JANUARY
2 - SocAus advises that the 466th patron at the Marconi Stadium to see the hosts take on Wollongong will be the Ericsson Cup's
500,000th patron to view National League Soccer this season. Sydney
Olympic and the visiting South Korean under 23 side play out a fascinating
3-3 draw in which three penalties are awarded and the Koreans give a preview
performance of their dying swan routine....
3 - South Melbourne defeat Sydney Untd 1-0 but lose Goran
Lozanovski for a couple of months with a foot injury.
11 - Alan Davidson is appointed coach of Pahang in Malaysia.
17 - The Ericsson Cup reaches the halfway mark with South
Melbourne three points clear at the top. Only one point seperates
Carlton (4th) and Northern Spirit (8th)
19 - Vid Horvat resigns as coach of Melbourne Knights.
His replacement will be Somers St legend Josip Biskic.
21 - Carlton announces the sale of Andy Vlahos to Greek
'giants' Panathinaikos for an undisclosed sum, although rumours suggest
the figure is almost seven digits long, which should leave plenty of spare
change for the Archie Thompson deal.
24 - Round 16 of the Ericsson Cup is completed, and there
isn't a home win amongst the seven matches. In fact if Canberra had
have sneaked all three points (instead of one) in Gippsland there would
have been seven away wins!
28 - Gippsland Falcons hold a special members meeting
in an effort to work out how to solve the club's chronic financial problems.
Of the club's 700 members, less a quarter bother to attend, yet enough
sub-committes are formed to suggest the required fund-raising will shortly
be underway. With a budget shortfall of $150,000 for this season
alone, it wwill be an uphill job.
31 - Newcastle Breakers do it again! A 1-0 win
in Perth makes it three victories in WA in successive years. Which
wouldn't be so remarkable except they've only managed one other away win
over the past three seasons!
FEBRUARY
1 - More funny business surrounding the Mark(o) Viduka
transfer with Croatia Zagreb suggesting the Knights' part of the fee could
be setled by playing a few friendlies. Naturally the Knights ring
their solicitors....
2 - The Gippsland cash crisis is eased slightly with
the announcement of a new sponsor, Iveco Tricks. Time to start playing
the players....
3 - Carlton puts in a bid for Clayton Zane, and it seems
Northern Spirit are ready to do business until Zane claims he's not interested.
5 - Danish superclub Bondby offer Sydney Olympic $1.5
million for Olyroo Jason Culina.
7 - Those of you who had thought you'd seen the last
of Mike Gibson, think again. The (almost) 36 year-old 'keeper dons
the gloves for Sydney United and produces some vintage form to hold Adelaide
CIty to a 1-1 draw.
8 - The acrimonious Archie Thompson transfer saga is
finally resolved with Carlton agreeing to pay Gippsland $40,000 - the highest
fee paid by a Melbourne club.
14 - Sydney Olympic defeat Sydney United 2-1 and in the
process Northern Spirit win the Sydney Challenge. Unfortunately for
Spirit, the original idea of the four competing clubs putting up some prize
money doesn't come to fruition. More bad news the next day, as the
Daily Telegraph font page screams 'SOCCER FANS BRAWL - Police injured as
400 fight at Sydney match'. Anyone who was there knows that ain't
quite true, and SocAus give their legal mates a call...
15 - Northern Spirit get their way and the ABC will now
not be showing the Spirit/Ad City match live, allowing the match to be
rescheduled in the regular Friday night timeslot.
The Oceania Football Confederation refuses to
sanction the soccer tournament at the upcoming South Pacific Games in May-June.
The SPG want to run the competition under their own rules, allowing competitors
who have been a resident for four years to represent their 'new' country.
17 - A piece of history goes missing.... Damian
Mori's goal in 3.69 seconds a few years back is wiped from the record books
as Uruguayan Ricardo Olivera scores after 2.5 seconds. Now that FIFA
have amended the rulebook and goals can be scored direct from the kick-off,
expect to see numerous attempts in years to come.
19 - Sanfrecce Hiroshima defeat West Adelaide in the
first of three friendlies against South Oz opposition.
21 - Archie Thompson makes a spectacular home debut for
Carlton by scoring four goals in his team's 5-2 win over Brisbane.
A big trip home for Newcastle players, no doubt, after winning 1-0 at Gippsland.
It was their first win in Victoria for about four years by our reckoning.
Sanfrecce come from behind to defeat South Australia 2-1 in a friendly
played at Hindmarsh in very warm conditions.
22 - The Fourth World Congress of Science and Football
kicks off at the UTS in Sydney. Covering all football codes over
the five day talkfest, most soccer fans' attention is focused on the words
of the visiting Roy Hodgson. Tom Pondeljak flies out to Belgium for
a two week trial with Ghent.
23 - Sanfrecce continue on their winning ways with a
1-0 win over Adelaide City with Aurelio Vidmar hitting the post against
his former club.
24 - Bad news for Carlton as Mark Atkinson is diagnosed
as having ruptured the medial ligament in his left knee. He will
miss the rest of the season.
27 - The VSF brings forward the Springvale White Eagles
v South Dandenong Premier League match forward 24 hours and plays it behind
closed doors at Fawkner, some 50km away, after fears of crowd trouble in
light of events in Kosovo. Mark Viduka makes his long-awaited senior
debut for Celtic, coming on as a 54th substitute against Dundee United,
and he makes enough of an impact to impress the locals.
28 - A bit of history in the NSL as Carlton play their
final match at Optus Oval, a 1-3 loss to Sydney United. A bit of
history in the Victorian Premier League as well, with TWO players called
Nick Papadopoulos lining up in the Altona East v Green Gully match.
AND THEY BOTH SCORED!
Soccer Australia hold their AGM and Victorian
Soccer Federation chairman Joe Brondolino is elected to the board, replacing
Don Di Fabrizio who chose not to seek re-election. In one other change,
Tasmanian John Barker replaces Queenslander Wally Dann as the club's representative.
MARCH
4 - The rumour mill suggests that Stan Lazaridis may
be on the move from West Ham to Manchester City.
6 - Stadium Australia hosts a rugby league double-header
and draws a first up crowd of 104, 583.
7 - Gippsland Falcons president Fred Di Sipio reveals
that the club are about $1.3 million in debt and are simply must find an
injection of capital.
8 - Mark Viduka gets his first goals for Celtic in a
3-0 Scottish Cup 1/4 final victory over, ahem, Greenock Morton.
11 - Perth general manager Roger Lefort is quick to quash
speculation on a second NSL team in Perth after persistent newspaper reports
over Sheffield Wednesday's sudden interest in Aussie soccer.
Meanwhile things are look grim for Adelaide Sharks. Players haven't
been paid, 'owner' Con Makris is sick of pumping money into a club when
he doesn't know the full extent of the debt, the club is out of the running
for the finals, and, as coach Adrian Santrac puts it "I can't deny the
issue regarding payments has had a serious effect on morale.... It's
a very difficult period for everyone at the club".
13 - It's first against second in the Victorian Premier
League, and hosts Port Melbourne retain top spot with a 2-1 win over Green
Gully.
14 - Same teams, same venue, same winner. Carlton
and South Melbourne do battle at Olympic Park but there's no grandstand
finish this team as Souths romp to an easy 3-0 win. The special meeting
of members called at Adelaide Sharks ends in stalemate with a general meeting
called for March 28. Mark Viduka scores twice in Celtic's 5-1 league
romp over Aberdeen. It is Celtic's biggest win at Pittodrie in 36
years, and Viduka warns Rangers they shouldn't think the title is sewn
up yet. "I played in the game between Australia and Iran which we
led by two clear gols so I know what it's like to be almost there..."
14/28 - The Melbourne Knights match programme for the
Canberra/Newcastle matches contains a review of Studs Up. And we
score a 7.5/10 (thanks for the plug Dave!)
19 - Things look grimmer for Adelaide Sharks with the
revelation that a new consortium, going under the name of Adelaide United,
will present an application to join the Ericsson Cup in time for the 2000
season. But then, the Sharks manage to extract a 1-0 victory over
the visiting Melbourne Knights, after they could only manage 13 fit players
to name on the teamsheet!
20 - Mike Urukalo is back from Guam where he completed
a coaching contract, and launches into a spray.. "I can't recall and I
can't think of one player... who excites the crowd."
21 - South Melbourne have the advantage of playing against
ten men at Bob Jane yet again, but Adelaide City guts it out and pinch
a point through Carl Veart in the dying minutes.
23 - Eddie Krncevic denies knowledge that Auckland Kings
have him on their coaching shortlist for next season. "But it's nice
to be wanted" says Ed.
26 - The Hellenic Athletic Soccer Club of South Australia
Inc. (also known as the Adelaide Sharks) are placed into voluntary receivership
Mr Bruce Mulvaney of the insolvency firm Bruce Mulvaney & Co. is appointed
official administrator of the club.
30 - Friends of West Adelaide issue a statement to supporters
advising that $50,000 in donations are being sought in an effort to "preserve
50 years of tradition, history and the good name and reputation of the
Greek community so that our children and grand children can be proud of
the achievements accomplished by Greek people."
31 - Carlton announces that entry to their home match
against Perth Glory on April 11 will be free. 2,887 eventually take
up the offer. In brighter news, the club also announces that John
Lunny (a partner in a CBD law firm) has joined the board. And making
a re-appearance at board level is ex-director Stephen Hargitay.
APRIL
1 - Zoran Matic predicts that Adelaide City will need
45 points to make the finals. The Zebras will eventually finish the
season in sixth place with... 45 points! Zoran also says
Ad City will experiment with Friday night matches next season. Hmmm..
4 - Adelaide City and Socceroo legend Alex Tobin plays
his 400th NSL match, appropriately in a derby against the Sharks (see table)
11 - A defining moment in the race for the minor premiership
as Sydney United defeat South Melbourne 1-0 courtesy of the man whose sideburns
defy description. And congratulations to David Barrett who played
his 300th NSL match in a winning team.
In another defining moment, referee Con Diomis completes
an NSL match without producing a single yellow card. Followers of
Con's card-filled career will understand why the previous sentence has
been included on this page. (For the record, Ad City beat Newcastle
1-0). Curiously, Diomis is missing from action in the final two NSL
rounds. Perhaps his superiors also suspect something was amiss.
13 - Craig Foster, along with seven other Crystal Palace
players, is offered a free transfer by the club.
14 - Mark Viduka extends his outstanding start with Celtic
with two more goals, this time against Hearts in a 4-2 away win, taking
his personal tally to eight from six matches since he joined the Parkhead
club.
16 - The Melbourne Herald Sun reports that Con Boutsianis
will stand trial on charges of armed robbery and false imprisonment, after
the Office of Public Prosecutions overturned a magistrate's finding that
there was insufficient evidence for the charges to originally proceed in
December last year. The charges relate to an armed hold-up in January
1998.
17 - Matthew Hall reports from London that Mark Schwarzer
has retired from international football until SocAus shows a more sympathetic
view of the club v country debate.
20 - Headline in The Australian: Bosnich agrees valuable
move to Old Trafford
21 - Headline in The Australian: No credence in Old Trafford
speculation.
The AFL refuses to shift
the Richmond – Melbourne clash from the MCG on Friday July 16, meaning
the Socceroos will now play Manchester United on Thursday July 15.
25 - The Ericsson Cup winds up in dramatic fashion with
Adelaide City pipping Sydney Olympic for the last finals place. Off
the field, the highlight is the Northern Spirit fans' effort to conduct
a 'Beach Party' at Marconi.
MAY
4 - Carlton announce that Eddie Krncevic will not be
coaching the Blues next season after the two parties failed to reach an
agreement over terms for a new contract. And across the Tasman the
worst kept secret in Oceania soccer is officially revealed when The Auckland
Kings hold their first major press conference.
7 - Adelaide United boss Peter Emery announces a deal that will see Adelaide
Sharks re-badged as Adelaide United. They have a nice (?!) new logo, and
a handy (AUSC) acronym. Meanwhile the Department of Immigration says "no"
to Marconi's invitation to Kosovo refugees for their match against Northern
Spirit.
9 - Alan Davidson returns to Melbourne after a sensational spell in
Malaysia which saw him resign after alleged interference in team selections.
Don't worry Davo, they'll be plenty of jobs available in the Victorian Premier
League shortly...
10 - Stuart Munro is annoucned as the new coach of Carlton, with general
manager Lou Sticca claiming that nothing less than the championship is acceptable.
Eddie Krncevic may vouch for that.
12 - Long time sponsor Tony Brescia offers the Marconi squad an all-expenses
paid trip to Europe for matches with club sides if they win the Ericsson
Cup.
14 - Adelaide City are keen to play their home matches next season on Friday nights.
Which should please the pay-TV operators and armchair football fans alike.
16 - A spanner is thrown into the Adelaide United works when the Adelaide
Sharks members vote unanimously against the proposed joint Peter Emery/Friends
of West Adelaide consortium. According the Sharks president Theo Parissos,
the club has plenty of 'big' sponsors lined up, including Con Makris! Undeterred,
the Adelaide United consortium will pursue a NSL licence. Which might make
for a very interesting couple of months in Adelaide....
17 - Olyroo Simon Colosimo is in Greece for a week of trials with Panathinaikos.
20 - Gippsland Falcons appoint an administrator to run the club, although
a change in the club's constitution means that the atmosphere may be right
for an injection of new investors, meaning the club may have a future next
season. Watch that space...
23 - The Mark Bosnich will he/won't he saga appears to be nearing a
conclusion. "The manager hasn't spoken to me for three weeks so that particular
bridge has been burned behind me" says the man who may or may not represent
the Olyroos next year.
24 - Frank Juric will be on the move at the end of the season, from
Fortuna Dusseldorf to Bayer Leverkusen after signing a three year deal with
27 - In a sudden twist Jason Culina signs for Ajax Amsterdam in a deal worth a reputed $1.1 million.
29 - Melbourne Storm host St George Illawarra and make mincemeat out of the Olympic Park turf. And as for those markings...
JUNE
24 - Rumours intensify (seriously!) that Celtic's Mark
Viduka may become part of a swap deal involving West Ham's Israeli international
midfielder Eyal Berkovic.
27 - Soccer Australia announces a 17 team competition for next season's
Ericsson Cup. All 15 incumbent teams will be joined by Auckland Kings (pending
FIFA approval) and Parramatta Power. A bid from Adelaide United is unsuccessful.
28 - Canberra announces an additional sponsorship: $140,000 over two years from Snowy Hydro Trading Pty Ltd
JULY
1 - The unofficial World Club rankings are released and browsing through
the top 300 reveals three Australian clubs. South Melbourne are at 249,
while Perth and Sydney United are equal on 279. Oh, in case you couldn't
guess, Manchester United are at number one.
3-4 - Swan Hill plays host to the Victorian Country Junior Championships with the finals results:
Under 11s Gippsland 3 , Albury-Wodonga 0 ; Under 12s Albury-Wodonga 2, Gippsland 1
Under 13s Gippsland 1, North-East 0 ; Under 14s Gippsland 1, North-East 0
Under 15s Bendigo 2, North-East 1; Under 16s Gippsland 2, Albury Wodonga1
13 - David Ratcliffe is appointed coach of Sydney United and tells AAP
"The task will be fairly difficult as is well documented, however I believe
that despite all of the players we lost, we will still formulate a very competitive
outfit"
15 - The Joeys take on Belconnen United in the ACT and have the better of a 0-0 draw.
21 - Carlton head to Green Gully for a friendly and get pumped 6-1 by the Vic league leaders.
23 - Ian Brusasco retires from his role as chairman of the Brisbane Strikers
(and a couple of other related positions) but will retain his role as chairman
of the Olympic Football Taskforce. In departing he launches a few scuds
at Frank Farina and a few more at soccer administrators in general, advising
them to follow him out the door and allow for some new faces.
24 - Carlton travel to Bentleigh for another friendly and cop another defeat, this time 2-4.
25 - Northern Spirit trounce Highlands United 8-0 in a pre-season warm-up match. Daniel Watkins scores twice.
28 - Stan Lazaridis moves from West Ham to Birmingham City for a reported fee of 1.5 million pounds.
29 - News surfaces of a bid by Canberra Deakin to enter the proposed NSW Summer comp in 2000/01.
AUGUST
2 - Roy Hodgson is announced as the new coach at Grasshoppers in Switzerland.
4 - Jeff Hopkins is announced as the new player/coach at Gippsland Falcons.
The Falcons also take the opportunity to announce an ambitious business
plan for the Morwell complex. Under the name 'Team Gippsland' the venue
would be looking to incorporate Hockey, Netball, Basketball, Indoor Tennis
and Aussie Rules into Falcons Park.
7 - Soccer Australia conducts interviews for the national coaching position,
and despite the cloak and dagger approach, it seems the hot favourite is
still the hot favourite.
9 - John Markovski signs for Carlton for the upcoming season, proving that anything is possible.
Can't help but recall the words of Carlton GM Lou Sticca when 'Jonesy' left Optus Oval….
11 - The Parramatta Sun reports that Sydney United president Marco Franovic
is looking for compensation over Parramatta Power's alleged poaching of players,
using the terms :disgraceful" and "unethical" to describe the recruiting
process. A six-figure sum is being considered.
13 - Matildas coach Greg Brown resigns just 13 months before the Olympic Games.
"I have not been happy in the job for the past few months and after the
team's poor showing at the recent World Cup in the US I feel it would be
better if someone else took over," he said. Assistant coach Chris Tanzey
will fill in on a caretaker basis, but somehow we don't think we've heard
the last of this one…
22 - Parramatta Power have their first serious hitout with a 2-1 win
over Macarthur Rams. For the record, Milan Blagojevic scores the club's
first official 'friendly' goal.
25 - Glasgow Rangers lose to Parma 0-1 but qualify for the Champions
League, which IS relevant because there were twice as many Aussies playing
for Rangers as there were Scots!
26 - Joe Marston is inducted into the New South Wales Sporting Hall
of Fame at a ceremony at Homebush. Interesting to note that Joe was inducted
into the Australian Hall of Fame nearly a decade ago. Makes you wonder what
the hold up at state level was…
27 - After a year's absence Joe Simunic makes an appearance for Hamburg as a substitute in their league match against Schalke.
29 - Hoots mon! The Melbourne Knights announce that they will play in
the famous green and white hoops of Celtic, in an obvious attempt to attract
half of Melbourne's Scots to Somers St. Should be a REAL hoot if Viduka
transfers mid-season….
SEPTEMBER
1 - A night of low-key friendlies in Melbourne sees Carlton cruise past
Oakleigh 4-2, while South Melbourne destroy Port Melbourne 11-1, with Jim
Tsekinis, Vaughan Coveny and Michael Curcija all notching hat-tricks.
8 - FIFA announces a deal with Brazilian company Traffic International
which will see FIFA pocket 60 million Swiss Francs for the broadcasting rights
for the World Club Championship to the held in Brazil next January. Which
equates to, um, lots of Aussie dollars…
9 - English club QPR is thrown into turmoil when it is discovered that
George Kulscar has contracted a form of viral meningitis. Fortunately, it
isn't the bacterial strain. Nevertheless QPR's upcoming match against Sheffield
United is postponed as a precaution. Back home, it is revealed that Southampton
have purchased the WA based academy formerly owned and operated by West Ham
United.
10 - Soccer Australia and Ericsson issue a joint press release announcing
the cessation of Ericsson's sponsorship of the naming rights to the NSL,
although NSL General Manager Stefan Kamasz is quick to point out: "Soccer
Australia's relationship with Ericsson over recent years has been very positive
and we are happy that an ongoing relationship with Ericsson will be maintained".
Exactly what 'maintained' means isn't divulged. Meanwhile Mark Schwarzer
has reconsidered his temporary retirement from international soccer after
having a few words with Frank Farina. Perhaps it was the thought of facing
Brazil in November?
18 - South Melbourne make history by becoming the first club from Melbourne
to defeat a club team from the Solomon Islands on Fijian soil. And they
have to come from behind to do it…
19 - Brisbane City take out the (deep breath) Queensland Soccer Federation
Premier League Grand Final with a 1-0 win over Gold Coast City.