Random Black and White Photos

Since belatedly discovering that Microsoft Paint and Microsoft Photo are a little more advanced on Windows 10 than they were on Microsoft XP over ten years ago, I thought I'd go through some documents and cut, paste, straighten and crop some old photos.

A shot from the famous 1962 VSL game between South Melbourne Hellas and George Cross at Olympic Park. The stands are a mass of humanity, as over 22,000 people crowded the venue.

Another big crowd at Olympic Park watches Torpedo Moscow's Brednev go to ground as he tackles Victorian star Mike Jurecki in their 1965 clash.

On to another lost ground with this great wide shot of Middle Park in 1968.

Only just a star at the time, later to be a South Melbourne Hellas legend, Jimmy Pyrgolios in 1968.

A great Victorian state team from 1967. Willy Schroif, who played in a World Cup Final. Johnny Sanchez, an early Bill Fleming Medal winner. Jimmy Armstrong, goalscoring legend of Hakoah and South Melbourne Hellas who still helps out at Lakeside. Hammy McMeechan, who remained active in the game until his passing. Tommy Stankovic and Frank Micic, who were probably the two greatest ever J.U.S.T. players.

Nino Borsari, Olympic Gold Medalist, Patron of Victorian Football. A great gentleman of Carlton.

The ground remains, the grandstand does not. Action from Jubilee Park in 1963 as Layt of Ringwood Wilhelmina lead's Richmond Alemannia's Zammit to the ball in their VSL game.

Ringwood City 1982. Brooksy of the Music Men in the front row. Coached by Sjel de Bruyckere. Sjel was often referred to as Mike, but since the NCIP scandal I have amended all my records to include his proper name.

Richmond Alemannia player hi-jinx on the front page of Soccer News as Rudi van Altena holds back Peter Erasmus so Billy Copeland can cut his beard.

Prahran City team shot from 1969. Got the nod ahead of other team photographs found in Soccer News from that era simply because the goalkeeper is sporting a flat cap. You can't beat goalkeepers that wear flat caps.

                                                          (Click on images to enlarge)

Scotch Have the Celts Measure

Saturday May 14 saw Old Scotch host St Kilda Celts in a top of the table clash in the Zagames State League Division Two South East at H.A.Smith Reserve.

The Celts kick-off, with the Monash Freeway as a backdrop.

Players get into the box for a set-piece, while Steve Gray of Football Chaos films the game from the clubroom roof.

Midfield action, on another ground in excellent condition, especially since it's an open park.

2000 and 2003 VPL Referee of the Year Senko Rastocic controls proceedings.

At H.A.Smith Reserve it's the benches that are the marquee signings.

An Old Scotch player places the ball down for a free-kick, which he will play to a man out wide on his right.

The cross is turned in at the far post, and Old Scotch take their 1-0 lead into the half-time break.

Pitchside lounge suites aren't a feature off too many football grounds.

It's celebration time as Jonny Beamish puts Old Scotch back in front late in the second half.

The players exchange pleasantries at the final whistle.

H.A.Smith Reserve is located in leafy Hawthorn. The iconic tennis stadium of the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club sits on the other side of Glenferrie Road. In the parks on the other side of the Monash Freeway you will find Kooyong Park, home of Malvern City from State League Division One South East.

It was a quiet first half, with the action intensifying as the game went on. Maybe it was the beer kicking in, as the home support became more vocal as the second half went on. With victory in sight big tackles and surges forward were heartily cheered. The win saw Scotch move clear at the top of the table, with St Kilda, Caulfield United Cobras and North Caulfield all chasing.

Match highlights from the brilliant Football Chaos website:

                                                     (Click on images to enlarge)

Is It A Joke?

On the same day Melbourne Victory released this statement on hooliganism by their club associates at an NPL game (should be gameS, but let's sweep that under the carpet for the moment) it was interesting to hear club CEO Ian Robson laughing about West Ham United fans attacking the Manchester United bus on Radio 1116SEN.


At 5:20 you can hear Robson stifle a laugh as Kevin Bartlett brings up the subject of West Ham fans attacking the bus, before joking "that's called a London greeting".

Is it as funny as when South Melbourne fans attacked the Adelaide City bus? I'm not sure anyone laughed about that, not just because of the injury sustained by Ange Costanzo. It is one of the most cited incidents when condemning the NSL and it's clubs of ethnic origin as a blight on the game in this country.

If South Melbourne are condemned for such an incident, but it is laughed off when done by West Ham, is it outrageous to point out a possible racist double standard that is at the forefront of the Old Soccer/New Football divide?

Rather than calling for a league to be disbanded, and clubs expelled could someone not just have said "that's called a Greek greeting!" and we could have all had a chuckle and moved on?

What we also know from the Victory statement is that the hooliganism in Epping after the game against Melbourne Knights was far enough removed from the stadium/game to be able to be brushed aside by the authorities. Brand protection comes ahead of protecting opposition supporters and their vehicles, it would seem.

Maybe we are meant to believe nothing happened in Epping? Just like we are supposed to believe that when Robson was CEO of the Essendon Football Club he had no idea his football department were running a supplements program that would eventually see 34 players banned for breaching anti-doping rules.

Robson sometimes talks a hard-line on hooliganism, but his laughter gives him away. Talk is all it is.

A Striking Battle at Centenary

I belatedly get around to covering April 23rd's clash between Peninsula Strikers and Old Scotch in State League Division Two South East after being sidetracked by internet issues and hooliganism.

The teams line-up pre-game for a ceremony to commemorate the Anzacs.

There's a rise down the middle of Centenary Park, not as extreme as Gardiner's Creek Reserve, but very noticeable.

Looking towards the North Eastern corner of the ground which houses the clubroom and changing rooms. The away rooms have long been among the smallest in the state, but the first stage of building extensions is set to commence this month.

The Strikers are about to deal with an Old Scotch cross.

Aerial duel in midfield about to take place.

Richard Ojo guards the Peninsula goal. The surface was in pretty good condition, barring some patched up areas in the eighteen yard boxes.

The ground is well banked on three sides.

The shed is vacated for the half-time rush to the bar/canteen, with the home side having the upper hand at the interval.

In what is now an obligatory part of the match report photo essay series, Jonathan Beamish prepares to take a penalty, which he duly converted.


                                                   (Click on images to enlarge)

The game itself was action packed, though perhaps a bit niggly to be labelled a classic. It was a rather ill-tempered affair, with Strikers having a few older, slower players preferring to stop their opponents with extreme physicality. In response, a few of the Scotch boy were hoping the ref would win the game for them rather than taking it the game by the scruff of the next themselves. The referee was copping an equal amount of abuse from both sides.

While Old Scotch held possession very well, Strikers were more potent in the attacking third and took a 1-0 lead into the break. The home side went 2-0 up early in the second half, before Beamish pulled a goal back from the spot. An equaliser for Scotch set up a grandstand finish. Just as it seemed as if they had the game at their mercy, another sharp turn and shot regained the lead for Strikers. The drama was not over yet, with Old Scotch grabbing the equaliser in stoppage time.

There was a bit of feeling between both teams, benches and even marshalls during the game. In the second half, a Scotch supporter jumped the fence on the Northern side to act as ball boy as time-wasting became an issue. He assured the assistant referee he was entitled to act as ground marshall for the away team, an assertion he repeated when the home club marshall returned from  the clubrooms. The Scotch man then told him the assistant referee had requested him to act as marshall (it was more a case of begrudgingly accepting his jumping the fence). The Strikers marshall then told the Scotch man if he wanted to marshall he should introduce himself to the home club prior to the game and pick up a high-vis vest to wear when conducting his duties. Tensions soon eased as the excitement on the pitch neared it's epic finale.

The draw kept Old Scotch at the top of the table. The club has been climbing through the leagues in recent years, after starting in the Provisional League following a breakaway from Eastern Lions. Old Scotch had previously merged with Waverley City to form Old Scotch/Waverley which was later re-branded as Eastern Lions.

Peninsula Strikers are also the product of re-branding and mergers. Dingley-Skye United emerged at Centenary Park following the collapse of Frankston City in the early 1980's, becoming Frankston United in 1989. A merger with Karingal United in 1993 saw the club become Frankston Strikers in 1994, with a re-brand to Peninsula Strikers taking place in 2008. In the mid-1990's there was a push for promotion to the VPL, but the club never went beyond a short stint in the First Division.

The history of Centenary Park is probably best off told in a post of it's own, so we'll leave it at that for now.

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?

When Doves Fly

The second round of the Zagames State League Division Two South East season saw Doveton host Beaumaris at Waratah Reserve.

Doveton goalkeeper Stuart Webster, who's father Stan played for the club in the early 1980's, surveys the play further up the field. Webster was VPL Goalkeeper of the Year in 2003 (Frankston Pines) and 2012 (Dandenong Thunder). Keeping an eye on proceedings in the background is veteran goalkeeping coach Roy Lawton

The leafy surrounds of Waratah Reserve, with a hill beyond the park at the North Western end.

The Doveton bench, an impressive structure. Also ample and largely empty shelter down the Western side of the ground.

A rectangle of artificial turf means no unsightly bald patch at the entrance to the player's race.

Didier Imbert heads clear in the box.

The Press Box and more populated sheltered viewing area on the Eastern side of the ground.

Also on the Eastern side is the car park, clubrooms and heavy roller.

Another pitch in excellent condition, looking up the ground from South to North as Sean Seavill goes on the attack for Beaumaris.

David Gibson about to put the ball on the spot after Beaumaris were awarded a late first half penalty at 0-2 down.

Gibson beats Webster from the spot to get Beaumaris back into the game.

Doveton emerge for the second half, Roy Lawton catches up with Liam McCormick in the background.

Victorian State League and Victorian Premier League football was played at Waratah Reserve during Doveton's spells in the top flight during the 1980's and 1990's. On the other hand Beaumaris are currently at their highest ever level in competing in State Two South East.

Goals from Phoenix Lawton and Elliott David had Doveton 2-0 up before Beaumaris were awarded a contentious penalty before the break. Lawton's second goal seemed to have secured the win for the home side in the seventieth minute, but there was late drama as Beaumaris pulled a goal back in stoppage time. Holding on to their 3-2 lead saw the Doves keep their 100% winning record early in the new season.

                                                      (Click on images to enlarge)

A Peninsula Derby Day

Saturday saw Langwarrin host local rivals Frankston Pines on the opening day of the Zagames State League Division One South East season.

Glorious sunshine provided great conditions for football, and though a little yellow in appearance the surface at Lawton Reserve was in excellent shape.

Langwarrin keeper Robert Acs about to take a goal kick.

An aerial duel in the middle of the park.

Caleb Nicholes prepares to take a penalty kick.

It's 1-0 as Nicholes' penalty hits the back of the net.

The players head back for the kick-off after the penalty conversion. Farmhouses in the background, and beyond that smoke from a controlled burn off on Arthur's Seat.

A good crowd was in attendance, mainly in front of the clubrooms.

During the second half some horses wandered down from the top paddock, always a hit with the kids.

Andy McIntyre is about to head a corner to where Nicholes will flick it past the keeper to make it 6-2.

Plenty of celebrations for Langy on the day as they got their season off to a great start.

Langwarrin have probably been the most stable club on the Mornington Peninsula, as evidenced by coach Gus Macleod entering his seventeenth season at the helm. Since climbing the leagues at the turn of the century Langwarrin has generally competed in the top league in the South East leagues.

Frankston Pines have scaled greater heights however, including several spells in the state's top flight. 2003 saw them reach the VPL Grand Final, beaten 1-0 by Green Gully at Knights Stadium. With these highs have also come several relegations, falling back as far as the Provisional League in 2012.

The game got off to a scrappy start, neither side able to muster much good football in the opening fifteen minutes. Dangerous spearhead Caleb Nicholes, a multiple former League Top Goalscorer and League Best and Fairest Award winner, was brought down for a penalty which he converted to gain Langy the ascendancy. The goal settled the home side who started to string some passes together and were soon to 2-0 up, the lead the would take into the break.

Momentum was all with the men in their blue home kit, and a third goal came in the opening minute of the second half. Johnny Guthrie then made it 4-0, striking well from outside of the penalty area after a corner was cleared out from it.

It was a penalty which saw Pines open their scoring account for the season, and their revival continued with another goal pulling the score back to 4-2. Langwarrin would re-assert their superiority in the latter stages, three more goals including two from Nicholes to notch his hat-trick.

The wide margin saw Langwarrin head the table after the opening day, with the other Peninsula club Mornington sitting in second place after a 5-1 defeat of FC Clifton Hill.

Video footage can be found via the excellent Langwarrin Soccer Club website.

                                                       (Click on images to enlarge)