Evaporating History

Back in 2001 Roy Hay put out this appeal for old issues of Soccer News to aid in football research. It took up about an eighth of a page in Australian and British Soccer Weekly. I think I ended up going to the Oakleigh Public Library to makes photocopies (Pre-Officeworks days) of two issues that I had that he didn't to send to him. His collection can now be found at the MCC Library. I don't think the State Library would microfilm a collection which was so far from being complete.

What staggers, and infuriates, me is eighteen years later no governing body of the game has made any sort of concerted effort to make a similar appeal to redress the vanishing history of our game in this country. In these years how many more old newspapers, programmes, photos and yearbooks have ended up in landfill, many lost forever. We have competition histories that are incomplete and the resources to try and remedy that continue to disappear.

It makes me think of Dr Ian Syson's The Game That Never Happened. We have history rotting away, and only have ourselves to blame. Six paragraphs in ABSW in 2001, in one issue. Today we have social media. The FFA twitter account has 150,000 followers, Football Victoria over 11,000. There is a far greater platform now to appeal for historical documents by these well-staffed organisations, yet there has been absolutely nothing done. If they truly loved the game, these people would be ashamed.

                                      (Click on image to enlarge)

Musings on Recent Research

As steady work continues on the Statistical History, frustration at years of poor record keeping continues to grow.

A fortnight ago, I visited the State Library to check out some old VSF Annual Reports they had retrieved from storage for me. Unfortunately rather than ordering all the years I'd requested all I got was that for 2000, and I had to re-order the others and go back a week later.

The good news was that in the 2002 Annual Report I was able to find the missing State and Provisional League Best and Fairest Award winners. As well as the missing reserves league champions for that year. The 2000 Annual Report had already given me the missing reserves league champions for that season, with full final tables no less!

The Annual Reports generally have reports from the President, CEO etc at the front, a Roll of Honour of past champions and award winners in the middle along with lists of that season's award winners and champions plus state team achievements. At the end are financial reports.

What I found odd was that the 2000 Report had all final tables, yet the 2002 one didn't. Given that the VSF had ceased producing a Yearbook in 2000, I would have thought it may have been the other way around. With no Yearbook to record the final tables in, they should have been in the Annual Report. A lack of foresight from those at the VSF at the time, who obviously assumed their results system would still be operational and functional in the years to come rather than dead and holding so much data in it's grave.

The foundation of my research began with the Rolls of Honour in the mid-1990's VSF Yearbooks. I added to this by visits to the State Library to check out the major daily newspapers and The Sporting Globe on microfilm in the Newspaper Reading Room. Then came the internet and OzFootball and later Socceraust. Trove then made going through old newspapers so much better, with a search function that covered what winding through whole newspapers on microfilm in a darkened room may have missed.

So when I look at the Roll of Honour in the 2000 VSF Annual Report, I can't help but be a little angry.

                                                     
                                                       (Click on image to enlarge)

Look at that list of PREMIER LEAGUE RESERVES CHAMPIONS. 1983 and then nothing until 1972. 1970 and then nothing until 1961 and then nothing before that time. Now 1973-1982 is hardly ancient history. How come no-one with any sway was able to say that this was not good enough and try and improve this sad neglect of history? A bit like the version of the FFA Hall of Fame on their website, can such an embarrassing record of history really be labelled a "Roll of Honour"? Where is the honour? All is see is disrespect.

At this point in time I'm one or two years short of being able to extend that lineage all the way back to WWII, and with around 80% of the reserves champions before that also established. The FFV, meanwhile, no longer even bothers to maintain a Roll of Honour, they have in fact gone backwards.

Similarly incomplete was the list of top flight leading goalscorers. Pre-1970 all that was listed was 1969, 1967 and 1963. Wouldn't it be great to see if the current four time consecutive champion, Milos Lujic, was the all-time record holder? I've been able to add 1960, 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1968 to that list, as well as large chunks of 1930-1941. Looks like the great Frank McIver was top scorer on 5 or 6 occasions, so Millsy will need to keep on banging them in for some time to come to catch up.

Just to put the lack of records in the 1960's and 1970's into perspective, I've been able to complete a record of the "Local International" played between 1908 and 1937. Complete, and almost with line-ups, the major issue in that regard being the newspapers of the day only using surnames (no initials) and possible various spelling differences actually being the same person needing to be clarified. Once that's worked through, I'll be able to list everyone who was "capped" in these games. The data is there though.

As it is, the local international was contested annually bar for some years during WWI and 1910 when it was held twice (possibly because the 1-1 draw in the first game was an unsatisfactory result). Some reports state it began in 1909 with the first organised league, but there was a contest in 1908 that I've included in the records. There are also selected teams for the 1884-1886 versions, but for some reason no results found for those games.

The home of the local international was the Fitzroy Cricket Ground, which held 12 contests. The Motordrome was used 4 times, as was it's successor Olympic Park. The fields at Middle Park were utilised 3 times, with the Exhibition Oval used twice and a single event held at East Melbourne Cricket Ground.

In the end, honours were even. Scotland had 11 wins, England had 11 wins and there were 4 draws. The Scots did inflict some heavy defeats on their foe though, with the goal difference being 64-50 in their favour.

J.Maxwell (of Windsor, and later Prahran City) was England's greatest ever scorer with 7 goals. P.Dowker got 5 with G.Brown, Percy Lewis, Hawkes and Frank McIver all getting 3. Jock Baxter led the way for Scotland, netting 9 times. Johnnie Johnstone got 7 with Thompson on 4 and Jim Lurton with 3 next best.

From 1970's Soccer Action I see that when the Bill Fleming Medal was run by the press, independent of the VSF and the Rothmans/Gold Medal, there were also press awards for Under 21 VSL Player of the Year and VSL Coach of the Year. I will add these winners to the lineage of their later VPL/NPLV equivalents, as they should be. Maybe in the future the FFV will do the same.

This Year's Draft of the Statistical History

Last week I uploaded a pdf version of the Statistical History of Victorian Football, which can be downloaded from here:

Statistical History of Victorian Football - Draft 8

I thought I'd explain the layout and content a little. All the final league tables, and scores of Grand Finals, Finals and any games relating to promotion and relegation are on the left of the page. In a column down the right there are details (date, venue, referee, score, scorers and line-ups with substitutions) of top flight Grand Finals and Dockerty Cup Finals. Next will come scores and scorers of any other Cup Finals that year. Finding details like for the Grand Finals and Dockerty Cup Finals for all these games would be impossible, I'd estimate there would be less than 10% of that information available, so I'm just running with score and scorers.

The next information I'm looking to record are the winners of the league best and fairest awards and top goalscorers for each division. Then comes a list of reserves league champions. In the years of the District Leagues I include a list of champions in that league above the list of reserves league champions. To include District League tables would add more pages to the document than is necessary, a line has to be drawn somewhere.

I've only used pictures to fill in gaps where there was no text. The use of pictures has been along these lines: Team shot of league champions or Cup winners. Player pic of best and fairest winners, top goalscorers or member of league championship or Cup winning team. I'm not looking at adding pictures where it would mean adding another page for that year.

At the end, a month or so ago, I've added a National Competitions section using the same format, tables on the left, details on the right. In this section the tables and details on the page may not necessarily be from the same year. In future I'll probably include details of NSL and A-League Grand Finals, though that information is widely available elsewhere.

Another section I'm looking at adding between the Victorian and National sections would be a couple of pages to list non-playing awards like VPL/NPL coach of the year. There I would also like to add a list of the various media awards for the VSL/VPL over the years as issued by Soccer News, Soccer Action, Soccer Star and Australian and British Soccer Weekly.

Since that last draft I've corrected the wrong table being cut and pasted into the box for the First Division in 1969 as well as the scores in the 1984 and 1989 State League Cup Finals.

From what I was seeking here I've found the referee of the 1991 Dockerty Cup Final and the reserves champions of Provisional League Division One South East 2002. The rest still remains unknown. Please share the document with anyone you know who may be able to assist in filling in the gaps. There must be players out there who recall playing in some of those 1980's Cup Finals where only the only record the VSF kept was the name of the winner inscribed on the trophy. There must be old team managers and club secretaries with a collection of VSF Yearbooks or memos from the VSF with final tables (mainly reserves missing now) or their own records of Cup finals. I'm really hoping that someone somewhere has a list of award winners, top scorers and reserves champions for 2002 seeing as the FFV can't open that year's Annual Report.

It would be nice to be able to work out which players have played in the most Dockerty Cup Finals, or had the most wins in it. Referees are people too, it would be nice to know which ones have had the honour of reffing the most Dockerty Cup Finals. Surely every senior and reserve team that won a championship deserves having that feat noted somewhere for posterity? Would anyone expect the AFL to have a gap in it's list of Brownlow Medal winners? Then where are the 2002 State and Provisional League best and fairest winners and top goalscorers?

If we can get most of what I listed in that blog post, I can just make up some of the pre-War stuff and we're finished. Well, I wouldn't do that but a few asterisks could tie things up.

Elitist But Not Elite

In the week FFA Technical Director Eric Abrams was critical of the NPL it's opportune to take a look back how Victoria came to adopt such a flawed version of it.

The part of the Why I've Arrived Where I'm At piece that seems to have struck a chord with many was the passion, dedication and loyalty of those who get deeply involved with a club. While it may have resonated with football people who have been in similar situations, it probably wouldn't be understood by the architects of the FFV's original NPLV model.

That model was an attempt to supplant the existing VPL club structure with a zonal franchise model. The first push in this direction was the old Summer League, which later became the Victorian Champions League. These leagues were only able to get off the ground as junior competitions, with the senior component dropped due to lack of interest in anyone willing to establish and run these teams.

People volunteer at clubs for all sorts of reasons. It may be a link to a particular ethnic community, it may be because they live within a goalkeeper's clearance of the home ground. Some will stay on at a club in various roles after playing, others are drawn by family members being involved. Whatever the reason, most are loyal to their club and will only ever perform the duties they do at one club during their lifetime.

It's an indictment on those running the game at the time that they thought it possible that there'd be a groundswell of people willing to set-up and run new zonal clubs just because they would be part of some kind of "elite" pathway. The lure of being labelled "elite" is not enough to sway your typical club volunteer to shift their loyalties. It may induce a parent looking to give their child's career a "leg-up", but that alone would not secure the numbers and dollars required to get the venture up and running.

The FFV would have preferred to have installed a zonal set-up when introducing the NPLV a few years later, but settled for a system in which existing clubs would be chosen to represent the respective zones. Again it's staggering to believe that supposed football people thought this would be a workable idea.

With the new top tier to be a closed league, the "elite" clubs would sit above subservient "community" clubs in their zone. Even with the obvious issues posed by the ethnic backgrounds of many clubs, it was a concept that would alienate all those not included in the new league. How could you expect clubs that may have been rivals to another for years that they would now have to be a feeder team for that club? That they could no longer aspire to promotion back to the top tier?

So not surprisingly, there was rebellion. Clubs took the FFV to court to have their own version of the NPLV implemented, and the resulting compromise has largely been a disaster. Instead of an actual elite competition we have a watered-down, bloated debacle. Have kids with genuine talent been priced out of the game by the significant fees required to be involved? Will extended seasons involving plenty of travel see others burnt out before they are even ready for senior football?

The compromise saw a two-tier NPL established, to include any club (from the existing VPL and State League Division One) which may have had a grievance at being left out. Regional teams were included, in a manner which has not enhanced their future prosperity. Somehow, after a few years, Nunawading City were added despite having slid down the State League.

Looking at the areas of the regional teams, the first thing one may wonder is how is it that Gippsland could have a team in the NSL but not a spot in a bloated NPLV? Similarly in suburban Melbourne, why not a team for the Frankston/Mornington Peninsula area? That is because of the loyalty factor. In both areas there are several clubs that could make a claim to be number one in the region. This means those involved would prefer to stand by their club, whatever league it plays in, rather than ditch it to be a part of a new representative team. Also, in the case of the La Trobe Valley, officials there were concerned about the financial viability of the venture, fears which were warranted given the issues later faced by some of the regional clubs.

I understand why the FFV felt it needed to add the regional teams upon the league's inception, but feel it has lead to them being lame ducks. Perhaps a better way of introducing them would have been to include them in only the junior competitions to begin with. After three or four years, when hopefully the inaugural Under 16's and Under 18's may be ready for senior football they could then have been added to the second tier. Allow them an extra visa spot to alleviate the issue of being able to attract players from Melbourne. Maybe a mini-tournament amongst themselves in the interim to develop the best older talent. They were included from the beginning to make a statement, but will this prove to be detrimental in the long term?

As it is, the best local players are not necessarily playing for the local country NPL side. The best players can enjoy the game winning more (and earning more) in their local competition than by turning out (with the associated travel) for their local NPL outfit. FC Bendigo became Bendigo City and now Ballarat Red Devils have been replaced with Ballarat City. There is still no La Trobe Valley representation. Have the benefits for these areas being included in the NPL been diminished by the whole thing being poorly implemented?

Elsewhere, the second tier has been particularly lopsided. With no prospect of relegation meaningless games clog the two divisions. Nunawading were introduced and won just one game in two years. Does the paying public want to watch glorified training sessions? Probably not. Luckily junior fees are quite high so that gate takings don't have to fund the whole scheme. Now that promotion/relegation is on the agenda even the Mahoneys Road Philosophers are splashing some cash to attract players.

In terms of best practise for juniors, with the most development coming from the best playing against the best, we have gone from a 12 team Superleague back in the day to 32 teams spread over two divisions. Divided between East and West, clubs only play the teams from the opposite side once a season. So the best team in one division plays the best team in the other once, it's a long way removed from what "Best v Best" really should be. It is so watered down it should be sponsored by Yarra Valley Water not PlayStation 4.

It should not surprise that with the whole concept being poorly executed it is hardly attracting plaudits.

Boo's NPL Review - Week 3 - Nelson Muntz Goes To JL Murphy Reserve

NPL Victoria

Port Melbourne shocked everyone, and inspired a "Let's All Laugh at South Melbourne" Movement, when they beat the next A-League club 4-0 on Friday night. For more, as always, check out South of the Border.

The Finals are still a long way away, and Oakleigh Cannons just can't wait that long to start their choking, so they threw away a 2-0 lead for a second week in a row. This time it was against Bulleen Lions. One day I might do some stats on how many early season home games Oakleigh have had over the years.

Melbourne Knights lost 1-2 at home to Pascoe Vale. Michael Ferrante scored the winner, a champion player and person. Didn't want either team to lose which is why I opted not to go to this game.

North Geelong took the lead with a cracker, but like Ol' Man River Bentleigh Greens just keep on rolling along. The Greens fought back to win 2-1 and their form is ominous.

Heidelberg United went down 0-1 at home to Avondale. Didn't sound like a very exciting game listening to it on FFV Radio.

Not many teams come back from 2-0 down after three minutes. St Albans didn't buck that trend, going on to be smashed 5-0 bu Hume City. Attila Ofli and Liam Boland got braces, and I mean 2 goals apiece not metal in their mouths.

NPL Two East

Friday night saw an improved Richmond draw 1-1 with Springvale White Eagles at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. A clever, quick and curling free-kick from Rudi Saglam gave the home side a deserved lead. With half an hour left Richmond were down to ten men after the assistant referee spotted an infringement from Halil Gur. The White Eagles bundled home an equaliser but the other Eagles were not without their chances in taking full points in an entertaining encounter.

Dandenong City beat Melbourne City Youth 2-0, with a goal in each half. Mate Dugandzic was back in the starting line-up with Ljubo Milicevic having another run off the bench.

On the tenth year anniversary of his five goals in an A-League Grand Final, Archie Thompson couldn't find the net against Eastern Lions. The Lions returned from Murray United with a 2-0 win to maintain an unbeaten start to the season. Did he cop a "Who are ya?" from the travelling Lions faithful?

There was no 8 or 9 or whatever it was last year for Brandon Barnes as Dandenong Thunder defeated Nunawading City (now with added mercenaries) 2-1. Barnes opened the scoring before Nuna equalised before half-time. A cracker from Alon Blumgart after the break gave Thunder the win.

Goulburn Valley Suns and Box Hill United played out a 0-0 draw in Shepparton. It was the third 0-0 draw for United in a row to open the season, and they shall now be dubbed "The Entertainers" in the same ironic way redheads get called Bluey.

NPL Two West

Bendigo City nearly took their first point until a late winner from Moreland City came along. Don't look at sportingpulse results service to find out what minute the goal was, there's fuck all there.

At Epping Stadium the late goal was an equaliser, for Whittlesea Ranges after Brunswick City had taken a fifth minute lead.

Sunshine George Cross beat Werribee City 2-1 in what won't be the last game at Chaplin Reserve.

Moreland Zebras had no trouble scoring again, but leaking a few goals saw them blow good leads to draw 3-3 at home to Melbourne Victory Youth.

Northcote City are looking they will walk this league in (but I stayed up until 1 am thinking Jared Tallent was going to do likewise in Rio, so who am I to say) and continued their winning ways with a 4-1 defeat of Ballarat City. Four points clear after three games, not a bad start.

Overall

It was good to see Andrew Viola back in Richmond colours. Amid the turmoil of 2012-13 the circumstances of his departure was particularly disappointing.

FFV 2017 Media Strategy

Just before Christmas I was sent a link by the FFV to their media team's strategy email and video to NPL clubs for 2017. I was invited to pass comment and blog on the video as I pleased, which I shall now do.

Clubs filming their games is a part of the NPL license agreement, and the FFV will be looking to enforce this more strictly this year. Which is fair enough, but if points deductions ever become part of the punishment for a rules breach in this area, well that will be the end of taking the competition seriously and you won't see me at a game again.

Having been involved at an under-resourced club, it makes me wonder how I'd have gone filming the last ten minutes of the first half when it was time to go to the dressing room. That was when I'd clean up after the Under 21's, pour 30 cups of drink, top up the drinks containers, get some ice bags ready for injuries and generally get set for the half-time break.

Filming games must obviously pose issues for some clubs. Finding reliable volunteers is not easy. Finding reliable volunteers without vested interests is harder still. Would it be right to put pressure on a coach to start little Johnnie in the Under 20's because after three weeks on the bench his father is making noises about not wanting to film games anymore? Of course, you can always pay someone to do it. That only increases costs though, and we know it doesn't take much to get people whinging about that.

The erosion of volunteer culture does concern me. There is now a vicious circle, with high fees leaving people less likely to volunteer. People paying $1500-2000 a season for their children to play probably feel that amount entitles them not to have to do anything. When you start having to pay people for jobs/roles that used to be done by volunteers, the pressure to increase fees will also rise.

It was not that long ago that it was only the coaches, players and physios getting paid at a club. Now it may include team managers, videographers and bar and canteen staff. With crowds declining (and income going with it) it's a worrying trend.

One of the main points of the strategy video is to improve standards of match footage to avoid a park football-look. This includes filming from elevated areas near the half-way line, which are not behind closed windows. Drowning the highlights package in doof doof music is also a no no (YAY!). Not a lot I can disagree with in what they say, other than if they don't want a park football look what is everyone supposed to do regarding goals conceded by Nunawading City?

The FFV website will also be less of a news source and more a resources hub. Now if there are video highlights packages from every game, it does make match reports redundant. The couple of years the FFV had independent match reports from all NPL games will always be fondly recalled though, especially since they contained team line-ups and substitutions that didn't always seem to quite make it onto the Sportingpulse results service.

Amid all the talk of commercial profiles and brands, hopefully the strategy is built around getting more people to games.

Where's The History?

Gr8 meeting & lunch with members of @footballvic Historical Commitee. Important our proud history is continuously celebrated & preserved ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/xbO8a1ByrZ

— Anthony Grima (@anthonygrima) December 7, 2016

Well, where do you start with this? Let's go to the last line "Important our proud history is continuously celebrated & preserved". This is from the organisation that removed the history tab from it's website after it was shown to have contained a few lies.

Let's try a few scenarios to see how well history has been preserved by the FFV.

Mack Heath (no relation to the great Eric) has stepped up to run his local club's website. The history section is pretty flimsy, so he's decided to do some research to flesh it out a bit. He's not sure the few pennants on the clubroom walls are everything the club has won, as there's been a ground change and break-ins over the years. So he heads to the FFV website to go through all the previous final tables over the course of the club's history:

The tables only go back to 2012 and the club was founded well before then.

Can Mack find the final tables for the senior team over the course of it's history on the FFV website? NO

Can Mack find, in the absence of tables, a list of champions for all senior, reserves, women's and junior leagues over the years on the FFV website? NO

Mack asks around and finds out the VSF Yearbook which came out until the year 2000 had all the final tables and award winners in it.

Can Mack find a scanned collection of VSF Yearbooks on the FFV website? NO

Does the FFV have a full collection of VSF Yearbooks in it's possession that Mack can come in and have a look at? NO

Mack discovers that in recent years the information he is seeking is usually found in the FFV Annual Report. This is only available online on the FFV website from 2007 onward though.

Can Mack get this information for between 2001-2006 from the FFV? NO

Jenny Diver is doing a school assignment, and would like to write about her grandfather who she's been told (sadly, he is no longer with us) was a top player in his day and even played for the Victorian state team in games against Manchester United and Roma in the 1960's.

Jenny gets on the FFV website to check out the history of the Victorian state soccer team.

Can Jenny find a list of games played by the Victorian state soccer team? NO

Can Jenny find a list of players "capped" for the Victorian state soccer team and how many games they played? NO

Can Jenny find any footage of the glory days of the Victorian state soccer team on the FFV's Youtube channel? NO

The club Louie Miller is involved with has just had it's home ground renovated by the council. The committee has commissioned him to get a flash looking honours board made for the new clubrooms. He's even been given full list of club Best and Fairest winners over the years from one of the old timers. He would like to add the names of those that have won League Best and Fairest Awards, and League Golden Boots over the years to the honours board.

Louie gets on the FFV website looking for the missing information. Can Louie find a complete list of FFV Player Award winners over the years on the website? NO

Can Louie find a list of League Top Goalscorers since they started to be recorded in the early 1980's anywhere on the FFV website? NO

Lotte Lenya writes for a football website. She's doing a piece on a leading club's new coach, who had a long career playing in the VSL and VPL through the 1980's and 1990's.

Can Lotte get on the FFV's results service to find team line-ups from that era? NO

She can't find a line up to click on his name to bring up his history of which clubs he played for and for how many games. Unlike other leagues and other sports, there is no record of who has played the most games in Victoria's top tier. The FFV frequently changes results service providers, and it seems we are lucky if they bother making sure all the information is correctly added in the present. Maintaining a working database of top tier results and line-ups is not a concern to them.

Some of the above information can be found in a partly complete set of VSF Yearbooks at the MCC Library. That the years between 2001-2006 are not online is appalling given it's hardly ancient history.

The FFV loves putting out propaganda, but until a few of the NO's above can become a YES it needs to stop patting itself on the back and maybe achieve something in regards to preserving history that can be easily accessible to everyone.

Don't take this as an attack on the FFV Historical Committee. A lot of the information missing is stuff the FFV should already have. If the FFV thinks the names of people who have won awards, of clubs that have won championships don't deserve to be recorded there's not much we can do. They just shouldn't expect us to swallow their bullshit comments on their token efforts in preserving history.

Final tables/champions, award winners and state representative honours, these should be the cornerstones we build our history on. I'm not seeing any evidence that this is happening to warrant any boasting. If they are so proud of our history, where is it?

Failing Football Victoria

The end of the local football season has sadly seen Football Federation Victoria's incompetence rise to the fore yet again.

It began with the social media coverage of the annual Gold Medal Night. For some reason, the tweets announcing the winners were 15-20 minutes behind the actual announcements and presentations made on the night. It was another case of club volunteers putting the FFV professionals to shame.

For some inexplicable reason, the winners were announced with pictorial tweets which did not include their names (or that of their club) in either the tweet or the pictures within:

#GMN16 Goalkeepers of the Year#PS4NPLVIC #PS4NPLWVIC pic.twitter.com/6m0y0x8WZb

— PS4 NPL Victoria (@nplvictoria) September 9, 2016

Even if you happen to know every player in the NPLV, NPL2 and NPLVW by sight, who would you say won the NPLW Player's Player of the Year Award?

#GMN16 Player's Player of the Year winners!#PS4NPLVIC #PS4NPLWVIC pic.twitter.com/Z9kBDbCwO0

— PS4 NPL Victoria (@nplvictoria) September 9, 2016

There are two players in the picture, was it a tie? Or is the winner the player on the left, or is it the one on the right? Why the need to be so cryptic? Does someone really need to be told that the major part of the announcements was to actually name the winners?

A recurring theme on this blog has been the lack of due respect the governing bodies of the game have shown even when they try and honour people. A look through the #GMN16tag on Twitter will see no mention of the Hall of Fame inductees from the official accounts on the night. Thankfully there were those willing to congratulate the great Jimmy Armstrong on his honour:

The great Jimmy Armstrong inducted into the FFV Hall of Fame. Hearty applause from Billy Vojtek up front. #GMN16 pic.twitter.com/jjrcgAo6tf

— Ante Jukić (@a_jukic) September 9, 2016

A real pleasure in presenting Victorian Football Legend Jimmy Armstrong into @footballvic Hall of Fame #GMN16

— Nicholas Tsiaras (@nicholastsiaras) September 9, 2016

Sadly the other two inductees on the night were neglected. Two weeks after the event there has yet to be an update to the Hall of Fame page on the FFV website. Is that good enough?

It took almost a full two weeks for the FFV to publish the final vote tallies for the Gold Medals. It was just the final result, not a match by match listing of the votes. Given there are people claiming players listed as ineligible due to suspension actually weren't, does the FFV have something to hide in opting not to publish the votes? Once again, is this good enough? A club can hand out a list of votes for their Best and Fairest at a Presentation Night, why can't the FFV?

More damaging was the shambolic organisation of the NPLV Grand Final at Lakeside Stadium. Huge lines for entry, with not enough ticket booths open. People still unable to get in even as the game approached half-time. Those that managed to get in forced into overfilling the only part of the ground open to them, with the stand on the opposite side to the main grandstand and both ends behind the goals closed.

Half an hour into the game those waiting outside were apparently given free entry, but it wasn't until after half-time that people were able to spread out beyond the packed stand. Embarrassing for the league's showpiece day, and damaging in terms of the bad taste these kinds of things leave in people's mouths. I really feel for anyone who convinced someone who may have been reluctant to go to the game to attend only to be greeted by such chaos. The FFV is supposed to grow the game, I'm not sure how discouraging spectators works in with that ideal.

The weekend after the Grand Final saw various State League Finals, Semi-Finals and Play-Offs, as well at the NPLV Promotion-Relegation Play-Off between North Geelong and Richmond. Is there any chance these games could have been afforded some promotion via articles on the FFV website or the NPLV website? It was only via searching through the menus of the results/fixtures section of the FFV website that I discovered the State League Division Two Grand Final was part of a double header with the NPLV Promotion-Relegation Play-Off at Jack Edwards Reserve, Oakleigh.

Speaking to people at the Grand Final between Altona Magic and Mornington, it was apparent many did not know there was another game afterwards (albeit with a one hour gap allowed for extra-time and possible penalties). Similarly those attending the second game did not know there was an earlier one. The FFV may have mastered relegation, but they have no idea about promotion.

Are crowds something of an inconvenience for the FFV? They certainly were for the "hosts" of the games at Oakleigh. Shortly after the arrival of busloads of North Geelong supporters, the clubrooms were closed for a private function and no food was available for purchase.

Let's paint the picture: It's 6.30 p.m. People have been on a bus or driving in a car for over an hour. They arrive at the game and are told they can't have any food. Should they then miss what is the biggest game of their season to satisfy their hunger, or should they suffer?

I'm on the far side of Jack Edwards Reserve but it looks like there's a Blue Light Disco in the clubrooms. I can see lights! #PS4NPLVIC

— Les Street (@official_lesdog) September 17, 2016

I was taking the piss before but there's actually a birthday party in the clubrooms. Well I'll be. 😟 #PS4NPLVIC pic.twitter.com/gYp86RS1Th

— Les Street (@official_lesdog) September 17, 2016

Food and drink is out of action due to the private function. What a clusterfuck. Punters are furious. #PS4NPLVIC

— Les Street (@official_lesdog) September 17, 2016

Just seen a man bring back some pizzas for his young kids. Well in @footballvic

— Simon Pincic (@simonpincic) September 17, 2016

Is it good enough?

An Update on the Biographies

Several large updates have been made recently in the Biographies section of the blog. The aim is to provide some sort of information on anyone every awarded Life Membership of the State's various governing bodies over the years, be it the Victorian Amateur British Football Association, the Victorian Amateur Soccer Football Association or the Victorian Soccer Federation/Football Federation Victoria.

For the first two bodies, details of Life Membership will always remain sketchy. In the VSF/FFV era living Life Members are often listed in the Yearbooks/Annual Reports yet it is possible some may have slipped through the cracks.

The current state of play shows one known VABFA Life Member (Harry Dockerty). I have information on 3 of the 8 known VASFA Life Members. In the VSF/FFV era there is information on 75 of the 121 known Life Members. I know a little about some of those without information attached to their names, but am endeavouring to find more substantial profiles for them.

If anyone can assist, please get in touch at markboric@bigpond.com

The Biographies can be found via a tab at the top of the blog or via clicking here.

Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame?

In looking to add more profiles of VABFA/VSF/FFV Life Members to add to the Biographies page of this blog, I had another look through the Hall of Fame section of the FFA website.

Nothing ever surprises me in terms of neglect of the history of the game in this country. Even still, I was taken aback by the lack of detail afforded to many of the individuals apparently "honoured" by their induction into the Hall of Fame. It is supposed to be an honour, but with so little respect afforded to many inductees the use of the term is questionable.

Let's go back to the inaugural 1999 induction:

There is no picture or profile for any of the first sixteen names listed. It is not like many of them are from early last century either, some are still involved in the game today. The 1974 Socceroos fare best, with recent efforts to make amends for years of shoddy treatment ensuring all their profiles are complete. For many others, the FFA has neglected to properly salute them on their own Hall of Fame page. Surely in the SIXTEEN years since they have been inducted some basic research could have been conducted?

List of inductees not properly honoured:

1999

George Smith (No image, no text)
Cliff Sander (No image, no text)
John Perin (No image, no text)
Frank Parsons (No image, no text)
Jeff Olver (No image, no text)
Gordon Nunn (No image, no text)
Sergio Melta (No image, no text)
Gary Marocchi (No image, no text)
Allan Johns (No image, no text)
Tom Jack (No image, no text)
William "Bill" Henderson (No image, no text)
Jack Evans (No image, no text)
Michael de Bruyckere (No image no text, while he Anglicised his Christian name to "Mike" if we have William "Bill" Henderson it should probably be Sjel "Mike" de Bruyckere)
William Coolahan (No image, no text)
Jim Armstrong (No image, no text)
Ron Adair (No image, no text)
John Nyskohus (No image)
James McNabb (No image)
William Maunder (No image)
Frank Laughran (No image)
Bob Lawrie (No image)
Ron Wright (No image)
Sir William Walkley (No image)
William Thomas (No image)
Ron Smith (No image)
Martin Royal (No image)
Peter Nikolich (No image)
Des Miles (No image)
Graham McMillan (No image)
Frank McIver (No image)
Zoran Matic (No image)
Jack Logan (No image)
Brian Leferve (No image)
Tony Kovac OAM (No image)
Tom Grimson (No image)
Keith Gilmour (No image)
Pam Gilbert (No image)
Harry Croft (No image)
Donald Campbell (No image)
Fred Barlow (No image)
Eric Worthington (No image)
Laurie Schwab (No image)
Julius Re (No image)
Sam Papasavas OAM (No image)
Dieter Klose (No image)
Brian Corrigan (No image)
Ian Brusasco AM (No image)
Giacomo "Jim" Bayutti OA (No image)
Michael Weinstein AM, BEM (No image)
Vic Tuting MBE (No image)
Robert Telfer (No image)
Theo Marmaris MBE (No image)
Arthur Gibbs (No image)
John Walter Fletcher (No image)
Harry Dockerty (No image)
Tony Boskovic (No image)
Connie Selby (No image)
Sir Arthur George AO (No image)

2000

Alex Gibb (No profile)
Kevin O'Neill (No profile)
Chris Bambridge (No image)
Don Sutherland (No image)

2001

Bill Vojtek (No image, no profile)
Cecil Drummond (No image, no profile)
Leo Baumgartner (No profile)
Gary Byrne (No profile)
Robert Dunn (No profile)
Ken Murphy (No profile)
Doug Rennie (No image)

2002

James Wilkinson (No profile)
George Harris (No profile)
Branko Buljevic (No profile, how about start with 1974 World Cup Socceroo)
Siri Kannangara (No image)
Rodney Woods (No image)

2003

Wally Savor (No image, no profile)
Percy Lennard (No image, no profile)
William "Bill" Henderson (Seems to have been inducted a second time, still not good enough to get his image or profile added)
Colin Bennett (No image)
Steve O'Connor (No image)
Roy Crowhurst (No profile)
David Harding (No profile)
Betty Hoar (No image)
Les Murray (No image, it can't be that hard for the face of football media)
Joseph J Honeysett (No image)

2004

Todd Clarke (No profile)
Ian Gray (No profile)
Peter Thorne (No image)
Jane Oakley (No image)

2005

Mike Petersen (No image, can they not get Ange Postecoglu to take a pic on his phone?)
Alec Cameron (No profile)
Craig Johnson (No profile, can they not borrow his book?)
Bruce Morrow (No profile)
Roger Lamb (No image)
Vic Dalgleish (No image)
Phil Murphy (No image)

2006

Peter Sharne (No profile)
Ernie Campbell (No profile)

2007

Steve Blair (No image, and he even has a website with a great collection of Aussie soccer photos)

2008

John De Witt (No image)

2009

Tony Vidmar (No profile, his brother got image and profile with his induction the previous year)


Neglecting those honoured in the past is nothing new, I have already previously covered it regarding the issue of VSF/FFV Life Members. The state of the FFA Hall of Fame on their website is embarrassing.

This is the standard the FFA should aspire to: AFL Hall of Fame

When they can't even offer basic profiles for all Hall of Fame members, one can only laugh at the regular calls from eminent journalists for a National Football Museum. What are the odds they could make a decent fist of that? A shrine to themselves, maybe, a proper historical museum, no chance,.

A History of Terrace Tensions

The return of South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights to the VPL (former VSL) was a boon for the local competition. Great crowds for second tier football abounded between 2005-2008. Newly promoted Richmond, with it's proximity to Victory's first home ground Olympic Park and it's Friday night fixtures appealed to some Victory fans looking to sample VPL action in their off-season, and they formed a support group called the Heyington Bridge Crew (HBC), named after the railway bridge that runs behind the goal at the Western End of Kevin Bartlett Reserve.

The 2007 VPL season would be the origin of poor crowd behaviour by Victory fans which culminated in the events at Lakeside Stadium in the NPL game between South Melbourne and Melbourne Victory on Sunday, as covered in detail by South of the Border.

On March 9, 2007, Richmond hosted South Melbourne at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. It was an eventful game on and off the park. The ranks of the HBC had swelled from the regular 20 or 30 to over 200 people behind the Bridge End goal for the high profile fixture. South's Clarendon Corner support took to the slight hill in the South Eastern corner of the ground.

Nathan Caldwell had given South an early lead, but an own goal saw the sides level at the break. When Caldwell put the Blues ahead again in the 66th minute, some fans jumped the fence and onto the pitch to celebrate.

Things had been worse at the other end for a lot of the second half. Dean Anastasiadis was bombarded with obscenities, including one person keen to shout out his intent of acts of paedophilia with his daughter. At one point the contents of a plastic drink cup was thrown over him as he went to get the ball from against the fence for a goal-kick. When Marco Kueck equalised for Richmond following a corner in the 71st minute, one fan jumped the fence and followed Anastasiadis as he moved from one goalpost to the other, getting in his face the whole way to abuse him.

Fernando de Moraes scored a winner for South just two minutes later. Anastasiadis would allege after the game that he had been struck by a coin thrown from the crowd. Both clubs received substantial fines as a result of the actions of their supporters.

Later in the month, on March 30, Richmond hosted Whittlesea Zebras in front of a vastly smaller crowd. The Zebras also had a group of Victory supporters following them, the FDZ (Fossa Dei Zebrati), and some of these fans were denied entry when caught with flares by security at the entrance gate. They gathered on the second pitch at the Eastern End to watch the game through the uncovered fence there, and upon kick-off delayed the game by throwing a flare over the fence which landed inside the six yard box.

That year saw widening of the Monash Freeway taking place, with the current car park at the Heyington Bridge End yet to be constructed. There was construction vehicle access to the Freeway via a path behind the goal at that end, with temporary fencing erected a little closer to the pitch than where the current fence sits. At half-time, the FDZ changed ends. During the game they would go on to throw flares into the middle of the HBC from the fence behind them.

When Richmond hosted Melbourne Knights in May another bumper crowd was in attendance. Once again the HBC was joined by additional Victory fans looking to face the fans of a former NSL club. This time things did not get as out of hand at the game as the South Melbourne fixture. There were, however, rumours of a confrontation at a nearby train station after the game, in which cutlery from the Richmond clubrooms was brandished.

All of this lead to a heated friendly between South Melbourne and Melbourne Victory at Bob Jane Stadium in June 2007. South, Knights and Victory fans, and probably some from other clubs for good measure, were involved in several skirmishes. Most appallingly, South Melbourne player Andy Bourakis was struck in the head by a flare thrown by Victory supporters. No punishments followed, with the only course of action taken being the suspension of any further games between South Melbourne and Melbourne Victory. Little surprise then, that when they should finally meet again there would be issues.

When Richmond visited Epping Stadium in late July to play Whittlesea Zebras they were greeted with the following banner displayed by the FDZ:

It read "GERMAN CLUB + HBC = CONFUSED JEWS", a reference to some Tottenham Hotspur supporting members of the HBC. The FFV Match Commissioner picked up on the banner and as a result the Zebras were fined by the FFV.

Both groups would eventually fizzle out. The HBC maintained a reasonable presence at Richmond games throughout 2008, the dramas caused by the outsiders who only turned up for a few key games looking for trouble spoiled what could have been a great thing for the club.

In the following years friendlies between Victory and VPL/NPL clubs would often see numerous flares lit. A National Youth League derby between Victory and Melbourne City saw groups of fans fight each other..

The Melbourne Victory Youth team was admitted to the NPLV1 in 2015. Their away game in Ballarat against the Red Devils was delayed for five minutes when their supporters invaded the pitch and made off with a corner flag. Whilst the perpetrators were punished, the club was spared the harsher penalties handed out to the FFV affiliated clubs in various leagues. Reports of further pitch invasions continue, including this one at Richmond earlier this year:

Once again the corner flag was taken, being raised and lowered up in the air as part of the celebration. And once again, the FFV reaction (likely none but unable to be determined due to the lack of transparency of their website) failed to do anything to stop the practice.

With Melbourne Victory Youth promoted to the NPLV in 2016, it was only a matter of who the fixture list would spit out first to see where the flashpoint would occur. It turned out that Victory would play South Melbourne a week before facing Melbourne Knights. This meant the Victory casuals/hooligans had their first chance to steal a former NSL powerhouse's supporter's banner at a competitive fixture to make heroes of themselves arrive at Lakeside Stadium.

Will it take a report on Channel Nine News to finally make the FFV act?

Lies, Incompetence and Racism, Football Admin Has It All

The FFV has once again undertaken the annual clearing out of the records of tribunal cases and appeals from it's website. For an organisation that claims transparency as one of it's core values, it's an action that opposes that aim.

There is apparently the opportunity to request past determinations with a phone call, but if that's anything like how they handle emails (and promises made in them) then don't hold your breath awaiting a reply.

The first game I attended this year was the W-League Grand Final. It was a great day, fine weather, good game, right result for a Melburnian with one notable black mark. In an act of incompetence that you would think should no longer be possible, the presentation stage was erected with it's back to the only parts of the ground open to spectators. When patrons should have been cheering for the women who had just completed a brilliant season, they were instead booing the idiots that were treating them with disdain.

With the game being filmed from the western stand, spectators were restricted to the eastern and southern parts of AAMI Park, bar a single bay of the northern end reserved for the Sydney FC active support. That is an acceptable arrangement, ensuring a solid crowd in the background of the telecast. When it comes to the presentation though, surely portable cameras could have been used to film it with the stage set up to allow the thousands of people who had stayed back for 20 or so minutes to witness it? Many would have probably left upon the final whistle had they known they were not welcome.

Would you be surprised if the idiots responsible were to one day wonder why more people don't go to games? I wouldn't.

Thanks to the great work of Paul Mavroudis in creating an archive of the Studs Up! fanzine, some historic gems have been unearthed. None more so than this account of an interview with former Soccer Australia board member George Negus on a Brisbane radio station:

Negus and David Hill pushed for the de-ethnicising of the NSL, and it is in their vision that the NCIP was introduced. Next time someone tries to tell you those policies were only about broadening the game's reach and not in any way racist, reflect on the words above.

It's my understanding that not employing someone on the basis of ethnicity is discrimitaion, of a racist variety. I'm not sure how George could spin it around to claim it isn't. He clearly states the thick accent of Matic is a deal-breaker and that his credentials and merits are therefore irrelevant.

In case you are not sure, these are some of the rules:

A Balkans accent is un-Australian.

British and Irish accents are Australian. These people are even more Australian than those born here to ethnic parents from places other than the UK and Ireland.

Once you grasp the importance of these rules you can see why unless the White Australia Policy is restored, the NCIP must strictly be adhered to.

                                                    (Click on images to enlarge)

The Bastardisation of the Bill Fleming Medal

In 1954, The Argus newspaper awarded a medal for the best and fairest player in the V.A.S.F.A. First Division. Votes were issued on a 3-2-1 basis for each match, coordinated by football writer Bill Fleming. Though the paper ceased in 1957, the medal survived and was presented each year, re-named in honour of it's originator, Bill Fleming.

It was not until 1971 that the V.S.F. introduced it's own award for the best and fairest player in the Victorian State League each season, the Rothman's Medal, which eventually became the Gold Medal. Even then the Bill Fleming Medal survived, though no longer using the 3-2-1 system on every game format but instead taking a poll of the various members of the football media. The referees were used to implement the 3-2-1 system to determine the Rothman's Medal.

The point of difference for the Bill Fleming Medal then became that it allowed the more brilliant players to triumph over those that were simply more consistent. It also allowed for a mark of true greatness when a player was able to win the double of both medals.

For sixty years the Bill Fleming Medal was awarded to the best players in the top division of senior men's football in Victoria. The tradition spanned the First Division, Victorian State League, Victorian Premier League and National Premier League Victoria eras. It was older than the Gold Medal, and most clubs in the state. It was older than the VSF, the NSL or the FFA. This, in a sport that does not necessarily treasure it's own history, was quite remarkable.

This tradition was ended this year, when at the Gold Medal night it was announced the Bill Fleming Award would go to the player voted on by the FFV's match reporters (in lieu of independent media) as the best from the NPLV and WVPL. Not separate awards for each, but one for both. With the winner being Amy Jackson of Boroondara Eagles in the WVPL, the linage of winners of the Medal in the VSL/VPL/NPLV every year since 1954 has come to an end.

It is clear that the FFV has little respect for it's own history. Earlier this year it removed lies from it's own website when caught out attempting to re-write history on it. It drifts between being ashamed of most club's ethnic pasts and then appearing to embrace them as the need fits. We don't like your names or symbols, but look how tolerant we are munching down some souvlakis.

It's sad that a grand tradition (check out the honour roll) needs to be altered to make a political statement or push an agenda. Sadder still that lamenting the loss of such a tradition would see you labelled a misogynist.

Would I be a misogynist if I decried the Melbourne Cup being altered from the traditional 3200m into a 1200m sprint? If someone were to protest about men's grand slam tennis being reduced to best of three sets, are they being misogynistic? Are the AFL misogynists for not opening up their Brownlow Medal to women?

Tokenism is not true equality. If the change to the Bill Fleming Medal was initiated so the FFV could pat itself on the back for being so inclusive, it is a token act to my eye. It could have inaugurated a similar award for the WVPL and chosen to perhaps honour a female pioneer of football journalism (it's not like Bill Fleming himself ever wrote a single word about the women's game), but instead being able to tweet that "for the first time a @wplvictoria player has won the Bill Fleming Award" was the more politically beneficial gesture. Whoever decided that is truly the bastard who bastardised the Bill Fleming Medal.

History, Rewritten

Occasionally I will Google search "Victorian Soccer History", looking for something new or something that I may have missed previously. During such a search yesterday I thought I'd check out what the Wikipedia entry for Football Federation Victoria contained and was struck by some glaring "inconsistencies". Today I thought I'd check the FFV's own site to see if that is where the Wikipedia entry was lifted from, which was the case.

                              

                                                  (Click on image to enlarge)

To claim the organisation dates back to 1884 is more than an inconsistency, it's an outright lie and fabrication. The 1880's body died out with the Depression of the early 1890's. When Harry Dockerty was instrumental in restoring the code in Melbourne in 1908, it was with a new association.

It would be a stretch to claim that was one of "several name changes". It is a downright lie, and a criminal one at that, to suggest the creation of the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1962 was merely a name change from the Victorian Amateur Soccer Football Association. The VSF was a breakaway from the established body, it was ugly split that went before the courts. It dishonours the VSF pioneers not to acknowledge this.

Such historic revisionism is particularly galling on a day in which Dawn Fraser's racial comments about Nick Kyrgios have made the headlines. Fraser harks back to an era where telling foreigners who did not fit in to return to their homeland was the norm. It cannot be denied there was a racial element to the VASFA/VSF battle. To pretend there wasn't disrespects the actions of the leaders of many ethnic clubs who stood up for themselves in rebelling and creating the VSF.

In fact, the main, genuine name change in the governing bodies history, from VSF to FFV is not mentioned at all! A further, shameful, insult.

The claim that the NPL brought "top flight football" to Geelong "for the first time" is a slap in the face of the North Geelong Warriors VPL Championship team of 1992. Rewriting history to suit a political agenda is pretty poor form, as is disrespecting a club and their achievements.

Maybe that's why they would prefer history not be researched? To allow it to be rewritten by themselves, unchecked?

The Search in Research

I never expected researching football history to be easy. Some setbacks are to be expected. A six hour stint in the State Library Victoria newspaper microfilm archives to yield just three new match results was a tad disappointing. I'd noticed Croydon results were often missing in the late 1920's. I suspected it was the tyranny of distance to the then outpost which meant results weren't getting through in time for publication rather than the games not being played.

Searching for a local paper, I uncovered the Ringwood Mail and Warrandyte Gazette. Local papers, coming out once a week, had much later deadlines. I found a great match report for a 2-0 win (Benson double) over Kingsville on Saturday July 20, 1929. It had the local team line-up and everything. Sadly, there were only two such reports for that season. Did the club publicists only sing when they were winning? It may account for such patchy coverage in those days.

It's not just the olden days where information may have vanished out of existence. Back in January I emailed the FFV requesting information from this century that was no longer available on their website (click on image to enlarge).

I got the level of service I've come to expect of the FFV i.e. poor. I shouldn't have been surprised, it's a fact of the history that I'm studying.

A Quick Look at the 2015 FFV Board Elections

FFV Board Elections are upon us, and I thought it would be interesting to have a look at those nominated and their candidate statements as found on the FFV website.

Now it is very easy to say the right thing, a different thing altogether to identify problems and propose solutions. Throw in enough buzzwords , make sure everyone knows you are thinking of the women and children, and you can say a lot without making any sort of statement at all.

One of the things I would hope not to see is delving into New Football/Old Soccer rhetoric. Issues within the game need to be looked at on their own merits.

I would like to see an improvement in the relationship between the FFV and clubs. It always pains me when people claim clubs put their interests ahead of the game. There can be no doubt that the biggest self-interest group in football are junior parents. The numbers do not lie.

Before I make a few comments on the various statements, I will state what I know about the candidates.

There are two candidates for the position of President.

The first is Jeff Doyle.

I know the name from his playing days in the 1980's though I wouldn't be able to point him out in a team photo.

He's obviously proven to be very successful in business, and not being overly involved in the game since his playing career ended makes him a "cleanskin". Following some turbulent times, that can be seen as desirable. Countering that is that he was nominated by the current board, so there may be a link there to say he may be as much about maintaining the status quo than providing any revolutionary change in direction.

I would like to hear more about the issues he sees with the game in regional and country Victoria. Was he happy with the process in how NPL teams for those areas were implemented or would he have done things differently.

The second candidate for President is Kimon Taliadoros.

I watched Kimon as a player in the NSL and for the Socceroos, and know of his previous involvement on the FFV Board. I follow him on Twitter, he does not follow me.

There are things in his statement that appeal strongly to me. He talks about the game's lifeblood being the goodwill of what can be summarised as "stakeholders" and realises that this goodwill has been tested and needs attention. He appears to have involved himself in many facets of the game.

Jason Charles is the first of four candidates on the ballot for a position on the board.

Cannot say I knew anything about him until reading his statement.

I was interested in his views on the effectiveness of the Junior Standing Committee. I share his concerns about the cost of junior participation and the FFV's wage bill. Questioning if the FFV is really in tune with who it services and represents also resonates with me.

Nicholas Tsiaras is another candidate for the board.

I follow Nicholas on Twitter, and he follows me. We are familiar with each others as posters on Soccer-Forum.net and I have met him two or three times at games.

Expresses many of the same concerns raised by Jason Charles, only a little more vigorously. Nominated by Zone Representatives, not the current Board, there is no doubt he is strong candidate for those advocating a change in the way the game is run.

The third candidate for the board is Tal Karp.

I know her name as a player and as previously having had roles at the FFV.

Her statement reveals broad football experience and very solid credentials. I would like to know more about the "particular concerns of stakeholders" she refers to as part of the greater understanding of the FFV's legal issues she gained in her previous roles and how she would address those concerns.

The final candidate on the ballot is Tony Ising.

I follow Tony on Twitter, and he follows me. We are familiar with each other as posters on three or four internet football forums. We have played in around half a dozen social kickabouts together, and I dined with him in a large group at the 2009 A-League Grand Final.

An important point in Tony's statement is:

Our game’s development is as much about attracting referees, assistant referees, club marshalls, coaches, club administrators and armies of volunteers as it is about developing elite players.

I would like to hear his ideas on how to go about addressing this issue and a bit more detail in how he would implement his vision.


Below are past posts relating to FFV issues:

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/anyone-for-surfing.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/the-sad-state.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/transparency-or-lack-thereof.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/still-big-swindle.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/the-great-football-swindle.html

Expanding on Topical Tweets

I've been pretty prolific on Twitter recently, and thought I'd expand on a few of my posts on some of the hot topics of the week.

Says it all about governance in Oz football when govt grants set up WSW but FFA keeps $$ when they sell the club and no questions asked 1/2
— Mark Boric (@MarkBoric) December 7, 2014

@MarkBoric but players want more $$ from the club and everyone is then outraged at the owners! What's the bigger outrage? 2/2
— Mark Boric (@MarkBoric) December 7, 2014

Government grants intended for grassroots football get diverted to establish the Western Sydney Wanderers A-League franchise, which is later sold. From what I have seen the FFA does not seem to have been made very accountable in putting any of the proceeds from that sale back into the original purpose of those government grants. Pretty scandalous if you ask me. The Wanderers players threaten to boycott the Club World Championships after the club only offers them 10% of the tournament prize-money as a bonus on top of the contracts they are already having met and a bonus for having won the Asian Champions League. If the football internet is to be believed, this is almost on par with how Margaret Thatcher dealt with coal-miners.

Anyone @thepfa show any #SOLIDARITY with the Bendigo FC players? Or is it #RichGetRicher and stuff the grassroots? http://t.co/Bhf8sC2tDZ
— Mark Boric (@MarkBoric) December 9, 2014

The Professional Footballers Association, so quick to aid their A-League members, not in sight when NPL players are getting short changed. Just goes to show that those in power in Australian football focus 95% of their attention to the top level and don't give a rats what happens below it. Which won't bode well for the future...

How many people backing the WSW players call NPL players money hungry mercenaries?
— Mark Boric (@MarkBoric) December 8, 2014

Now a lot of people pushing for the reform that saw the introduction of the NPL liked to label VPL players "mercenaries". Mercenaries needed to be eliminated from the second tier to give youngsters more opportunities (in Victoria this seems to mean opportunities to youngsters from Queensland). The fact that by removing older, experienced and better players from the competition they would be limiting the development of those youngsters is generally overlooked. Strangely, A-League players on far bigger wages holding a club to ransom do not seem to be labelled "mercenaries". Even when a lot of them are on their third or fourth A-League club. There's no standard like a double standard.

Those stridently against VPL/NPL mercenaries would like to see them paid less with the money put into youth development and facilities instead. Yet when the FFA gets Federal funding for youth development and facilities, it diverts the money elsewhere without a peep of protest from those critics.

If 10% of CWC prizemoney is an insult to players, what is what A-League clubs "pay" for players from development clubs?

— Mark Boric (@MarkBoric) December 7, 2014

Again, A-League clubs get all the favours from the FFA and those below them must fend for themselves, no assistance offered. A situation not likely to improve given the FFA's latest intentions....

The other big talking point was the Melbourne leg of the FFA's Whole of Football Plan public forums. Paul Mavroudis attended it and you can read his version of events here. I didn't because I don't intend to be involved at club level anymore and didn't think it would be anything other than a sham. This is how the FFA reported it. 

Ex-Football Victoria chairman and former FFA director Jack Reilly said successful long-term planning for the game had to start with governance reform. "Until you have a national governing body that has a strong and clear mandate, the game will struggle to achieve its potential," said Reilly. "The current structure of national, state and regional administration leads to overlap, waste in resources and no real alignment. We need to change that first so there's one national body with a clear mandate from top to bottom." 

So the most important topic of the night in their eyes was not what the regular punters on the floor discussed, but what one of their men said to set their next agenda in motion. Football New South Wales must be sitting on some valuable assets for talk of FFA eliminating the State Federations to start up again. To give it more traction, the story on Four Four Two Australia included quotes from the FFA's go to back up man, Roy Hay.

Now I'm hardly the FFV's biggest fan, but to see them replaced to give the FFA more power would be a great worry given some of the governance concerns I've outlined above. Given their lack of focus on the grassroots and over the top concentration on the elite levels, it's easy to see who would be the loser in that outcome.

Grounds of the Past: Hurlingham Park, East Brighton

Hurlingham Park was the home of the old Brighton Soccer Club. The club played from the East Brighton venue from foundation in 1924 until a move to Elsternwick Park in 1954. In their time there the club were Dockerty Cup winners on five occasions, as well as securing the First Division Championship (then the State Championship) in 1949.

That year the reserves also won their league championship, and a photo of that team on their website gives us a small glimpse at Hurlingham Park featuring a pavilion that no longer stands:

We can see from the plaque on the current pavilion that it was erected in 1955, after Brighton had moved on to the enclosed ground at Elsternwick Park prior to relocating to Dendy Park in 1959.

The ground was, and still remains, the home of the Brighton Union Cricket Club (founded in 1907). As such it would have been another soccer ground in a large open park, probably with the sides roped off to keep spectators away from the touchlines.

The pavilion is situated on the busy Nepean Highway side of the ground. A pre-school sits to the east, housing in the north with a tennis club in the north west corner. To the west of the pavilion sits a memorial to those lost in the First World War:

Hurlingham Park is another ground thousands of people will drive past every day with little idea that the premier footballers in the state once strutted their stuff there. Four sets of traffic lights and less than two kilometres further down the Nepean Highway sits Dendy Park, current home of the Brighton SC. The club struck financial difficulties in the mid-1990's and ceased fielding a senior team in 1996. The strong junior base survived and thrived, and in 2007 a senior team was accepted into the FFV's Provisional League Division Three South East.

As per usual, click on photographs to enlarge.