The 2017 NPLV Grand Final Soccer Marathon

One of the great Melbourne institutions is the HSV7 (7 Network) Grand Final Footy Marathon. Late night on Grand Final Eve the station would run highlights or full games of previous VFL/AFL Grand Finals all through the night, leading in to the coverage of the Under 19's then Reserves Grand Finals leading up to the main event.

This year I start what will hopefully be a new tradition, the NPLV Grand Final Marathon as we build up the big clash between Heidelberg United and Bentleigh Greens at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday. There's all the links to the highlights or full games of  previous VPL/NPLV Grand Finals that I have found so far.

Maybe next year we can find a few more videos to add for the next marathon.

1992 North Geelong v Brunswick Juventus

1995 Altona Magic v Bulleen Lions

2003 Green Gully v Frankston Pines

2005 Green Gully v Heidelberg United

2006 South Melbourne v Altona Magic

2009 Altona Magic v Dandenong Thunder

2010 Green Gully v Richmond

2011 Green Gully v Oakleigh Cannons

2012 Dandenong Thunder v Oakleigh Cannons

2013 Northcote City v Bentleigh Greens

2015 Bentleigh Greens v South Melbourne

2016 South Melbourne v Oakleigh Cannons

Random Videos II: Less Random, More Videos

Both legs of the 2002 World Cup Qualification Play-Offs from November 2001. Narrow win at the MCG, disaster in Montevideo. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

VPL action from 2003. The late Whittlesea Stallions (including cut-off interview with Phil Stubbins) against Preston Lions (future Socceroo Sash Ognenovski with a goal) at Epping Stadium (with a crowd).

There is footage missing in the Essendon Royals v Bentleigh Greens clip, but the goals are repeated in the post-game review. Played at the old Reggio Calabria Club.

Great crowd at Jack Edwards Reserve in 2003 for State League Division One action between Oakleigh Cannons and Heidelberg United. The second video sees Western Suburbs take absolute liberties with Kingston City in the same league.

The Scottish pop classic this time around is Aztec Camera's Somewhere In My Heart. Black and white retro in the 1980's was the epitome of artistic.

Soccer? Football? Or is the name of the game now Souvlaki?

There's been a lot of good come out of the FFA Cup, and a few things that can be improved on. A cliche in itself, the magic of the cup has been clouded with an overdose of stereotypes and tokenism. Is the only stat we can get for a lower tier club really how many kilograms of lamb they have ordered for the spit?

The Fox Sports obsession with souvlakis at Kingston Heath has gone more than a tad overboard. I'm told (was at the game) that the commentary even referred to the venue as Souvlaki Stadium last night.. They probably think the SC in Bentleigh Greens SC stands for Souvlaki.Club.

Whilst it has been a boon for canteen sales, it can also be seen as demeaning to the Greens as a footballing entity. When they would rather talk about your food than your football, it has to be seen as a slap in the face. How about pondering whether Andrew Redmayne or Tando Velaphi are any better than Alistair Bray? Or could John Anastasiadis ever be considered for an A-League coaching gig without having to do a Phil Stubbins and go overseas for a few years to wash away the VPL/NPL stigma?

A Fox face eating a souvlaki on air has been a staple of network's FFA Cup coverage in it's inaugural season.. Can't recall seeing footage of the commentators eating a hot dog or a bucket of chips at any of the hundreds of A-League games I've watched. Patronising at all? 

It's interesting to see such culinary appreciation portrayed by some as a healing in the relationship between "Old Soccer" and "New Football". I've yet to see anyone pushing that line address the issue of the FFA's National Club Identity Policy. 

If a group of Afghan refugees decided to start a new club, and wanted it to maintain links to their heritage, they would not be allowed to do so. No tasty treats in the canteen will get you past that. There's more freedom in the detention centres than there is under the FFA in this case. 

During the draws the teams outside of the A-League were referred to as "member clubs". This piqued my interest given the legal battles between Victorian clubs and the FFV over the years. Unlike American Express, it seems membership does not have it's privileges. Who would join a club where your membership fees were spent to benefit others, not on anything you are entitled to? That is what has happened when State Federations have been engaged to run the Youth and Women's components of A-League teams. 

The compromised draw is something a few would like to see done away with. It probably needs to be maintained though, especially if the plan to eventually have the Final played annually on Australia Day takes place. Once the NPL teams go too far out of season, it will be near impossible for any to progress to the latter stages in an open draw. That would mean no souvlaki, cevapi or kebapi fairytale stories for the broadcaster. 

If the draw remains compromised, I'd suggest seeding the A-League clubs to give more prospects of an early upset. Two pots of balls for the A-League clubs, one with the top teams drawn to play each other, and the other for the bottom of the table teams from the previous season to be placed in to face the member clubs.

I also think the week before the A-League season starts to be the ideal time for the FFA Cup Final. It gives member clubs a leg up facing A-League teams in pre-season. It also gives A-League clubs meaningful competitive games rather than training ground friendlies, which is always a preferred arrangement. It would suit teams in the latter stages of the Asian Champions League in dealing with the A-League close season. Like the Charity/Community Shield, it would provide a marquee fixture to lead into the season proper.

Long Time, No Blog

Been busy, and too many topics to choose from that I didn't know how to get back into the swing of things.

http://video.news.ninemsn.com.au/?uuid=2682493707001

When I say busy, things at work became more chaotic when the warehouse I delivered from went up in flames. Some may recognise former NSL Championship-winning South Melbourne goalkeeper Bruce Maclaren in the video link above.

Spent some time at Officeworks on the self-serve photocopiers, copying and reducing pages from the Sydney Soccer World newspaper from A3 to A4 so that I could scan them at home. This produced the following documents:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n5iqoyzuv75jzf9/SoccerWorld1969.pdf

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3w4wmagu9zbx4fs/SoccerWorld1970.pdf

They are the NSW First and Second Division match reports and results pages, as well as the interstate results pages from Soccer World in 1969 and 1970. The NSW First Division all-in-one results, line-ups and match summary pages are brilliant, and I don't think those years are fully covered on OzFootball yet. Some great names to be found. For local content, the Cook's Tour of Melbourne column is also among the scans taken.

Scanning the full papers is a task too big for me, and I mainly focus on results because I want to complete the gaps in this document I started a few years ago:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cx2j0mqd5mn1zmd/VictorianFootballStatisticalHistory.2.pub

There was more than a bit happening on the current football front. The Socceroos reached a bit of a low, and Holger Osieck got the chop. Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne drew nearly 5,000 people to their clash in the VPL Finals, a figure unlikely to be reached when Bentleigh Greens and Northcote City meet in the Grand Final at AAMI Park at the ridiculous kick-off time of 1.00 pm this Saturday.

On the NPLV front, the injunction sought by the 60-odd co-signatory clubs will go before the Supreme Court. It's hard to see the FFV's vision up and running next year if this drags on any longer.

The A-League is back up and running, with the Melbourne Derby drawing a big crowd that witnessed a game that didn't live up to the hype. This also means Goal! Weekly is back in print, so get to a newsagent and read something better than this blog.

So many questions...

but is there anyone able to give some answers?

How does a club with a few strikes against it's name get involved in a brawl with their opposition and escape without any punishment whatsoever?

Is it true that in the above tribunal case involving North Sunshine Eagles that the rocket flare at the 2012 VPL Grand Final between Dandenong Thunder and Oakleigh Cannons was mentioned? Would that be because like Thunder, North Sunshine Eagles are a club of the Albanian community? Is that not racial profiling?

How many clubs has Stuart Webster been registered with this season? Isn't there a limit as to how many transfers one can have in a year?

Why is Stuart Webster's request for an out of window transfer to Richmond denied, but his later out of transfer window exemption granted when he moves back to Bentleigh Greens after spells at Dandenong Thunder and Doveton?

Who is it at the FFV you have to slip some cash to to get an out of window exemption for a goalkeeper transfer granted? Should I ask someone at Bentleigh Greens, as they seem to be able to get one every year?

http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/1688787/premier-league-bid-held-up-by-greedy-melbourne-clubs/?cs=10

If there are 12 clubs in the VPL, and one has junior fees of $3200 per season, whilst everyone else has them below $1000 per season, is it not an outrageous lie to claim "these clubs $3200 to register for the year"?

How many of the 0-3 defeats suffered by the Ballarat Red Devils reserves have been due to forfeits for not being able to field a team? Does that bode well for regional NPLV clubs?

How is it that when Michael Lynch is finally able to cover some lower-tier football in The Age that the FFV CEO Mitchell Murphy should be unavailable for comment?

Why would the FFV's Tim Frampton, at a meeting of the Bulleen Lions members discussing the NPLV, make remarks about other clubs which were derogatory or slanderous (depending on how far down the Chinese Whispers line you were when they were relayed to you)?

Can anyone who insists the NPL is entirely directed by the FFA and that the model is the same across the states tell me how the NSW NPL does not include Northern New South Wales or Canberra?

http://www.footballfedvic.com.au/index.php?id=1149

Which one of the FFV's core values makes you laugh the most?

Unity - Victorian football stakeholders will work together to deliver a shared vision and purpose for the growth and  health of the game.

When was that supposed to have happened? Isn't the FFV currently playing clubs off against each other and creating divisions within individual clubs?

Pride - We are proud of the organisation we work for and bring infectious enthusiasm in pursuit of our vision for football.

But not proud of the clubs that make up that organisation, more like ashamed of them.

Integrity - The affairs of the FFV will be unconditionally embedded in honesty and fairness. 

It shouldn't be too hard for someone from there to answer a few of the questions posed above about out of transfer window exemptions in the comments section of this blog then? Surely they can offer a reasonable explanation of Webster situation?

Respect - We will treat others the way we expect to be treated. We will also earn respect through becoming a positive and powerful force capable of delivering meaningful sport and social outcomes within the broader community.

They expect to be treated like scum then? That's how they treat the clubs.

Openness - We will engage and communicate transparently with the football family and listen with open-mindedness.

Apart from the NPLV consultation process I assume?

Performance - We will strive for service and business excellence off the field and inspired results on the field for Victorian clubs, players, coaches and referees.

Losing $900,000 last year was business excellence? Melbourne Victory Youth results only became inspired after the club took over running the team from the shambolic FFV.

When will the madness end?

Past, Present and Future

The present: Only attended two games last weekend, Richmond 1 Bentleigh Greens 1 on Friday night and then Eastern Lions 1 Western Suburbs 2. Richmond took the lead when Tom Cahill converted a penalty just before half-time on his return to the club, but conceded shortly after the restart. It was less auspicious return to his former club for Tom Matthews, who picked up a second yellow card to see Bentleigh reduced to ten men for the final half hour, but Richmond were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage.

Eastern Lions went down 1-2 at home to Western Suburbs, conceding two "coach killer" goals from horrendous errors. First the Number 4 made a hash of a back pass, playing in his opponent and exposing his keeper for Suburbs to take the lead. A good team goal saw Lions level before half-time, but a late keeper howler saw the Ralph Reserve boys take all three points. The Lions keeper came out to take a long ball, but it became apparent that it would arrive outside the penalty area. It appeared he looked to leap out and head the ball away, but miss-timed it horribly, overshooting the mark and having the ball bounce by him and to the Suburbs player who got ahead of the defender and finished well from an angle.

The future: No news is bad news on the NPLV front. What chances of an early resolution for how the leagues will be comprised next season? Slim to none you would reckon. Hopefully they will be able to get the fixtures out at least a couple of weeks before the season begins.

The past: Started to track down some missing line-ups from past Dockerty Cup Finals. It's a shame that the South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights websites don't have all their winning teams listed in their otherwise excellent History sections on their websites.

Worked out a final table for the Second Division in 1948, won by Bradford from South Yarra. In the Third Division, in which 12 teams played each other just the once, only a score from Heidelberg B v Macedonians that didn't come to hand on August 7 leaves the table incomplete. Melbourne University won the competition from Olympic, with Heidelberg A and George Cross just behind.

In the First Division of 1928 P.Lewis scored 9 as Naval Depot thrashed Richmond 14-0 on July 14. May be close to the record. Lincoln Mills were revived in that year, in the Melbourne and District League which ran alongside the Metro District League and Suburban League in the midst of a split in the administration of the game.

The 1927 Dockerty Cup Final will go down as having the earliest ever kick-off time, commencing at 10.15 am. It was on Melbourne Cup day, hence the early start.

Enjoying the past a little more than the present at the moment with worrying concerns for the future.

An Incomplete Wrap

So the weekly VPL wrap is a little incomplete, as there is still no resolution on the likely outcome of the abandoned game between Richmond and Green Gully on Friday night. In the era of emails and smart phones, waiting for the FFV to take possession of the referee's report seems somewhat inadequate. Maybe they need the time to work out how to handle the situation, given the current rules are written in shades of grey rather than black and white.

The other Friday night games saw two outcomes of 4-2 scorelines. Oakleigh Cannons went down at home, 2-4 to Hume City. If Miron Bleiberg had a towel, he'd be contemplating throwing it in already, with Oakleigh only sitting above Richmond and Southern Stars on the table. Not good enough considering you could combine and then double those club's wage budgets and still not be close to what Oakleigh pay. Turhan Sumbul was a hat trick hero for Hume, with the ever dangerous Nick Hegarty on the also score sheet once again.

Port Melbourne triumphed 4-2 at home to Southern Stars. Stars let an early lead slip before Port gained the upper hand, and there was no coming back after Andrew Viola was sent-off for two yellow cards in quick succession.

Pascoe Vale and South Melbourne engaged in a 0-0 draw, Paco holding on to claim a point after having Luca Santilli sent-off inside the first ten minutes. After a rocky start to the season, Pascoe Vale have become the new number one plucky little club mixing it with the big boys in the VPL.

The top of the table clash at John Cain Reserve saw Northcote City drop their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw with Bentleigh Greens. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade has been negligent in their duty, as Dean Piemonte is still on fire, notching his seventh goal for the season.

The celebrations for Melbourne Knights continued from the Australian Croatian Association (A.H.D.) Croatian House in Footscray on Saturday night to Knights Stadium in Sunshine on Sunday afternoon. The day after celebrating 60 years of Melbourne Croatia/Knights, the Knights twice came from behind to claim a dramatic 4-3 win over defending champions Dandenong Thunder with a goal from skipper Adam Zilic in stoppage time. Zilic features in the following video on the club's history, a fantastic tribute to a great club.

 

A Weekend Wrap of the VPL

Time for a wrap of the weekend's action in the VPL. Only got to the one game, Richmond v Hume City on Friday night. Can't to any worse than The Football Sack's weekly VPL review that gets linked on the FFV website and it's simple rehashing of the round's results.

So on Friday night, Richmond threw away an early lead (again) to succumb to a seventh successive defeat. The drama for the Eagles had begun early in the week with senior keeper Rani Dowisha departing for South Springvale. An attempt to bring back Stuart Webster to the club was thwarted by the FFV on the grounds that only Griffin McMaster is allowed out of window transfer exemptions. So young Oscar Vonk was thrown into the deep end for his VPL debut.

When he spilled a free-kick from Naum Sekulovski it was Turhan Sumbul who was on hand to equalise, heavily collecting Vonk in the process. Hume took the lead in the fifty-third minute with a great counter attack seeing the ball played out to Ersin Kaya who broke down the right before crossing to an unmarked Jarryd Barnes to simply head the ball into the net.

With eighteen minutes left Richmond conceded another poor goal, a free-kick from Nick Hegarty wide out on the right eluded all those line up at the top of the box and then bouncing and curling in at the far post to make it 3-1 for Hume. A late Richmond rally saw them pull a goal back at the end of regular time, a neat chip over the defence by Sam Gallagher being well met and finished by Kliment Taseski. Richmond then had a couple of chances to snatch an equaliser, substitute Gideon Sweet blazing a shot onto Bastow Oval No.2 with some well placed passing options available, and then Nick Krousoratis volleying a free-kick that fell to him at the far post a little too hard back across goal for Timmy Purcell to be able to meet.

At the same time Bentleigh defeated Melbourne Knights 2-1with David Stirton and Like Sherborn scoring for the home side before Jacob Colosimo pulled a goal back for the Knights. It was not the best performance of the season from title contenders Bentleigh, and the Knights were certainly ruing the chance to grab all the points.

In the final closed doors game of their FFV Tribunal punishment, defending Champions Dandenong Thunder fell to a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Pascoe Vale. The experience and class of Michael Ferrante has lifted the youthful Paco squad, his return from injury leading to the club finally finding it's feet in their first ever season in the top flight. If the traffic on the Dandenong Bypass wasn't already doing it, the Dandenong crowd behind the fence on the way to Eastlink would have been silenced in the tenth minute when Marco Santilli opened the scoring. It was Ferrante who converted a second half penalty, as Pascoe Vale recorded their third win of the season.

A change of coach didn't fully bring about a change in fortunes at Green Gully, who drew 1-1 at home to Port Melbourne. Luke Bowen pounced on the rebound from a Daniel Visevic strike to give the Sharks the lead after twenty-four minutes. In the second-half it was Bowen who was the villain, his handball in the box to block a shot from Matthew Sanders leading to a penalty which was duly converted by Jason Hayne. Not sure if the draw gives the Gully powerbrokers enough to make a conclusion one way or the other on whether the interim appointment of Jeff Fleming as coach will be extended.

Northcote City have gotten off to a flying start in 2013, and made it seven in a row with what would have to be considered a reasonably comprehensive victory over Southern Stars. It was 4-0 in the end, with the in-form Dean Piemonte grabbing two goals. Stars sit only ahead of Richmond on the table, and it remains possible that by the time of their clash on June 22nd neither team may yet have won a game for the season.

I won't go into the final game of the round, South Melbourne defeating Oakleigh Cannons 2-1, as I'm sure South of the Border will give more detail in due course, complete with the Under 21's Match Report by Steve from Broady. The bigger news on Sunday evening will have come from Knights Stadium, where an Extraordinary General Meeting saw Knights members vote not to submit an Expression of Interest in joining the proposed NPLV in 2014.