Monday 26 October 2015

Historical Artefact Monday - the Mdm Collection

Today I present some artefacts relating to a long gone day of internet banter getting a little too serious.

Before I start I need to provide a little background to what stemmed from the battles on the old SBS The World Game Forum and my position relating to the A-League, which was the cause of my gaining a stalker.

Now though I'm probably associated with people who hate the A-League, that is certainly not my position. I've been to games, I watch them on television regularly. For various reasons, I'm not a supporter of either of the Melbourne clubs. One being I was busy enough at Richmond SC when the A-League came about, and that was MY team. Someone once said to me they are members at Victory, but go there mainly for their kids. It's their kids who will grow up diehards, but they themselves are less "invested". I guess embracing a club too closely once you've reached a certain age and affiliations with other clubs doesn't suit everyone. So while I was happy to go to games and wanted Victory to do well, I was able to be dispassionate about the whole situation.

One thing that contributed to this was that I did not want to associate those that gladly denigrated the players, supporters and clubs from previous eras. Sadly, on The World Game Forum, there was no middle ground. You supported the "New Dawn" of New Football or were "Bitter" about the demise of Old Soccer.

That was not the main reason for my sympathies towards Victory beginning to dissipate around 2007-08 however. The major factor there were the actions of Victory fans in the VPL at that time, in particular the Richmond v South Melbourne game of March 9, 2007.

Now to get to the first artefact, let's move on to 2010. mdm was a username on The World Game Forum of a Victory fan with a strong grudge against "bitters" and the presence of a New Zealand team in the A-League. I generally tried to avoid too much of the Bitters/New Dawn nonsense, but took him to task when he tried to link a murder case to the NSL. The father of Santo Caruso, proprietor of Melbourne Sports Books, had murdered his wife and been jailed. When someone in a thread had recalled Santo attending NSL games, mdm mistakenly claimed that Santo had committed the murder and tried to draw a link between that and his support of the NSL. Yes, this how unhinged he was.

Many may recall on the eve of the World Cup that year Socceroo goalkeeper Brad Jones withdraw from the squad when his son was diagnosed with leukemia. On another forum I got some inside gossip that this had taken place just before I went to sleep one night, with the news breaking a few hours later at around 2-3 am. When I got on the forum the following night, I saw mdm posting in a thread about the topic at around 5 am that there were not many bitters offering sympathy. His inference disgusted me, and I showed this in no uncertain terms.

The result was that mdm felt he could agitate me by constantly using my real name or initials in his posts. My username was 11.Boo, based on my widely known nickname (widely known as in most people who know me through football use it, many not even knowing my real name). I was not that bothered about it, as I was not trying to keep it a secret. It had been done by others before anyway. The first artefact sprang from someone else supplying me with mdm's real name, and myself using his initials in replies in response.


The above sign was cable-tied to the fence at Kevin Bartlett Reserve on Wednesday July 28, 2010. I'd taken the week off work for a busy football week. That night the seniors played a friendly against Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park, at the same time as the Under 18's played as the Under 21's against the N.T.C. before the Under 21's played as the seniors against the N.T.C. at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. I discovered the sign as I went to put up the nets, mark the pitch, set-up the dressing room and drop off the kits at KB before heading to AAMI to look after the first team.

Marking the pitch I put a lot of thought into who was behind the sign, but it wasn't until I got to AAMI Park that I thought it could be mdm. When I got home I sent him a direct message via the forum asking if he'd been been to Burnley recently and he responded he hadn't (using the term "mate", which was odd) and then never posted there under that name again.

The next artefact came shortly after I shared the photo on a few forums.



It is a print out of a thread I'd started on the forum, mocking the removal of match threads being stickied at the top of the page which had angered many. This print out was folded in half and placed in my mother's letterbox (my new stalker didn't realise I was in Unit 2, she lived in Unit 1) which I was checking while she was in Croatia. This was a new level of derangement I'd yet to encounter on forums.

Shortly after there was a thread on the forum about some Victory fans greeting Harry Kewell at the airport after he signed with the club. When someone posted that my mate was in the pic, it outed mdm to the rest of the forum, and the response from the photoshop experts brought about artefact number three, the letter to the President of Richmond Alemannia.

There is so much gold in here I don't know where to begin. Have to begin somewhere, so let's start with the name. If you choose a fake name, use a surname which has at least one listing in the White Pages. If you are
a potential sponsor, wouldn't you have some letterhead you should be using for your correspondence? Mr Helmut Kalitzki is reasonably well known in local football circles. Even if you don't know him, as President of the club his name was featured on the club website as well as the FFV's website. Not addressing to letter to him but able to identify me as the bloke who was rude to him? Come on, you're not expecting anyone tobelieve this? The President is still awaiting for him to contact him personally. The envelope with the hand-written return address in the tiniest handwriting possible is also class.

By now, mdm was posting as Diego's Son on Australian FourFourTwo Forums. I wish I could have seen his face when he first saw GaryBoulder appear as the newest user. Funnily enough, he never posted much after that.

                                                      (Click on images to enlarge)

Friday 2 October 2015

Updated Richmond Stats

I've roughly updated the senior appearance stats I've kept for Richmond SC. When I say roughly, the last two years have a few games missing (or substitutions not included) as I don't have the team sheets and am relying on the FFV's match reports (usually pretty good, but lacking for Cup games) and the FoxSportsPulse results service (pathetically maintained, virtually useless).

Anyway, here's the list of players to have played for Alemannia since 2002 and how many games the played (substitute appearances in brackets) and how many goals they scored:


Justin Adams                              1(7)   0
Nathan Adams                              8(11)   8
Phil Altarelli                               1(2)   0
Michael Anderson                        22   3
Ross Antoniadis                        23   1
Terry Antoniadis                      16(4)   0
Hamlet Armenian                     57(15)  23
Noel Bahnsen                              39(6)   0
James Baskerville                     64(3)  12
Evan Batsis                              2(8)   1
Jonathan Beamish                      0(1)   0
Mitch Beamish                             5(10)   1
Brendan Beni                             29(9)   3
Andy Betchley                              0(2)   0
Mitch Bissinger                             41(2)   1
Danny Black                             18(3)   0
Devon Bonne                             12(7)   3
Vinnie Bontemps                     14(1)   0
Rob Brian                                       49   0
Cameron Brown                     34(4)   2
Daniel Buecker                              4(1)   0
Steve Burton                               49   6
Mark Byrnes                                 2   0
Tom Cahill                             71(1)  61
Adrian Caniglia                             18(5)     3
Alex Caniglia                              9(1)   7
Liam Cannell                             18(2)   2
Pablo Cardozo                             21(2)  21
Richie Cardozo                             42(2)  16
Joe Carey                                      1(1)   0
Damian Cassar                              4(5)   0
Michael Catalano                  105(28)  24
Sam Catherine                             25(2)   2
Tony Celentano                     17(4)   0
Valli Cesnik                               0(1)   0
Edward Chadwick                        17   0
Matt Clyne                               2(3)   0
Matt Collier                                14   0
Matt Conkie                                21   0
Nick Crossley                                10   0
Ben Croswell                               0(1)   0
Sean Cunningham                         4   0
Zoran Cvetkovski                      20(5)   1
Billy Daglis                               20   0
Glen Davie                              61(1)   1
Chris Davis                               8(1)   0
Felipe de Amorim                    19(19)   7
Arsenio di Camillo                     15(9)   6
Joey Di Iorio                            43(10)  36
Jason Dimozantos                        19   1
Rani Dowisha                                 7   0
Aiden Downes                               5(2)   0
Gary Efe                                       0(6)   0
Mate Eterovic                            36(34)   3
Henry Fa'Arodo                        22   7
Michael Farnham                         1   0
Michael Ferrante                     46(1)  13
Liam Flynn                             46(2)   7
Petar Franjic                                17   1
Balint Gabor Arndt                         2   0
Stjepan Gal                                70   0
Yanni Galanos                               9(3)   1
Sam Gallagher                                 7   0
Bobby Gagovski                       0(2)   0
Peter Georgiadis                        14   2
Tony Guiliano                             26(1)   2
Danny Gnjidic                                6   1
Andrew Goff                             53(2)   3
George Goutzioulis                     26(2)   5
Nemanja Govedarica              3(2)   0
Steve Graham                             6(12)   0
Chris Greechan                              0(3)   0
Mate Grgic                                9   0
Josh Goenewald                     13(6)   3
Trent Hansen                              0(2)   0
Will Hastie                             27(8)   6
Joern Heineke                             1(6)   0
Tony Hermus                               14   0
Graham Hockless                     38(3)   3
Jason Hoffman                                6   3
Matt Hrastov                                4   0
Finn Huzzey                                4   0
Ibraim Ibraimi                              1(5)   0
Didier Imbert                              3(3)   0
Alex Jackson                               9   2
George Jolevski                      3(1)   0
Cameron Jones                             30(4)  11
Kyle Joryeff                              5(4)   1
Nick Kalamaras                        1   0
Nick Kalambokis                     23(31)   6
James Kalifatidis                      0(5)   1
Vas Kalogeracos                     1(11)   4
Erhan Karahan                               92   6
Evan Karavitis                              1(6)   0
Jay Kelly                                    10(15)   3
Craig Kerr                             15(4)   1
Lorenz Kindtner                     12(3)   1
Derek Kinsella                                3   1
Ivica Klarica                              7(2)   1
Josh Knight                             45(5)  12
Luke Knoester                              0(1)   0
Chris Konstas                               16   2
Veton Korcarevski                     23(4)   5
Peter Koskos                              0(1)   0
Antun Kovacic                             62(1)   6
Jesse Krncevic                             48(7)  19
Nick Krousoratis                    10(15)   3
Marco Kuck                               28   2
Raj Kumar                              1(5)   1
David Kustura                              4(2)   0
Josh Kweifio-Okai                    10(19)   4
Ryan Lambert                             4(12)   0
Jimmy Latinopoulos                      5(8)   1
Drew Laurence                              4(5)   1
Aaran Lines                              11   0
Damir Lokvancic                     1(1)   1
Milos Lujic                            16(17)   6
Alan Macinkovic                     20(2)   0
Peter Maddox                              0(1)   0
Mick Maljanek                              7(5)   1
Nick Marinos                             16(2)   2
Carlo Mason                             68(2)   2
John McCluskey                      2(4)   0
Stuart McCluskey                     70(1)   2
Gerry McDonagh                       44   0
Craig McIlwain                               12   1
Clancy McLeod                      0(1)   0
Kelly McLoughlin                      5(4)   0
Tom Milardovic                     53(4)   2
Daniel Milborrow                      8(3)   0
Scott Muirhead                               31   2
Vedran Muratbegovic              0(2)   0
Steve Muretic                              8(3)   0
Tommy Muretic                      3(4)   0
Robbie Murone                      1(2)   0
Craig Murphy                            19(5)   2
Chris Nedza                            13(7)   1
Paul Nedza                              0(5)   0
Daniel Neesham                      1(1)   0
Fergal O'Colmain                   43(18)  17
Daniel O'Connell                      0(1)   0
Chris O'Hare                             10(4)   2
Ryan Oppermann                     21(1)   5
Ben Osei-Safo                              2(1)   0
Damien Ostrowski                      0(1)   0
Julian Peel                                       17   1
Adrian Pender                             22(2)   0
John Petridis                               22   2
Sebastian Petrovic                     15(2)   0
Stefan Piorkowski                      2(5)   0
Daniel Piovesan                      2(1)   0
Peter Psarros                              6(6)  13
Timmy Purcell                            87(11)  10
Alistair Quinn                              1(1)   1
Josip Rajher                               12   0
Conor Reddan                              0(1)   0
Shane Rexhepi                            24(16)   0
Jason Ricciuti                              0(4)   0
Fidell Richards                                4   1
Brendan Richardson                      8(2)   0
Ariel Ritz                                    16(4)   0
James Robinson                    18(1)  13
Nick Robinson                            10(2)   2
Alex Rojas                              8(2)   1
Aaron Romein                               12   0
Andy Ross                            11(3)   0
Christian Rossi                            28(2)   0
Sava Rusmir                             32(9)   1
Liam Ryan                              4(3)   0
Rylan Sadler                            20(3)   3
Ahmad Samim-Rahim              0(1)   0
Kurt Saterdag                              1(2)   0
Adrian Savage                              6(2)   0
Peter Sawan                           35(18)   5
Ross Scalia                              0(2)   0
Kaspar Scheiber                      0(2)   0
David Scullion                            11(1)   1
Jordan Seeto                            13(1)   0
Sam Shepherd                           16(14)   0
Andy Shuttleworth                    20(4)  10
Jim Sibley                                     0(1)   0
Robbie Simioni                              22   0
Enes Sivic                                   11(7)   0
Semir Sivic                           45(7)   6
Yasmin Sivic                             0(1)   0
Andrew Skoullos                     3(3)   0
Warren Spink                              14   8
Jonny Stahl                             1(1)   0
James Stefanou                               4   1
Fabian Stranges                     0(3)   0
Xhezair Sulemani                  22(20)  10
Ryan Supple                             0(4)   0
George Svigos                               6   0
Gideon Sweet                          11(13)   3
Alex Tabor                             3(6)   1
Kliment Taseski                    15(4)   3
Miles Tidd                            14(2)   6
Nick Tioulis                             0(1)   0
Ivan Tomic                               6   0
Steven Topalovic                    30(2)   3
Filip Tortevski                             0(4)   0
John Tran                                     2(3)       0
Chris Traynor                           11(1)   1
Stephen Tsering                     0(1)   0
George Tsiakalakis                   13(2)   0
Billy Tsiakos                               9   1
Dimitri Tsiaras                           77(4)   6
Cliff Tuck                                   7(5)   0
Tony Ujgunovski                   0(3)   0
Tom Uskok                          11(5)   0
Josh Valadon                          25(1)   3
Sam Valdeveiso                   1(1)   0
Davey van 't Schip                 11(14)   2
Andrew Viola                         73(23)   2
Daniel Visevic                          72(9)  26
George Voliotis                           1(4)   1
Oscar Vonk                           4(2)   0
Haris Vrbovac                              6            0
Gary Wales                           7(1)   1
Neil Wallace                          11(8)   2
Matt Waters                          25(4)   0
Ben Watson                            15            2
Simon Webster                          45(7)   0
Stuart Webster                            42            0
Gareth Whelan                           8(1)   0
Matt Williams                        14(10)   9
Stuart Wilson                        11(12)   0
Dale White                         24(3)  16
Terry Wogan                           0(1)   1
Ivan Zilic                                      1            0
Peter Zois                                     22   0

It's a shame even in this modern age these stats aren't automatically maintained in the Federation database. Also disappointing that most clubs don't maintain such histories, and that poor record-keeping makes going back and trying to uncover these stats virtually impossible.

Top ten appearances:

Michael Catalano        133
Timmy Purcell       98
Andrew Viola 96
Dimitri Tsiaras 81
Daniel Visevic 81
Hamlet Armenian 72
Tom Cahill 72
Stuart McCluskey 71
Mate Eterovic 70
Carlo Mason 70

Top ten goalscorers:

Tom Cahill 61
Joey Di Iorio 36
Daniel Visevic 26
Michael Catalano 24
Hamlet Armenian 23
Pablo Cardozo 21
Jesse Krncevic 19
Fergal O'Colmain 17
Dale White 16
Richie Cardozo 16