South Melbourne FC announced this week that it will host NSW Premier League Champions Sydney Olympic in an exhibition match on Sunday 11 December as part of the festivities to launch the refurbished Lakeside Stadium.
This will be the first football match played at Lakeside since the renovations commenced in 2010. South Melbourne FC and Sydney Olympic have shared a long history of derby matches in the old National Soccer League, and have also enjoyed many great matches at Lakeside Stadium. They first met at Lakeside on 4 February 1996 in a game that South triumphed 2-1 (with goals from Vaughan Coveny and Paul Trimboli) in front of a crowd of 10,127.
Another memorable game was on Australia Day in 2000 when South defeated Olympic 2-0 with only nine men, thanks to a penalty from Steve Panopoulos and a goal from Andy Vlahos, as well as the heroics of goalkeeper Chris Jones. The last time Olympic played at Lakeside was in the final NSL season on 10 December 2003, when they came from 3-0 down to trail 3-2 before Con Boutsianis hit a trademark free kick late in the match to give South a 4-2 victory. Since the end of the National Soccer League, Sydney Olympic has been playing in the NSW Premier League.
It endured many difficult seasons in the NSW Premier League – even risking relegation – but finally broke out in 2011, securing the Minor Premiership before defeating rivals Sydney United 2-0 in the Grand Final at Belmore Sports Ground earlier this month. Fans are encouraged to arrive early on the 11 December to watch all junior levels of the Club playing in mini-matches across the Lakeside Stadium pitch and to take the opportunity to stroll around the stadium and observe the new facilities.
The Senior Mens match between South Melbourne FC and Sydney Olympic will kick-off at 5.30pm. Entry on the day will be free.