Oakleigh had an out of the ordinary 6-0 win at home against Dandenong Thunder last week. It was 3-0 with 10 minutes to play and Oakleigh decided to give a 10 man Dandenong three more. The Knights are finished. They are done for the season. Either Marth will be sacked, or they will keep him on stupidly and start rebuilding for next season. Only one point separates a very injury depleted Knights from relegation. I’ve heard that Covarrubias is also gone for the season. Tough times ahead. It’s gonna be a long, long, long season for the Knights. Oakleigh 4 – Melbourne Knights 1. #MarthOut
Northcote City FC vs Dandenong Thunder SC - Saturday @ 03:00PM @ John Cain Memorial
Northcote had a loss at home to the Port Melbourne Sharts 2-3, while Dandenong got thumped 6-0 by Oakleigh. Northcote continues their hot and cold start to the season, while Dandy will still be licking its wounds from last week. Northcote will be too good for a poor Dandenong. Northcote City 2 – Dandenong Thunder 1. #NorthcoteObsession
Ballarat Red Devils SC vs Port Melbourne Sharks SC - Saturday @ 07:45PM @ Moreshead Park
Ballarat had a 1-2 loss at home to South, while the Sharts had a come from behind 2-3 win at Northcote. Ballarat. Please do not call your facility a ‘stadium’. It comes nowhere near a stadium as known to the Western World. It’s a fucken building site. I’m surprised each fan wasn’t inducted and given a union ticket to enter the site. An unfinished venue is NOT the place for an NPL match. FFV pull your fingers out and implement your stadium guidelines competition wide. Please, for the love of God! To the Sharts fans travelling, take an umbrella, a storm proof jacket and gumboots. Not that any of you will travel. Ballarat Red Devils 2 – Port Melbourne Sharts 0. #BRDShitGround
Hume City FC vs Goulburn Valley Suns FC – Sunday @ 03:00PM @ Broadmeadows Valley
Hume had an easy 2-0 win at home to the Knights, while the newly coached GV Suns had their first win down at Galvin Park vs Werribee 1-2. Hume should on paper have three points in the bag against the Suns, but you never know. Nah, actually I do know. Hume City 3 – Goulburn Valley Suns 0. #HumeAreBetterThanTheGVSuns
Werribee City FC vs Pascoe Vale SC – Sunday @ 03:00PM @ Galvin Park
Werribee was disappointing in their 1-2 loss to GV Suns, while Pascoe Vale had a 3-2 loss at the Bergers. I dunno what's happening down at Werribee. Pascoe Vale should bounce back. Werribee City 1 – Pascoe Vale 3. #NoLeighMinoNoWerribee
South Melbourne FC vs Bentleigh Greens SC - Sunday @ 05:00PM @ Lakeside Stadium
The pick of the round. First vs third, South's latest test. Look, I'm not impressed with Bentleigh, have never been. I just don’t think they’re the real deal. South had a 1-2 win down at a shitty weathered Ballarat while Bentleigh had a surprising 3-2 loss at Gully. That’s the reason they don’t impress me. South on the other hand impresses everyone. Unbeaten in the league and cup, firing on all cylinders, all round team effort. We are the team to beat, and Bentleigh will attempt the impossible. They may as well not rock up. We are the Oceania Team of the Century and we do not lose to suburban clubs from Moorabbin. South Melbourne 3 – Bentleigh Greens 0. #SouthTooGood
Heidelberg United SC vs Green Gully SC - Sunday @ 06:00PM @ Olympic Village
Heidelberg beat Pascoe Vale 3-2, while Gully beat Bentleigh 3-2. Both teams won 3-2! Bergers are doing not bad by their standards, somewhat steadying the ship, Gully is hit and miss. Will be plenty of goals at this one, but Gully will be too good. Heidelberg United 3 – Green Gully 4. #ShitClubsNoCrowd
Questions and Answers
During the week I received an email from a a student of Caulfield Grammar whom I shall call ‘Carlos’. The email contained a number of questions which Carlos required answers to in order to complete a project on ‘old Australian Soccer’. I am more than happy to oblige and I hope you enjoy the answers Carlos.
Are there any particular differences between the NSL and the A-League that's stick out to you?
A very interesting question and I shall give you a very interesting answer. The particular differences between the NSL and A-League that stick out to me are the following:
- Admission Fee. For starters the NSL had a flat fee admission for adults, pensioners and children over 14 at every venue Australia wide. The fee wasn’t based on where you sat, or which stadium you visited, unlike the A-League.
- Family Friendly. The NSL was very family friendly and from the tender age of six, I attended matches with my father, uncles and cousins. Others were there with their grandparents, mothers, aunties etc, etc, you get the gist of where I’m at. The A-League I find more corporate friendly than family friendly. It's not for families.
- Car Park. The NSL carparks were free, except for the finals matches at Olympic Park. Try finding a free carpark at an A-League match.
Are you happy with the modern day all sweater stadiums? Or would you rather the typical local ground, (green hill behind the goals, a old grandstand ect ect....)
Carlos, I am a footballing purist and prefer traditional non-seated terraces. It is actually bad luck for me to be seated while my team is playing. Trust me, I’ve tried it, not for me and we lost.
How did you feel when the NSL went defunct ?
Something for you to google. I and many other NSL fans suffered (and some of continue to) the five stages of grief as described in the Kübler-Ross model.
- Denial – I was in denial for about one year.
- Anger – I was angry for about four years.
- Bargaining – I was bargaining in my head for about six months.
- Depression – I was depressed for about two years.
- Acceptance – I am yet to hit that stage.
What is your fondest memory of the NSL?
The 1991 NSL Grand Final between South Melbourne Hellas and Melbourne Croatia. That memory will live on with me forever. Just thinking of it gives me goosebumps.
How did you feel about the ethnic tension and sometimes ethnic violence between clubs at games ?
There wa no ethnic tension or ethnic violence at games. Do not believe what the FFA propaganda machine is feeding you. If there ever was any alleged violence, it was not due to ethnicity. I can prove this quite easily and I hope you include it in your project. They say there was ethnic tension in the old NSL. All I ever saw was banter between sets of opposing fans. Nothing to do with ethnicity, but more to do with club loyalty. An example being the current situation with the ‘ultras’ mentality that’s slowly creeping into the A-League. They’re all ‘Australians’, yet they fight with each other. One could turn around and say, ‘ahh Australian is an ethnicity, therefore it’s ethnic tension’. Fans all over the world ‘have fights’, but they’re all the same nationality. The only thing that separates them is club loyalty. The same occurred in the NSL.
How do you feel about the FFA today ?
The FFA have destroyed the lifeblood of the sport and have turned a blind eye of the 100+ year history of the sport in this country. I have no respect for the FFA. As far as I'm concerned, they can go forth and multiply.
Do you think the FFA are ignoring old soccer and trying to erase it from history?
Yes. Definitely yes. They have no respect for the people of the past who lost their homes, marriages, and lives, building this sport from the ground up purely for the love of it and not for financial benefit. The FFA does not like this mentality as there’s no money to be made from it, hence the corporate feel of the A-League. They’re all suits and ties these days, no room for the hardworking blue collar worker.
What was your favourite NSL ground?
Middle Park by a country mile. Sometimes I drive down there, sit on the grass and reminisce. I can still hear the crowd chanting, still smell the souvlaki cooking, and still see the goals which I witnessed over the years.
How do you feel about the A-League ?
Yeah off the field it’s great. Huge stadiums, all seated crap, great promotion machine. It’s a league of very poor standard on the field. Teams of the NSL would have a field day against the current A-league teams. They’re laughable. I sometimes watch it online for a laugh, and I can’t watch more than 10 minutes of it without shaking my head. It really is a ridiculous standard.
I hope you find the answers to your questions suitable for your project. I wouldn’t mind having a look at the final product once complete.
Regards from the sunny BVI
Kiss of Death
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