South Melbourne Hellas secured a dramatic extra-time victory over Brisbane Olympic, with over 2,500 passionate fans witnessing the nail biter. The mood was buoyant at the Limerick Arms Hotel in South Melbourne before the Brisbane Olympic South Melbourne Hellas match.
Olympic players were only moments from progressing to the next round, save for the equaliser in the 90th minute by Ross Archibald.
After the match, historian and Hellenophile, Jim Claven organised an introduction between Jim Bazianas – Board member of Olympic FC – and myself after the game. Both us us were warmly greeted by over 30 Olympic supporters at the Limerick Arms.
The supporters were in high spirits and donned Olympic colours. This underscored the importance of connecting all tiers of football in Australia, particularly with clubs that had strong historical links to the code. This type of spirit comes from clubs that have invested in the game for decades.
Olympic FC president, Manos Saridakis, also there, said, “This is a great outcome for our club to be playing South Melbourne Hellas in the round of 16.”
“The match means a lot to our club and over 100 supporters have made this journey. We want to broaden our relationship with South and it would be a privilege to have you at our Hellenic Cup in January 2025.”
Our conversation moved to the status of the National Second tier and where Football Australia was with it. I said that it was progressing albeit slowly. I made clear and he agreed, that a national competition was important not only for the eight foundation clubs but for all tiers of football.
This is because it was envisaged that there would be promotion and relegation hopefully from NPL teams so that we create a true pyramid of interconnected football. This could be the only way football could truly progress”
Manos [Saridakis] said that Olympic was investing heavily in its football program and was keen to look at this National second Tier in the future for the Club. The discussion then moved to the match that afternoon. We both agreed that it would be a terrific match and hoped the best team would win.
South won in extra time in a nail-biting match with countless scoring opportunities. All in front of over 2500 supporters braving the rain. Manos came to me post-match and said, “Our team left everything on the pitch. We could not ask for more from players”.
We could not have asked for more from Olympic and that their supporters were gracious, and as loud. They created a terrific atmosphere.
The match revealed the need for football across the country to continue to connect with heritage clubs that offer so much to the code. The night was evidence of the need for a National Second Tier competition.
Bill Papastergiadis OAM, is the President of South Melbourne FC, Hellas as well as the President of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
