Frustratingly I didn’t get to the South game this week but the boys managed to get over the line against Port Melbourne with a gritty 1-0 win to start the season. Keep in mind Port Melbourne copped an early red card too so understandably there was some anxious online commentary after the game. Mikkola being the difference after a goal mouth scramble. The result may not be convincing against a team few have picked to make the finals… however it is still early in the season and squads at this level tend to take a few weeks to click into gear, particularly noting the limited pre-season. Also, the Greek Herald are reporting that 1,400 people attended the game. Not bad at all!
We will now face the Melbourne Knights on Monday night at Lakeside. The Knights are coming off an entertaining 3-2 win against Heidelberg in round 1 and will be looking to continue their hot start. Interestingly the Knights enjoyed a little media spotlight this week. Within football circles the club made headlines for its $2 million stadium upgrades and it’s announcement that it has bid to enter the NST (backflipping from a previous public position). In non-football circles it was reported that James Hird’s son signed for the club and managed to play. Who knew?
Media things
Thankfully my attendance is not required at these games after the club remarkably posted an actual match review on their website! I noticed a few weeks ago that the website had enjoyed a long overdue redesign and it looks like we can expect to see a reworked content slate this year too – undoubtedly a result of the increased off-field investment required in the lead up to the National Second Tier set to commence this year. To be specific, Kou Media, the driving force behind Victorian football’s best media content seems to have been promoted into a larger role this season. Really looking forward to seeing the new content in the short term, what is sustained in the medium term, and the impact it has in the long term.
South has points on the board in this space and was an early adopter of in-house media as social media began to pick up. SMFC TV was once weekly viewing at my house on Wednesday nights on channel 31, and then on YouTube – before most clubs even had set up an YouTube account. David Henning and John Kyrou are a huge reason I support the club today and I look at their early volunteering and content fondly. Fun fact, my first South game (that I can remember) was the 2009 Hellenic Cup, which we won, which was also the first ever episode of SMFC TV! Of course as I got deeper into supporting the club, the short lived South Radio accompanied me during boring afternoons as work and of course, and I’ve mentioned this before, and it will never be enough, Paul Mavroudis’ blog was weekly reading for me.
All this is to say that media does have a long term impact and does nurture fandom, but also thank-you to all those official and non-official contributors for making my journey to and with South so much fun! All the best to the SMFC media team this year – and to all those fan out there reading this, consider making your own content about the club, it’s a fun to pass the time, can make a difference and helps quiet the demons.
Non-south media things – the Neos Kosmos recently published an article about Preston trademarking the ‘Preston Makedonia S.C.’. Apparently this will only be used in a line of retro gear the club is looking to release. I’m sure this won’t be picked apart by the usual instigators…
Around the grounds
As I said, I didn’t go to watch South this week but I did manage to get to a game on Friday. I was compelled to join a παρέα heading down to the Northcote game against North Sunshine. It was North Sunshine’s first game in NPL1 since being promoted and it is clear they wanted to make an impact. There was a healthy crowd in attendance, which when housed in the excellent John Cain facility, made for a good atmosphere. The weather was perfect for football and the football was nearly perfect.
North Sunshine started strong but failed to create any clear cut chances. Northcote, although pressed looked assured on the ball and were happy to play on the counter, eventually scoring the first, and then an outstanding scissor kick for the second. Although North Sunshine would go onto score two themselves the score eventually ended 3-2 with Northcote taking the win.
Since the last time I went over to Northcote I noticed they had set up an additional food stall outside by the stand, which was a great idea as the usual food stall inside always comes with long waits and gets overly crowded. The internal clubhouse has also received a lick of paint. I think it would be nice one day for the outer stand to also be pained in blue and white rather than remain the blocky concrete grey. I was also impressed by the number of teenagers and young people at the game there was a good family atmosphere and it was funny watching the teenagers have a crack at the North Sunshine keeper throughout the game from behind the goals.
NST things
So Football Australia teased an announcement on Tuesday… and on Wednesday they finally released the branding for the NST. Although the format has been known for some-time now, this is the clearest communication we’ve seen on the competition and hopefully created discussion in football circles beyond questions of – will it happen – when will it happen?
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