AFTER consulting participating clubs organisers have decided to change the format of the Steve Wallace Cup and have added the Steve Wallace Plate to the annual tournament to be held at Lawton Park on Saturday. Based on Football Victoria standings at the end of last season six teams will contest the Steve Wallace Cup and six teams will contest the Steve Wallace Plate. Langwarrin, Mornington, Peninsula Strikers, Skye United, Frankston Pines and Baxter will contest the Steve Wallace Cup. Somerville Eagles, Mount Martha, Mount Eliza, Rosebud, Seaford United and Langwarrin Bayside will contest the Steve Wallace Plate. In both the…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER LANGWARRIN has agreed terms with Japanese defender/midfielder Ryo Takahashi. The 23-year-old has been signed from current Singapore Premier League champion Albirex Niigata. Takahashi and his Niigata teammates denied ex-Langwarrin and Socceroo star Bailey Wright from celebrating a league title in his first season in Singapore as Wright’s club Lion City Sailors finished runner-up. Playing primarily at right back Takahashi made 19 appearances for Albirex Niigata last season scoring three goals and being credited with assists for two others. He became a free agent on 1 January and recently concluded successful negotiations with Langy businessman and major sponsor Greg Kilner.…
SOCCER KEVIN “Squizzy” Taylor is the new head coach of State 4 outfit Baxter. Taylor’s friend Stephen Fisher resigned from the role after one year in charge citing an impasse between club and coach that could not be resolved. In an interview in early September Fisher called for the club to move from an amateur to a semi-professional structure and said if the status quo remained then his future there was uncertain. “I kept making demands that this needs to change and that needs to change but it became clear that it wasn’t going to change,” Fisher said. “To put…
SOCCER ICON, pioneer, legend, stalwart – choose any one or choose all four for they apply in equal measure to 81-year-old Tony Hall. Once viewed by the sport’s establishment as a pariah for masterminding the birth of a breakaway football association Hall is now the most decorated football personality on the peninsula. He is a life member of Peninsula Strikers and the Bayside Football Association, recipient in 1985 of a Victoria 150th anniversary medal, holder of a certificate from FIFA issued in 2001 honouring his contribution to the sport and in 2010 was declared a Sporting Legend of the municipality…
SOCCER ANDREW Hall will be in charge of Mount Martha’s senior side next season. The local State 5 South club announced Hall’s appointment last week just before pre-season training started at the club’s Civic Reserve headquarters. Hall, 53, replaced Mark Larner who resigned in October and was appointed senior coach of Somerville Eagles shortly after. Born in Falkirk Hall was brought up in Yorkshire and arrived in Melbourne with his wife and two children in 2009. “As a kid (in England) I played for Barnsley schools which is like the equivalent of county sides through to 15 then I started…
SOCCER BILLY Painting joined Rosebud last week hellbent on being part of the Olympic Park club’s title tilt next year. “I’m not just here to make up the numbers – I’m here to win the league,” Painting said. “And from what I hear that seems to be the mentality of everyone down there.” Painting’s switch ended a seven-year stint at Skye United and the 28-year-old central defender is hoping the move reignites his passion for football. “I really needed a new challenge because I’d fallen out of love with the game,” he said. “I don’t really know why. “I just…
SOCCER KEEGAN Myatt would like nothing better than to strike fear into the heart of opposition defenders next season. Baxter’s 20-year-old left winger has held his own debrief of season 2023 and is his biggest critic. “I didn’t have a great season,” he said. “I didn’t do terrible but I didn’t have as good a season as I wanted because I aimed to score at least 18 goals and maybe get 15 assists but only scored 12 and assisted a few but not enough. “When I was younger football was my life but now I’m getting lazy, getting distracted and…
SOCCER FRANKSTON Pines’ immediate future is on the line with the local club scrambling to avoid being booted out of State League by Football Victoria. That’s the bleak prospect facing the men from Monterey if they can’t pay a large percentage of a five-figure debt owed to FV by the end of this month. Last week the state federation announced that many clubs “failed to meet their financial obligations in 2023, resulting in a historic level of debt … nearing $2 million.” It then delivered the bombshell news that “clubs unable or unwilling to meet their financial obligations will be…
SOCCER A UNIQUE end-of-season trip took place recently with participants from various Australian states ranging in age from men in their 20s to octogenarians. It was the annual Monkey, Rat and Missing Pals Tour held in Moama during Victoria Derby weekend and this year it attracted a record number of attendees, 98 in all. The event’s origins date back more than three decades and it originally was an end-of-season getaway for members and supporters of Langwarrin soccer club. Former Langwarrin assistant coach Neil Collyer took on the task of event organiser 13 years ago and gave the trip a makeover…
SOCCER BRETT Heskins may have played his last senior game for Skye United. And he could join a growing list of departures from the local State 2 South-East club. Boris Ovcin has retired, Jason Nowakowski is thinking about the lesser demands of the club’s Bayside team as is first-choice keeper Jonathan Crook while Alex Van Heerwarden is assistant coach to Ben Caffrey with Langwarrin’s under-23s. “That’s a lot of quality and experience right there,” Heskins said. “If ‘Jono’ goes it will be a huge loss because he is a phenomenal shot-stopper. “Unfortunately we’ve had to rely on him more than…
SOCCER RYAN Paczkowski has reunited with Mornington gaffer Adam Jamieson while Langwarrin has signed WA-based goal ace Joe O’Brien. And both Frankston Pines and Somerville Eagles have settled on the men to head up their coaching staff for the upcoming season. Paczkowski turned 34 this week and the ex-Bentleigh Greens, Oakleigh, Langwarrin and Preston player last played for the Seagulls in 2017. He played for Preston Lions last season and could have stayed there but agreed terms for a second stint at Bentleigh before a change in his work circumstances forced him to head back to Dallas Brooks Park. “I…
SOCCER LOCAL coaching legend Gus Macleod is the new gaffer of ambitious State 4 outfit Chelsea. Macleod ended a five-year senior coaching hiatus when he agreed terms with Chelsea a fortnight ago. He was last in charge of a senior team in 2018 when he completed his 20th straight season at Langwarrin. Since then he has worked as a technical director at Lawton Park but the lure of the Chelsea post was impossible to ignore. “I never lost that itch that urge to coach senior players,” he said. “I enjoyed coaching the coaches at Langy but the Chelsea job just…
SOCCER SAMMY Orritt has rejoined Mornington after playing in the NPL with Langwarrin and Eastern Lions. The 30-year-old dynamo agreed terms last week and could be joined by more new signings shortly. Orritt’s football odyssey started in California at the age of three after business reasons prompted his family to move to the US from Doncaster in England. He is the best-travelled footballer on the peninsula having paraded his skills on pitches in England, Scotland, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. His first stint at Dallas Brooks Park started during the 2017 season when he arrived from NZ outfit…
SOCCER LANGWARRIN gaffer Jamie Skelly has wasted little time in refashioning his squad by signing two new players for the 2024 season. And a third newcomer could be on the way if discussions between the club and an attacking player reach a positive conclusion. Last week the local NPL2 club agreed terms with central defender Luke Adams and Queensland goalkeeper Griffin Bambach. Adams, 29, boasts an impressive CV. He has captained New Zealand at under-17 and under-20 levels and made five appearances for the full national side. He started playing as a junior with Auckland-based Fencibles United eventually signing for…
SOCCER THE longest serving president in Seaford United’s history will step down at the club’s AGM next month. Willie Lynn and wife Liz have been involved with Seaford since 1978 and Willie is in the 16th year of a second stint as president having previously served for 10 years. Liz has served several terms on the committee and has turned her hand to almost every volunteer job at the club. The Lynns arrived in Melbourne from their native Scotland in August 1977 and North Seaford Reserve became their home away from home just a few months later. It’s been like…
SOCCER STATE 4 South outfit Chelsea has lured high-profile coaching guru Stuart Munro to its ranks. The local club announced his arrival as technical director late last week. Munro boasts a celebrated career both as a professional footballer and coach. The Scot played with St Mirren and Alloa before establishing himself with Glasgow giant Rangers where he played for seven and a half years. He also played with Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City before coming to Australia in 1997 to join Sydney United. Munro’s coaching CV includes stints at Gippsland Falcons, Carlton, Parramatta Power, South Melbourne, Oakleigh Cannons, Dandenong Thunder,…
SOCCER STUART Johnston is the new head coach of Rosebud and Donn Delaney is a short-priced favourite to take over the coaching reins at Frankston Pines. The last week has been dominated by coaching conjecture and although Pines are yet to make an official announcement former JBNPL coach and ex-Peninsula Strikers head coach Delaney is at unbackable odds to be appointed. Johnston was unveiled as new ’Buds boss at the club’s presentation on Saturday night in front of 130 attendees and this is his first senior appointment in Australia. The Englishman is an ex-Crawley Town junior and also was part…
SOCCER JAMIE Skelly is the new senior coach of Langwarrin. The local NPL2 club made the announcement late last week on its facebook page. Skelly replaces Scott Miller who resigned last month. Skelly is a former Langwarrin junior, reserves coach and senior assistant to both Miller and his predecessor Gus Macleod and has held senior coaching positions with Peninsula Strikers, Casey Comets and Noble Park United. His appointment came as no surprise after David Chick accepted the Bentleigh Greens role and Langy decided to honour the succession plan put in place five years earlier when Skelly became Miller’s assistant. “We…
SOCCER BAXTER has reached a fork in the road and its future direction could decide whether head coach Stephen Fisher remains at the State 4 club. Preliminary talks between club and coach took place last week and got off to a positive start. “If we had won promotion under the current set-up it would have been like going into a gunfight with a knife,” Fisher said. “There wouldn’t have been a happy outcome and we would have been fighting relegation throughout the State 3 season.” That’s a reference to the absence of a playing budget. Simply stated Baxter has to…
SOCCER FRANKSTON Pines remain hopeful of escaping relegation from State 2 South-East despite finishing second bottom after last weekend’s final league round. Goals from Tom Hawkins and Joe O’Connor weren’t enough to overcome second-placed Brandon Park and Pines had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Freeway Reserve on Saturday. The 2023 rules of competition make grim reading for Pines but all promotion and relegation is at the discretion of Football Victoria and a number of scenarios are yet to be played out. “No-one really knows what lies ahead,” Pines head coach Kevin “Squizzy” Taylor said. Rumours abound of a…
SOCCER SCOTT Miller won’t coach Langwarrin next season. The Lawton Park club made the announcement last week after scheduled talks between Miller, president Tanya Wallace and main sponsor Greg Kilner due to be held at the end of the season were brought forward. Miller’s last match as head coach was Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Brunswick Juventus a result that confirmed the visitors’ relegation. Goals from Brad Blumenthal and Tom Youngs sealed Juve’s fate but its cause wasn’t helped by the straight red brandished at Mathew Whatley in the opening seconds of the second half. Miller’s first match at the…
SOCCER MENTONE has secured promotion from State 5 South after Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Mount Martha. Jason Grieve’s men have locked-in a second-placed finish with two rounds to go due to upcoming byes for Rosebud and Seaford. A bullet header from Marcus Spivey in the 7th minute clinched the win last weekend. Grieve believes that player depth was pivotal to the senior team’s success. “When we’ve had players missing we’ve been able to move players to different positions and call on players from our reserves who have more than held their own,” Grieve said. “I put that down to…
SOCCER FRANKSTON Pines’ season goes on the line on Saturday night when it meets Berwick City at Monterey Reserve. It’s a do-or-die clash for both sides given the relegation scrap in which they find themselves. There’s just three games left with Pines precariously perched in second last place on the league ladder (at present the bottom two go down) a point behind Berwick and two points behind Skye United. Skye hosts Berwick the following week. Describing Pines’ season as topsy-turvy is an understatement. Losing last season’s strike force due to players switching clubs and work commitments posed a problem that’s…
SOCCER LANGWARRIN will have a new president at October’s AGM after Tanya Wallace steps down. Wallace became the club’s first ever female president and the youngest in the club’s history when first elected in 2014. She served for two years before handing the reins to John Heskins in 2016 then returned to the helm at the 2018 AGM. “I’m tired and it’s time to hand over to someone with a fresh perspective to see what they can achieve,” Wallace said. “I’ve achieved most of what I wanted to achieve but I don’t know what’s next so I need to step…
SOCCER MORNINGTON’s hopes of clinching promotion to the NPL are hanging by a thread after a shock 3-2 loss to Gippsland United at Warragul on Saturday. Seagulls’ players, support staff and supporters were seething after the match at what they claimed were poor refereeing decisions and substandard facilities. But Mornington gaffer Adam Jamieson dismissed those reasons for the loss. “It was a very disappointing day and probably the worst refereeing decision (for one of the goals) I’ve ever seen,” he said. “But unlike the ref who couldn’t, wouldn’t and didn’t – even after the game – put his hand up…
SOCCER ROSEBUD and Football Victoria are on a collision course that could end up in court. Last week FV emailed the local club to inform it of a three-point deduction for playing an ineligible player. The player in question is Davis Markulin. He received two yellow cards in Rosebud’s surprise 3-2 home loss to State 5 struggler Pakenham United in a round 12 clash on Saturday 10 June. It’s understood that Rosebud approached the referee after the match and he agreed not to record the second caution. Referees have to fill in teamsheets after each match recording the half-time and…
SOCCER A GOAL in the 93rd minute denied Langwarrin a memorable away win on Friday night against NPL2 championship challenger Preston Lions. The home side led after 18 minutes when Connor Bell neatly angled a low Andy Stubley cross from the right inside the far post. Langy hit back nine minutes later when Luke Goulding’s cross from the right was headed firmly by Brad Blumenthal. The visitors hit the front in the 80th minute with an Archie Macphee header following a Lucas Portelli cross from the right to make it 2-1. The last minutes of this thrilling contest kept fans…
SOCCER A DAVID Stirton brace and a Rhys Craigie strike kept Mornington’s State 1 promotion push on track last weekend. Adam Jamieson’s men came away from Victory Park with a 3-0 win over hosts Bentleigh United Cobras to sit second on the table a point behind leader Melbourne City. Stirton’s goals gave the Seagulls a handy half-time lead. His first was in the 33rd minute when his cross from the left sailed over the head of Bentleigh keeper Rahul Ramkumar. Just before the break Satoshi Kurakawa’s cutback was miscued by Adam Hester into Stirton’s path and he sent Ramkumar the…
SOCCER JASON Symonds is the new senior coach of State 5 outfit Rosebud and Stan Packer is his assistant. They replace Paul Truman who suddenly stepped down as head coach just over a week ago. Rosebud was second on the ladder when Truman quit. He told the club of his decision after the shock 3-2 home loss to second-bottom Pakenham United on 10 June. Rosebud spent the next 72 hours trying to convince Truman to reconsider but his mind was made up. “Over the past five or six weeks – probably after the loss to Hampton Park and the draw…
SOCCER CARLO Melino’s six-year stint as senior coach at Chelsea will end when the final whistle blows for the 2023 season. Last Friday’s 7-1 home defeat at the hands of a rampaging Baxter outfit had no bearing on the decision as Melino told the club’s board and the players that he will be stepping down a fortnight ago. “It’s just getting too hard to combine family life and football and I need to be there for my three kids,” Melino said. “I’ve been coaching for the best part of 15 years. “I joined Chelsea at the end of 2017 and…