SMFC1959 said:

Who would have thought back in May when we were facing relegation that we would be playing in the Australian Championship Grand Final in December !!?? Its that Hellas DNA that refuses to die.

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Φτου, φτου, σκόρδο..χαχαχα

If you are buying food or drink from either Heidelberg or one of the federations food trucks no offence but you're an idiot.

Get there early and grab a bite at Northland then walk over.

Reminder pre game meet up from 12pm at Sporting Globe Northland then marching all together to Olympic Village at 2pm

Biggest day for the club in the last 20 years. Fingers crossed

smfc_hellas59 said:

Biggest day for the club in the last 20 years. Fingers crossed

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In some ways, yes. But it's only a Champions League style competition.

A much as I have enjoyed it, I still prefer to win the League. But conversely, The League is superseded by winning grand finals.

It's all too complicated! Hehe

smfc_hellas59 said:

Biggest day for the club in the last 20 years. Fingers crossed

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Agree

These are the matches that are either seen as missed opportunities or the beginning of a new era.

If we win today:
- we earn the title and prestige of being the best team outside the A Leage
- we earn $100,000 in prize money
- we prove to everyone that we are still a top quality trophy winning club
- we can do it by bringing big crowds and retain some of those fans for the 2026 NPL season.

If we lose today:
- we lose a massive opportunity to claim a big trophy
- we’ll console ourselves by saying what a turnaround it’s been since May
- we may not get another opportunity for a while as other strengthen for the 2026 competition.
- that would mean a 4th straight grand final loss in as many years.

Horrible 2022 flashbacks here with the weather.

We are more than deserved 'Australian championship 2025' champs and we ddi it in style!! What a buzz!
Final observations:
1. I for one will apologise for doubting this coach at the get go, as time went on he earnt absolute praise for above all reminding us of who we are and where we belong, atop of the Apex. Sinisa i hope your reign is a long and continually successful one!
2. Well done to the football department for what can only be described as the most efficient recruiting seen in recent memory. Bravo and thanks.
3. Well done to the club overall for taking this comp as seriously as was warranted, we proved we wanted this more than anyone and the footballing gods aligned with our desire! And today we reap the reward! Success!
4. Above all a well done to the boys, as Janko said 'they may not have been in doubt about bouncing back from a terrible start', but we were, and we thank each and every one of them for the desire, effort and ultimate sacrifice they continued to show for such a long season! Yes there was lapses of judgement at times but not one player in that team wasnt standout throughout (well may Messarouni but im so happy now even he doesnt get exempt! Lol)! This squad is the most complete we have had in a long while, now we just hope either Marshal remains or we find an equal replacement.
5. What to say about the crowd, that passion brought me back decades, the connection of the young with the older is something the club should do its utmost to cultivate and grow! The best thing for me today was that i had neutrals with me who by the end were chanting hellas hellas like seasoned supporters, and you cant buy that!
WE made the village our own today and gave it a vibe never seen by its own supporters imo and ive been a regular there also _ we truly are something different to all else! The vibe of community and comeradery, that echo from the non stop chanting, that roar at the final wistle, it got louder the longer the longrr the game went on, SIMPLY AMAZING!

My only question is how/why the FA announced that crowd number when clearly it was a way larger crowd than that.

The Invincibles

For many years i believed our club was cooked. Even the years we made those grand finals the crowds simply werent coming except for the odd big occasion. This championship though has made me feel like we are quite comfortably the biggest club outside the A league, if this thing ever becomes a proper home and away league we will be the benchmark.

Im not delusional to think our crowds are going to sky rocket in npl vic next year, Preston will be the benchmark there. We all know that competing against 25 other Greek clubs in winter will continue to harm us, but these 9 weeks showed how much interest our club has when it reverts playing back in its nsl era timeframe.

I've also seen enough to believe that a top flight South is easily getting its 6-8k comfortably again.

Its going to be very interesting to see how we navigate the future.

southmelb said:

For many years i believed our club was cooked. Even the years we made those grand finals the crowds simply werent coming except for the odd big occasion. This championship though has made me feel like we are quite comfortably the biggest club outside the A league, if this thing ever becomes a proper home and away league we will be the benchmark.

Im not delusional to think our crowds are going to sky rocket in npl vic next year, Preston will be the benchmark there. We all know that competing against 25 other Greek clubs in winter will continue to harm us, but these 9 weeks showed how much interest our club has when it reverts playing back in its nsl era timeframe.

I've also seen enough to believe that a top flight South is easily getting its 6-8k comfortably again.

Its going to be very interesting to see how we navigate the future.

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The closer we get to this OFC thing, the more important it feels. It is our way of bypassing all the blockages that have been put in our way by various entities

Football Australia
FFV
Other Melbourne Greek clubs
Racial bias against wog clubs in general

Back to the game .... like someone else said ... imagine that was for promotion today!

What a match ! Inaugural winners of the Australian Championship!!!!

That opening 20 minutes was some of the best football we have played all year. We did not let up - the intensity and pressure we applied was on another level. Aguek is just made for big occasions. Some players go missing in big matches but Aguek is meant for the big stage. The way he got around the Marconi defender was pure class and that finish gave the goalkeeper no chance. He truly has that X factor that turns matches.

The South fans turned up in big numbers. If it weren’t for the poor weather and venue, we could have had another 1,000-2,000 attend. The fact that a number of fans entered without paying shows the crowd attendance was slightly understated.

We were the better team throughout the competition. In total, we recorded 8 wins and 1 draw.

This competition has given South a new lease on life. Give these clubs the right platform and they will show what they can offer. It has been a massive success for South.

southmelb said:

For many years i believed our club was cooked. Even the years we made those grand finals the crowds simply werent coming except for the odd big occasion. This championship though has made me feel like we are quite comfortably the biggest club outside the A league, if this thing ever becomes a proper home and away league we will be the benchmark.

Im not delusional to think our crowds are going to sky rocket in npl vic next year, Preston will be the benchmark there. We all know that competing against 25 other Greek clubs in winter will continue to harm us, but these 9 weeks showed how much interest our club has when it reverts playing back in its nsl era timeframe.

I've also seen enough to believe that a top flight South is easily getting its 6-8k comfortably again.

Its going to be very interesting to see how we navigate the future.

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Spot on

We know the 2026 Australian Championship will be in the current format. But we’ll need another successful competition to really push for a proper home and away league structure.

We are now the best and biggest club outside the A League. We brought the fans and excitement to what is a great competition.

We have a base to build on. In the top flight, we could have regularly over 6,000 crowds. The great thing is we don’t have the stadium overheads of an AAMI Park. The club can generate decent revenue by hosting matches at Lakeside.

Today showed that there are so many people out there that love this club. We need to give them the right platform to engage with the club. The Australian Championship has been perfect for this.

We just need to play in summer and avoid playing against 50 other Greek suburban clubs.

SMFC1959 said:

Spot on

We know the 2026 Australian Championship will be in the current format. But we’ll need another successful competition to really push for a proper home and away league structure.

We are now the best and biggest club outside the A League. We brought the fans and excitement to what is a great competition.

We have a base to build on. In the top flight, we could have regularly over 6,000 crowds. The great thing is we don’t have the stadium overheads of an AAMI Park. The club can generate decent revenue by hosting matches at Lakeside.

Today showed that there are so many people out there that love this club. We need to give them the right platform to engage with the club. The Australian Championship has been perfect for this.

We just need to play in summer and avoid playing against 50 other Greek suburban clubs.

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Our stadium is built for Summer Soccer. Our club has really suffered having had to play in the colder months.

Son of Sam said:

Our stadium is built for Summer Soccer. Our club has really suffered having had to play in the colder months.

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Serious question would then become how that clashes with that prick eddy mcguires inserted athletics! Summer seems to be very dominated by their calendar and thats somehing we would need to address. Cant be playing just friday night games or we dont maximise attendences imo!

Hellenic_blue&white said:

Serious question would then become how that clashes with that prick eddy mcguires inserted athletics! Summer seems to be very dominated by their calendar and thats somehing we would need to address. Cant be playing just friday night games or we dont maximise attendences imo!

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Friday nights were not popular in the nsl days but they probably would be now. I think its mainly about us playing in summer again.

southmelb said:

Friday nights were not popular in the nsl days but they probably would be now. I think its mainly about us playing in summer again.

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The irony is that we are currently in somewhat of a Summer Season calendar, what with the OFC starting in January.

Problem is, of course, we only play THREE games in Melbourne on Feb 21st, Feb 24th, and Feb 27th.