Did that REALLY happen in 1996?

JANUARY
1 - Mike O'Shea is appointed caretaker coach at Wollongong following the dismissal of Berti Mariani.
3 - Melbourne Knights coach Mirko Bazic confirms he will be heading back to Croatia in February.
7 - Wolves announce that their new coach will be Nick Theodorakopoulos.
9 - Branko Culina is fined $5,000 dollars for his role in procedings on December 2. It is the heaviest individual fine ever handed out by the administrators. Francis Awaritefe is also fined $2,000 while three other players receive fines totalling $4,000.
Meanwhile in Victoria, Melbourne Warriors (ex-Heidelberg) get serious about their bid to re-enter the A- League with the news that ex-South Melb benefactor Jack Dardalis will inject $450,00 into the club over the next three years.
13 - The Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament kicks-off with Australia putting NINE past Vanuatu keeper Eddy.
15 - Ad City player and former Socceroo Joe Mullen retires from the A-League but will stay involved with the Zebras by coaching their State League team.
16 - New Knights coach Ian Dobson resigns from his post as coach of Victoria. Nick Orlic will sign for Sth Melb, but won't be cleared until Sth have played UTSO. Morwell Falcons sign Fijian U/23 captain and midfielder Esala Masi.
25 - Paul Okon is awarded the Golden Boot in Belgium. He is only the fourth foreigner - and first non-European - to win the MVP award. The Johnnie Walker Cup semi finals see 3-1 home wins for South Melb (over Canberra) and Newcastle (over Ad City).
26 - Sheffield United manager Howard Kendall offers Carl Veart to Adelaide City for $340,000.
City say no for now, but they do have plans to sign an overseas player next season.
27 - South Melbourne win their first trophy for five years with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle, who have Glenn Sprod and Glen Moore sent off in the dying minutes.
28 - Melbourne Warriors make it three wins from three starts with a 5-0 hammering of Springvale. Slobodan Despotovski scores four of 'em, making it seven in three games.
30 - SocAus is forced to abandon the investigation into the Knights / Breakers melee on Jan 7 after a communications link with Adelaide (for Danny Tiatto to give evidence) breaks down.

FEBRUARY
1 - The investigation into the Knights / Breakers melee finally reaches a conclusion with Danny Tiatto fined $2,500 (a national league record). Others fined include Zoran Markovski (1,500), Mark Silic (1,000) and Craig Carter (1,500). Plenty of suspended fines as well..... On a brighter note SocAus confirms there are a total of 23 applications for places in next seasons Ericsson Cup - including one from New Zealand.
3 - Brisbane stun Ad City (and everyone else!) with a 7-1 blitz which almost atones for their 0-7 hiding at Hindmarsh earlier in the season. Marconi go top with a 3-1 home win over Wollongong. Referee Con Diomis books TEN players.
4 - In one of the best games 'SU' has seen all season, South Melb defeat UTSO 2-1 causing Olympic to fall to second place. But the press are happier to focus on a head-butting incident post-match between David Ratcliffe and SM official Jim Armstrong. Across town the Knights are held 0-0 at home by Sydney Utd. And a big welcome back to Cyrille Ndongo-Keller who scores a late winner after coming on at half time. Melb Warriors' Slobodan Despotovski scores another hat-trick, this time in a 3-0 win at North Geelong. In the Vic Youth League, Latrobe Valley thump Frankston 14-0 !!!
6 - Peter Hugg is announced as competition manager (soccer) for the 2000 Olympics.
7 - The AFL warns that clubs may be in breach of their licence should they decide to field a team in the Ericsson Cup. Ad City recover from their mauling in Brisbane four days earlier to trounce Morwell 5-0 with league top scorer Damian Mori picking up a hat-trick.
8 - 30 days after we thought the lid had been put on the Sydney Utd / Marconi drama, SocAus slash the original fines for Awaritefe ($2000) and deMarigny ($1500) to $500 and reduce Marconi's Suspended fine from $10,000 to $5,000.
9 - Another first for Soccer Australia with the appointment of a woman to the board. Sue Baker-Finch's expertise is expected to assist soccer's administrators with negotiations at government level. Before you ask, her hubbie is a cousin of Ian.
10 - Japan give a depleted Australia a harsh lesson with a 4-1 thumping at Wollongong. Inexplicably, Brisbane travel to Canberra on the same night and record an important 2-1 victory. Not surprisingly, only 1623 are on hand to witness it.
14 - Japan are outclassed by an impressive Australia 0-3 in Melbourne. Across the Tasman, Auckland decide against proceding with their bid to join the Ericsson Cup.
16 - Canberra and Newcastle play out a 5-5 draw after the Breakers had led 4-0.
25 - Two late goals are enough for Sweden to defeat a disapponting Oz 2-0 in Brisbane, while down in Melbourne the Strikers are playing a 0-0 draw with Sth Melb. Make sense? Double celebrations at Leichhardt as UTSO stay on top with a 3-2 win over West Adelaide, and Kris Trajanovksi's two goals takes him to 17 for the season - enough to break the Olympic scoring record previously held by Marshall Soper (16 in 1982). It's AGM time for SocAus, and David Hill is re-elected unopposed as chairman. Financial records reveal a loss of $798,425 for the year, largely blamed on legal costs.
28 - 0-0 is a fair result in the second international between Australia and Sweden.

MARCH
2 - Brisbane throw the minor championship race wide open with a 3-1 home win over UTSO.
6 - Sydney Cosmos announce they wish to sign Ian Rush. Don't we all....
8 - Newcastle stun UTSO with three goals in the last 25 minutes to win 3-0 at home.
9 - It's official. Collingwood Warriors will join Perth Glory as new teams in the 96/97 Ericsson Cup competition, which Carlton joining in 97/98. Next season will see a reduction in league matches from 33 rounds to 26, and a number of coaches are not pleased. On the field, Matthew Bingley scores a crucial goal two minutes from time to snatch a point for Marconi at Brisbane, enabling the Stallions to go to the top of the table.
10 - Rumours are already spreading like wildfire that the agreement between Collingwood and Heidelberg (sorry, Melbourne Warriors) is viewed in contrasting fashions by both parties. Adelaide City’s Damian Mori continues his remarkable run with 2 more goals in the 6-0 thrashing of Canberra, taking his season tally to 21.
12 - AFL chief executive Ross Oakley asks Collingwood for a more detailed report on the Warriors deal. Not to be deterred, the Warriors claim they are also in the running for Ian Rush's signature while Eddie Krncevic is touted as a possible coach.
15 - West Adelaide follow up their excellent mid-week performance with a 4-0 blitz at Newcastle.
As FourFourTwo might say, If they could play this well all the time they wouldn’t be so inconsistent!
27 - Steve Mautone signs for West Ham United in a $120,000 deal.
28 (early hours of) - Ally McCoist scores in his 50th international to send the visiting Australians away from Glasgow with a 0-1 defeat.
29 - Back home again, and Morwell's nightmare run continues with a 1-6 hammering at Brisbane.
Rod Brown and Frank Farina score two each. SocAus announces a re- scheduling of the finals dates, bringing the grand final forward two weeks.

APRIL
6 - David Seal is on target again for Bristol City for his 14th goal of the season. In Oz, 'Super Saturday' sees six matches but scoring is scarce 'cept at Sydney Utd where the sending off of Robert Enes alters the course of the match dramatically. The Knights storm home and two late goals snare a 4-2 win.
The victory sees them move into second spot following UTSO's 1-2 defeat at South Melbourne.
8 - Marconi go back to the top with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Sth Melb while Kimon Taliadores scores a crucial 88th minute winner at Leichhardt against Sydney Utd, dumping SU out of the top six.
9 - Springvale City sack coach Gus MacLeod who had been in charge for nine years - surely some sort of record!
12 - South Melbourne and Frank Arok decide to call it a day. The club has run out of patience, yet all the hard decisions had already been made. Angie Postecoglou takes over an a caretaker role for the remainder of the season.
14 - Robert Ironside scores the winner as UTS down league leaders Marconi 2-1 in front of almost 12,000 fans. The big news is in Adelaide where Ad City thump the Knights 5-0. That man Mori is on target again with two more.
16 - Referee Gerry Connelly is suspended for the remainder of the 95/96 season and Wollongong 'keeper Brett Hughes is fined $1000 after a quiet chat following the Wollongong / Sth Melb match on March 27 resulted in Connelly altering the reason for Hughes' booking.
19 - The wooden spoon battle is effectively decided as Wollongong win 2-0 at Newcastle. Zoran Matic rules himself out of the South Melbourne coaching job stating there is far too many reasons for him to stay in Adelaide. Yeah, sure Zoran.
21 - The Knights regroup after their flogging at Hindmarsh to whip Canberra 5-0 at Somers Street. Adrian Cervinski is on target twice. Sydney United stay in the hunt for a finals spot with a 1-1 draw at home to Marconi while West Adelaide blow the whole minor premiership race wide open by defeating UTS 3-2. Any one of four teams can now finish the regular season on top of the table. It should be some final round....
25 - The big news of the day is Thomstown Zebras 5-1 win over Melbourne Warriors. Up in Queensland, Brisbane City make it eight straight wins with a 1-0 win over Eastern Suburbs.
26 - Melbourne (Heidelberg) Warriors coach Andy Bozikas is given his marching orders.

MAY
1 - The South Australian Soccer Federation announces the go-ahead for the Government funded upgrade of Hindmarsh Stadium ($8m) which should see it become a certainty to host a group during the 2000 Olympics.
5 - The Ericsson Cup finals kick off at 3pm at Somers St where a crowd of over 6,000 sees Adrian Cervinski score the only goal of the game after 62 minutes. Later that evening Zdrilic and Moric give Sydney Utd a two goal cushion to take to Brisbane, while at Hindmarsh Brad Hassell tunes up for a Concacaf clash with both goals in Adelaide City's 2-0 win over UTS Olympic. Over in Victoria, Port Melbourne destroy Springvale 7-0 with Nick Tsaltas scoring four and ex-South Melbourne defender Alex Duric scoring a couple as well. In the Greek derby at Bentleigh the home team score an important 1-0 win over Melbourne Warriors to stay within four points of Sunshine.
7 - Aurelio Vidmar scores twice against St Gallen in the Swiss Cup semi final to send his team (Sion) into the final where they'll face Servette.
8 - Raul Blanco is feted during an emotional farewell function by the West Adelaide Soccer Club. His major achievement over four seasons, in his own words was "To survive here for four years".
10 - Gippsland Falcons advertise nationally for a full-time coach. Adelaide City sign 16 year old, 6ft 4in, Tasmanian goalkeeper Anthony Breaden from the South Australian Sports Institute soccer team.
South Oz premier league club Croydon Kings' dilemma over an Olyroo-style stuff up by fielding a player not listed on the team sheet, is compounded when it's discovered that it happened two games in a row. The local Federation's and FIFA's by-laws have no ruling on such matters. Watch this space for further developments as the SASF meets again to acheive a solution....
11 - The Melbourne Knights are into their fifth grand final in six seasons after drawing 2-2 at Marconi. The real drama of the night is at Suncorp Stadium where Frank Farina is sent off less than a minute after scoring the opening goal in a 1-2 defeat by Sydney United.
12 - A bad joke goes too far when 'On the Ball' announces that SocAus are considering moving the grand final away from Melbourne. Carl Veart scores the winner for Crystal Palace in a 2-1 win at Charlton in the English 1st division first-leg play-off.
15 - Bradley Armour scores the only goal of the minor semi final to eliminate Sydney Utd from the EC race. But Armour will miss the preliminary final through suspension after a bad foul on Jimmy Patikas.
16- The Collingwood Warriors sign Zoran Matic on a 3 year full-time contract.
19 - Marconi advance to the grand final in grand style after blitzing Adelaide City 4-1. Two goals in the opening four minutes stun the Zebras who struggle to contain the rampant Marconi midfielders.
Bob Catlin is rarely called into the action while some uncharacteristically eccentric defending leaves us wondering how Ad City got this far...
21 - It's time to break out the tuxedos as SocAus holds its annual knees-up to honour the season's achievers. Ad City just about sweep the prizes.
23 - Adelaide City reappoint John Perin and his assistant John Nyskohus for another year.
26 - The Olyroos dominate the Olympic play-off with Canada in Edmonton but are forced to settle for a 2-2 draw. The champagne has been put on ice.... Back in Melbourne, the Knights clinch their second successive national league title with a 2-1 win over Marconi at Olympic Park.
27 - A real Aussie flavour at Wembley for the English 1st division play-off between Crystal Palace and Leicester City. Carl Veart comes on for Palace after 70 mins with his side leading 1-0 only to see Leicester force the match into extra-time. Zeljko Kalac comes on as a sub for Leicester in the 120th minute when City boss Martin O'Neill is convinced the match will go to a shoot-out, but Kalac doesn't have to touch the ball as Steve Claridge scores a last-second winner.
29 - Goal scoring machine, Damien Mori, signs with Adelaide City for another 2 years.
30 - With support from Ansett and Austrade, SASF General Manager Tony Farrugia and South Australian Department of Recreation, Sport and Racing Chief Executive Michael Scott meet with J-League clubs for games and training camps on a regular basis.
31 - Italian touring side Sampdoria hand out a 3-0 defeat to Perth Glory, with Roberto Mancini getting his name on the scoresheet twice.

JUNE
1 - Adamstown Rosebud clinch a spot in this year's NSW Super League grand final by demolishing last season's champions Warringah Dolphins 4-0. In case you're wondering, this was a round 13 fixture, meaning that the first phase of the championship was completed three weeks after the commencement of the second phase. On Adelaide radio, Eddie Thomson mentions that last year John Aloisi wrote to him stating that he didn't wish to be considered for Socceroo selection. ET didn't know why (maybe he should have taken the time to ask) but guessed that he didn't want to be considered as a foreign player in Italy.
2 - The Olyroos beat Canada 5-0 to qualify for the Olympic finals. In Victoria, an extraordinary game at Bulleen sees Frank Arok's Port Melbourne 0-3 down after 23 minutes but rally to win 5-3. The rumours are getting stronger that Arok will land the Gippsland Falcons job.
3 - The Superstars of Soccer series between local ("True Blues") and overseas ("International Travellers") Socceroos is announced by David Hill with tv coverage on Channel 9. Adelaide City Chairman Fred Lenzi succeeds Souths George Vasilopoulos on the SocAus commission. No word yet on when or if he will give up his position with the Zebras.
8 - The Oz Women's Soccer Assoc. advertises for a new CEO, to be based in Canberra.
9 - No change at the top in Victoria as the top two both lose, but the action is not restricted to the field at Lalor where home team Thomastown defeat Sunshine 3-1. A brawl erupts in the crowd and police are called from a variety of stations to calm things down. Zebras president Peter Ballassone reckons there was nothing in it, but three men will appear in court on a date to be fixed. George Konstandopoulos of Sth Oz Premier League club Olympians is facing charges of physically abusing the referee during a recent game. He awaits the disciplinary tribunal decision. Fred Lenzi predicts that AdCity will be fully professional in 2 years time. Damian Mori also wins his club's player of the year award. In WA, Bayswater make it eight straight wins with a 3-1 win over Inglewood. Robert Perruzza scores another two to make it 17 goals in 8 games.
11 - A bombshell in Adelaide, as John Perin resigns as Adelaide City coach after a conflict over his demands for the coming season.
12 - Ex-Socceroo Johnny Nyskohus is appointed as the new Adelaide City coach.
13 - It's official. Frank Arok will coach the Gippsland Falcons, but is keen to continue his work with Port Melbourne as well. Good luck, Frank!
14 - Former Apia, Blacktown and Sydney United player and former coach of Warringah Dolphins, Glenn Sterrey, is appointed assistant coach of West Adelaide.
16 - George Konstandopoulos, of Sth Oz Premier League club Olympians, who is later cleared of the charge of physically abusing the referee during a recent game, retires from Premier League soccer citing family and business reasons.
24 - Sir Arthur George is nominated as an honorary member of FIFA. The FIFA Congress in July will decide...
26 - Knights president Angie Cimera confirms that Goran Lozanovski is a target for next season, offering the chance for Goran to play under Ian Dobson again, as he did at Preston. Collingwood are keeping an eye on John Anastasiadis, currently with PAOK.
27 - David Hill reiterates his threat on banning clubs from the A-League if they don't get rid of nationalistic emblems from their club playing shirsts. Joe Mullen is announced as the new assistant coach of Adelaide City.
28 - South Melbourne is to change it's colours to green and white and add a new nickname, 'The Lakers'.

JULY
3 - Ned Zelic pulls out of the Olympics because of his commitment to his new French club Auxerre. Steve Corica is the replacement.
4 - The Matildas take the lead against the USA in Tampa but finish up going down 2-1. The Sharks scoop the signature of Cosmos star Alex Castro. Alex Tobin knocks back interstate offers to stay with Ad City.
7 - The Joeys are invited to compete in a tournament in Uruguay, against the U/17 teams of Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. The Australian Junior Womens Championships kick off with Auckland (!??!) and South Australia playing out a 1-1 draw. NSW didn't bother sending a team.
20 - In SA, Elizabeth City goalkeeper Matthew Peace is booked for ungentlemanly conduct. The crime? Sitting on the crossbar during a game!
26 - Former Sth Oz state team midfielder Kevin McCormack is appointed senior coach of the state's womens team. West Adelaide sign former Scottish pro goalkeeper Mike Harkness from WA club Sorrento.
30 - Frank Farina finally agrees to coach the Brisbane Strikers one year earlier than he'd anticipated.

AUGUST
9 - Former Ad City and Socceroo player Bugsy Nyskohus is appointed SA state coach for the Johnnie Walker Cup series.
18 - Altona clinch the minor premiership in Victoria while Green Gully snatch a finals berth with a 7-1 thumping of Sunshine. Thomastown Zebras miss the finals on goal difference.
22 - SocAus President Neville Wran presides over a meeting of the warring 'logo' factions and afterwards claims he is hopeful of a satisfactory outcome. SocAus extends the deadline until September 4.
25 - Fred Lenzi resigns as president of Adelaide City at their AGM and is replaced by Austin Toner. The finals kick off in Victoria with Heidelberg compounding Sunshine's misery via a 4-0 scoreline, while Bentleigh Greens' season is over following a 1-3 loss to Green Gully.
27 - Mayhem in Sichuan (China) where Marconi go down 1-4 in a 'friendly' which sees four red cards, four yellows, the chinese bench empty on to the field and Manfred Schaefer blame the attitude of the Brazilian players in the local line-up.

SEPTEMBER
3 - Adelaide City announces it will be withdrawing from the Johnnie Walker Cup because of Socceroo commitments of its players and injuries, resulting in poor turnouts at training sessions.
4 - David Hill tells Ad City that they must play, no ifs, buts or whats. They will do so with the assistance of players on trial, if necessary.
6 - At last there's some action on the pitch with Wollongong going down 0-1 to Marconi at Balls Paddock. But only 291 people are interested enough to pay to get in to watch it.
11 - The Zeljko Kalac saga finally reaches a conclusion with the English authorities deciding that Wolverhampton Wanderers must pay Leicester 250,000 pounds compensation for reneging on a 'deal' to buy Kalac as well as Steve Corica.
14 - New South Wales clinch the Womens Youth Championship be defeating Queensland 1-0 in the final. NSW had defeated Qld 3-1 during the round-robin stage.
15 - Some good news! 4,064 turn up at Hindmarsh to see a JWC double-header, where Collingwood Warriors make their competitive debut. Sadly, they lose 0-1.
18 - Captain Kimon provides Collingwood with their first victory by scoring the golden goal against South Australian Reds in the JWC 1st round second leg match at Hindmarsh.
19 - UTS Olympic announce they will be playing their 96/97 home matches at Belmore Sports Ground, home of Canterbury rugby league team, fuelling rumours that the Super League club may be about to invest in Olympic.
20 - Poor weather can't stop 382 attending the JWC 1/4 final between Marconi and Newcastle at Marconi Stadium. The previous night 789 attended the same stadium to see Brisbane defeat UTS Olympic 3-1.
21 - Kevin Muscat and Carl Veart both get on the scoresheet for Crystal Palace during a 6-1 win at Reading.
22 - Sydney United win the Waratah Cup, defeating Parramatta Eagles 2-1 in the final. The Pumas pick up $50,000 first prize after Ante Milicic scores both goals, his second coming in 'golden-goal' extra time. The Collingwood Warriors continue to astound the Oz soccer public by defeating Adelaide City in a shoot-out, and thus advancing to a JWC semi-final showdown with South Melbourne. Speaking of which, the Lakers must cough up $15,000 for Frank Arok after a tribunal decides in 'Mad Dog's favour over his dismissal from Lakeside last season.
23 - Gippsland withdraw from the Dockerty Cup after fielding ineligible players during their quarter final against the Melbourne Knights the previous day. Meanwhile, Knights sweeper Joe Simunic pulls out of Les Schienflug's youth team excursion to South America.
24 - Sharks and former Youth Socceroo striker Jim Tsekenis leaves for a two week trial with Crystal Palace. The Sharks have aslo lost utility player Jim Keramidas who has retired as a player after 78 National League games. He will remain with the club as its youth team coach.
28 - The Australian Womens Championships wind up with New South Wales defeating South Australia 3-1 in the final. Katrina Boyd scores twice. Over in London, Muscat & Veart are at it again in Palace's 6-1 home win over Southend.
29 - Melbourne Knights add another trophy to the cabinet after defeating Altona Magic 4-2 in the final of the Dockerty Cup.

OCTOBER
6 - The 'talent identification championships' wind up with NSW winning the U-15's and Qld triumphing in the U-14's. Damian Mori leaves to join Borussia Moenchengladbach on loan: $300,000 until the rest of the season with a further $900,000 payable if the club decides to keep him on.
9 - Carlton Soccer Club decides against fielding a team in this season's National Youth League.
10 - Biggest shock of the day is in Melbourne where Frank Juric signs with Collingwood, after the Knights were unwilling to offer him a one-year contract!! The Knights sign (and rescue the career of) Ransford Banini by agreeing to a $12,000 transfer fee with Thomastown.
11 - Hooray, the Ericsson Cup finally kicks off and Jason Bennett has a night to remember with four goals in twelve minutes as West Adelaide crash to a 1-6 defeat after taking the lead ten minutes into the second half! Meanwhile, down in Melbourne, Ike Alagiozidis of Bentleigh Greens wins the VPL Gold Medal with 32 votes. Bobby Despotovski (Heidelberg) finishes second with 26, with Sava Rusmir (Altona) third on 21. Sadly, Box Hill president and VSF board member Tony Scarcella collapses during the event and passes away shortly after.
12 - Mark Bosnich imitates Basil Fawlty and winds up being charged with misconduct by the English FA.
13 - For the first time in memory the gates are thrown open at a national league game as Collingwood totally underestimates the level of interest in the league's new boys.
14 - Charlie Caruso retires as Chairman of Soccer SA after five years in the job.
15 - David Hill faxes a character reference to Graham Kelly (English FA) offering support to Mark Bosnich in the wake of his 'Nazi-style' salute to Tottenham fans.
16 - Eddie Thomson advises SocAus of his intention to leave Oz to coach Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and the sparks fly as Frank Arok reckons it's five years too late.
17 - ET holds one final press conference to discuss the past six years but manages to gloss over the fact we haven't actually beaten anybody of note in any competition of note. He does, however, find time to take a swipe at Mike Cockerill and the other journos who have rubbished him over his 'lone ranger' system. As for Frank Arok, ET reckons he carried him for four years and he might send him a food parcel from Japan! Ex Adelaide City coach and playing legend John Perin knocks back the opportunity to coach the Fijian national team.
19 - Newcastle come crashing back to earth with a 1-6 drubbing at Suncorp Stadium.
20 - West Adelaide's Jim Tsekenis celebrates his return from a trial with Crystal Palace with two goals against Perth Glory.
23 - UTS Olympic announce that FIFA have lifted the ban on Abbas Saad.
30 - Socceroo captain Paul Wade announces his retirement from international soccer with his final appearance to be in the return leg of the Oceania Cup against Tahiti in Canberra in two days time.
David Hill hits back at his suspension from the Oceania Football Confederation Executive by quitting!!
31 - Melbourne is almost assured of hosting Olympic soccer matches in 2000 following the unveiling of plans to build a $200 million stadium at the Docklands. The stadium will feature a retractable roof and have a capacity of approximately 52,000.

NOVEMBER
1 - Charlie Dempsey responds by suggesting to the Melbourne HeraldSun that the majority of Oceania members see Hill as "destructive and harmful and has nothing positive to offer the South Pacific soccer family".
3 - Joe Spiteri makes his debut as a 70th minute substitute for Sturm Graz in Austria.
5 - Ivan Kelic returns to South Melbourne after a stint with Tiong Bahru in Singapore.
8 - Duane Gray is appointed as coach of SA state league club Modbury Jets.
18 - Ex-Adelaide City legend Sergio Melta is appointed coach of their State League team with Paul Shillabeer assisting him.
19 - It's official. Terry Venables will coach Australia. Basil Scarcella is appointed as SocAus rep on the Oceania Confederation Committee after David Hill resigns his position.
20 - Latest update on the super Italian merger in Melbourne sees Thomastown split with the old Brunswick Juventus (they merged last year!) and become the Thomastown Devils while Juve hooks up with Bulleen and Box Hill to form the Bulleen Zebras. Yep, they'll play in black and white stripes. The VSF subsequently tells Bulleen the Zebras nickname is inappropriate as Thomastown still hold on to the name, and the Premier League already has two sets of Warriors and had two sets of Lions (until Bulleen rang Brunswick...)
26- Various SA soccer clubs have their bid to revert back to their original ethnic names turned down after failing to get the 75% majority needed at the council of clubs meeting.

DECEMBER
3 - Vic Premier League club Fawkner reappoints coach Bobby McLachlan. Meanwhile, Springvale City must pay sacked coach Gus MacLeod $10,000 after being found guilty of unfair dismissal. Macleod is now coach at Albion, who may be known as the Melton Reds next season.
5 - Nominations close for chairman of the VSF, and it's down to four. Henry Siwka, Joe Caruso, Joe Brondolino and Jack Reilly, who says he is prepared to resign from the Carlton board if elected!!!
8 - The critics are out in force as Collingberg crash 0-7 at Sydney United. It is Zoran Matic's biggest defeat as coach of a national league club. Jeff Kennett backs Jack Reilly's bid the the VSF Chairman's position.
11 - The saddest story of the year perhaps, with news that former Australian Socceroo captain Johnny Warren has experienced various forms of harrassment and property damage.
12 - And the winner is.... Joe Brondolino (see Dec 5). Others elected: Vasco Stojcevski, Manny Galanos, Jason Hoar (all for two years), Phil Randall, Sam David and Tony Dunkerley (all one year). Collingwood marketing manager John Mallinder resigns.
18 - David Hill is appointed to FIFA's Olympic Football Tournament Bureau.
23 - The postponed Collingwood v UTS Olympic match from round three finally takes place on a Monday night in front of about 15,000 LESS fans than it would have had it been played on the original date.
28 - Perth Glory fans have the most to celebrate as over 14,000 of 'em witness a last-gasp victory after blowing a two-goal lead, having a man sent off and then having their concentration disrupted by a couple of streakers!

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