They are the hardcore few hundred that went up, they took up every banner/flag the club has.

-no flares at all, even after goal
-no greek chanting
-no ethnic (or efnik) violence with locals

What you saw would basically be your standard away game against Brisbane or something.

Now I'm sure krusen will come in and remind us of incidents from 15-30-40 years ago that have no relevance.

I'm with Krusen on this mate. You can continue to act obliviously and tell him he's lying, but he's not and we both know it. I'll give you a few hints.

Your colours are the same as the Greek flag. Some sponsors include a Greek beer, Oasis Pure Greek Coffee and a Greek Orthodox school. The club goes out of its way to screen Greek qualifying matches. Apostolos Giannou grew up at South - And decided to play for Greece. SMFC had a stall at the Antipodes festival, catering to the Greek community. Out of the 29 listed staff on the site, 19 are of obvious Greek descent and probably more that had a Greek mother

Maybe the most obvious thing would be a direct quote regarding Greece 2004 Euro win: Today, we of Hellas Melbourne, celebrate with Hellas of Greece , as one. - Tell me, why doesn't the club write such things when other nations win international competitions? Which club in Greece devoted something like that to Australia?

And what is wrong with all of this? Absolutely nothing - But stop pretending the club isn't solely catering to the Greek community. The A League is meant to be about including everybody - Please, let me know, how the fuck are you going to attract fans of Macedonian background :lol: ?

I know you're not stupid enough to actually think that South Melbourne is actually geared towards anything other than the Greek Australian community.

Since the clubs' founding, man has landed on the moon, the Vietnam war has passed, Aboriginals got the right to vote, the Berlin wall came down, Saddam Hussein was caught - And yet, still after all these years and however long in Australia's premier footballing competition and international club cups, two thirds of the staff you employ have Greek surnames.

South Melbourne is the very antithesis of what modern Australia is about, and what modern Australian football is about.

Edited by Draupnir: 31/7/2015 05:00:12 PM

You do realise south was created as a merger of 3 clubs with Anglo and Jewish roots as well as greek right? The difference was at that period it was the greeks who were attending matches and the focus shifted to where the support was, secondly thousands of clubs have a blue and white strip, melbourne victory has a stall at the antipodes festival. The club does not screen greek matches we don't even have a social club:roll:, yes giannou grew up at south, as did dozens others who played for the socceroos, point?

South has it's roots in the greek community, but in the 21st century it's geared towards everyone, this is what you and krusen can't grasp, hence why you tend to bring up the 70s,80s,90s instead of focussing on what the club is today, fwiw melbourne victory gets more money from the greek community than what south does and also regularly holds clinics at that school that you mentioned. We have a diverse list of sponsors which would become even more diverse outside of a local league, we have 2 players of greek heritage in a squad of 16, our entire coaching staff is non greek, of course you wouldn't bring this up.

I bet you and krusen were just praying for the greek flags to come out in force on Wednesday night and dozens of flares to be thrown onto the ground and a real "efnik" vibe, instead all you got was a regular match of Aussie soccer, tough luck:lol:

Mate there's a lot of d#cks on this forum who simply don't understand passion. The banter that went on between the Adelaide City fans and the West Adelaide fans was just that. We would abuse each other at the games but truth be told we were best mates. It was all just fun. After the game we would share beers or just laugh. Few took it a little far but no difference to today. We still have these problems in the A-League. Whether a club is greek, italian, Irish or english should not matter. If they have the support let them be whatever they want. In fact if the Gay's wanted there own club so what. Australia is multicultural. Let's embrass this. South Melbourne is very well supported by it's community. It is not supported by one sugar daddy like the A-League clubs are. There model is more sustainable.
Violence needs to be stopped by all. Let be honest it is not just the ethnic clubs. You all do to South Melbourne what the AFL does to our football.

Explain to me why the Greeks cannot have there own club here. Or the Albanians if they wanted a club. If they can afford it and comply to our rules. Then let them all in. It's not a race that causes violence it those few idiots.Ethnic clubs have strong passion which sometime becomes a problem. Ban the D#ck supportors exactly like what happens to D#ckh##d victory or Sydney supporter. Don't punish a whole community though.

Everything I have mentioned is factual. I have backed up my comments with clear examples.

How about an example from this year southmelb. Yes this year southmelb:lol:

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Bentleigh Greens 2 South Melbourne 2

South Melbourne supporters had a Greek national flag, "HELLAS banner" and even a Greek Evil Eye - Mati banner (NCIP!)

As far as I know Greek flags represent Greece. Hellas is Greek for Greece. The Greek Eye is a Greek belief that individual misfortune is caused by the envy of another. Many Greek Australians, both elderly immigrants and those born in Australia, believe in the power of the evil eye and continue practices that ward it off .

South Melbourne represents Greeks.

You can't refute this example southmelb.

The complete opposite in fact. I wish all monocultural clubs were able to follow say Brisbane Roar's footsteps and become clubs that actually represent their geographic location.


The example you mentioned "efnik" vibe sounds like some of South Melbourne's recent games v Heidelberg United. The Greek derby!

Monday, 30 March 2015 in fact.

Heidelberg United 1 South Melbourne 1.

The Greek national anthem was played for Greek national day of course.


Sunday, 5 July 2015

South Melbourne 1 Heidelberg United 2

We have flares before and during the game.

ENOSI 59 lit flares before the game at Clarendon St.

For those that don't know, ENOSI 59 are the "only supporters who keep the ethnicity alive in the NPL for South Melbourne Hellas" as per their Facebook page.

Enosi is Greek for Union.

ENOSI 59 "We chant in both Greek and English, old classics and new ones."

ENOSI 59 wave Greek flags.

Luckily the flare thrown over the fence didn't hit the running track.

Some South supporters stole a banner from the Heidelberg United supporters. This caused the Heidelberg fans to rush over to get the banner back. This was followed by some "pushing and shoving" after the match.

Heidelberg fans attempted to storm the corporate areas after one of the ground announcer's jibes. :lol:


Edited by Krusen: 1/8/2015 04:34:04 AM

For starters Italian backed clubs have never been as nationalistic like many others.

The model you are are referring to Totally_Red is the NSL.

Not referring to no model, just saying that teams should be allowed to represent whoever they wish. If they are financially viable then let them in. If they cause trouble then you could always ban the trouble makers. If it's an entire spectators then play behind closed doors. Either they will fix there problem or they will be severely financial hurt. This is not NSL model it's the same as many other leagues. The EPL clubs originally represented religious groups.

Like South Melbourne now clubs evolve to survive. My local amateur club was greek based. Now it would be very hard to find a greek playing for them. Adelaide City is an Italian club same there supportor all now not all Italian, even the junior players are 90% not italian. Clubs will evolve. It does not matter where the roots come from.

I dont see the problem with a club like south in the aleague. From the outside it honstly looks like they are making all the right moves. As for the ethnic angle we got rid of the nsl and it clubs because they were stifling the game and had become exclusionary . But since then South melbourne has made all the right moves, it shouldnt matter where they originate from the only important things now should be if they can be financially viable and if they can get the wider community support. South are a tick on both those counts.

Now a team like the knights who have a clear chip on their shoulder and work specifically for one small section of th community arent going to be able to @chieve this and have no chance of getting into the league. Personally i wouldnt be surprised to see clubs like the knights die out over the next couple of generations but south seems to be at the other end of the spectrum.

South in its match with Palm Beach showed off the strip that it would wear in any A League competition. I thought It was a terrific strip. Red and White with a touch of blue, personally I think it was a great modern strip, that is different from the blues of the Victory and City. I might also add that Red and White are not Greek colors. Anyone claiming so is only doing so for their own personal agendas and these are clearly not football related. Well done to SMFC for at least having a real go at change and being honest about it.

I think the only problem with South Melbourne's bid is with Lakeside stadium only being able to hold 7k. I can't see the FFA being OK with that, and having a third rival team playing out of AAMI Park would be even less ideal.
It really is a shame that the redevelopment to include the athletics facilities has ruined Lakeside.
Souths would have to include some plans to expand its capacity/add another grandstand in any Aleague bid to be successful.

The seated capacity is 7k, the entire venue fits 15k

At worst, you could build temporary scaffolding stands at either end.

I don't see how that works, are the other 8k just standing around?
In any case it's still not good enough, there would need to be plans to address seating arrangements for more than 7k, maybe temporary grandstands can be erected as suggested in the short term.
Not accounting for their long term growth and having plans laid out for it, would be bad for their Aleague bid.

That must include the concrete around and behind the goals. Seated capacity for the grandstands are 5.5k plus corporate.

Tbh I don't see how there could be 9k standing for the rest of the stadium and there certainly isn't enough amenities for 15k. True capacity is probably closer to 10k imo. Hard to know exactly since the largest crowd there was 4,000 when the stadium opened.

Doesn't mean I wouldn't add them going off the FFA criteria, South makes a lot of sense atm, big city, add 6 derbies to the season which would get the FTA channels more excited. LS would be fine for most A-League games but I'd guess they'd take games against City and Victory to AAMI

Plus they get to host 3 derbies which would help make them more viable in an otherwise unstable league. I find it ironic that on this forum that adding another team for more derbies is ridiculous. NSW away crowds are extremely over inflated on this forum. 1 bay in Gosford is about 300 seats, Newcastle is about 600, how often are away crowds even above 1500? Once or twice a season?

Being super kind, SFC and WSW might take 2k to Wollongong bar an extremely important title race match, season opener or a final then it could be higher. You're probably looking at bumping the total average up 500 and that didn't really help CCM this season who averaged 7.5k, 1k lower than Wellington.

Contrast that to South. For sake of argument South host 3 derbies at AAMI park each season with an average crowd of 22k. To average what CCM did this season they'd only need a 4,258 average at LS, to match Wellington 5,486, Newcastle 5,960, Perth 6,667, in a stadium with far lower rent costs.

Anywho... Congrats on the Doherty Cup

I'm pretty sure that's how standing areas work, yeah.

2015 dockerty cup champions.

Really great performance today, seemed to let a lot of Wednesday nights frustration out on the hapless oakleigh side, it also showed how much we missed matthew Theodore on Wednesday, man of the match for mine even though they gave it to lujic. Club should aim for at least one trophy a year, now to challenge for the league.

Lakeside Stadium can comfortably fit 10,000, 7k seats and around 3k standing behind the goals which to be honest isn't the best of views. However since South has 'control' of its own stadium with the added bonus of a social club(when it's finally completed!!) a crowd of near enough 10k would probably generate a better return on game day than the deals the majority of HAL franchisers are tied to currently. Obviously any derby would be played at the bigger venues. Our admin is also housed at Lakeside and on our doorstep is the Melbourne sports and aquatic centre and Vic Institute of sport. Lakeside is an international standard athletics venue so I'm sure with some minor modifications etc it could be bought up to a league standard. Given the above, South would have had a huge head start than what the rest of the competition previously started with. Therefore more emphasis and $$$ could be put into putting together a decent playing and coaching roster. To be honest though it all sounds great but it a massive, massive longshot.

Aaaaaaand they've busted the trophy #HELLASOUT

Thanks 'SMFC and proud', it's good to know all of that. I've only been to the ground once since the refurb and I didn't even notice there were standing areas behind the goals, I don't think anyone was standing there. It does say 10k on the SMFC website, which is a bit more realistic than 15k, I can't imagine 8k people ever wanting to stand there.
I think Aleague stadiums are also required to have a big screen tv for replays etc, which may be another expense. The Glory had issues with the massive costs of their hire, before getting permanent ones in their refurb.

Still, it really is the most firm grounds for expansion so far, and like you say, with some minor modifications it could be bought up to standard. It just may be prudent to put plans in place now rather than later to account for growth beyond 10k supporters. With the likely boost in popularity the Aleague would provide, it would be insane not to, and any well laid plans would certainly help their bid for entry.

I've counted the grandstands at LS and theres about 5,500 seats. Another 5k standing would starting to reach capacity imo

Edited by tbitm: 6/8/2015 02:56:44 PM

SMFC Bashers Jump in

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/football/a-league/aleague-aspirants-south-melbourne-refused-to-pay-players-wages-owed-after-they-left-club/news-story/0b7345988597da901ecf8e615c0c2e3d

A-League aspirants South Melbourne refused to pay players wages owed after they left club

Tom Smithies, The Daily TelegraphFebruary 18, 2020 8:12am
One of the best-known clubs in Australian football history, South Melbourne FC, have been accused of withholding almost $12,000 in wages by multiple players.

Little more than a year after their bid to become an A-League club was rejected, SMFC have been accused of ignoring multiple requests for payment of the allegedly outstanding monies in a case that raises fresh questions over the professionalism of some clubs at NPL level.

Less than a week after SMFC’s Victorian rivals Avondale were hit with $55,000 in penalties and docked points over player payment breaches, News Corp Australia can reveal that three former SMFC players say they have been stonewalled by the club over their claims for missing wages.

The three cases date from late 2018 to the present, and relate to termination agreements to the professional contracts each one had signed on joining SMFC.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the players said that problems with being paid arose after he left the club.

“I’d just come off a long-term injury and was looking for the chance to play for a club and get regular opportunities,” he said.

“I joined South Melbourne and at first it worked out well. Eventually my good performances meant I was offered a chance elsewhere so I exercised a clause in my contract and organised the termination.

“As far as I was concerned I left on good terms, but then I didn’t get my final termination payment.

“They gave me excuses that they had made the payment and it had bounced back, but eventually I realised that I wasn’t the only player in this situation.”

All three players have approached the players’ association (PFA) to work on their behalf.

After attempts to settle the cases failed, the PFA wrote last month to Football Federation Victoria arguing that it has a duty as the governing body in the state to hear the claims.

“While the PFA does not comment directly on individual cases, the PFA can confirm it has been approached by players in relation to the enforcement of overdue payments from NPL clubs,” a PFA spokesperson said.

Currently there is no formal procedure in Victoria for players to tackle clubs over wage claims, with most amounts too small to be worth pursuing in court.

South Melbourne president Nicholas Maikousis said the club could not respond without being advised of the details of each player’s allegation.

“Our governing body, the FFV, has not made any comment or contact in relation to these matters, nor has the PFA,” he said.

“There appears little doubt that SMFC are being actively targeted and smeared by you and your friends, given the relatively small amount involved.”

FFV CEO Peter Filopoulos confirmed the governing body had been asked by the PFA to establish a tribunal to hear the claims.

“We’re working through the issues raised with the PFA and the club to understand them fully,” he said.

“It’s a dispute between players and the club, and we’ll continue to monitor it.”

Filopoulos said FFV might have to establish some form of arbitration “if it comes to it”.

SMFC is facing issues on more than one front, having been told by FIFA within the past few weeks that it must pay tens of thousands of dollars to former coach Chris Taylor.

Though he won the NPL and reached the FFA Cup semifinals in his four and a half years at the club, Taylor was sacked just before the start of the 2018 season, in the middle of a contract.

Previous allegations of non-payment of wages by SMFC were made by players and staff nearly two years ago, and critics say the transparency and professionalism of some NPL clubs has to be address given their aspirations to join the new national second division.

In 2018, South Australian giants Adelaide City were stripped of a premiership, fined heavily and had points deducted after an investigation found them guilty of player payment breaches.

APIA Leichhardt in Sydney’s inner west were accused last year of telling a player to leave despite having re-signed him for the season.

South Melbourne president Nicholas Maikousis was given platform by Melbourne based podcast Box-2-box in relation to the article by Tom Smithies.
 
Maikousis accused Smithies of being unprofessional and lying. Smithies may work for the worst newspaper in Australia but the attack was unjustified. And I hate the Daily Terrorgraph.

Any club with Maikousis as head should not be in any national second division. He came across as vindictive. Perhaps that why failure to pay coaches and players is being reported.