South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in suburb of Albert Park, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. The club was founded in 1959 by Greek migrants following

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

War 2 as South Melbourne Hellas, with a basis in the Greek community. The club has won four Australian national championships, a string of Victorian State League titles, numerous Dockerty Cups and represented

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

in the

2000 FIFA Club World Championship The 2000 FIFA Club World Championship was the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, the world club championship for men's club association football teams. It took place in Brazil from 5 January to 14 January 2000. FIFA as football's international gover ...

. Along with the

Marconi Stallions Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marconi, a social ...

, they were one of two clubs to compete in every season of the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

. The club was chosen by the

International Federation of Football History & Statistics The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

as the Oceania Club of the Century for the 20th century.

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. Theo Marmaras, initiator of the merger proposal and president of Hellenic, became the first president of the new club. In recognition of the large

Greek Australian Greek Australians ( el, Ελληνοαυστραλοί, ) are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek an ...

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

South Melbourne won the Victorian First Division (North) championship of 1960, 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. With a number of astute signings—Scottish journeyman Tommy Anderson (

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

), Ernie Ackerley (

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

), Leo Damianakos (

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...

), Jim Pyrgolios ( Panathinaikos) and Andreas Roussis, formerly of Panathinaikos and

Apollon Athens Apollon Smyrnis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Απόλλων Σμύρνης), or in its full name Gymnasticos Syllogos Apollon Smyrnis ( el, links=no, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης, ''Gymnastics Club Apollon o ...

—the club won the division championship in 1962, 1964, and 1965. In 1965, South Melbourne secured the services of 35-year-old former AEK Athens star,

Kostas Nestoridis Kostas Nestoridis ( el, Κώστας Νεστορίδης, born 15 March 1930) is a Greek former professional footballer, who played as a forward and a former manager. He is amongst the best players in the history of AEK Athens and one of the g ...

as player-coach. The result was a significant increase in crowd attendances and a fourth league title in 1966. 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.

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, but with Armstrong scoring goals aplenty, South Melbourne went on to win the championship in 1972. The season also saw coach Bill Curran consolidate the first team's strength by signing midfielder Peter Bourne (

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

) and promoting highly skilled youngsters Giovanni Barticciotto, Fethon Ileris and Bill Hasapis. The club continued its successful run with the 1974 title, second place in 1975, and with star recruits

Jimmy Mackay James Birrell Mackay (19 December 1943, in Scotland – 11 December 1998) was a Scottish-born Australian association football player. He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany. In late 1973, he scored the decisiv ...

Peter Ollerton Peter Ollerton (born 20 May 1951
including date of birth in England) is a former Australian

Mooroolbark Mooroolbark is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 31 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Mooroolbark recorded a population of 23,059 at the . Mo ...

Heidelberg United Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...

, and Footscray JUST as Melbourne's participants in the newly formed

(NSL) in 1977 which was Australia's first sporting national competition. 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 as South Melbourne finished at the bottom of the league table in 1979.

1978–89

The recruitment of Alan Davidson, George Campbell ( Aberdeen F.C.), Steve Blair,

Branko Buljevic Branko Buljevic (born 6 September 1947 in Split, Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a former Australian soccer player. He was a member of the Australia 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany and represented Australia 30 times in total between 1972 and ...

Alun Evans Alun William Evans (born 30 April 1949) is an English former footballer who made his name as a centre forward in the Liverpool side rebuilt by Bill Shankly at the start of the 1970s. He was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Career Evans b ...

(

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

), 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. Some solid player signings such as (

Oscar Crino Oscar Crino (born 9 August 1962) is a former Australian international soccer player who played as a central midfielder. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. Early life Crino was born in 1962 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and ...

, 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. South Melbourne finished first on the league ladder in 1984, 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

in the Southern Division play-offs, and edged out

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrant ...

in the Grand Final to win the 1984 national championship. After the departure of George Campbell to rivals

Preston Makedonia Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matches against other t ...

in 1983/84,

to Footscray Just in 1985 and others, South Melbourne could not repeat the success of the previous year. Despite finishing in first place, it was knocked out of the finals series by local rivals Brunswick Juventus and

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. A major overhaul by coach Brian Garvey saw a number of new signings being made, including youngsters

Paul Trimboli Paolo "Paul" Vincenzo Trimboli (born 25 February 1969) is a former Australian international football (soccer) player. Trimboli is of Italian ancestry and attended Xavier College, where he was a member of the First XI, and was captained by his ...

, David Healy, Kimon Taliadoros and Harry Micheil. 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 Footballing icon

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forwar ...

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. 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 senior 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 rivals Melbourne Croatia on penalties after a tense 1–1 score line in normal time with many describing it as one of Australian footballs best matches. With Croatia dominating most of the proceedings, striker Joe Palatsides was put through on goal by Paul Trimboli who equalised with the last kick of the game. The team boasted some of the finest Australian football talent in Paul Fernandes, Michael Petersen, Paul Wade,

Mehmet Durakovic Mehmed (modern Turkish: Mehmet) is the most common Bosnian and Turkish form of the Arabic name Muhammad ( ar, محمد) (''Muhammed'' and ''Muhammet'' are also used, though considerably less) and gains its significance from being the name of Muh ...

, 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. 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. South Melbourne was again eliminated during the finals series by Adelaide City and Marconi-Fairfield, the latter inflicting a 7–0 thrashing. In 1993/94, the club finished second, but failed yet again to progress to the Grand Final, courtesy of Melbourne Croatia and their nemesis, Adelaide City. For the 1994/95 season, the club hired former Socceroos coach

Frank Arok Ferenc "Frank" Arok ( hu, Árok Ferenc; 20 January 1932 – 12 January 2021) was a Yugoslavian-Australian ethnic Hungarian association football player and coach. Career Arok played for FK Jedinstvo in Yugoslavia during the 1950s before coa ...

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 Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club Sout ...

. The club finished sixth on the ladder, but was eliminated again in the Preliminary Final by the Melbourne Knights in a 3-2 thriller in the rain with a hattrick to Mark Viduka. Arok left the club after a disappointing 1995/96 season, which saw South miss the finals for the first time since 1989.

Name and emblem change

In 1996, the club was required by

Soccer Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establi ...

, 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 The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, who threatened legal action. Under new coach and former captain

Ange Postecoglou Angelos Postecoglou ( el, Άγγελος Ποστέκογλου, ; born 27 August 1965) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Born in Greece, he move ...

, the club bounced back in season 1996/97, finishing third on the table and eventually being eliminated by

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

in the Preliminary Final. The club capped off the end of the decade with impressive performances, becoming Australian champions in 1998 and 1999, thanks to performances by

, Vaughan Coveny,

Con Blatsis Constantinos "Con" Blatsis (born 6 July 1977) is a former Australian international association footballer who played as a defender. Club career Blatsis was born in Melbourne. He started his career at his home club South Melbourne making 104 l ...

and former

PAOK FC P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athlet ...

star John Anastasiadis. In the 1998 Grand Final South defeated league newcomer Carlton 2–1 with a controversial late chip by Boutsianis sending the crowd into pandemonium. That win was followed up in 1999 by a come-from-behind 3–2 win against Sydney United in the Grand Final which was the first time the club had gone back-to-back since the glory days of the 1960s. This win would be Hellas' 4th and final national championship. 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

in Brazil.

2000–04 Taking on the World

Grouped with

Vasco Da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club in Liga MX based in the city of Aguascalientes. It plays in the Estadio Victoria. History Foundation (Light and Power Compan ...

, and the treble-winning

in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, South Melbourne lost all three games. Despite the losses and being the only non-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. 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. At the end of the 2000/01 home and away season, South had finished a comfortable 8 points clear of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

, but lost both legs of its major semi final against the Wolves 2–1, 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, with a late revival not being enough once more losing 2–1. 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, eventually being eliminated by eventual champions Olympic Sharks in the finals. Krnčević was replaced by former player Danny Wright for the 2002/03 season, but the club failed to reach the finals by a point. Stuart Munro took over as coach for the 2003/04 season, with the club finishing fifth, eventually being eliminated by a penalty deep into extra time against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

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 A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

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 FC - VPL Grand Final 2006

Entering the

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer lea ...

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. The season was highlighted by fluctuating crowd attendances at home games, national media attention paid to crowd trouble with fans of

Preston Lions Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matches against other t ...

, 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, including a record 7–0 thrashing of old foe Melbourne Knights. South eventually progressed to the final by defeating Green Gully and

Altona Magic Altona Magic Soccer Club (Commonly known as Altona Vardar SC) is a soccer team based in Altona North, a western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Magic currently compete in the second tier of the Australian soccer league system. F ...

in successive weeks. 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, 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

football, who went on to score his 100th goal for the club, with Ramazan Tavsancioglu and

Fernando de Moraes Fernando Jorge Lima de Moraes (born 21 January 1980), commonly referred to as Fernando, is a retired soccer player who last played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Premier League. Born in Brazil, he played for the Australia national fut ...

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 Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club South M ...

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

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

at a lavish gala ceremony at the

Hurlingham Club The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive private social and athletic club located in the Fulham area of London, England. Founded in 1869, it has a Georgian-style clubhouse set in of grounds. It is a member of the Association of London Clubs. Hist ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

, London in May 2010 and entry into the

2010 Singapore Cup The 2010 Singapore Cup (known as the RHB Singapore Cup for sponsorship reasons) started on 24 May 2010. It was the 13th staging of the annual Singapore Cup soccer tournament. 12 S.League clubs and 4 invited foreign teams played in this edition. ...

. South Melbourne FC miraculously won its first-round match against

Gombak United FC Gombak United Football Club was a professional Football (soccer), football club which competed in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was based in Bukit Gombak. During the early years of the S. League, Gombak Unite ...

2–1 and returned to Singapore in October for a two-legged playoff against Bangkok Glass FC at the

Jalan Besar Stadium Jalan Besar Stadium, officially the Jalan Besar ActiveSG Stadium, is a football stadium located in Kallang, Singapore. The stadium is part of the Jalan Besar Sports and Recreation Centre, a community sports facility that includes the stadium a ...

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 The 2011 Singapore Cup (known as the RHB Singapore Cup for sponsorship reasons) starts in June 2011. It is the 14th staging of the annual Singapore Cup tournament. 11 S.League clubs and 5 invited foreign teams play in this edition. The cup was a ...

but were bundled out in the first round by

Albirex Niigata Singapore FC Albirex Niigata Singapore FC, abbreviated as Albirex Niigata (S), is a Singaporean football club that plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan. History Albirex Niigata Singapore, a satellite ...

. 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 Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The ...

. Krncevic was replaced in 2012 by former player Peter Tsolakis, who moved across from

Northcote City Northcote City Football Club (Iraklis) is a soccer club based on the border of Thornbury and Northcote, Victoria (Australia). Formed in 1960 by local Greek Australians, the club currently competes in the NPL Victoria 2. In 2011, Northcote ...

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

. 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 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 South Hobart Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Hobart, Tasmania. Founded in 1910, the club currently competes in the NPL Tasmania. South Hobart plays home games at South Hobart Ground and also fields teams in all junior divis ...

1–0 at South Hobart Ground, but lost to

North Eastern MetroStars SC North Eastern MetroStars Soccer Club, commonly known as MetroStars, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1994, the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues South Australia ...

in the semi-final 2–1. 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 Palm Beach Soccer Club is an Australian amateur soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The club was formed in 1966. History Palm Beach In 1964 Eddie Wardell organised a group of boys, one of which was his son, to play football out of Pal ...

in the 2015 FFA Cup Round of 32. South Melbourne then recruited the likes of

Matthew Foschini Matthew Foschini (born 19 October 1990) is an Australian footballer who plays as a defender for Oakleigh Cannons. Club career Early career Foschini began his football career at Glen Waverley Junior Soccer Club. Melbourne Victory On 18 Augu ...

, Matt Millar and Marcus Schroen for the following season. 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

6–0 in front of over 3,000 fans at Lakeside. 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." South bowed out of the 2016 FFA Cup Qualifying Rounds at the final qualifying round, losing 4–0 to rivals Bentleigh Greens. The club finished in 3rd place in the league, 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. 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. In 2017, South finished runners-up in the league behind traditional rivals

. In the finals series, Hellas lost to eventual champions

Bentleigh Greens Bentleigh Greens Soccer Club is an Australian semi professional soccer club based in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1986, by the Greek Cypriot community and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues ...

in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final. After reaching the 2017 FFA Cup national stages, South Melbourne defeated Edgeworth,

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

and Gold Coast City to reach the semi-finals where they hosted

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

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. 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. 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. 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.

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 A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap al ...

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 The Australia national under-20 soccer team, known colloquially as the Young Socceroos, represents Australia in international under-20 soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which ...

, Australia's national women's team the

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...

, and grand finals and finals matches of the

(now National Premier Leagues Victoria). It has also been a training base for the

Greece national football team The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...

France national football team The France national football team (french: Équipe de France de football) represents France in men's international football matches. It is governed by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is ...

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 The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

, 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

Being one of the top placed sides since their inception, South have numerous rivalries stemming from their participation in the State Leagues, National Soccer League and VPL/NPL. *

Melbourne Knights FC Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Victoria, Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, t ...

* Heidelberg United FC *

Preston Lions FC Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matches against other te ...

Sydney Olympic FC Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigran ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Glory

Supporters

South Melbourne have traditionally been one of the most well supported Football clubs in Australia following them through countries and states. Their supporters have been noted for their vocal support and their dedication shown through banners and flags. Currently the main supporter faction is known as the Clarendon Corner which has been present since the last few years of the NSL and place themselves in the corner of the stadium. Prior to that the 'Hellas fans' would traditionally place themselves behind the goal South was shooting at in large numbers.

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

. In June 2008 South Melbourne FC sent a letter of interest to join the league 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 Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

announced it was commencing exclusive negotiations with the rival '

Melbourne Heart FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

' bid which went on to join the competition for the

2010-11 A-League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

season. In March 2013 it was revealed that the club was in negotiations to take a stake in the cash-strapped

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The ...

, but talks cooled off when the Mariners ownership structure was consolidated under Mike Charlesworth. In April 2013, the club was revealed to have made several offers to take a 100 per cent stake in

; however, these offers were rejected. 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. Following this news, the club provisionally appointed

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

legend Roberto Carlos as the team's head coach should they be granted an expansion slot. South Melbourne submitted a bid to join the expanded A-League in September 2018; however, were unsuccessful once again when, in December 2018, new consortium

Western Melbourne FC Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the regio ...

was selected instead.

Current squad

Competition timeline

South Melbourne won 8 premierships, 2 Dockerty Cups, and 2 Ampol Cups before their entrance into the

(NSL) in 1977. In the 1984 season they won their first NSL premiership and their first championship, defeating

4–2 over a 2-legged Grand Final. They won another 4 premierships and 3 championships, only in the 1997–98 season winning the double again, before the NSL folded in 2004. The club didn't enter the newly formed national competition, the

, due to the bidding process and 1 team for 1 state rule, and returned to playing at state level, entering the

. Since then they've won 2 premierships and 2 championships, with the most recent being in 2016.

Honours

Club

Domestic * FFV Community Shield :Champions (1): 2015 :Runners-up (2): 2016, 2017 *

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state-based ...

:Champions (10): 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1974, 1976, 2006,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

:Premiers (2):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, 2022 :Runners-up (5): 1971, 1975, 2005, 2006,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, 2015 * Victorian State League Division 1 :Champions (1): 1960 * Dockerty Cup :Winners (8): 1974, 1975, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995,

*Victorian Ampol Night Soccer Cup :Winners (4): 1969, 1970, 1976, 1982 *Buffalo Cup :Winners (1) 1988 * Hellenic Cup :Winners (4) 1984, 2007, 2009, 2011 *

:Premiers (3):

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 1997–98, 2000–01 :Champions (4):

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 1997–98, 1998–99 :Finalists (7): 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2003–04 :Conference Winners (2): 1984,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

*National Soccer League Cup :Winners (2): 1989–90, 1995–96 *Australian Club of the Decade (1): 1990s Continental *

OFC Champions League The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...

:Winners (1):

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

*Oceania Confederation Club of the Century Worldwide *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

:Eighth (1):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Youth * National Youth League :Champions (3): 1984, 1991, 1994 Womens *

National Premier Leagues Victoria Women The National Premier Leagues Victoria Women, known commonly as the NPL Victoria Women's or NPLV Women's, is a professional women's association football league in Victoria, Australia. It is the highest league for women in Victoria, and has been a ...

:Champions (4): 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017 :Premiers (4): 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018

Individual

Johnny Warren Medal/Player of the Year *1986 – Bobby Russell *1988 – Paul Wade *1992/93 –

*1997/98 –

Joe Marston Medal The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League award given to the player of the match in the A-League Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The medal is ...

*1997/98 – Fausto De Amicis *1998/99 –

Goran Lozanovski Goran Lozanovski (born 11 January 1974) is a former Australian football (soccer) player of Macedonian descent, and current manager holding the role of senior coach at Sydenham Park SC. Playing career Club Noted for his ability at taking se ...

Leading Goalscorer *1983 – Doug Brown *1984 – Doug Brown *1985 – Charlie Egan *1991/92 – Kimon Taliadoros *1992/93 –

Francis Awaritefe Francis Edgar Awaritefe (born 18 April 1964 in London, England) is an Australian former football (soccer) player, and was Director of Football at Melbourne Victory. Biography On 21 June 2011, Awaritefe was signed by Melbourne Victory as their n ...

Sam Papasavas Award (Under 21 NSL player of the year) *1983 –

*1988 –

*1989 –

NSL Goalkeeper of the Year *1998/99 – Michael Petkovic *2000/01 – Michael Petkovic *2001/02 – Michael Petkovic NSL Coach of the Year *1980 – John Margaritis *1988 – Brian Garvey *1992/93 – Jim Pyrgolios *1997/98 –

*2000/01 – Mike Petersen Bill Fleming Award *1971 – Jim Pyrgolios *1974 – Jimmy Armstrong Victorian Premier League Top Goalscorer Award *1966 –

*1972 – Jimmy Armstrong *1974 – Jimmy Armstrong *1975 – Fethon Ileris Victorian Premier League Goalkeeper of the Year *1975 – Reno Lia *2005 – Dean Anastasiadis *2006 – Dean Anastasiadis *2010 – Peter Zois *2013 – Peter Gavalas Jimmy Rooney Medal *2006 –

Victorian Premier League player of the year *2010 –

*2014 – Milos Lujic

Managers

* Christos Georgoussis (1960–1961) * Len Young (1961) * / Manny Poulakakis (1961–1964) * Ron Sawecki (1965–1966) *

(1966) * / John Anderson (1967) *

(1967–1968) *

Ljubiša Broćić Ljubiša Broćić ( sr-Cyrl, Љубиша Броћић; 3 October 1911 – 16 August 1995) was a Serbian football manager. Biography Over the course of his career he was at the helm of some of the top European sides: PSV Eindhoven, Juventus, FC ...

(1968) * Ron Sawecki (1968–1969) * / Manny Poulakakis (1969) *

(1970–1971) * Bill Curran (1972) * / Manny Poulakakis (1972–1973) * Jim Pyrgolios (1974) * John Margaritis (1975) * Brian Edgley (1976) * / Manny Poulakakis (1976) * John Margaritis (1977) * Dave MacLaren (1977–1979) * Duncan MacKay (1979) * John Margaritis (1979–1981) *

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...

(1982–1983) * Mick Watson (1983) *

Rale Rasic Zvonimir "Rale" Rasic OAM (/Zvonimir Rale Rašić; born 26 December 1935) is an Australian former association football player, coach and media personality. Playing career Club Born in Dole, Littoral Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Bosni ...

(1983) * Len McKendry (1983–1985) * John Margaritis (1986) * Brian Garvey (1987–1989) * /

(1989–1992) * Jim Pyrgolios (1992–1994) * /

(1994–1996) * /

(1996–2000) * Mike Petersen (2000–2001) * Eddie Krncevic (2001–2002) * Danny Wright (2002–2003) * Stuart Munro (2003–2004) * John Anastasiadis (2005–2008) * Michael Michalakopoulos (2008–2009) * Vaughan Coveny (2010–2011) * Eddie Krncevic (2011–2012) * Peter Tsolakis (2012–2013) * / Chris Taylor (2013–2018) * Saša Kolman (2018) * Con Tangalakis (2018–2019) * Estaban Quintas (2019–present)

Records

*Best Result in the NSL: 7–0 vs Newcastle Rosebud at Middle Park 22 July 1984 *Best Result in the VPL: 10–1 vs Moonee Ponds at Middle Park 30 April 1960 *Worst Result in the NSL: 0–7 vs Marconi-Fairfield at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure ...

2 May 1993 *Worst Result in the VPL: 0–5 vs Maribyrnong Polonia at Olympic Park 14 June 1964 *Best Regular Season NSL Crowd: 17,228 vs Marconi-Fairfield at Middle Park 23 April 1978 *Best Regular Season VPL Crowd: 23,000 vs

at Olympic Park 5 August 1962 *Best Finals Series NSL Crowd: 23,318 vs Melbourne Croatia (1990/91 Grand Final) at Olympic Park *Best Finals Series VPL Crowd: 8,000 vs

(2005 Preliminary Final) at

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

11 September 2005 *Best FFA Cup Crowd: 5,745 vs

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was f ...

(2017 Semi-Final) at Lakeside Stadium 11 October 2017 *Most Games Coached: 127 –

*Most Games Played: 430 –

*Most Goals Scored: 115 – Paul Trimboli *Most Goals in Season: 22 – Doug Brown (1984), Jimmy Armstrong (1974) *Best Games to Goal Ratio: 0.56 – Doug Brown, 48 goals in 86 games *Most Clean Sheets: 105 – Dean Anastasiadis, 158 games *Biggest Winning Streak: 9 games – 30 September 1984 to 24 March 1985 *Biggest Losing Streak: 6 games – 27 October 1995 to 2 December 1995 *Biggest Unbeaten Streak: 21 games – 12 August 1984 to 28 April 1985

References

External links

South Melbourne FC official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Melbourne Fc Association football clubs established in 1959 National Premier Leagues clubs Soccer clubs in Melbourne Diaspora sports clubs in Australia Victorian Premier League teams Greek-Australian culture in Melbourne National Soccer League (Australia) teams 1959 establishments in Australia OFC Champions League winning clubs Sport in the City of Port Phillip Women's soccer clubs in Australia