Carlton Supporters Club

The fans of the 80's and early 90's were involved in dust ups with rivals.

South Melbourne had their old home ground at middle park.  Once they moved from that ground to Bob Jane, there was minimal fan altercations happening. 

Beyond that my post is a window into my psyche.  FFA didn't want us greeks represented in the Australian national league.  Any which way you cut it the two biggest Melbourne clubs were the Melbourne knights, and South Melbourne FC and both were denied an A league licence.  

I decided if they didn't want us, I dont want them either and wish them nothing but misery and failure. 

So tell me, the life bans they've issued to a couple of the scum bags, how they gonna police that? Facial recognition on entry? I call BS.

I think that I heard that a “supporter” who caused injury by throwing a glass bottle at another game was already on a life ban.  I guess if you can smuggle flares past security, a bottle is no problem.

A FA official on the wireless this morning was at great pains to point out that none of the banned tossers, or those facing bans, were subject to previously issued bans.  He also said that clubs would be sanctioned if banned supporters attended games.

My understanding is that the bans cover playing and spectating at all levels. 

It will be interesting to see how it is enforced and, yes, it may require facial recognition or, at the very least, security guards with a rogues’ gallery scrapbook.

So basically, my initial thoughts were correct. They didn't want the 'bad' history to continue and wanted to shake things up.
The fact you have mentioned 'us' and 'the greeks' etc is part of the reason. The clubs indentity and the inherent racial issues that come with it are the issue, not the ethnicity itself.
The fact you are holding a grudge 20+ years later, despite not even having a team, backs up that the cultural roots ran too deep to change, so the easy way to go about it was to start from scratch.

I'm not saying its right, but i can certainly understand why they did what they did....and i don't think they were being anti-greek, but more anti-violence.

but the Victory are more violent. Are they getting shut down?

So basically, my initial thoughts were correct. They didn't want the 'bad' history to continue and wanted to shake things up.
The fact you have mentioned 'us' and 'the greeks' etc is part of the reason. The clubs indentity and the inherent racial issues that come with it are the issue, not the ethnicity itself.
The fact you are holding a grudge 20+ years later, despite not even having a team, backs up that the cultural roots ran too deep to change, so the easy way to go about it was to start from scratch.

I'm not saying its right, but i can certainly understand why they did what they did....and i don't think they were being anti-greek, but more anti-violence.

It is a fact that South Melbourne FC was in voluntary administration at the end of the 2002-03 season and didn't apply for the sole Victorian A-League licence.

It is also a fact that South Melbourne FC:
> applied to join the A-League in 2008 (Melbourne Heart got the nod),
> attempted to take a financial stake in the Central Coast Mariners, then Melbourne Heart in 2013,
> applied to join the A-League again in 2016, and
> applied for the new A-League licence in 2018 (Western Melbourne FC got the nod).

That's three separate applications as you said Thry, as well as two attempts to buy existing A-League clubs.  However, South Melbourne FC did not apply for the original A-League licence because the club was in voluntary administration.  Whether that affected the outcome of later applications is pure speculation but I would imagine that FA would go for the most lucrative and financially compelling bids ... on paper.

thats not my recollection of events particularly the voluntary administration.

Perhaps it's true, care to quote your source?

I haven't tried to find the original paperwork Thry, but SMFC's voluntary administration is mentioned in several secondary sources, such as:

https://kick360.com.au/a-tale-of-two-football-clubs-south-melbourne-vs-melbourne-city/

was that before or after the NSL was declared dead and south were made aware they wouldn't be getting the license under any circumstances?

I know you can read stuff online retrospectively but history isn't able to be revised that easily.  Victory didn't have the money for their A league license either and were propped up by the FA.

There are a few layers of issue at the time but largely any lack of application didn't come because of financial difficulties.  My recollection was that the path to pursue an a league license cost 5 million dollars and required money to apply.

Think about the timeline.  It cost victory 4.5 million for their A league license.  500k contributed by FFA because they couldn't cover the full 5 million for the license.

The nsl was disbanded in 04 and a leagues first season in 05. 



Don't confuse effect with cause is what im getting at.  Were south Melbourne in administration and couldn't apply for a license or did they fall into administration because they were going to get denied a license and how better to manage your exit from the top flight be writing off bad debts? 

The administration and player departure happened when it was already apparent that a south bid wouldn't get up is my recollection of events.

Here's another history of SMFC "South Melbourne – Postecoglou and Puskas at the club that moulded the city’s Greek immigrants" at https://theathletic.com/2646261/2021/07/17/south-melbourne-postecoglou-and-puskas-at-the-club-that-moulded-the-citys-greek-immigrants/

It repeats the same sequence of events:

"The good times could not last, however. The NSL was replaced by the A-League in 2004, and with Melbourne only authorised one licence and with the club in poor shape financially — entering voluntary administration — they did not apply for that licence. They remained semi-professional and returned to playing state-level football."

As I said previously, you would have to look at the documents for the voluntary administration to be sure, but it is most likely that SMFC was in trouble financially, went into voluntary administration and then did not apply for the A-League licence.

@Thryleon  I get your stance, however I see it as a great shame because the sport (at the top flight) in this country actually needs people like you whether it be supporter level or admin.