Adelaide Olympic FC

Adelaide Olympic F.C. is a football club from Adelaide, South Australia. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues South Australia.

Adelaide Olympic F.C.
Full nameAdelaide Olympic Football Club
Nickname(s)Olympic, AOFC
Founded1978
GroundVALO Football Centre – The Parks
Capacity3000
ChairmanStavros Parissos
CoachGeorge Tsonis
LeagueNPL South Australia
20186th
WebsiteClub website

Adelaide Olympic Facts

Name Changes:

1978 to 1981 – Adelaide Asteras
1982 to 1988 – Thebarton Asteras
1989 to 1999 – Olympians
2000 Olympic F.C.
2001 onwards – Adelaide Olympic
  • The club was founded in 1978 under the name of Adelaide Asteras.
  • In 1982 the club changed its name to Thebarton Asteras.
  • In 1988 Thebarton Asteras were taken over by the Greek Orthodox association of South Australia Inc.
  • In 1989 the club changed its name to Olympians.
  • In 1998 the Greek Orthodox Association of South Australia Inc relinquished the Olympians soccer Club, which amalgamated with SAASL Club "Adelaide Rodos Soccer Club", while keeping the playing name of Olympians.
  • In 1999 Olympians amalgamated with the Regency Lions Sports and Social Club (SAASL Playing Name :Adelaide Hellenic Soccer Club).
  • In 2000, the name was changed to Olympic Football Club.
  • In 2001, the club adopted its current name of Adelaide Olympic.

History

The club played its first games in 1979 in the 6th division of the Amateur league. Its initial home games were played at Woodville West. The club won the 6th division amassing 104 goals including one 15–0 victory over West End United.

In 1981 the club joined the SASF Metro League and won the league in its first season. They were promoted to the 2nd division, finished last and relegated back to the Metro League in 1982. In 1983 they finished second and were promoted back up to the 2nd division.

The club struggled in the 2nd division for the next eight years. In 1992 Adelaide Olympic dominated the 2nd division finishing seven points clear at the top of the table and were promoted to the 1st division. In the same year the club won the top four play-off finals. The topsy turvy path continued with Olympic dropping back to the 2nd division in 1994 (as a result of failing to meet new FFSA requirements, not because of results with the club finishing 8th in the ten team league), returning to the Premier League in 1996, dropping to the 2nd division in 2000 and finally returning to the Premier League in 2001. The club also reached the Federation Cup final in 1993, losing 1–nil to a White City penalty.

The 2004 Premier League season was without a doubt the club's best year in terms of on-field performance. The club earned 2nd spot on the Premier League table and played in the grand final against Metro Stars eventually losing 2–1 after leading 0–1. Adelaide Olympic then continued with another good year in 2005 once again finishing second on the Premier League table and making the finals again however they lost to eventual champions Adelaide City in the semi-final.

Adelaide Olympic were relegated at the end of the 2006 season due to the loss of many of their key experienced players and an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the board. The 2006 squad was made up of mostly the club's youth players who although gave their absolute best could not avoid relegation.

Seasons 2007, '08, and '09 were spent languishing mid-table in the second division and a massive amount of debt being accumulated.

During the end of the 2009 season a number of key figures within the Adelaide Greek community joined forces to rescue Adelaide Olympic and return the club to the first division (now called super league). A new board was elected and got on with job of sorting out the club's finances. Former Socceroo Branko Milosevic was appointed as first team coach and number of former players returned and the club could confidently challenge for promotion into the first division. 2009 also saw Adelaide Olympic joined forces with the Pontian Eagles SC of the South Australian Amateur Soccer League (Sunday division 1). The two clubs shared grounds, players and support each other with their endeavours.

In 2011 AOFC became the sole tenant of Ferryden Park Reserve which has become affectionately known as "Olympic Park". 2011 also saw the arrival of many talented young players to the u/19 squad providing strong competition to the Reserve & First team squads eventually winning titles amongst the younger brigade. The first team finished 5th only just losing the second promotion spot into the Super League to Enfield City 2–1 in the semi-final of the play-offs.

The 2012 season started with the appointment of Reserve team coach Shane Porter to the First team position however due to player discontent and a poor start to the season the board decided to part ways with Shane Porter and moved quickly to appoint former Blue Eagles coach Zoran Karadzic. The 2012 season was deemed a failure.

In late October 2012 AOFC announced the appointment of former Olympians player and U18 coach George Konstandopoulos as First team coach for the 2013 season. This was primarily due to his successful work as the U18 coach and the club's desire to promote youth. At the half way mark to the season AOFC was comfortably in second spot however a run of poor results after a 0–1 loss in the "Greek Derby" a long term injury to team Captain and goalkeeper Matthew Pelizzari and the lack of experience saw Adelaide Olympic finish just above mid table but failing to beat any of the teams placed above them on the league ladder. The 2013 season was deemed successful because many youth players were promoted to the first team with the lowest average age in a single game being 18.3yo. Many of these players were selected to join Adelaide United in their youth development.

Season 2014 started with a continued focus on youth however on Monday 14 April & 8 rounds into the season due to unresolvable differences AOFC sacked George Konstandopoulos from all senior positions at the club. On Wednesday 16 April former coach Branko Milosevic was appointed to the first team coaching position for the remainder of the season. The club finished in 5th position after some critical but controversial losses to Port Pirates, Adelaide Cobras which would've put the club into a clear promotion spot had all 3 points been accumulated. However, Olympic still made the play-offs and drew Modbury away in the Semi-final. A 1–0 penalty saw the home side take the lead early on whilst Olympic looked strong, despite a young squad. Before half time, central midfielder Steven Kidd headed a quick cross from Pantelis Alexandropoulos into the back corner levelling the two sides. In the 73rd minute against, Steven Kidd showed some quality heading skills by putting yet another cross into the back of the net, giving Olympic the 1–2 lead. Hundreds of Olympic supporters were sent into raptures after both goals, flares alight with chant after chant after chant, and Adelaide Olympic were on their way to the final. In the 85th minute, Olympic's two most experienced players Kristo and Grgic made a critical miscommunication error giving away a free kick. An Aaron Westervelt free kick made it 2–2. Extra time proved to be hurtful, with key centre back Jai Pullinen sent off last man, letting Westervelt put another free kick into the net. A few minutes later, midfielder George Hatzipanagiotis was sent off for retaliation and Olympic eventually lost 7–2 to the eventual promoted team Modbury.

Preparations for 2015 began the next day with key figures involved at the club coming together to plan how Olympic was going to be promoted. It started with the appointing of former Scottish Premier League star Alby Kidd to senior role with Branko Milosevic alongside. A slow start to the season looked daunting but a quick change of some personnel in the team sent the team on a winning spree for months with the team beating Adelaide Victory 2–3 to achieve top spot. Top goalscorer and Italian import Fausto Erba was to thank for most of Olympic's goals this season. In the middle of the second half of the season, Olympic went into another slump only claiming 1 point in a month of playing sending the team as far back as 5th. Promotion looked lost, but once again the team rallied up and wasn't yet done and won the next 7 games. The last game at Noarlunga finished 2–4 in a win, but the result of promotion, play-off or nothing relied on Cumberland United vs Adelaide Hills & Adelaide United vs Adelaide Victory. The latter game finished 12–3 in United's favour, guaranteeing United a top-2 spot and Cumberland United were winning 2–0 at 89' minutes against a 10-man Adelaide Hills. All looked lost and the team began their goodbyes and congratulations to retiring players when a lifelong supporter burst into the change room announcing & screaming it was 2–2 at the Cumberland United vs Adelaide Hills game. 2 extra time goals took away not only promotion for Cumberland, but the State League Title and gave Adelaide Olympic one more chance for promotion. Olympic were sent into raptures. Adelaide Olympic were to play two legs (home and away) against long-time rivals Port Pirates. A 1–1 draw at home with both sides looking dangerous gave Pirates an away goal advantage however the 2nd leg would be remembered forever. Adelaide Olympic rolled up to the Pirate Park with no intention less than winning and getting promoted. Even after James Dimopoulos, vice-captain was sent off, and a repeat of last season looked imminent, Adelaide Olympic turned that on its head. A power drive into the bottom corner from Sean Brennan gave Olympic the 0–1 and Pirates' away goal counted for nothing. With a spot-kick from Fausto Erba, it gave a 0–2 lead to Olympic at half time. With only another 45 minutes to play till promotion, Olympic didn't stop there. Arguably the goal of the season across all leagues was scored by Oliver Totani after turning four Pirates players inside out and curling the ball just under the apex leaving the keeper helpless, gave Olympic a 0–3 lead. Erba would again nail the coffin shut sending Pirates back down to the State League with a converted one-on-one with the keeper making it 0–4. After 10 years, Adelaide Olympic returned to the Premier League.

On 22 June 2019, Olympic qualified for the Round of 32 of the FFA Cup for the first time by beating Adelaide City 3–2 in the FFSA Federation Cup final.[1] They advanced to the Round of 16 by defeating Floreat Athena 4–3 with Fausto Erba and Ioannis Simosis scoring twice each.[2]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Daniel Vaughan
2 DF Jacob Butler-Bowden
3 DF Matthew Halliday
4 DF Thomas Brown
5 MF David Makridis
7 MF John Karatzas
8 MF Manni Katapodis
9 FW Christos Pounendis
No. Position Player
10 MF Ricardo Da Silva
11 Dimi Toumazos
12 Alex Koutoulogenis
13 MF Paul Espina
14 FW Fausto Erba
17 DF Mamadi Kamara
21 GK Nicholas Harpas
23 DF Michael Alexandrou
– MF Kristin Konstandopoulos

Affiliated clubs
  • PAOK FC - Olympic developed a partnership with Super League Greece club PAOK FC which was announced on 11 July 2019.[3] The partnership allows the exchange of coaches between the two clubs and for Olympic youth to participate in PAOK youth tournaments.
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References
  1. "Adelaidenow.com.au | Subscribe to The Advertiser for exclusive stories". www.adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  2. Stogiannou, George (24 July 2019). "Adelaide Olympic overcomes Floreat to march into FFA Cup Rd of 16 | Neos Kosmos". English Edition. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  3. "Adelaide Olympic strike partnership with Greek Champions PAOK". FFA Cup. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
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