In the blue and white, there was Sydney Olympic, led by the experienced defender, Richie Luksic. In the red and white there was Sydney United with Ivo Bosnar in charge of his troops. The field of battle was Belmore Sports Ground and with close to 10,000 spectators for this clash of the titans, this was not just football, this was so much more.
Sydney Olympic have been the side to beat all year, sitting comfortably at the top of the ladder. Their coach, Peter Tsekenis knew half way through the season that they had a good chance of claiming the championship when the time came.
“When we were playing away from home and were top of the table, it was really in our hands. Once I saw everyone gelling and what each player could bring to the team, I sort of just knew it.”
Sydney United, considered by many, were one of the only sides in the competition who would be capable of defeating Olympic.
With the tactical mastermind John-Paul de Marigny having vanquished the dark-horses of the competition Blacktown City FC, JP as he is commonly known wanted to send off veterans of the game Ufuk Talay and Mark Rudan as champions.
After a 35 minute delay to allow the spectators who were kept outside to enter the ground, Sydney Olympic got the ball moving at a frantic pace.
With just one minute and thirty seconds on the clock, Olympic were awarded a corner, waiting patiently on the edge of the 18 yard box was none other than A-League hopeful Alex Smith. As the ball sailed past United’s defensive line, Smith provided a volley which flew straight past the ‘keeper and hit the back of the net. The roar from the crowd could be heard from a mile away.
The old saying of “you’re always at you’re most vulnerable after you’ve just scored” almost came true as Olympic’s goalkeeper Paul Henderson was forced into two outstanding saves proving why he has been arguably the best ‘keeper in the Premier League this season.
If anything was going to beat Henderson today, it was going to be something special. That moment didn’t happen in the first half.
The half time whistle came at completely the wrong time for JP’s men. United were just started to pass the ball beautifully and were challenging Olympic’s defensive line. United might have come close to getting an equaliser before the tea and scones break, but they weren’t close enough.
Sydney Olympic were the happier side being 1-0 up and in a fixture of this level, consistency was always going to be the difference.
Just seven minutes after the start of the second half, Sydney Olympic were gifted another set piece opportunity as the ball was cleared away for a corner. Mr. Set Piece also known as Chris Triantis stepped up for the corner.
The ball was perfectly weighted, gliding through the air like a candy wrapper caught in an up draft. Richie Luksic, club captain and all round legend of the game out jumped United’s defence and headed the ball into the back of the net. There was no one more happier that Olympic was now 2-0 in front than the goal scorer himself.
With over half an hour left of football to play, United became frustrated and panicking in front of goal with over five attempts on goal hitting the side netting and zero of strikes on target or really challenging the former North Queensland Fury and Central Coast Mariner, Henderson.
Just like Olympic’s defence, United’s supporter group were active for 90 minutes through the thick and the thin of the action. Some pundits might have said the atmosphere felt ‘old soccer’-esque, but there is no doubt that the fan base for the NSW Premier League is there and is waiting for the A-League to welcome them with open arms.
United were given one last chance to pull a goal back at the end of the match, pushing Mark Rudan further up the field. As the clock hit the 90th minute, Elsid Barhousir’s header which went wide of the match summed up United’s attacking play for the entire match – close but not close enough.
As the final whistle was blown, the match might have been over but the celebrations for Olympic began. There were hand shakes, hugs and even the cliché bucket of water over the coach in joy.
As the celebrations died down, The Football Sack caught up with Tsekenis to get his views on the fixture as well as his overall view on the season “We got here. We deserved to be here. We were Minor Premiers. Now we’re Champions.”
“We held strong, showed desperation at the right times, Henderson made the saves when he had to and Richie [Luksic] got a goal to win us the game. Wasn’t the best performance, but in the final all you have to do is win.”
“It probably hasn’t sunk in yet, but very satisfying to win.”
Despite having lost the final, United’s key figure, JP was clearly frustrated to have lost the game, but at the same time was proud of his side, “I was really happy with how we performed in the first half. But we got done by two set plays again. The football we played was excellent. At half time we said just continue playing the same way and hopefully we’ll get that goal we need.”
“I thought Henderson was superb for them, making important saves. But they’ll played well all year. Unfortunately we couldn’t get that goal we needed.”
“We set our goals early in the year, obviously making the final was our goal. The boys responded well during the year, the boys did well through the year. I’m proud of my team. The club should be too.”
In his final game of professional football, Mark Rudan was unlucky to be on the losing side but is ready to move into the next phase of his footballing career; “I still want to be involved in football, whether it’s in the media or whatever it is, as long as it’s footballing related, I’m happy. It is my life, and it’s the only thing I know. It’s where my passion is.”
Belmore Sports Ground wasn’t just entertained by the main game, but also saw the Under 18s saw Sydney Olympic get a 1-0 win over Manly United whilst in the Under 20s, APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Blacktown City FC were locked at 1-1 at full time, APIA winning on penalties 5-4.
j binnie
Guest
jordan - If you are interested I checked out your 1979 claim & the Olympic game ,the season's third home game for Newcastle, was played in front of 18367 as you say so you obviously used the wrong year. Actually that year was probably KB'S best year for attendances for they drew 133000 over 13 matches for a game average of 10240. By the following year 1980 the novelty was beginning to wear off for their total home gates had dropped to 83,250 for a game average of 6400 over the 13 games.Not bad but still much lower than the Jets. jb
j binnie
Guest
Jordan Thank you for your latest contribution.Now---- go back to your original comment & I quote - " I was there for the first game of Newcastle KB United in 1978 (NOTE THE YEAR) with a crowd of close to 20,000" unquote. Now the question is were you talking about Newcastle's FIRST game in the NSL which ,as I pointed out to you,was against Hakoah in 1978. OK ? Or did you make a mistake and type in 1978 when you meant 1979 in which case it was certainly NOT Newcastle KB's FIRST game in the NSL. OK again???? jb.
jordan
Guest
Binnie, The first home game played by Newcastle KB United in 1979 was in April 1979 against Sydney Olympoic with an official cowd of 18, 367.That was a record which stood for many years.
j binnie
Guest
jordan -You are "at it" again with your figure quoting.The first game played by Newcastle KB United in 1978 was against HAKOAH in front of 15000 people. As you say this was to be a record crowd for the club ,not for many years, but till the last game of that same year when 16000 people watched them play MARCONI. In between those 2 matches they played another 11 home games & their total fan support for the season was 110,000 giving them a game average crowd of 8470. For those interested in such things the Newcastle Jets played 15 games last season & were watched by 126,500 fans for a game average of 8430.However one has to consider the FFA "awarded" the club 4 of those ridiculous mid-week fixtures, & they had to play a "home" game at P McQ when their ground was unavailable.Their game average crowd over the 9 "weekend" games they played at home was 9360. Jordan,you mention you enjoyed these trips as a Syd. Olympic supporter so I should also point out that the KB v S.Oly. game was actually the 3rd home game for KB & it was watched by 5,500. Yours jb
j binnie
Guest
Vjeko -Don't know who you were addressing with your comment as 2 people had made 4 points. If it was me then YOUR first point is exactly what I said - when stating "The best team ever assembled". what you heard was "A MATTER OF OPINION" not necessarily a given,provable fact.. Your other points 2&3 are beyond me,I can't work out what you mean but I do heartily endorse your feelings re. The "Australia Cup". jb
Kasey
Guest
Johnno, its time to call you out on your obviously flawed stance on SOFC...you said...sydney olympic or sydney untied were in A league it would be awesome, they would attract the mainstream > My simple to ask but difficult to answer question is HOW?? Of the 42odd teams in the history of the NSL..I can count on one hand the teams that sucesfully attracted the Mainstream. They are: Perth Glory Northern Spirit - until they sold their soul to Rangers Adelaide United And what do these three clubs have in common? They started from scratch without the baggage that comes from being tied to a mono-ethnic community club. Which is where Sydney Olympic come in(or more to the point, they DO NOT. Why would MelbCro's mate in Western Sydney get behind Olympic in the HAL? He wouldn't of course. Western Sydney NEEDS a team in the HAL but 'promoting' an ex-NSL team into the HAL to be that team just WILL NOT work. If you think it will, then by Christ I'm glad you're not involved with the FFA - to see your dreams fulfilled would be terribly devisive rather than inclusive. The Western Sydney team needs to be a start up enterprise. It would be great if there was a grass roots movement like the Sons of Ben in Philadelphia to help that along, but as we've seen in other threads, some people in WS are still tied to the mentality that divides WS along ethnic lines and refuse to work with others of a different background to help make the WS team happen. Sons of Ben: http://beta.sonsofben.com/about/
Kasey
Guest
Johnno...3 points 1. I was not 'having a go at Olympic' over the state of the pitch. I just asked if there was a reason that it was in poor condition. My State League Club rents its facilities from the local council, so it is the councils responsibility to maintain the pitch. after a long season of 19s, reserves and seniors, sometimes it can get a bit patchy towards October, especially if there hasn't been a lot of sun over winter. Do Olympic have a similar arrangement with their local council or do they own the freehold and are solely responsible for the upkeep, but then have the asset in their portfolio? Do they share the ground with anyone? If they do, that wouldn't help the state of the pitch either...see, I asked a simple question and now I have to ask again because I think you interpreted my post as 'having a dig at Olympic' 2. This is the n-th time you've brought up the idea that having an A-League licence would give Olympic a licence to access greater funding. I don't follow your maths. How could a team that draws an average of 3-5 thousand during the year, suddenly draw in/find the sponsors to afford to play in a national competition? Only 2 teams in the History of the HAL have made a profit, MV and AU, and they both had their entire community to draw revenue from. I know you don't like to hear it, but the 'Greek-club with Greek fans' image is still very much attached to Olympic. So where would the money to compete come from? There is no huge dividend to each club coming out of FFAHQ. In fact the current dividend doesn't even cover the Salary Cap, of which clubs are obliged to spend more than the PFA-set minimum up to of course the maximum + marquee players. The aim of the next TV deal hopefully is to get enough money to increase this dividend to at least cover the Salary Cap. There is nothing stopping Olympic right now chasing a rich benefactor, to move the club to semi-pro status. In fact I would bet that this will happen very soon after the FFA finally announce the FFA Cup. The opportunity to perform on the national stage I hope will see a few clubs of Olympic's stature make the jump and thus raise the bar and the talent pool of players in this country. 3. Getting 10,000 to a one off IS a big achievement, but I see your one off of 10,000 and raise you the 90,000 that SFC drew to ANZ stadium for the galaxy game or even the 40,000 that came to watch the Strikers win the NSL at Lang Pk - very next season they were back to 4-5000. One-offs are nice,but they hardly do for demonstrating rusted on support. Hell if I lived in Sydney I would have gone to the NSWPL GF and I in no way support either club, I am just suffering thru a very long HAL off season and would have enjoyed a day out in the sun watching a football game that had the potential to be entertaining. I dare say I'm not the only one.
Galaxy Hop
Guest
"How does one support Croatia Sydney then decide to support Sydney FC? Only in Australia." Perhaps that's why there is relative peace in this county. Why we didn't have to flee our troubled homeland to find a haven. Only in Australia were you so lucky, mate.
Johnno
Guest
Great footage Karmikel Funk love it, real old school classic day. if sydney olympic or sydney untied were in A league it would be awesome, they would attract the mainstream would have money to renovate belmore would be great.
Johnno
Guest
Kasey that is where money come in you have to remember they ar e state league clubs ith out the money to renovate. With a league franchise the state government or a private backer may give them the money to renovate. SO Kasey you can't be to harsh on them. For a stat eleague team to get 10,000 to it's grand final is a massive achievement. I think sydney olymic appeals to more than the greek comment yof sydney , just the name and logo is so good, give them a real a-league licences, and all the money that comes from being in the top division and they would be a real winner for aussie football. ALl the moment they could make form merchandise, greater advertising, abetter stadium, asian champions league, internet stream deals, and pay tv deals, they sydney olympic
j binnie
Guest
Jordan- You ask me what is the point of mentioning a HAL Grand Final crowd of 50,000.It was a fact & as the biggest Grand Final crowd ever I thought it worth mentioning. Now to your data.The 2 Grand Finals you mentioned between Perth & Sydney Olympic were played in front of 42,000 01/02, &38,000 02/03, but they were both played on Subiaco Oval in Perth. Before that in 99/00 Perth again hosted the GF, v W. Wolves & the next best "gate" was the Brisbane Strikers v Sydney United in front of 40,000 at Lang Park. Now coming down the scale we had 2 GF's played at Parramatta Stadium between Syd.Olympic and Marconi with 23,000 in '89, & 26,000 in 89/90. These figures are easily available on the internet but try as I might I cannot find too many 30,000 crowds attending NSL league matches.So what you ask? Simple .If you are going to contribute to these columns take a bit of time & check the facts, otherwise people might believe the erroneous figure you are quoting. Now to Olympics 99% Australian content,that is great & I for one look forward to the day we can say the same about the HAL & who knows ,maybe in a year or two we will see some of these same kids playing in the HAL as full time professionals & to me that is the way it should be ,a natural step ladder for youngsters here in Australia. jb
Evan Askew
Guest
If Sydney FC were going to go to a smaller venue would't the Rugby league grounds of Balmain, Cronulla or Manly be more suited? And please don't think this statement is in jest or is trying to start something, but what about Sydney City's old ground? What condition is it in? FRom what I remember it was a decent sized ground? And for the people who say Sydney City is Hakoah, well does that make Brisbane ROar Brisbane Strikers becuase they played at the same ground?
Evan Askew
Guest
Great comment Mr Heidelber, I am sure it will win over those NSL fans and they will start coming to A league games in droves once they read your sage advice. I am an A league fan now but I was a NSL fan of the Strikers and I can tell you that you post 2005 blow ins really annoy me and that the NSL fans, though I don't agree with them are more real football fans than you will ever be. For the record, the NSL fans were enjoying the likes of Emerton, Viduka, Okon and Zelic while "real football fans" such as yourself deemed the NSL beneath your notice.
Kasey
Guest
Thanks for posting that, As I said earlier up the thread, If I lived in Sydney I would have gone along as a Neutral, If it had been on SBS I would have watched it, but what was going on with the pitch??, it looked to be in terrible condition. Who else uses that pitch? For Sydneysiders, preferably SFC fans...Is Belmore a potential venue for Sydney FC if and when they decide that 8,000-odd in a 40,000 seat stadium is not financially responsible going forward?
Karmikel Funk
Roar Rookie
It was a great Grand Final day. Here's the highlights:
MelbCro
Guest
How do you expect me to react to such ridiculous posts by this David fool. But of course because he is on your side of the fence his hate is perfectly acceptable. More typical hypocrisy from you.
Kasey
Guest
MC, you are such a hateful and spiteful poster, I can feel you burning up under the indignation of talking football with new-dawner scum every time you write something. Are you Darth Vader in disguise? It must burn you something fierce that you are now on the outside looking in. You would make a great study in the manner of young(I'm assuming your age based on the way you write) people and how they deal with conflict...your fight or flight response seems permanently stuck on fight and you seem as yet unwilling to acknowledge or understand that your way is not the only way to follow football. It might help your anger levels if you tried to see the point of view of other fans before lashing out. just my $0.02.
Ross
Guest
You are seriously delusional MelbCro- I for one will always give credit for the migrant communities in starting football in this country. I only suggested that they were mono-cultural & only appealed to their own ethnic base (they should of enscapulated more)- dont believe I remember when I used to watch Sydney United at Edensor Park & they played the Croatian anthem. Seriously you can't tell me that's right?
MelbCro
Guest
I said its the traditional name, but clearly you aren't very clever. And lol @ throwing around the word bitter, you are the only one thats bitter here. Look at you burn. You also sound very soft mate, which really is typical of the new dawn generation
David Heidelberg
Guest
Is anyone who calls them Sydney United a plastic fan? Sydney Croatia is not the name of the club, there is no Sydney Croatia in the NSWPL. Love the way the old NSL bitters have shot down their own arguments by getting all pissy about their ethnic heritage.