South Melbourne FC

South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium.

This article is about the soccer club. For the Australian rules football club that previously used the name, see Sydney Swans.

South Melbourne
Full nameSouth Melbourne Football Club
Nickname(s)Hellas
Founded1959
GroundLakeside Stadium
Capacity12,000 (7,400 seated)[1]
CaptainBradley Norton
PresidentNicholas Maikousis
CoachEstaban Quintas
LeagueNPL Victoria
20198th of 14
WebsiteClub website

Founded in 1959 as South Melbourne Hellas, with a basis in the Greek community, South Melbourne were once considered the most successful soccer club in Australia.

The club has won four national championships, a string of Victorian State League titles, and represented Oceania in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship. Along with the Marconi Stallions, they were one of two clubs to compete in every season of the National Soccer League.

The club was chosen by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as the Oceania team of the 20th century.[2]

History

Formation

South Melbourne was formed in 1959 with the amalgamation of three struggling Melbourne soccer clubs—South Melbourne United, the oldest of the three clubs with a history dating back to the early 1900s—the Greek-backed Yarra Park Aias (Ajax), and Hellenic.[3][4] Theo Marmaras, initiator of the merger proposal and president of Hellenic, became the first president of the new club.[3] In recognition of the large Greek Australian support base of Hellenic and Yarra Park, which were also the best-supported of the three clubs, the new club was named South Melbourne Hellas, the name by which it was to be known for the majority of its 50 years. The first emblem reflected the colour scheme of the Greek national flag. The first uniform consisted of jersey of white with a red 'V' around the collar, the was also that of South Melbourne United, as well as blue shorts and blue and white hooped socks. Later on they would adopt predominantly blue and white strips, with various designs throughout the seasons, with the most common being a predominantly royal blue strip.

1960–1969
A rare photograph of one of the early South Melbourne Hellas squads, circa 1960.

South Melbourne won the Victorian First Division (North) championship of 1960,[5] the club's inaugural year of competition. The club was promoted to the Victorian State League First Division the following year, where it finished fifth in its first year.[6] With a number of astute signings—Scottish journeyman Tommy Anderson (George Cross), Ernie Ackerley (Manchester United), Leo Damianakos (Kalamata), Jim Pyrgolios (Panathinaikos) and Andreas Roussis, formerly of Panathinaikos and Apollon Athens[4]—the club won the division championship in 1962, 1964, and 1965.[7] In 1965, South Melbourne secured the services of 35-year-old former AEK Athens F.C. star Kostas Nestoridis as player-coach. The result was a significant increase in crowd attendances and a fourth league title in 1966.[7] Eager to repeat its success, the club recruited a number of Greek and local footballers, but they failed to make any impact. By 1969, the import experiment was considered a failure and most of the Greek players returned to their homeland.[4]

1970–77

In 1970, the club focused its attention on recruiting local soccer players. It soon signed two players that would become South Melbourne's greatest players, Steve Walker and striker Jim Armstrong. South Melbourne missed out on the title by a point in the 1971 season, edged out by Footscray JUST,[8] but with Armstrong scoring goals aplenty, South Melbourne went on to win the championship in 1972.[7] The season also saw coach Bill Curran consolidate the first team's strength by signing midfielder Peter Bourne (Burnley) and promoting highly skilled youngsters Giovanni Batticiotto, Fethon Ileris[4] and Bill Hasapis.[9] The club continued its successful run with the 1974 title,[7] second place in 1975,[10] and with star recruits Jimmy Mackay, Peter Ollerton and Duncan Cummings, capped off its final year in the Victorian State League by winning the 1976 championship.[4]

National Soccer League

South Melbourne joined Mooroolbark, Heidelberg United, and Footscray JUST as Melbourne's participants in the newly formed National Soccer League (NSL) in 1977.[11] A mass exodus of its best players (Armstrong, Bourne, Mackay, Walker), saw the team slump to 11th place in its inaugural year, but a recruiting drive by coach Dave Maclaren gave the club a respectable third in 1978. It wasn't to last. South Melbourne finished at the bottom of the league table in 1979.[4]

1978–89
The first club emblem.

The recruitment of Alan Davidson, George Campbell (Aberdeen F.C.), Steve Blair, Branko Buljevic, Alun Evans (Liverpool), and Charlie Egan, helped South Melbourne climb the NSL ladder in the early part of the decade, with South becoming runners up in the NSL in 1981, which was their best ever NSL placing at the time. They also won the Ampol Cup in 1982.[12] Some solid player signings such as (Oscar Crino, Doug Brown, Bobby Russell and John Yzendoorn) gave the club some respectability, but a combination of committee problems and a string of coaches, never allowed the team to settle and gain consistency.[12] South Melbourne finished first on the league ladder in 1984,[13] but in a newly restructured NSL competition, it also had to win the finals series to win the title. The club powered past local rivals Heidelberg United in the Southern Division play-offs, and edged out Sydney Olympic in the Grand Final to win the 1984 national championship.[4]

After the departure of George Campbell to rivals Preston Makedonia in 1983/84, Branko Buljevic to Footscray Just in 1985 and others, South Melbourne could not repeat the success of the previous year. Despite finishing in first place,[14] it was knocked out of the finals series by local rivals Brunswick Juventus and Preston.[15] A major overhaul by coach Brian Garvey saw a number of new signings being made, including youngsters Paul Trimboli, David Healy, Kimon Taliadoros and Harry Micheil.[4] The young team put in some memorable performances as the decade came to a close, finishing in the top half of the league table, but failed to win another championship. The club appointed Ferenc Puskás as coach for the 1989/90 season, helping South win the NSL Cup tournament for that season, as well backing up their 1988 Dockerty Cup win with victory in the 1989 tournament.[16]

On 28 November 1981, South Melbourne Hellas and Melbourne Hakoah announced that they had merged to form a second team for South Melbourne which would compete in the Victorian State League and act as a feeder club to the South Melbourne national team.

The price paid for 54 years of Hakoah history was $35,000. The merger had been an ongoing discussion between the two co-tenants of Middle Park from the middle of the 1981 season.

The two clubs had shared Middle Park from 1961 until 1981. Melbourne Hakoah cited financial strains and lack of crowd support as the two prime reasons why the club was forced to accept the offer from South Melbourne.

1990–95

The club's change of fortune continued next season, with the club winning its second national championship, beating Melbourne Croatia on penalties after a tense 1–1 score line in normal time.[17] The team boasted some of the finest Australian football talent in Paul Fernandes, Michael Petersen, Paul Wade, Mehmet Durakovic, Paul Trimboli, and Con Boutsianis. The feat could not be repeated the next year as the club was eliminated by eventual premiers Adelaide City in a Preliminary Final.[18]

Former player Jim Pyrgolios replaced Puskás for the 1992/93 season which saw the club finish first on the points table during the regular season.[19] South Melbourne was again eliminated during the finals series by Adelaide City and Marconi-Fairfield, the latter inflicting a 7–0 thrashing.[20][21] In 1993/94, the club finished second,[22] but failed yet again to progress to the Grand Final, courtesy of Melbourne Croatia and their nemesis, Adelaide City.[23] For the 1994/95 season, the club hired former Socceroos coach Frank Arok to replace Pyrgolios. The round one game from that season was the club's last at its Middle Park home before moving temporarily to Olympic Park while they awaited the completion of their new home, the 14,000-capacity Lakeside Stadium, on the site of the former Lake Oval. The club finished sixth on the ladder,[24] but was eliminated again in the Preliminary Final by the Melbourne Knights.[25] Arok left the club after a disappointing 1995/96 season, which saw South miss the finals for the first time since 1989.[26]

Name and emblem change
The club emblem during South Melbourne's brief appearance as the Lakers.

In 1996, the club was required by Soccer Australia, along with clubs all over the country, to change its emblem and name in an attempt to move soccer into the Australian mainstream and away from direct club-level association with its migrant roots. As a consequence, South Melbourne Hellas reappeared as South Melbourne Lakers. Its new name and emblem was not well received by many of its Greek supporters. The name change also drew attention from American NBA team, the L.A. Lakers, who threatened legal action.[27]

Under new coach and former captain Ange Postecoglou, the club bounced back in season 1996/97, finishing third on the table[28] and eventually being eliminated by Sydney United in the Preliminary Final.[29] The club capped off the end of the decade with impressive performances, becoming Australian champions in 1998 and 1999, thanks to performances by Paul Trimboli, Vaughan Coveny, Con Blatsis and former PAOK FC star John Anastasiadis. In the 1998 Grand Final South defeated league newcomer Carlton 2–1 with a controversial late goal by Boutsianis.[30] That win was followed up in 1999 by a come-from-behind 3–2 win against Sydney United in the Grand Final.[31] By now, South Melbourne had dropped the Lakers moniker and become South Melbourne Soccer Club, and sported a new emblem—the current blue and white shield with stars (each star representing a national championship). They followed up their fourth domestic title with the 1999 Oceania Club Championship, a win that qualified them for the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil.[4]

2000–04

Grouped with Vasco Da Gama, Necaxa, and the treble-winning Manchester United in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championships, South Melbourne lost all three games. Despite the losses and being the only professional club at the tournament, the club gained some respectability amongst its peers with its performance, as well as some much needed exposure on the world stage, something that had been severely lacking for Australian soccer clubs at the time. On its return from Brazil, South Melbourne failed to make the finals in the 1999/2000 season, finishing well outside the top six finals spots.[32] Before the new season started Postecoglou left South Melbourne in order to take up the position of Australian youth coach, and was replaced by former South player and teammate Mike Petersen.[4] At the end of the 2000/01 home and away season, South had finished a comfortable 8 points clear of Wollongong,[33] but lost both legs of its major semi final against the Wolves 2–1,[9] meaning South would have to win the preliminary final in order to earn a rematch. South duly did so with a 2–0 victory over Sydney Olympic, but in the grand final put in a lacklustre performance, once more losing 2–1.[9]

Prior to the start of the 2001/2002 season, South suffered a major blow as Petersen, along with several players including Boutsianis and Andy Vlahos left to join the Football Kingz. A young squad under the management of Eddie Krncevic struggled, occupying the bottom rungs of the table halfway through the season, before the return in controversial circumstances of Boutsianis sparked a major revival, which saw the club finish fifth in the standings,[34] eventually being eliminated by eventual champions Olympic Sharks in the finals.[35]

Krnčević was replaced by former player Danny Wright for the 2002/03 season, but the club failed to reach the finals by a point.[36] Stuart Munro took over as coach for the 2003/04 season, with the club finishing fifth,[37] eventually being eliminated by a penalty deep into extra time against Adelaide United[38] in what turned out to be South's final game in the NSL.

With the combined factors of the demise of the NSL, and poor financial management, South Melbourne fell into voluntary administration and lost most of its squad. With Melbourne being allocated just one licence for an A-League team, which was widely expected to go to a new franchise, and with South in extreme financial difficulty, South chose not to lodge an application to join the new competition.

Return to Victorian competition
South Melbourne celebrate their 2006 VPL title

Entering the Victorian Premier League in 2005 as South Melbourne Football Club, and with a new team under former player and new coach John Anastasiadis, the club reached the Preliminary Final of the VPL, going down to their old rivals Heidelberg United.[39] The season was highlighted by fluctuating crowd attendances at home games, national media attention paid to crowd trouble with fans of Preston Lions, but also by good performances by a young and talented side, which before the season had been a relegation favourite.

In 2006, South finished third on the table courtesy of a strong home record,[40] including a record 7–0 thrashing of old foe Melbourne Knights.[41] South eventually progressed to the final by defeating Green Gully and Altona Magic in successive weeks.[40] In the final itself, once more against Altona Magic, a second half goal by Gianni De Nittis was enough to see South win the game 1–0,[40] and win their eighth Victorian championship, their first in 30 years and first since returning to the competition in 2005.

In 2007 South Melbourne had a poor year finishing in 7th spot missing the finals and after a poor start in 2008, Anastasiadis resigned. With another former player Michael Michalakopoulos taking charge, the team moved away from the relegation zone, but still missed the finals.

The club celebrated its 50th anniversary year during the 2009 season, with several heritage strips and a logo reminiscent of the pre-1990s logo used to mark the occasion. The club secured the services of Vaughan Coveny, recently retired from A-League football, who went on to score his 100th goal for the club, with Ramazan Tavsancioglu and Fernando de Moraes also marking personal milestones by playing their 100th games. Michalakopoulos departed after the club bowed out early in the finals series, to be replaced as coach by Vaughan Coveny.

The 2010 season saw drastic changes to the club with the re-development of Bob Jane Stadium commencing several rounds in the season. This forced the club to relocate the remainder of its 2010 home fixtures, and all of its 2011 home matches, to John Cain Memorial Reserve in a sharing arrangement with Northcote City SC. The arrival of high-profile players including Carl Recchia, Peter Zois and Joseph Keenan among others brought a renewed hope of on-field success to the supporters. Despite some good on-field performances and individual brilliance, with Fernando de Moraes winning the VPL Player of the Year and Peter Zois taking out the Goalkeeper of the Year award, the promised success did not eventuate with the club narrowly missing out on a finals berth.

Meanwhile, the club gained much international recognition with the award of being the Oceania Club of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics at a lavish gala ceremony at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, London in May 2010 and entry into the 2010 Singapore Cup. South Melbourne FC miraculously won its first-round match against Gombak United FC 2–1 and returned to Singapore in October for a two-legged playoff against Bangkok Glass FC at the Jalan Besar Stadium but was knocked out by the eventual champions 6–4 on aggregate. Coveny was replaced as coach after the end of the VPL season for the Singapore Cup tie by Eddie Krncevic who returned to the club after a stint as coach in the 2001/2002 NSL season. The club travelled to Singapore again for the 2011 Singapore Cup but were bundled out in the first round by Albirex Niigata Singapore FC.

Under Krncevic, the club rallied late in the 2011 VPL season to finish fourth but had their season ended in a penalty shootout in the semi-final by Oakleigh Cannons. Krncevic was replaced in 2012 by former player Peter Tsolakis, who moved across from Northcote City with several players. 2012 saw the return of South Melbourne FC to their home ground, now known as Lakeside Stadium with vastly improved amenities, a second grandstand and an international-standard athletics track which was opened in December 2011 with a friendly against old foes Sydney Olympic. However, the club could not capitalise on its own turf, with terrible home form condemning the club to finish outside the top 5 and miss out on finals once again.

In July 2013, Tsolakis resigned from his post after the board sacked five senior squad members without his consultation[42] and the club appointed former Sunshine George Cross FC, Melbourne Knights and Dandenong Thunder manager Chris Taylor on a two-year deal. South finished the season in fourth place.

In 2014, the club entered the National Premier Leagues Victoria competition, which replaced the old Victorian Premier League. South had a fantastic season, taking out their first league title since their 2000–01 NSL title. In the NPL National Finals Series, South Melbourne beat South Hobart FC 1–0 at South Hobart Ground,[43] but lost to North Eastern MetroStars SC in the semi-final 2–1.[44]

In 2015, the club retained the NPL Victoria premiership, but lost to rivals Bentleigh Greens SC in the Grand Final. South also won the Dockerty Cup, but lost to Palm Beach SC in the 2015 FFA Cup Round of 32.

South Melbourne then recruited the likes of Matthew Foschini, Matt Millar and Marcus Schroen for the following season.[45][46] South got season 2016 off on a bad note, losing the FFV Community Shield 3–0 to Bentleigh, but opened the NPL Victoria season on an emphatic note, beating traditional rivals Heidelberg United 6–0 in front of over 3,000 fans at Lakeside.[47] On 30 March 2016, South Melbourne announced that it had secured a 40-year lease of Lakeside Stadium, with the club now "able to commence building its new administrational offices, museum, futsal court and bistro / social room in its exclusive areas."[48] South bowed out of the 2016 FFA Cup Qualifying Rounds at the final qualifying round, losing 4–0 to rivals Bentleigh Greens.[49] The club finished in 3rd place in the league,[50] but went on to win the Championship through the finals series, beating Hume City 3-0 and then Oakleigh Cannons 3–2 in the grand final.[51] South Melbourne began construction on its exclusive areas at Lakeside Stadium in October 2016, with the development including the building of a new social club, futsal court and club offices.[52]

In 2017, South finished runners-up in the league behind traditional rivals Heidelberg United. In the finals series, Hellas lost to eventual champions Bentleigh Greens in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final. After reaching the 2017 FFA Cup national stages, South Melbourne defeated Edgeworth, Sorrento and Gold Coast City to reach the semi-finals where they hosted Sydney at Lakeside Stadium, eventually going down 5–1 to the reigning A-League champions in front of almost 6,000 people.

On the eve of the 2018 season, manager Chris Taylor and the club parted ways after four and a half seasons.[53] He was replaced by South Melbourne's U-20 manager Saša Kolman.

In the off-season, South announced that Con Tangalakis had been appointed as the club's senior head coach on a permanent basis after guiding the club to survival while on an interim basis the season prior.[54] The club then farewelled three-time NPL Golden Boot and five-time club Golden Boot winner Milos Lujic after five years of service to the club.[55] After a start to the season which saw the club manage two wins, a draw and four losses, leaving South in 11th place, senior coach Con Tangalakis offered his resignation and to-date senior assistant coach Estaban Quintas was appointed in a caretaker role to see out the 2019 season.[56]

Stadium

From its formation in 1959, Hellas played its home game at Middle Park Stadium. The ground with an 18,000 seat capacity was a fully enclosed venue by 1960, and a grandstand built by South Melbourne Hellas and Melbourne Hakoah, partly with funds lent to it by the Albert Park management authority was opened in the May 1961. The stadium saw many sellout crowds as South Melbourne made the jump to state league club to National league in 1977.

In 1993, the Victorian Government made a successful bid to bring the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix to Melbourne with the agreement that the running track would be in Albert Park. South Melbourne were forced to move from their home ground due to the installation of the track. On October 23, 1994, the final match at Middle Park was played as South Melbourne hosted traditional rivals Heidelberg Alexander beating them 4-1 in front of a sold out crowd.

South Melbourne moved to Lakeside Stadium in 1995. The stadium was built with a capacity of 14,000 people. A grandstand with an approximate capacity of 3,000 people was situated on one side, with a social club, reception centre and administrative facilities built in, while the other three sides of the ground consisted of open terraces with wooden seats. At one stage, a second two tiered stand for the outer side was proposed, but only preliminary plans were produced.

As well as being the home of South Melbourne FC, the venue also hosted games by the Socceroos, Young Socceroos, Australia's national women's team the Matildas, and grand finals and finals matches of the Victorian Premier League (now National Premier Leagues Victoria). It has also been a training base for the Greece national football team, French football team and the Brazilian football national team.

In May 2008, the state government announced that Lakeside Stadium would undergo a major redevelopment, in order to accommodate an athletics track, as part of moving Athletics Victoria from Olympic Park. The Victorian Institute of Sport, Athletics Victoria and South Melbourne FC would share tenancy of the venue. Major Projects Victoria committed $60 million to the project. South Melbourne played its final match under the old Lakeside Stadium's in April 2010, and construction work on the remodelled venue began in June 2010. Under the remodelling, the old grandstand stand was refurbished to house the VIS and included a state of the art gym, swimming pool and clubrooms. A blue running track in reference to the home colour of the club was also constructed for the Athletics division.

Today, Lakeside Stadium is one of Australia's premiere stadiums.

Rivals

A-League aspirations

Since dropping out of the national competition at the demise of the NSL, the club has held aspirations to return to the top competition for football clubs in Australia. On 14 February 2007, South Melbourne announced their interest in becoming the second Victorian club in the A-League.[57] In June 2008 South Melbourne FC sent a letter of interest to join the league[58] and lodged an application for the second Melbourne licence as part of the Southern Cross FC consortium, but on 26 September 2008 the Football Federation Australia announced[59] it was commencing exclusive negotiations with the rival 'Melbourne Heart FC' bid which went on to join the competition for the 2010-11 A-League season.

In March 2013 it was revealed that the club was in negotiations to take a stake in the cash-strapped Central Coast Mariners, but talks cooled off when the Mariners ownership structure was consolidated under Mike Charlesworth.[60] In April 2013, the club was revealed to have made several offers to take a 100 per cent stake in Melbourne Heart FC; however, these offers were rejected.[61] Melbourne Heart management subsequently accepted an offer from Manchester City F.C..

In November 2016, it was reported that South Melbourne intended to submit a bid for an A-League licence, with the club intending to continue playing home games at Lakeside Stadium, if the bid is successful.[62][63] Following this news, the club provisionally appointed Brazil and Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos as the team's head coach should they be granted an expansion slot.[64]

South Melbourne submitted a bid to join the expanded A-League in September 2018;[65] however, were unsuccessful once again when, in December 2018, new consortium Western Melbourne FC was selected instead.

Current squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  AUS Nikola Roganovic
2 DF  AUS Amadu Koroma
3 DF  AUS Perry Lambropoulos
5 DF  AUS Jake Marshall
6 MF  AUS Melvin Becket
7 MF  AUS Chris Irwin
8 MF  AUS Luke Pavlou
9 FW  AUS Harry Sawyer
10 MF  AUS Marcus Schroen
11 DF  AUS Bradley Norton (Captain)
12 FW  AUS Nick Krousoratis
13 FW  AUS Peter Skapetis
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF  AUS Lirim Elmazi
15 DF  AUS Ben Djiba
17 DF  AUS Giorgi Zarbos
19 GK  AUS Pierce Clark
20 MF  AUS Zac Bates
21 MF  AUS Matthew Loutrakis
22 MF  AUS Daniel Clark
23 MF  RSA Josh Meaker
24 GK  AUS Josh Dorron
27 MF  TUR Esad Saglam
45 MF  AUS Gerry Sylaidos
57 DF  IRL Stephen Folan

Former players

Competition timeline
Season League Cup Confederation
NPL Playoffs		 Dockerty Cup
Ampol Cup
Other Cups		 Top scorer
Division Pld W D L GF GA +/- Pts Position Finals Player(s) Goals
1960 MLO (N) 1817107911+68351st Semi-final
1961 VPL 2210574538+7255th Fifth round Antonis Karagiannis 15
1962 VPL 2215255121+30321st First round Group stage
Semi-final		 Antonis Hatzieleftheriou15
1963 VPL 226972830-2216th Group stage
Runner-up
 John Margaritis7
1964 VPL 2213455541+14301st First round Semi-final
Group stage		 Michael Mandalis17
1965 VPL 2215435319+34341st Semi-final Fifth round
Group stage		 Ernie Ackerley16
1966 VPL 2213544724+23311st Semi-final Semi-final
Runner-up
 Kostas Nestoridis21
1967 VPL 2210755036+14274th
Runner-up
Group stage		 Ulysses Kokkinos14
1968 VPL 229763829+11253rd
Runner-up
Group stage		 Jim Pyrgolios
Frank Micic		8
1969 VPL 2293104039+1217th Fifth round
Champion
 David Gorrie17
1970 VPL 229943627+1275th
Runner-up
Champion
 im Armstrong
David Gorrie
Ulysses Kokkinos		7
1971 VPL 2212824116+25322nd Runner-up Fifth round
Semi-final		 Jim Armstrong13
1972 VPL 2216335013+37351st Group stage Fifth round
Group stage		 Jim Armstrong20
1973 VPL 2213544827+21313rd Group stage Quarter-final
Group stage		 Jim Armstrong13
1974 VPL 2213724723+2433 1st Group stage
Champion
Group stage		 Jim Armstrong22
1975 VPL 2211652819+9282nd Group stage
Champion
Runner-up
 Jim Armstrong8
1976 VPL 2217324021+19371st Runner-up Quarter-final
Champion
 Peter Ollerton10
1977 NSL 2678112735−82211th Round of 16 Peter Ollerton6
1978 NSL 2612864530+15323rd Quarter-final Duncan Cummings9
1979 NSL 2663172949−201614th First Round Third round Alun Evans6
1980 NSL 2615564221+21353rd Round of 16 Second round
Semi-final
Semi-final		 Branko Buljevic10
1981 NSL 30131344127+14392nd First round Alun Evans14
1982 NSL 30119104637+9316th Round of 16
Champion
 Charlie Egan21
1983 NSL 3015784436+8524th Semi-final Second round
Semi-final
Runner-up
 Doug Brown16
1984 NSL 2818464820+28401st Champion Group stage
Champion
Champion
 Doug Brown22
1985 NSL 2214533921+18331st Preliminary-final First round Third round
Group stage		 Charlie Egan21
1986 NSL 2210572720+7257th Second round
Runner-up
 Danny Crainie6
1987 NSL 249783234−2256th Runner-up Quarter-final
Runner-up
 Paul Wade8
1988 NSL 2613853629+7343rd Semi-final Semi-final
Champion
Champion
 Paul Trimboli
Ange Postecoglou		8
1989 NSL 269894437+7268th Semi-final
Champion
 Paul Trimboli10
1989–90 NSL2615654223+19362nd Preliminary-final Champion
Champion
 Peter Tsolakis13
1990–91 NSL 2614664533+12342nd Champion Semi-final Quarter-final
Champion
 Kimon Taliadoros
Paul Trimboli		9
1991–92 NSL 2613585128+23313rd Preliminary-final Round of 16 Champion Kimon Taliadoros15
1992–93 NSL 2618445123+2858 1st Preliminary-final Quarter-final Runner-up Francis Awaritefe19
1993–94 NSL 2613853920+19 2nd Preliminary-final Semi-final Champion Francis Awaritefe11
1994–95 NSL2495104236+6446th Preliminary-final Semi-final Semi-final Ivan Kelic15
1995–96 NSL 33144155056−6468th Champion Champion Vaughan Coveny9
1996–97 NSL 2614483925+14463rd Preliminary-final Semi-final Runner-up Paul Trimboli10
1997–98 NSL 2613945641+1548 1st Champion Champion John Anastasiadis12
1998–99 NSL2817655026+24572nd Champion Semi Final Vaughan Coveny14
1999–00 NSL34147135551+44910th First stage Final[66] Michael Curcija19
2000–01 NSL3021637024+46691st Runner-up Champion Con Boutsianis13
2001–02 NSL2410683022+8365th Semi-final Runner-up Vaughan Coveny9
2002–03 NSL2410593637−1357th Preliminary-final Final[67] Vaughan Coveny11
2003–04 NSL2411493921+18375th Semi-final Michael Curcija13
2005 VPL2613763017+17463rd Vaughan Coveny8
2006 VPL2612684528+17423rdChampion
Runner-up
 Fernando de Moraes12
2007 VPL2610793933+6377th
Champion
 Ricky Diaco10
2008 VPL26104123532+3349th Quarter-final Fernando de Moraes9
2009 VPL 2210754122+19375th Elimination-final
Champion
 Goran Zorić10
2010 VPL 2210664128+13306th Quarter-final
Runner-up
 Fernando de Moraes13
2011 VPL 2412573933+6414th Semi-final Round of 16 Fifth round
Champion
 Jesse Krncevic11
2012 VPL 229583431+3326th Fifth round
Semi-final		 Shaun Kelly4
2013 VPL 229674033+7314th Preliminary-final Semi-final Luke Hopper9
2014 NPL V 2621325922+37661st N/A (First past post) Quarter-final Semi-final Quarter-final Milos Lujic20
2015 NPL V 2618445822+36581st Runner-up Round of 32 Quarter-final Champion
Champion		 Milos Lujic18
2016 NPL V 2618266439+25533rd Champion Seven round Seven round
Runner-up
 Milos Lujic27
2017 NPL V 2615384928+21482nd Semi-final Semi-final Semi-final
Runner-up
 Milos Lujic15
2018 NPL V 2684144853-52810th Fourth round Fourth round Milos Lujic10

Honours

Managers

Records
  • Best Result in the NSL: 7–0 vs Newcastle Rosebud at Middle Park 22 July 1984[69]
  • Best Result in the VPL: 10–1 vs Moonee Ponds at Middle Park 30 April 1960[70]
  • Worst Result in the NSL: 0–7 vs Marconi-Fairfield at Parramatta Stadium 2 May 1993[69]
  • Worst Result in the VPL: 0–5 vs Maribyrnong Polonia at Olympic Park 14 June 1964[71]
  • Best Regular Season NSL Crowd: 17,228 vs Marconi-Fairfield at Middle Park 23 April 1978[69]
  • Best Regular Season VPL Crowd: 23,000 vs George Cross at Olympic Park 5 August 1962
  • Best Finals Series NSL Crowd: 23,318 vs Melbourne Croatia (1990/91 Grand Final) at Olympic Park[69]
  • Best Finals Series VPL Crowd: 8,000 vs Heidelberg United (2005 Preliminary Final) at Olympic Village 11 September 2005
  • Best FFA Cup Crowd: 5,745 vs Sydney FC (2017 Semi-Final) at Lakeside Stadium 11 October 2017
  • Most Games Coached: 127 – Ange Postecoglou[69]
  • Most Games Played: 430 – Paul Trimboli
  • Most Goals Scored: 115 – Paul Trimboli
  • Most Goals in Season: 22 – Doug Brown (1984),[69] Jimmy Armstrong (1974)
  • Best Games to Goal Ratio: 0.56 – Doug Brown, 48 goals in 86 games[69]
  • Most Clean Sheets: 105 – Dean Anastasiadis, 158 games[69]
  • Biggest Winning Streak: 9 games – 30 September 1984 to 24 March 1985[69]
  • Biggest Losing Streak: 6 games – 27 October 1995 to 2 December 1995[69]
  • Biggest Unbeaten Streak: 21 games – 12 August 1984 to 28 April 1985[69]
gollark: It is basically `Monad m => a -> m a`.
gollark: No!
gollark: Ooh, I should add a `++considered-harmful` command!
gollark: <@!341618941317349376> discussing `things considered harmful` considered harmful.
gollark: Do notation considered.

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Preceded by
St George		 NSL Champions
1984		 Succeeded by
Brunswick Juventus
Preceded by
Sydney Olympic		 NSL Champions
1990/91		 Succeeded by
Adelaide City
Preceded by
Brisbane Strikers		 NSL Champions
1997/98-1998/99		 Succeeded by
Wollongong Wolves
Preceded by
Adelaide City
(1987)		 OFC Champions League Champions
1999		 Succeeded by
Wollongong Wolves
(2000–01)
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