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

Boo's NPL Review - Week 2 - The Shrine of Tiki Taka

Back again for another look at the weekend's NPL action.

NPL Victoria

The choke started early at Oakleigh this year, with the Cannons blowing a 2-0 lead inside the final ten minutes to share the points with Kingston City. The local derby finished in a flourish with a 91st minute goal and a 92nd minute red card for the Reds.

Friday night football began with North Geelong taking a point with a 1-1 draw when visiting Pascoe Vale at C.B.Smith Reserve. Paco took the lead through my favourite current NPL player, the brilliant Davey van 't Schip, but the Warriors drew level seven minutes later.

The Green Derby was an easy win for Bentleigh Greens, sealed with a 79th minute goal from substitute Andy Brennan. Will everyone need to extend bench sizes once again to accommodate the Green Gully staff?

Hume City and Melbourne Knights emulated Thursday's season opener as the Knights squandered a 2-0 lead at ABD Stadium by conceding an equaliser deep into stoppage time. Theo Markelis pulled a goal back for the hosts with eight minutes to go setting up the grandstand finish. One goalkeeper would be the hero, the other the villain. Knights custodian Fraser Chalmers was sent off for dissent, and from the delayed free-kick it was Hume's gloveman Michael Weier who headed home.

New signing Kaine Sheppard was the matchwinner for Avondale as they defeated St Albans 1-0 at Knights Stadium on Saturday in a match overshadowed by the drama in Westmeadows.

Another Saturday evening game saw Heidelberg United get up 1-0 over Port Melbourne at the Village. The game was settled by a first half own goal.

NPL Two East

Melbourne City Youth had a second consecutive 2-2 draw at home, with the same scoring sequence (0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2) and all. Spooky. Murray United were their opponents, for whom Archie Thompson made his debut off the bench.

Dandenong City got their season back on track with a 5-0 thrashing of Richmond. Enes Sivic got on the scoresheet against one of his former clubs, as Ljubo Milicevic made a successful debut for City off the bench.

Conversely Dandenong Thunder crashed back down to Earth, falling to a 2-1 defeat at Springvale White Eagles. There may have been some shenanigans at this fixture, not sure if the term "Gypsy" was bandied about though.

Box Hill United and Eastern Lions played out a 0-0 draw at Wembley Park. For the second week in a row the failure to convert a penalty cost the Lions full points.

Nunawading City and Goulburn Valley Suns drew 1-1 at Mahoneys Reserve. The Suns had taken an early lead through Liam Baxter before he was sent off on the half hour mark. City were able to pull level through Mitch Cooper but were unable to claim the win against ten men. They were able to unveil their Shrine to Tiki Taka though:

NPL Two West

Northcote City's 1-0 win at Melbourne Victory Youth kept them as the early season pacesetters in NPL Two West. New skipper Josh Knight's 29th minute penalty was enough to get Hercules over the line.

Sunshine George Cross drew 0-0 with Moreland City at Chaplin Reserve. There may be a line or two more on this over at South of the Border later in the week.

Werribee City and Brunswick City also played out a draw, 1-1, at Galvin Park. The hosts lead before the visitors equalised.

Ballarat City racked up their first ever win with a 1-0 defeat of Whittlesea Ranges at Morshead Park. Pat Karras got the winner as Danny Gnjidic's boys made history.

Bendigo City may be creating unwanted history, beaten 0-7 by Moreland Zebras making it twelve conceded after just two games. Nejc Kolman hit four for the Zebras.

Overall

Results service audit shows improvement: 7 COMPLETE 8 ALMOST 1 RUBBISH

I'm still shaking my head at the Shrine of Tiki Taka. Is it a club, or an academy, or a cult?

George Campbell Returns To Aberdeen

Since the beginning of the game in Melbourne, the Scots have been significant contributors to Victorian football. Many early games were drawn along Scotland v England lines, before Harry Dockerty would revive organised competitions in 1909. The importation of Scottish players throughout the 1950's and 1960's saw the standard of Australian football rise to a level which saw the Socceroos able to qualify for the 1974 World Cup Finals.

The signing of a young Scot by South Melbourne Hellas in 1978 created a stir in the football scene, as covered in Soccer Action at the time:

Soccer Action Vol.3 No.11 - Wednesday April 19, 1978

Soccer Action Vol.3 No.15 - Wednesday May 10, 1978

George Campbell had been the youngest ever player to play for Aberdeen. He came on a sixteen year old substitute against Morton in 1975 to make his First Division (current Premiership) debut. Hellas paid a record fee of $20,000 to secure the skillful, tricky youngster already dubbed "The White Pele". In five seasons at Middle Park he would score 17 goals from 104 appearances with the club reaching a best ever NSL placing to that point when Runner's-Up in 1981.

                                               George Campbell at Aberdeen


In 1983 Campbell made the move to NSL rivals Preston Makedonia where he played for three seasons before a transfer to Green Gully in 1986. During his time in the NSL the former Scottish Youth International would occasionally feature for the Victorian State Team. Some of these games included the 2-1 win over Dundee in 1978 and a thrilling 2-3 loss to a star-studded New York Cosmos in 1983.

His time in the NSL was followed by stints with Box Hill (1987-1989) and Fawkner (1989) in the VSL (current NPL). He then continued playing in the lower State League with Nunawading City, then Ringwood City, Knox City and Banyule City until 1998. After an early broken leg which scuppered plans for a return to Scottish League football he would enjoy a career spanning 20 years in Melbourne.

Since retiring as a player he has been coaching in club, academy and school capacities. As well as roles with the FFV and Xavier College he has been involved with the Youth teams at Essendon Royals, Northcote City and his current club Dandenong Thunder.

In October this year he returned to Scotland for a reunion lunch for the anniversary of Aberdeen's 1976 Scottish League Cup win. A special programme was made for the event:

                                            

It's fantastic to see a club that celebrates it's past in such a manner. Well done to George on his achievements and his continued involvement in the local game.

                                                      (Click on images to enlarge)

Random Videos IV: We Need A Montage

2003 VPL action with Green Gully hosting Whittlesea.... let me look it up... Stallions, They were still the Stallions that year. Ante Loncaric looking dodgy in goal, Andy Vargas with a hat-trick, Jeff Fleming with hair.

More VPL 2003 action from the same round as Bulleen Zebras host Port Melbourne in a goalfest. Igor Mandic with two Panenka penalties after being forced to re-take.

Random Videos IV salutes Rocky IV with a training montage featuring Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago.

Many thought Chris Jericho would struggle when Ralphus left Jericho Personal Security for a job with Blue Thunder Security but they were wrong.

Musical guest this time is Robert Plant's The Honeydrippers with Sea of Love. Not so random, with the football connection being the song was produced by Ahmet Ertegun, who as well as founding Atlantic Records also co-founded the New York Cosmos.

Random Pictures

Did a bit of tidying up of the old hard drive, and noticed I really do have a lot of pictures stored. Most are pretty ordinary, but some are worth sharing.

R.I.P. old scoreboard at Lakeside (Bob Jane) Stadium

It may not have been a glittering career, but it had it's moments.

Club members building the foundations of the new rooms at Bastow Oval, to become Kevin Bartlett Reserve. Stand up and salute them.

Trainspotting, Richmond Under 21's v Bentleigh Greens Under 21's, 2012.

Thanks to Markian Jaworsky, Buddy's Mobile Disco was the iconic VPL sponsorship sign. Green Gully Under 21's v Richmond Under 21's, 2012.

The big stage. 2010 VPL Grand Final.

South Melbourne fan's make a fine political statement on Heyington Bridge in 2010.

Iain Stirton carries son David as he walks off the park after Moorabbin City defeated Eltham/Diamond Valley United away in 1994.

1970's George Cross at Olympic Park.

1932 Hakoah, Metropolitan League Division Two Champions.

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Consistently Inconsistent

Let's start with a look at various abandoned games (mainly VPL, but one Provisional Three North West) in recent years and how the FFV handled the situations:

2006

Friday March 17 Richmond 0 Heidelberg United 2
Abandoned after 33 minutes, floodlight failure.
Replay from 33rd minute
Wednesday April 5 Richmond 0 Heidelberg United 3

2008

Saturday July 26 Altona Magic 1 Coburg United 0
Abandoned at half-time, floodlight failure
Full replay
Wednesday August 20 Altona Magic 4 Coburg United 1

Wednesday August 20 Melbourne Knights 0 Oakleigh Cannons 0
Abandoned after 18 minutes, floodlight failure.
Full replay
Tuesday August 26 Melbourne Knights 1 Oakleigh Cannons 0

2009

Saturday June 13 Dandenong Thunder 0 Green Gully 0
Abandoned at half-time
Full replay
Sunday July 5 Dandenong Thunder 5 Green Gully 1

2010

Sunday April 11 South Melbourne 1 Heidelberg United 1
Abandoned after 91 minutes, pitch invasion.
Match awarded 3-0 to Heidelberg United
Upon appeal, 1-1 score reinstated and South Melbourne deducted 6 points

Saturday June 15 Watsonia Heights 3 Upfield 0
Abandoned 70th minute, serious injury to Upfield player.
Full replay
Tuesday August 24 Watsonia Heights 1 Upfield 1

Saturday July 25 Dandenong Thunder 1 Northcote City 4
Abandoned after 58 minutes, floodlight failure.
Full replay
Wednesday August 18 Dandenong Thunder 1 Northcote City 4

2011

Saturday May 14 Dandenong Thunder 0 Melbourne Knights 0
Abandoned after 20 minutes, floodlight failure.
Full replay
Saturday July 23 Dandenong Thunder 3 Melbourne Knights 1

2013

Friday May 31 Richmond 1 Green Gully 2
Abandoned after 71 minutes, waterlogged pitch/lightening
Replay from 71st minute
Wednesday June 19

No wonder the FFV have people calling them corrupt on their Facebook pages. Combined with the anomalies/inconsistencies with the outside of transfer window goalkeeper signing rule, the discretionary decisions of the FFV are usually highly questionable. Given the decision regarding the Richmond v Green Gully game yesterday, Watsonia Heights in 2010 can feel highly aggrieved. 3-0 up, twenty minutes to go, an opposition player suffers a back injury and can't be moved leading to the game being abandoned. Yet they has to come back and start from scratch.

The greatest injustice was inflicted upon Northcote City that same year. 4-1 up at Dandenong when the lights went out, they didn't get a resumption of play from the 58th minute either. Instead indecision from the FFV and a drawn out appeal saw them finally have to squeeze in a full replay in midweek (which ended up 4-1 again) before the final round of the season. Not ideal playing three games in a week when they were chasing a finals spot.

Hang your head in shame FFV. Full replays for all games abandoned prior to 70 minutes like it used to be, or all abandoned games to be restarted from the minute they came to a halt. One or the other, it's not hard.

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.

 

Blame It On The Rain

Until last night, that was the last game I attended that was abandoned due to heavy rain/flooding. It was on Saturday July 29, 1995 (one day before my birthday) in State League Division Two. Moorabbin City were hosting Springvale White Eagles in a top of the table clash at Kingston Heath. It was before the current facility was completed, as evidenced by the portable cabin dressing rooms behind the goal Moorabbin are attacking, and the temporary clubrooms on the far side on the right. Even the trees on the hill at Capital Golf Course have yet to be established.

Springvale White Eagles had scored in the first half before the above goal from Iain Stirton (proud father of current Bentleigh Greens star David) equalised in the second period after the heavens had opened up. The referee, Dennis Voutsinis I think, abandoned the match which was replayed on September 16. In the replay Moorabbin triumphed 1-0 with a goal from Mickey Maguire, to seal promotion, with White Eagles having already clinched the championship.

Stirton was pipped for top goalscorer honours in the league that season by Waverley City's (now Eastern Lions) Alex Livingstone by a goal, with big Stirts getting 16 for the season. The White Eagles pair of Michael Michalakopoulos and Zlatko Mihajlovic both got 14 for the campaign. The NSL was won by Melbourne Knights, with Mark Viduka winning the golden boot with 18 goals. Altona Magic defeated Bulleen 3-2 in the Grand Final to win the VPL in the year Port Melbourne dominated but stumbled in the Finals. Oakleigh City (now Cannons) were relegated from Division One, with South Dandenong (now Thunder) promoted as runner's-up in Division Three.

Last night at Kevin Bartlett Reserve it was Green Gully leading Richmond 2-1 at around the 72nd minute when Luke Brennan pulled the pin. Apart from flooding, there was also thunder and lightening making things frightening. If the referee's report indicates the game was stopped due to thunder, it is highly possible that the FFV will deduct further points from Dandenong Thunder as well as fine them.

The pageviews counter indicates not too many people are reading the blog, and comments are virtually non-existent. But I take heart from the fact that since my last post on Thursday, the VPL Live TV icon alongside the club logos on the VPL website has disappeared. Co-incidence or not?

Interesting Expressions

With Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the National Premier League Victoria closing at the end of the week, there has been plenty of movement at the station.

Melbourne Knights Press Release

First came this press release from the Melbourne Knights about the decision of their members at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to not submit an EOI. How many other clubs have even put this decision to an EGM yet?

The FFV website today issued a reminder that interested parties have until 5 pm on Friday to submit their EOI.

FFV News Update

There is nothing on the FFV website at all pertaining to a query in the last paragraph of the press release, in which "The Melbourne Knights calls upon Football Federation Victoria to immediately release the criteria for the so-called 'community leagues' so that the club, and others like it, may prepare to the fullest for the 2014 season." I hope no one is holding their breath, because the vast and expensive FFV resources are being devoted solely to the NPLV and the grassroots can wither and die for all they care.

Mfootball - Green Gully Exclusive

Next cab off the rank to announce they don't want a bar of the NPLV is Green Gully. When the most financially stable club in the state won't take the risk on the viability of the FFV's brainchild, it is time to phone Houston, for we have a problem.

To get everyone in the mood for where we may currently stand in history, have a look at this if you have the time:

MARMARAS’ OYSTER OR SEAMONDS’ BABY: THE FORMATION OF THE VICTORIAN SOCCER FEDERATION, 1956-64

The great Roy Hay covers the split that lead to the foundation of the VSF. Are there any lessons to be learned from history?

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.