Friday 23 November 2012

SM Crisis 2012 - Sandy Island Edition (with bonus whinge)

Ever heard of the island that didn't actually exist, and yet no one can quite figure out how it got onto maps?

For once a short and sharp media release.
South Melbourne FC advises that it has settled its dispute with Wellington Investments (Australia) Pty Ltd. Accordingly, the County Court Trial which was scheduled to commence in early December 2012 will now not proceed. The club will provide further information to its members in due course.
I suppose the members will find out in due course what this settlement actually means, and how it was brought about. No point in speculating until such time arrives, but if you, loyal reader, want to go for it, the comments page is there for your amusement.

It'll be interesting of course to see how the Greek Media Group goes about reporting this. We already know how Neos Kosmos feels - they don't care. And not because they don't think it's an issue - rather, because sports editor Elias Donoudis both claims not to have have any expertise on legal and financial matters, but also because South isn't important enough to talk about any more.

And not important in large part because according to him, we're not the real South Melbourne. The real South Melbourne was the one that was winning national championships. It was the South of Puskas, Anezakis, Papasavas and Vasilopoulos.

It's a gripe he has made frequently in his little Thursday column, perhaps most notably when some members of the post NSL committee (along with Paul Trimboli and Jimmy Armstrong, who still attend matches) attended the London ceremony where South was awarded the Oceania Club of the Century award.

Donoudis was appalled that Vasilopoulos and other assorted former committee members weren't representing Old South, instead of these charlatans who were pretending that Old South and New South were the same thing.

Frankly, it's a shit argument. The majority of people supporting South now would not be supporting it if they didn't feel it was a legitimate continuation of the old South. Legally, financially and historically, since we didn't go broke and start again, it is the same enterprise.

But what about socially? Well, there you may well have an argument, albeit a weak one. But just because most of our fans, as is their right, have abandoned ship in the post NSL era, it does not mean that those who stayed behind should also be required give up the more glorious parts of the South Melbourne story.

The successes - and failures - of South Melbourne Hellas do not belong to any one individual. They belong to the club. And as long there are even a smattering of recalcitrants who want to keep South Melbourne alive - and that includes all 53 years of our history, and whatever we can steal from before 1959 - then the club will continue, and so will we hope, a view of history that sees itself as part of a continuum.

If some of our former supporters want to assuage their guilt by coming up with the Old South/New South model, they can do that. But to those of us who are still here, it's offensive when they try and force that view on everyone else.

And really, I would like to see Donoudis try and tell Preston North End's supporters (for example) that their club has no relation to the one that won English league championships and FA Cups so long ago that most of their fan base has no recollection of them, that they are not the same club.

3 comments:

  1. Hooley Dooley !!

    Damn it, I was enjoying the tussle.
    Now I have to go back to the Bold & Beautiful
    and watch Ridge get married to his ex wife for the 6 or 7th time, I forget, what's her name again ?

    Deep Deep Throat

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brooke and Ridge are currently NOT married, but engaged.
    Ridge divorced Brooke after Thomas made up the story that Brooke bonked him on the island when their plane crashed. He then was about to marry Taylor, when Thomas confessed that Stephanie Snr made him lie.
    A few weeks ago Ridge and Brooke got engaged at Liam and Hopes Italian wedding. That fell to shit as well, because on the day of the wedding, Liam got it on with Stephanie Jnr LOL So now they are not married.
    So Taylor is now with Thorne(Ridges brother), Ridge is back with Brooke, Hope is hooking up with Thomas, because Rick wants Caroline so he's playing funny buggers, and I hope Stephanie Jnr gets it on with Liam Spencer. Btw, Katie, Dollar Bills wife is pregos. In real life ! Probably the most exciting year of B&B i've seen in ages.

    Notice there's no real ugly people on the show ? Amazing Cast !

    ReplyDelete
  3. You have summed it up nicely Paul. As long as there are those who protect and connect the history from the NSL - VPL, the club is contained in one entity. Not 'Old south' and 'New South'.

    If there's something that Sth's should not take from the FFA rulebook, is to pick and choose the history, but embrace it all.

    ReplyDelete

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