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.

History, Rewritten

Occasionally I will Google search "Victorian Soccer History", looking for something new or something that I may have missed previously. During such a search yesterday I thought I'd check out what the Wikipedia entry for Football Federation Victoria contained and was struck by some glaring "inconsistencies". Today I thought I'd check the FFV's own site to see if that is where the Wikipedia entry was lifted from, which was the case.

                              

                                                  (Click on image to enlarge)

To claim the organisation dates back to 1884 is more than an inconsistency, it's an outright lie and fabrication. The 1880's body died out with the Depression of the early 1890's. When Harry Dockerty was instrumental in restoring the code in Melbourne in 1908, it was with a new association.

It would be a stretch to claim that was one of "several name changes". It is a downright lie, and a criminal one at that, to suggest the creation of the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1962 was merely a name change from the Victorian Amateur Soccer Football Association. The VSF was a breakaway from the established body, it was ugly split that went before the courts. It dishonours the VSF pioneers not to acknowledge this.

Such historic revisionism is particularly galling on a day in which Dawn Fraser's racial comments about Nick Kyrgios have made the headlines. Fraser harks back to an era where telling foreigners who did not fit in to return to their homeland was the norm. It cannot be denied there was a racial element to the VASFA/VSF battle. To pretend there wasn't disrespects the actions of the leaders of many ethnic clubs who stood up for themselves in rebelling and creating the VSF.

In fact, the main, genuine name change in the governing bodies history, from VSF to FFV is not mentioned at all! A further, shameful, insult.

The claim that the NPL brought "top flight football" to Geelong "for the first time" is a slap in the face of the North Geelong Warriors VPL Championship team of 1992. Rewriting history to suit a political agenda is pretty poor form, as is disrespecting a club and their achievements.

Maybe that's why they would prefer history not be researched? To allow it to be rewritten by themselves, unchecked?

Random Videos

I've picked up a vast collection of VHS with mainly Socceroos games, which I will gradually upload to share on YouTube. They are full length, and take a while upload which means the I will probably only do two or three a month.

First up, there is a game from the group stage of the 1995 World Youth Championships, Australia v Germany. Josip Skoko had a great game, and Mark Viduka showed his class. It was a fine Australian side.

Next up is a classic NSL Grand Final, South Melbourne v Carlton from 1997-98. Plenty of atmosphere and drama at the old Olympic Park.

And because it's the random video post, here's Deacon Blue on Top of the Pops with Real Gone Kid. Audience is well into it, Scottish pop at it's finest. Far better than the official music video.

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)

The Search in Research

I never expected researching football history to be easy. Some setbacks are to be expected. A six hour stint in the State Library Victoria newspaper microfilm archives to yield just three new match results was a tad disappointing. I'd noticed Croydon results were often missing in the late 1920's. I suspected it was the tyranny of distance to the then outpost which meant results weren't getting through in time for publication rather than the games not being played.

Searching for a local paper, I uncovered the Ringwood Mail and Warrandyte Gazette. Local papers, coming out once a week, had much later deadlines. I found a great match report for a 2-0 win (Benson double) over Kingsville on Saturday July 20, 1929. It had the local team line-up and everything. Sadly, there were only two such reports for that season. Did the club publicists only sing when they were winning? It may account for such patchy coverage in those days.

It's not just the olden days where information may have vanished out of existence. Back in January I emailed the FFV requesting information from this century that was no longer available on their website (click on image to enlarge).

I got the level of service I've come to expect of the FFV i.e. poor. I shouldn't have been surprised, it's a fact of the history that I'm studying.

Who are you to doubt Ratko Crnic?

To me, that is the greatest wrestling promo (interview) of all time. The Rock, Chris Jericho and the various incarnations of Mick Foley were all better performers on the mic, but Bret Hart nailed this classic to perfection.

Maybe it's because I've always enjoyed the comedy of the absurd more than most. I always thought nominating Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex in every forum thread discussing the greatest song of all time far funnier that it probably really is. Building up the perpetual loser that El Dandy as a legitimate contender strikes a chord in that regard.

The Hitman's eye rolling can top any teenager's sarcasm. Mocking Booker T by using "aks" instead of ask is gold. Claiming Mean Gene Okerlund is trying to "tear these guys down" when calling Psicosis "Hypnosis" and following up with "whatever" when corrected is brilliant. Works on another level as well, considering it was obvious WCW was continually tearing the Mexican luchadores down. The "he's a high flyer of the highest magnitude" line reminds me of the Fistful of Yen sequence from The Kentucky Fried Movie, and that just doesn't happen often enough.

Even Bret's stutter in delivering the "who are you to, to doubt El Dandy" line works. Is he incredulous the superbly earnest Mean Gene is not buying it?

Now the only thing that packs so much gold into one package more than this are the ads placed in Soccer Action in the 1980's by prospective coaching superstar Ratko Crnic. And there's two packages! As well as a rare case of not being able to determine which is better, the original or the sequel, because they are both so damn good.

So who are you to doubt Ratko Crnic? He was born for football. The authorities wanting badges and credentials try to tear him down, but that's because he has the secret to success that they don't. And is there a more random line of genius anywhere ever than "My dream is to see England at the top in world soccer". Not in this universe.

A Missing Folklore

It's not that Australia doesn't have a rich football history, it's just that it is poorly documented. 

Part of that comes from living in the shadow of more popular codes. Some of it is because of the various political schisms over the years. For instance, when the breakaway ethnic clubs established the State Federations, scant regard was given to the records of the bodies they had superseded. More recently there is a tendency to be ashamed of our history, wanting to lock it away in the attic like The Simpsons did with Bart's evil twin Hugo.

In the pre-internet age, reading about football was pretty limited. There were weekly newspapers covering local competitions with overseas results, and Shoot! magazine which would arrive on our shores three months after original publication. Second hand bookshops were a good source of British books about the game, many of which followed a similar structure.

Most football fans will know a bit about the history of the clubs they follow, the great eras and players. In Britain, this extends to a larger folklore of the game that is still maintained by followers of the modern game. The staples of this are repeated in the many guides and histories of football contained in those books. 

There is the White Horse Cup Final, Bert Trautmann going from German prisoner of war to winning the Cup Final for Manchester City playing with a broken neck and the tragedy of the Munich Air Disaster. The name of Sir Stanley Mathews, the Wizard of the Dribble, lives on generations long beyond anyone who actually saw him play. Enormous goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke, Dixie Dean's amazing goalscoring, Herbert Chapman's great Arsenal side, the Tottenham Hostpur double winning team, Real Madrid dominating the early years of the European Cup and Ferenc Puskas destroying England at Wembley are known by all. 

Beyond Joe Marston playing in the F.A.Cup Final for Preston North End and the 1974 Socceroos, Australian football folklore is almost non-existent. Throw in three random names and Reg Date and ask a fan to name the Australian football legend, are you likely to find more than 25% of them getting the answer right? I'd highly doubt it. Can any name a single Australian footballer from pre-WWII? 

It's a sad situation, sadder still if it is never improved upon because of a need to dishonour the past in order to make the present seem greater.