Anezakis (Team Manager), Alekos Nanos, Christos Georgoussis.
Front Row: Stefanos Fortomanos.

Picture 2: South Melbourne Hellas players at the old Olympic Park, 1960

Back Row: Antonis Hatzieleftheriou, Alekos Nanos, ???, Chris Picoulas, Antonis Karagiannis, ???, Alexandros Malaxos, Bill Kourkoulakos, John Hatzigeorgiou, Harry Vamvakas (GK), Christos Georgoussis (Coach).
Front Row: George Karpouzas (GK), Stefanos Fortomanos, George Papadopoulos.

South Melbourne FC is delighted to announce the renewal of its partnership with AIS Insurance, with its logo proudly featuring on the front of the playing shorts for the 2015 National Premier League Victoria season.

The company was founded in October 1990 by Brendon Davis as a one-person business specialising in insuring all forms of business and commercial risks. AIS initially operated from leased premises in Burwood, and in June 1991, AIS moved to South Melbourne where it has been based ever since. The organisation has steadily grown to become the leading autonomous Victorian based Insurance Broker. Clients work closely with AIS Insurance Brokers, knowing they receive superior advice and that they will recommend the insurance program and insurer that provide the best protection for their business, rather than an insurer or option which offers an incentive to AIS.

AIS Insurance negotiate specific corporate and commercial insurance placement for clients in a variety of industry classifications and also niche products developed for special client groups. AIS Insurance has several specialist teams including: Property and Construction Team, Professional Indemnity and Directors Liability, Workers Compensation and Workcover, and Claims Management.

AIS have over 30 staff with in house specialists in most general insurance disciplines. The organisation is one of the few Victorian Brokers admitted as coverholders at Lloyds of London since 1994.

Brendon Davis, founder of AIS Insurance, has been a generous financial contributor to South Melbourne FC through event and signage sponsorship, purchasing players at player auctions, and general assistance over the years. Brendon commenced sponsoring South Melbourne FC in the 1997/98 National Soccer League season, and was also awarded the Sam Papasavas Award for his contribution to the Club in 2006.

SMFC General Manager Peter Kokotis told smfc.com.au “we once again are proud to announce AIS Insurance as a commercial partner in 2015. This culminates in 19 years of ongoing support from Brendon and we are very appreciative to have strong South people in our family like him. On the commercial side, Brendon has increased his investment in the partnership, and this is indicative of the growing value our commercial partners are experiencing over recent years”.

Picture: Brendon Davis of AIS Insurance celebrates the 2014 NPL Victoria Championship with his son Josh (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)