Great Links

Since coming across the amazing Soccer Nostalgia blog, I've been searching for other sites which may contain more historical magazines, programmes or yearbooks. Sadly, most are foreign and not of much assistance in further researching Australian football history. Still, they are a brilliant read/view nonetheless.

For mine, the true gold in Soccer Nostalgia are the Full Magazines and Match Programmes blogs. Well worth seeking out via the menus.

Here's a quick sample:

Full Magazines Part 11

Match Programmes Part 3

Some of the pictures in the 1960's French magazines (like Miroir du Football, and Football Magazine) are truly exceptional.

Along the lines of what Paul Mavroudis and South of the Border have done, but going back a lot further in time, is the Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats blog. It has some real vintage annuals, guides and yearbooks that can be downloaded from here.

It would be great if our governing bodies could supply us with the means to do similar, but sadly it appears any such documents going back that far have been lost in the mists of time.

Miles McClagan's flickr album is another amazing treasure trove of programmes and magazines. It's the kind of site you can get lost for days in.

Football Programme Covers is another brilliant flickr collection. 

There are several club-based sites with programme cover collections, including Tottenham Hotspur, Wrexham, Leeds United and West Ham United. 

Feel free to provide similar links in the comments section below.

The Good and Bad of the NPL Victoria

With the opening round done and dusted it's an opportune time to consider what worked and what didn't as the season got underway.

Good

Crowds, most notably at Olympic Village where more than 3000 witnessed Heidelberg United v South Melbourne. Two clubs with tradition and a strong rivalry. Had the original vision of a zonal NPLV with generic clubs/consortia come to pass, would SE1 v N2 or NW1 v S2 have been able to draw comparable figures?

Bad

Sprinklers coming on during the game and causing an abandonment between Whittlesea Ranges and Kingston City. Even in one of the more modern NPLV venues, things can go wrong and despite the attempts to increase professionalism across the board, we may not have made the great leap forward just quite yet.

Good

Radio commentary on NPLV LiveCast. Solid coverage judging by the opening game. If you can't get to a match, a radio call should suffice. If you really want to watch a match, get to it. Video live streaming games to an audience of 30 or 40 for a match that may only attract a few hundred spectators is counter-productive. Radio is the way to go, I say.

Bad

Suspended player controversy, as revealed by South of the Border. Another black mark against the administration, especially if the club queried the FFV and was told the player was eligible to play.

Good

Both NPL Victoria and NPLV1 leagues getting the full FFV match commissioner treatment of team sheets posted on twitter as well as live match updates. A few games being filmed and highlights packages hitting the internet rather promptly. Excellent.

Bad

Only 40 NPL badges for shirts being allocated to each club. That covers a senior home kit and a senior away kit. What about the junior teams? Are they not NPL elite as well?

Good

After getting the Alex Ferguson hair-dryer treatment from the FFA, the FFV are promoting the League as if their life depended on it. Which is a nice change. Maybe now we can get somewhere if they and the clubs start pulling in the same direction.

Bad

Player Points System transparency. How is it being managed? With a suspensions shambles already arising, how can we be sure teams are meeting the PPS Cap? Should there be a list of players and their points value open to all? Maybe people can keep tabs on things through that? At the moment the whole thing seems to be shrouded in secrecy.

Good

It's nice to be able to go to see some local football again. Melbourne Knights v Northcote City was an exciting game, with a cracking goal from Marino Gasparis. Plenty of goals at Richmond v Box Hill United, even if they didn't go the right way from my perspective. Good crowd at the Veneto Club for Bulleen Lions v Moreland Zebras, with a couple of tidy goals for the home side.

Bits & Pieces (Not a Dave Clark Five Tribute)

The Dave Clark Five were the "Tottenham Sound", perhaps a little overshadowed by the "Merseybeat" of the same era. This post is not about them though, even though the title is the same as one of their greatest hits.

So Harry Kewell is close to signing for Melbourne Heart in the A-League. For close to minimum wage apparently. Will add a bit more spice to the Derby, and I'm not talking about his appearance in a marquee at Flemington. Just don't let me have to hear anyone claiming he is the greatest Australian player of all-time, not in this town. This side of the Murray, we all hail King Dukes!

Conflicting reports on whether the two VPL Melbourne's, Port and South, will be submitting EOI's for the NPLV. The deadline to hop of the fence is 5 pm Friday, with a countdown clock on the FFV NPLV keeping everyone informed.

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

Thanks to South of the Border for their promotion of Melbourne Soccer on their blog:

http://southmelbournefc.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/new-blog-melbourne-soccer.html

I answer Yes, Hell Yes and No to the three opening questions. I don't think the blog could be summarised in just six words any better than they have in their links section - Australian soccer history, Victorian soccer politics. That's what I'm here for.

The Guardian have launched an Australian website, and in the following blog Joe Gorman explains why they will be referring to the game as soccer:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2013/may/28/football-soccer-debate-in-australia

As you may gather, calling football "soccer" does not have the same effect on me as showing a cross to a vampire. I grew up with the name, and like many can easily switch between the two terms depending on what company I am in without suffering any scarring of psyche as a result. I called the blog Melbourne Soccer, as in Melbourne the dominant code of football is Aussie Rules, and I'm not looking to cause any confusion.

If any club would like to announce their intentions regarding the NPLV via this blog, please get in touch. According to the countdown clock, you have 2 days, 19 hours, 38 minutes and 51 seconds remaining.