The Australian Championship 🇦🇺🏆

[southmelb]

As for vic v nsw. Lets be honest its marginal, nothing in it both games between Marconi and heidelberg, south and olympic went down to the wire twice, nws spirit has already drawn with Preston and Avondale.

Having these teams competing in a proper home and away competition would reveal a lot more imo. Vic teams just seem to be a bit more clutch in key moments in recent years but its still pretty borderline i think.

 

[SMFC1959]

I saw faces in the away end at South that i havent seen at an npl game for over 15 years!

We are very much a summer football club.

It was a great turnout by the travelling South supporters.

Summer football has given us clean air to promote the club. Good weather and no other footballing commitments, so we’re getting back a lot of old South fans.

We all know that NPL Victoria matches see crowd numbers dive in the middle of a freezing Melbourne winter.

 

[SMFC1959]

As for vic v nsw. Lets be honest its marginal, nothing in it both games between Marconi and heidelberg, south and olympic went down to the wire twice, nws spirit has already drawn with Preston and Avondale.

Having these teams competing in a proper home and away competition would reveal a lot more imo. Vic teams just seem to be a bit more clutch in key moments in recent years but its still pretty borderline i think.

Agree - I haven’t seen a big gap between VIC and NSW teams.

 

[southmelb]

It was a great turnout by the travelling South supporters.

Summer football has given us clean air to promote the club. Good weather and no other footballing commitments, so we’re getting back a lot of old South fans.

We all know that NPL Victoria matches see crowd numbers dive in the middle of a freezing Melbourne winter.

Its a bit of a relief that the support is still there. We've pulled 10k+ to our 2 home matches and Olympic are like 2,800. We cant compete with Preston in winter but its pretty clear that our ceiling nationally is far bigger.

 

[grazorblade]

Looking at the last 3 seasons of the oz cup and this years championship its pretty lopsided, they look an entire division apart

Competition	Games	NSW points	Vic points	GD
Oz Cup	1	0	3	2
Championship	8	4	16	6

I'm going off wikipedia so only have the r32 onwards. Does anyone know of other games between the feds the last few years?
Vic have also had a lot more upsets against a league sides and deeper runs in the oz cup the last few years

 

[Glenardo]

to be fair I don't recall sydney olympic doing much on the field (apart from playing brett emerton) but I don't know that much of the nsl era

They’ve won the npl multiple times in nsw, including multiple times i the last 10 years, and when they didn’t win they were usually there or there abouts. They won the nsl twice.

 

[grazorblade]

They’ve won the npl multiple times in nsw, including multiple times i the last 10 years, and when they didn’t win they were usually there or there abouts. They won the nsl twice.

Which years did they finish first in the nsl? Or did they win the gf? (Im not a purist so either im happy to credit)

 

[Glenardo]

They won in 90 and like 02 or something off the top of my head, they were also in the 89 gf which they lost of Marconi. They were the last “traditional club” to win the national title. I’m not sure of their regular season league finishes off the top of my head. They also had a two legged grand final v south Melbourne in the 80s which they lost. But also worth noting is that they played every nsl season but 1 alongside Adelaide city. Which is the second best record in that regard only Marconi and south Melbourne played in every single season. So they we’re definitely a mainstay/core member of the league

 

[Glenardo]

I really don’t see the point of the Greek national anthem being played or the halftime Greek dancing either. That’s from the 1980s where it belongs.

Agree with points raised by others. South doesn’t hide the Greek roots of the club, but the Hellas name and chant grows organically nor is it contrived. There are many ways to celebrate your past and heritage- through the use of heritage strips, heritage merchandise, legends matches, engaging local Greek suburban clubs for instance.

This might be a strange analogy and I’m not sure if people will know what I mean but I’ve always the “vibe” of Olympic felt like something in between south Melbourne and Heidelberg (obviously not Heidelberg this year who are having a well above average season, but Heidelberg in a normal year)

 

[biggiemic]

Looking at the last 3 seasons of the oz cup and this years championship its pretty lopsided, they look an entire division apart

Competition	Games	NSW points	Vic points	GD
Oz Cup	1	0	3	2
Championship	8	4	16	6

I'm going off wikipedia so only have the r32 onwards. Does anyone know of other games between the feds the last few years?
Vic have also had a lot more upsets against a league sides and deeper runs in the oz cup the last few years

In recent years it does appear the gap between NSW and VIC is getting larger and larger both on and off the field.

And olympics and SU58s commitment to this comp has has been poor. Maybe they are happy cruising in the NPL? Or maybe they don’t have the resources to compete on a national level?

Marconi and APIA have put in the extra effort. Crowd at APIA today will give us a good indication of there sport.

 

[grazorblade]

In recent years it does appear the gap between NSW and VIC is getting larger and larger both on and off the field.

And olympics and SU58s commitment to this comp has has been poor. Maybe they are happy cruising in the NPL? Or maybe they don’t have the resources to compete on a national level?

Marconi and APIA have put in the extra effort. Crowd at APIA today will give us a good indication of there sport.

I do wonder if there is something to vic just building connected divisions below the top one gradually pushes the top division up?

Maybe there should be a push to do that in every league. No reason we can't have 10 connected divisions in NSW and perhaps even the other 3 most populated states (of course most of the lower league clubs in those states will be city clubs)

 

[Guy Incognito]

Its way too big for them - trouble is there isn't many other suitable offerings/grounds near their area.

Would Shark Park be better? I seem to remember Olympic playing there back in the 90’s (were they branded as Olympic Sharks for a bit?).

 

[Zelen Fc]

Would Shark Park be better? I seem to remember Olympic playing there back in the 90’s (were they branded as Olympic Sharks for a bit?).

Barton Park would be suitable for them at this point

 

[HappyGuus]

May get a few disagreeing here but im not a fan of the forced ethnic vibe that Olympic are going for. The Greek national anthem is pointless, Greek dancing is pointless, and whilst im at it Andy Paschalidis trying to chuck in as many Greek words as possible every time he interviewed someone was cringe particularly as they were all non greeks lol. The guy was popular back in the day because he was a great commentator and a total pro when interviewing players/coaches. Today was too clown like i thought.

Respect the past, never hide who you are, but above all the nod to these clubs ethnicity needs to feel and be organic. Not that forced shit we saw here. I find it worse coming from Olympic with the community having completely abandoned them anyway. Anyone in Sydney that wants to feel Greek already rocked up to pretty boys concert last week.

It's all feedback for the clubs and competition, so good points raised.

I was tuning in and out throughout the day. I didn't know about the anthem, yeah I'd probably just save that for when hosting international guests. The dancing I didn't see but sounds like something I'd actually like to see haha. Andy speaking Greek I heard, and it actually warmed my heart and made me smile haha, no idea what he said but it was the vibe. I'm not surprised it was more of a Greek Day considering it was a rare derby.

It depends what they're going for. If they just want to play football, do that. If the want to include a little Greek festival each home match, then lean into it if they want to host an "experience". Honestly, it might make me want to attend a bit more because I'm into experiening cultures. Were they hospitable and you felt inclusion, or more alienated? Maybe that's the crux of it.

 

[LFC]

Good points HG re embracing the kulture - maybe people are more open minded today than those of the passed who say they felt alienated back in the day unless they were greek backgound - afterall we have embraced how many more cultures since especially the food etc.......
Maybe i felt it was cringe as mentioned by the other SMH fellas because of the past negative vibes, good point made mate as mentioned.

 

[Beretta]

Woman’s Aleague match down the road got a higher attendance.

I feel like men’s Div 2 should be getting more than the woman’s Aleague?

Or is it expected the woman’s get more?

And the Matildas get more than the socceroos lol.

Who cares.

 

[theFOOTBALLlover]

Barton Park would be suitable for them at this point

Sydney Olympic need to get their own facilities. Barton Park is run by St George FC. They won't be sharing it anytime soon.

 

[Glenardo]

I know Olympic wouldn’t be content with the 1.4K and they’d want more, as I said on Friday, they’d have been at least hoping to match the Marconi crowd on Friday night, but I still think it’s not the worst thing in the world. There seems to be a bit of a sentiment of writing them and Sydney united off which I don’t think is justified. Sydney United’s crowd for the first match v Bayswater was probably around 1.5k as well. Yes strive for better, but any crowds in the 1000s are not the worst thing in the world for an oz second Div and it’s not like there are so many clubs out there lining up who could do much better. Again, south Melbourne aside, Preston we’re getting smaller crowds than that for 15 years and until recently

 

[oranges]

Looking at the last 3 seasons of the oz cup and this years championship its pretty lopsided, they look an entire division apart

Competition	Games	NSW points	Vic points	GD
Oz Cup	1	0	3	2
Championship	8	4	16	6

I'm going off wikipedia so only have the r32 onwards. Does anyone know of other games between the feds the last few years?
Vic have also had a lot more upsets against a league sides and deeper runs in the oz cup the last few years

The last time a NSW team beat a Victorian team in a competitive fixture was 2023 when APIA beat GV Suns (VPL2 at the time). The last time an NPL Victoria team lost to a NSW team in a competitive fixture was R32 2018 FFA Cup when APIA beat Port Melbourne. Since then Victorian teams (from any level) have lost to Queensland sides 3 or 4 times, and a Tasmanian side once; I believe that's it. There's definitely a gap.

That gap (I believe) is helped by as you mentioned that Victoria's pyramid next season will be 10 levels deep (from 8 this season), whereas NSW is now only three. Maybe there's an argument NSW having just three levels concentrates the best players, however it also cuts off ambitious clubs that lift the level (a la Avondale).

 

[Glenardo]

The last time a NSW team beat a Victorian team in a competitive fixture was 2023 when APIA beat GV Suns (VPL2 at the time). The last time an NPL Victoria team lost to a NSW team in a competitive fixture was R32 2018 FFA Cup when APIA beat Port Melbourne. Since then Victorian teams (from any level) have lost to Queensland sides 3 or 4 times, and a Tasmanian side once; I believe that's it. There's definitely a gap.

That gap (I believe) is helped by as you mentioned that Victoria's pyramid next season will be 10 levels deep (from 8 this season), whereas NSW is now only three. Maybe there's an argument NSW having just three levels concentrates the best players, however it also cuts off ambitious clubs that lift the level (a la Avondale).

What’s the bets spirit beat Preston today after all that haha