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The Victorian Premier League (VPL) kicks off today with defending champions Green Gully Cavaliers travelling to Kingston Heath Soccer Complex to take on a youthful Bentleigh Greens outfit.
But some Victorians, even A-League fans, don’t know much about the VPL.
This season’s reigning champions Green Gully will be pushed by a strong Dandenong Thunder side as well as a rejuvenated South Melbourne side under Peter Tsolakis at their brilliant brand-new Lakeside facility. This season is going to be one of the most competitive seasons to date with many sides chasing one of the five finals berths.
Newly promoted Moreland Zebras have recruited well and could fight for a finals place or even push for the title. Last season’s runner-up, Oakleigh Cannons, have kept the majority of their side from last season. But they have a new coach in Huss Skenderovic after Arthur Pappas left.
Skenderovic isn’t experienced at VPL level but has a great record in junior state football. While there are some doubts, with an AFC B licence, maybe he could be another great young coach in the making.
Bentleigh Greens have also recruited well under South Melbourne great John Anastasiadis. Anastasiadis has recruited Luke O’Dea, Lawrence Thomas, Nick Ansell, Paulo Retre and Dado Lokvancic all from the Melbourne Victory Youth side plus Billy Liolios from the Melbourne Heart Youth side. However, they are quite young, and come mid-season most will return to their parent A-League side.
On the relegation battle we have the newly promoted Southern Stars who have recruited a couple of good players but their squad is a bit of unknown at the moment. I expect them to struggle with Dean Hennessey. While he has a great promotion record, competing in the top division is another thing.
Hume City and Northcote City have lost some major players like Richie Cardozo and Trent Rixon and haven’t really replaced them with quality. Both sides also have new coaches. Hume have Louie Acevski who just retired at the end of last season and is a relative rookie in the manager’s seat. Northcote have Goran Lozanovski who is quite the opposite. Lozanovski took Preston Lions to the 2007 crown but hasn’t been charged of a VPL side since leaving Bentleigh in 2010.
Former NSL and Victorian champions Melbourne Knights are set to struggle also. They have lost some of their core side but instead of going elsewhere, they have promoted their youngsters to the first team, a move which may pay off or may not.
My tentative tip for the grand final in 2012 is Green Gully versus Dandenong Thunder, but Moreland, Oakleigh and Bentleigh could change that.
So why watch the VPL?
The VPL is an alternative to other football codes in the off season of the A-League. So if you only follow the world game then you should definitely head along. These clubs have contributed lots of time and effort to Australian football and deserve the support. There may be some misbehaving fans but then, which football country doesn’t have those?
Something which is discussed regularly is the issue of ‘new football’ and ‘old soccer’. Some of the fans at VPL and grassroots clubs do not support A-League clubs, and FFA are reportedly trying to reduce the gap. But what I have noticed is more and more fans at VPL games also support Melbourne Victory or Heart, which is a great improvement.
These grassroots clubs are where all footballers start. Simon Colosimo, Mark Bresciano, Mark Viduka and Kevin Muscat all came through grassroots clubs in Victoria. Recently, Jimmy Jeggo and Diogo Ferreira of Melbourne Victory came through Green Gully and Aziz Behich and Mate Dugandzic of Melbourne Heart came through Hume City and Melbourne Knights respectively.
These grassroots clubs provide youngsters the facilities so they can achieve their dreams of playing professionally in Australia or overseas. Without these clubs the majority of footballers in Australia would not be where they are.
So get down to your local club and see if the league interests you. More support for the grassroots clubs means more money into those clubs so they can reduce costs on their junior development programs. That can result in more footballers and better footballers in Australian football, something which everyone would welcome.
This doesn’t just apply to Victorian football fans. Anyone who loves the world game should get down to your local league and check it out.
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