Sydney Olympic Off-Season – December

Not much news to report from the past 2 months, the club website and official channels of Sydney Olympic on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter would show you the same thing, or that could just be their usual activity.

Anyway, the draw for the 2020 NSW NPL season has been released:



Of course, as always with these things, they are always subject to change depending on conditions and other circumstances.

Here’s a reminder of our confirmed squad so far for 2020:

William Angel. Zac Mackenzie, Peter Kekeris, Thomas Whiteside, Niko Tsattalios, Alejandro Sanchez, Dimi Petratos, Darcy Burgess, Jason Madonis, Nikola Kuleski, Hagi Gligor, Billy Patramanis, Jack Stewart, Giovanni Panuccio, Paul Henderson, Anthony Bouzanis, Bai Antoniou, Alexander Lopez, Raul Beneit Romero, Adam Parkhouse, Fabio Ferreira.

Of the list, Billy Patramanis who was set to have a big season, has suffered an ACL injury and will miss most if not the entire season.

The club’s off-season policy of poaching players from Sutherland is a curious one. Sure, our coach is their ex-coach, but they have not been a successful club in recent years, so it remains to be seen if this policy will end up working out.

At the very least, the Sharks invasion has prompted some old Olympic Sharks jokes to resurface on the internet.

Recently, there have also been rumours of signing another ex-Sutherland player, striker Charles Lokolingoy, as well as former a-league player Sebastian Ryall, we will see what happens with those rumours.

It is also the end of the decade. We had 2 Championship winning seasons – 2011 & 2018 – we were Minor Premiers in both of those seasons as well.

We have had some good players play for the club in that time and have had some other good seasons during the decade, but no trophies or significant success outside of those 2 years.

As for players, I have selected an XI for the decade, some will agree and others will disagree. So here it goes:



That’s it for now, Merry Christmas and we will see you in the New Year.

Sydney Olympic Off-Season – October

We are only in mid-October; but it is already over 2 months since our season ended and around another 5 months, until the next season commences. That is quite a long lay-off. But that’s Australian soccer for you.

Obviously, that mostly has to do with us missing the Finals and not being involved in any of the FFA Cup action either.

A week or so after our final League match, the club publicly announced the resignation of Abbas Saad.

Numerous conspiracy theorists automatically went to work, claiming this, that & the other and who knows, some of it might be accurate. At the end of the day, it has happened and we all must move on.

Despite what was written here about the team’s performances, his coaching decisions or what not in this past season, Abbas Saad is a Sydney Olympic Legend, adding to that by delivering us the Championship in 2018 which will never be forgotten. We sincerely wish him all the best for the future.

The club moved swiftly in finding a replacement as a week or so later, the club announced the appointment of Sutherland Sharks coach, Terry Palapanis.

Personally, I don’t know that much about him as a coach. His Sutherland team beat us twice last season, both home and away, but in saying that, that ended up being not that great of a feat after all.

Palapanis also coached in the lower leagues with Mounties Wanderers and St George, but it remains to be seen what he can do for us at Sydney Olympic. We will just have to sit back and see.

On the signings front – William Angel. Zach Mackenzie, Peter Kekeris, Thomas Whiteside, Niko Tsattalios, Alejandro Sanchez, Dimi Petratos, Darcy Burgess, Jason Madonis, Nikola Kuleski, Hagi Gligor, Billy Patramanis, Jack Stewart, Giovanni Panuccio (from the U20’s) – have all re-signed for season 2020.

Paul Henderson will play on next season as the 2nd Goalkeeper, in addition to his new role as Goalkeeper coach.

In terms of new signings, Goalkeeper Anthony Bouzanis and Attacker Alexander Lopez, who were Sydney Olympic juniors, return after playing with Sutherland last season.

The club has also added Raul Beneit Romero from Sutherland, Adam Parkhouse from Manly and Fabio Ferreira from Adelaide City.

We will have to wait and see if there are any more additions to the squad or if that is it for this off-season. A quick look over all those players and there are quite a few offensive-minded players among them and not that many with a defensive mindset, but as I said, we will see what transpires over the next few months.

Season Over – SFC NPL Team 1-3 Sydney Olympic

It is season over in 2019 for Sydney Olympic, as an inconsistent and at time frustrating year wrapped up at Lambert Park on Sunday Afternoon, as we defeated the SFC NPL Team in the final regular season game.

Quickly on this particular match at Lambert Park, it seemed like all the air was let out of the place before a ball was even kicked. Everybody was aware of what needed to happen, what needed to go our way, for us to make the Top 5 and play Finals Football but you’d have to say, not many were optimistic it was going to happen.

Anyway, we held up our end of the bargain as we dominated the match from start to finish. Inside the first 5 minutes we had opened the scoring through Jack Stewart. Not long after this we made it 2-0 as Alejandro Sanchez finished off well, breaking his goal scoring drought in the process. Not long after this, the opposition fluked a goal back totally against the run of play and at the half-time break we were leading 2-1.

Midway through the second-half, Alejandro Sanchez got his 2nd goal of the afternoon, following some nice work from Jinya An, one of our best players all season, who crossed it for him to finish and make the score 3-1.

That is how the score remained at full-time, the positive was we ended the season with a victory, the negative was hearing that Sydney United had beaten Manly by the same score-line across town. Meaning it was season over.

You would have to say that overall, this season has been a failure and a massive disappointment for all concerned, supporters, players, coaches, board, given we were Champions last season and we could not back it up this season.

No doubt that this season, injuries have played their part in wrecking it. But, after that poor start to the season, we were chasing our own tails for the rest of it and it is just too even of a competition, to be having to play catch-up for most of it.

The World’s longest off season now begins, there is plenty of time between now and the time the next season begins, which will be some time next March, to get things right at least on the pitch.

For sure, several players will be on their way out, if not already gone and several others will be coming into the squad, we will just have to wait and see who they end up being and lets all cross our fingers that the club brings in the right players.

We all hope that someone other than Stevie Wonder will be in charge of recruiting during the off-season.

A lot of question marks remain both on and off the pitch for Sydney Olympic.

In the Club Championship the 18s won 3-1 and the 20s lost 2-0. We have ended up in 6th place. Thankfully, starting from next year, the Club Championship will no longer count as part of any promotion or relegation.

For the Sydney Olympic women’s team, they lost 1-0 to the Northern Tigers in their Semi-Final, but by virtue of finishing 2nd during the regular season, they will have another chance this weekend. They will play the Illawarra Stingrays in an Elimination Final on Sunday.

Sydney Olympic 2-1 Sydney United

Sydney Olympic kept its slim Finals hopes alive yesterday, after recording a gutsy come from behind, 2-1 victory over rivals Sydney United on Sunday Afternoon, at Belmore Sports Ground.

We started the match off well and had a couple of great chances to open the scoring, but once again, we could not capitalise on our good build up play. As has been the case many times this season, after we fail to put away our chances, we were once again sucker punched on the break. An opposition player was put through on goal, it was questionable whether or not he was actually onside, but nevertheless, we were punished on the half-hour mark and were now down 1-0. We tried hard to get back into the game during the closing stages of the first-half, but it was not to be and at half-time we were down 1-0.

Fortunately, we did not have to wait too long in the second-half to get back on level terms. As 5 minutes in, substitute Jack Stewart was found inside the box, before slotting the ball away to bring us level at 1-1. 5 minutes after our equaliser, we turned the match on its head as we were fouled inside the box and earned a penalty, Jason Madonis stepped up and put it away with ease to put us into a 2-1 lead. It was a lead that we would not relinquish and it was a well-deserved 3 points.

Coincidentally, this match signified the first time this season, where we were able to overturn a deficit after trailing at half-time.

It was a good performance, a well-deserved victory and it keeps our slim hopes of making the Top 5 alive.

Next week is the final regular season game of the season, against Sydney FC’s NPL team, on Sunday Afternoon August 11, at Lambert Park, Kick-Off is at 3pm.

For us to make the Top 5, a couple of things need to happen:

- Firstly we must take care of business and beat Sydney FC’s NPL team at Lambert Park on Sunday and;
- Somehow hope that Manly, who have nothing to play for next week, either beat or at least get a draw away at Sydney United. Highly unlikely.

There has been much talk, that Paul Henderson will hang up the boots at the end of this season, if true, he has been a magnificent servant for the club. Only 5 players have played more matches for Sydney Olympic and he has won 2 Championships and 2 Minor Premierships with the club.

This reason alone, should ensure plenty of Sydney Olympic Supporters head out to Lambert Park on Sunday.

In the Club Championship the 18s lost 1-0 and the 20s won 3-0.

On the women’s side of things, they lost to the NWS Koalas 3-2 on the weekend, but after the 22 Rounds they managed to finish 2nd on the ladder and will play Finals this year, in their 1st season in the NPL 1 competition. Well Done.

Sydney Olympic 0-1 Marconi

Sydney Olympic is limping to a meek surrender of its NSW Championship. As a poor season was compounded even further, by losing to an anti-football Marconi side on Sunday Afternoon at Belmore Sports Ground.

We are entering territory where we now don’t have matters in our own hands and we start needing “favours” and “results to go our way elsewhere” to even make the Top 5, play Finals and defend our Championship. Which all things considered, is very unlikely to occur anyway.

I will not be going through all the same issues and wasting everybody’s time, especially about things that I have been posting about all season, as it is getting all too repetitive, I’m sure. Most people who have eyes and who have either been to matches or watched the games on the internet throughout the year, know and understand what has been dished up this season.

Offensively, none of our supposed strikers have scored in any of the last 6 rounds. Obviously, relying on your midfielders and defenders to score your goals every match, is going to bring you nothing, and get you nowhere.

Defensively, we haven’t conceded this many goals (31) since season 2010, when we finished a pathetic 2nd last. Bear in mind that there are still 2 rounds to go though, so there is ample time to match the 40 we copped that year.

What a difference 12 months makes, we can’t score and can’t defend now and the doom and gloom times have returned.

We were on a hiding to nothing from the get go. Everybody involved at the club have dropped the ball. I’m not sure what went through their minds at the end of last year, we just rock up in 2019 and everything just happens like magic again?

Did they really think that was how it was going to play out?

Don’t bring in any new faces, don’t replace the talent that left in the off-season, don’t sign anyone of note, then sign players who are duds who were way passed it.

Good plan.

We got what we deserved in 2019 and that’s nothing. Not to mention the Cup run we had this season, where it was as if we were trying very hard to get ourselves knocked out by some random park teams at the earliest point possible.

People at the club instead have been too busy running around discussing frivolous things like alleged National 2nd divisions and chasing agreements concerning some sort of phantom promotion and relegation to the a-league.

I only speak for myself here, others may agree or disagree, but I couldn’t care less about any of it, our focus should be fixing our own problems and getting our own house in order, both on and off the field.

Speaking of which, there has still been no official communication from the club over the Tempe debacle. Where’s the transparency? Whatever happened to those CEO updates?

The official end to the season can’t come quickly enough.

In the Club Championship the 18s won 2-1 and the 20s won 2-0.

Next week is our final home match of the season, our home record in 2019 reads:
4 losses, 3 draws, 3 wins, with 1 of those home wins coming at Lambert Park in the match that was moved against Hakoah in Round 15, so it is 2 wins at home at Belmore this season. Disgraceful.

Next week: Sydney Olympic v Sydney United, Sunday Afternoon, August 4, Kick-Off is at 4pm.

On the women’s side of things, they have done very well in their first season in NPL 1. They are sitting in 2nd place, after a 1-0 win over the Northern Tigers on the weekend. In the final round, they face NWS Koalas at Peter Moore Field this Sunday, Kick-Off is at 3pm. 

APIA Leichhardt 3-1 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic blew a chance to cement a Top 5 position on Sunday Afternoon, falling to what was a fairly unimpressive APIA Leichhardt side at Lambert Park. Sure, APIA have been and are a very good side once again this season, but they did not play in a manner which signified anything close to being levels above us or even dominant against us in the match yesterday.

In the first-half we were the better side, but that isn’t really anything to get excited about, as both sides were not that great. Even still, we managed to create a few openings, but when we did get ourselves in a position to have a shot at goal, our players preferred instead, to try and be cute and lay it off for someone else, instead of having a go themselves, this was all inside the box mind you. This cost us a few times during the first-half yesterday.

As is standard practice in this sport, if you fail to take your chances, the opposition goes down the other end and punishes you and that’s what happened. APIA hit us with a sucker-punch of a goal, when they really didn’t look threatening at all up to that point and at half-time we were down 1-0.

The opening stages of the second-half can only be described as a circus and cost us from getting anything from the match.

Firstly, everybody stood around as APIA walked the play inside our box, their shot was initially well saved but the ball rebounded flukily off the APIA player and nestled in the back of our net. Secondly, the same APIA player decided he was going to try his luck and swan dive inside the box as if he had been bowled over by a hurricane, the referee who was a prick all match decided yep, that’s a penalty. APIA converted the penalty and we were all of the sudden down 3-0 and the match was effectively all over.

We pulled a goal back but the players and the fans, never believed we could perform any miracles and thus ended a disappointing day, a 3-1 loss and a near fatal blow to our season.

The players could not overcome their poor display, especially the period between the last 10 minutes of the first-half and first 10 minutes of the second-half, the lack of concentration in that time killed us, but also they were never going to overcome that cheat of a referee which is what he was.

I’ve seen enough sport personally to notice a Championship let down season when I see one. The 2018 season swelled the heads of several players and many simply do not give a toss this season, which is sad to see.

The lack of motivation yesterday and all season has been extremely disheartening. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, as they say.

The board must take its share of the blame also, they simply did not rejuvenate the team at all. Other than losing Max Burgess, the squad is pretty much the same as last year. Standing still and resting on our laurels was never going to get us anywhere in 2019, we had to freshen up the squad and the few signings they did make, have been positively horrendous, atrocious, shocking.

We lauded the coach last year and rightly so, but this year he has to take his share of the blame and he showed that he could not adapt to a new season and a change in circumstances.

In the Club Championship, the 18s won for the first time in a long time, 2-0, and in the 20s we lost 2-0.

Next week is absolutely the last roll of the dice, it’s must win now, as we take on Marconi next Sunday Afternoon July 28, at Belmore Sports Ground, Kick-Off is at 4pm.

As for the First Grade women’s team, they smashed the Newcastle Jets 5-0 on Sunday and moved into 2nd spot on the NPL 1 ladder. Next Sunday Afternoon they travel to face the Northern Tigers, Kick-Off at 3.30pm.

Manly United 1-2 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic have kept their season alive for another week, after coming away with a very important and much needed victory, away to an always difficult Manly United side on Sunday Afternoon.

It was an intriguing first-half and had the feeling of a Finals match, given how desperate both sides were. We played OK throughout, but there was not too much to get excited about during that first-half. We did manage to create a few openings but we did not create many clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities. Defensively we were also fairly solid, snuffing out any Manly attacks.

In the second-half it would be a different story, as we witnessed 2 goal of the season contenders from a player in Nikola Kuleski, who just does not do tap-ins.

The first goal was a 30 metre volley giving the Manly goalkeeper no chance. The second goal was a great freekick which once again beat the Manly goalkeeper, who simply had no chance once again.

In between these 2 bombs, Manly equalised, with one of my personally most hated goals to concede. A cross come shot which alluded every player on the field, bounced inside the box, confusing the goalkeeper in the process, to find the back of our net.

There was some nervous moments near the end as Manly aggressively chased an equaliser, but we managed to hold on to record an important victory.

We somehow find ourselves still alive this season by virtue of every other side also being crazily inconsistent, bar the top 3 sides in Wollongong, APIA Leichhardt and Blacktown City.

The win over Hakoah a few weeks ago, which was nothing to write home about performance wise, was a turning point for this team. With 4 rounds remaining we are in with a chance of defending our Championship.

In the Club Championship, the 18s lost 1-0, and in the 20s we won 1-0.

An update on former player George Timotheou, who played with us last season and then was transferred to Schalke in Germany. After spending most of the last season playing for the Schalke reserves, he managed to feature in a few Schalke 1st team matchday squads and even played in the 1st team late in the season. He has recently been sold to Belgian side Zulte Waregem, where he will continue his career and we wish him the best of luck.

Whether Sydney Olympic has inserted any on-sale clauses or anything of that sort, nobody knows and it remains to be seen.

Next week is a bye round as a result of the Waratah Cup Final taking place. So we are next back in action in 2 weeks time, on Sunday Afternoon, July 21, a huge match away to old rivals APIA Leichhardt at Lambert Park, Kick-Off is at 3.30pm.

As for the First Grade women’s team, they beat the Bankstown Lions 2-1 on Sunday Afternoon to remain in 3rd spot on the ladder in NPL 1. Next Sunday Afternoon they themselves head to Cromer Park to face Manly United, this Sunday, Kick-Off at 3pm.

Wollongong Wolves 2-0 Sydney Olympic

The win last week against Hakoah, was merely a momentary blip of hope, on the disaster that has been Sydney Olympic’s 2019 season. The club has not handled the pressure of having to defend a title and everything else is starting to come apart at the seams, even the respect for the supporters. I will get to that later.

In the first-half against Wollongong, we more than held our own and had a couple of really good opportunities to take the lead but once again, as has been the case for us all season, we failed to fire where it matters, in the front third. The opposition for all their huff and puff and reputation, only had 1 good chance in the first-half. So at half-time, we went in with the score at 0-0 and had hopes we could do something special in the second-half.

The second-half though, started in the worst possible fashion, as we copped a cheap soft goal once again almost straight from the kick-off, when there was no danger at all for us defensively. We once again panicked and we were punished.

We picked ourselves up and started to play OK, we once again had chances but it was not to be as at the other end, we conceded another cheap goal near the end of the match to succumb to yet another loss. We have only won once in nearly 2 months now. Shocking stuff.

With all the lauding about the Wollongong Wolves this season and the usual clownery of clueless people coming out of the woodwork to proclaim they “should be in the a-league”, after 1 good season in 10 years. The fact is they are very average, they won’t win the Grand Final and are very likely to pull a Blacktown Spartans from a few years ago. Overrated, Big Time.

For Sydney Olympic, we gave away more cheap goals on Sunday and in all honesty, we should never have lost that game. But a certain softness has creeped into this team, which was nowhere to be seen last season, this team is mentally soft.

The less said about what happened at full-time the better. All parties let their emotions get the better of them, but let it be known to those on the board, the coaching staff and those on the playing field, this season has not been good enough, wake up to yourselves and respect the fans who spend their time and hard earned money to drive to places like Wollongong in the rain, to support the team.

Respect the supporters. Telling them to “fuck off”, “do you know who I am” and “I will see you outside”, will only get you what you are after, and that’s a flogging.

The season is as good as over now, this is not about me being a pessimist or whatever, this is a fact. If the club and board had any football nous or smarts, they would be making hard decisions now, getting a jump on the rest of the competition who are still fighting hard this season and start planning for 2020.

Settle on who you want as coach now, leave sentiment out of that decision as it is a big one to make and get all your recruitment done nice and early and dump the players, who have proven to be a) not good enough, b) not playing for the shirt and c) have their best years behind them.

This season has been a total write-off and as disgraceful of an attempt at a defence of a title, as I have seen anywhere in any sport for some time.

I’m not sure what bringing in Riley Woodcock with 5 games to go was meant to achieve either, leave it a bit later why don’t you.

In the Club Championship, the 18s lost 1-0, and in the 20s they drew 1-1.

Our next match is against the Rockdale Kleftes, Sunday June 30 at Belmore Sports Ground. Here’s the players chance to show some balls and do something good for the fans this season. Kick-Off is at 4pm.

Sydney Olympic 1-0 Hakoah Sydney City-East

We all rejoice in the experience and feeling of winning a match for the first time since we beat Marconi away, on May the 4th, 43 days ago for those who are counting. It wasn’t pretty, but the 3 points are what counts and hopefully we can mount some sort of a charge, in the final 7 rounds of the season.

The match, a home match for Sydney Olympic, had to be moved from Belmore Sports Ground after the downpour on Sunday Morning. Meaning we had to go to Lambert Park in Leichhardt on Sunday, a Lambert Park that now has a condemned grandstand, so even less people can actually go there these days.

I don’t think many people minded, as Lambert Park has always been a happy hunting ground for Sydney Olympic and in contrast, our home record at Belmore this season has pretty much been abysmal.

As you would expect from a match featuring 2 teams who are struggling and down on confidence, the first 5-10 minutes of the match didn’t begin with any great tempo or enthusiasm as both sides sussed each other out. Soon enough though, we got ourselves into the match and would from then on dominate proceedings.

Around 15 minutes into the match our quality showed as William Angel made a nice run down the right and then crossed it into the box, where Peter Kekeris made no mistake to finish from close range, to put us 1-0 up.

For the rest of the first-half we were in the ascendancy and had a couple of really good chances to extend our lead, but as has been the case this season, our finishing let us down.

The second-half was a bit more nervy and would be, so long as the score remained only at 1-0. Hakoah who are really struggling this season, didn’t really pose us too many problems defensively. Here and there they would mount an attack but we managed to snuff it out pretty quickly.

Our play was improving compared to recent weeks and we had yet, more chances during the second-half to put the game away for good, but again, the final product was just not there.

There was a massive sigh of relief at the full-time whistle, as we picked up a vital 3 points and finally got back into the winners circle.

That victory puts a significant gap between us and Hakoah in the Club Championship standings now and barring some sort of unmitigated disaster, we should do enough to avoid being relegated.

It was also only our 2nd clean sheet of the season, ironically, the only other one coming in our 1-0 victory over Hakoah earlier in the season. They must really be struggling.

Quickly on what I wrote last week about Tempe, nothing has been refuted by anyone at the club, you can draw your own conclusions from that. Added further intrigue, was the fact that the CEO in an interview he gave last week to NEOS KOSMOS, mentioned nothing of it, I don’t think he was asked, instead the interview focused on Sydney Olympic being interested or involved in some sort of phantom future National 2nd division.

In the Club Championship, the 18s and 20s were postponed for another day.

Our next match is a difficult one, down in Wollongong against the Wollongong Wolves, who have been scoring for fun all season and lead the competition by a good margin. Sunday June 23 at WIN Stadium in Wollongong. Kick-Off is at 3pm.

Blacktown City 1-1 Sydney Olympic

The result in isolation, is one most Sydney Olympic Supporters could and would accept in any normal circumstances.

We battled well, we stayed in the contest, we created our fair share of chances and defensively we were not as calamitous as we have been, during the last 6 weeks. Some might even say that this team has “turned the corner”.

But given the predicament we find ourselves in as a club in season 2019, it’s another poor result, it’s yet more points thrown away, it’s yet another match where we simply had to win to stay alive in the League and to keep us away from relegation trouble via the Club Championship, and we once again didn’t.

The goal we conceded to go behind, was once again amateur hour stuff and just makes you want to shake your head at it all, a comedy of errors. It is not a co-incidence that we have only kept 1 clean sheet all season.

We did well enough to pick ourselves up quickly and find an equaliser, but that was as good as it was going to get.

The club and the board have been far too complacent, you can’t stand still in this competition or in any competitive field and be successful, but in our case, you certainly can’t go backwards and attempt to be successful and we certainly have gone backwards, in every aspect in 2019.

Recruitment to replace the departed players who did so well for us last season; Max Burgess, Riley Woodcock, George Timotheou has been non-existent. That is a lot of quality gone and those players simply, were not replaced. Recruitment has been an absolute shambles. A major failure of the people at the club.

Did the club and the board think they could just replace those quality players with fringe players from other clubs? If so, they have learned a harsh lesson. Let’s just hope that the harsh lesson doesn’t result in us being relegated to the NSW 2nd Division, which is a distinct possibility at this point, with only 1/3 of the season remaining.

Even in this mid-season signing window, the club have failed to strengthen. When you consider that, the majority of the other clubs have strengthened and have gotten better, it just goes to show how poor Sydney Olympic have been in 2019.

It has gotten to the point now, where even if the club did try and panic sign some players right now, it would be far too late and a waste of everybody’s time, money and resources anyway.

As for the Sydney Olympic starting XI line-ups that have been put out this season. Is some sort of game being played, to see how ridiculous of a line-up can be fielded on any given weekend?

There has been more tinkering then I care to comment about. Every week, chopping and changing, players out of position, players out, players in, every weekend without fail. Where is the continuity? How is that meant to make us successful on the pitch?

It has been a bizarre season and everyone must be hoping that there is no late season sting at the tail end of it.

To add insult to injury, last Wednesday Night, Sydney Olympic failed to progress to the Main Round of 32 Draw of the FFA Cup for the 4th year in a row. Losing yet another match at home in the process in yet another poor display, as we went down 3-1 to the Marconi Stallions in the Final Round Qualifier.

We have now not qualified for the FFA Cup since 2015, a 4th straight failure for the club in a competition where we were promised and assured by the club, that they were going to focus on and do everything to achieve that objective. That turned out to be lies.

When you actually look at the 4 FFA Cup Qualifiers we played this season; we were awful in all of them and realistically, could have been knocked out earlier by either of those opponents. Truly awful.

There is also a bit of news around regarding the so-called Tempe Reserve redevelopment, as it appears to have been abandoned. The exclusive dealing period between Sydney Olympic and the Inner-West Council, which was an agreement between the 2 parties to develop the highlighted area in the accompanying photo, has expired. Essentially this means that it will not go ahead.



There have just been way too many obstacles put in front of the club and the money is simply not there from the club either, to proceed and do anything.

Ironically or call it what you want, at around the same time, Canterbury-Bankstown Council and Sydney Olympic put out statements which included a story in the local paper, announcing that Peter Moore Field No.1 which has a grass pitch, will be ripped up and replaced with a synthetic surface.



No guarantees or timelines were given for when this latest phantom Sydney Olympic project is supposed to happen. But if it’s like the plethora of other promises during the last 62 years, I wouldn’t be holding my breath.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 1-0 and in the U20s we drew 1-1, more fantastic results. To all those who have scoffed at relegation talk, we are now in 2nd last place in the Club Championship. We need to wake up and start winning some matches, otherwise it will be trips to Rydalmere, Northbridge and North Turramurra next season.

Our next match is perhaps the most important match Sydney Olympic will play this season, against relegation rivals Hakoah Sydney City-East. Sunday June 16 at Belmore Sports Ground, Kick-Off is at 4pm. This is simply a must win.

Sydney Olympic 2-2 Mt Druitt Town

1 Win, 3 Draws and 3 Losses. That is the home record of Sydney Olympic after 7 home matches so far in season 2019 and once again on Sunday Night, we threw away more crucial competition points at home to another lesser light of the competition, it is getting beyond the joke now.

We currently have a double problem.

We can’t put away enough of our many chances during matches to claim any victories and every time an opposition team attacks our goal, we react like frightened little schoolgirls and as a result, we are giving up way too many goals to our opposition and far too easily.

It is exactly how Sunday’s match against Mt Druitt Town panned out.

We created enough chances to win 2 matches. Alejandro Sanchez who continues to lead the way for Sydney Olympic, finished off 2 great chances to pick up his customary goals for the weekend. But when the rest were called upon, and in a position to contribute and put the ball away, they couldn’t.

In the end, that is what keeps on costing us, our poor finishing. It would cost us again, as we copped 2 cheap goals to let slip a certain victory.

The first goal we conceded was yet another “worldy”. Call it bad luck or whatever, but we have been on the receiving end of way too many of these flukey long range bombs and we fell victim to another one.

The second goal we conceded was like watching a car crash in slow motion and knowing the outcome before it happened. An opposition attacker beat our defence and our goalkeeper to a lob inside the box, to prod it home.

Adding to the frustration of everyone, especially the Sydney Olympic Supporters, was that we managed to not only take the lead once, but twice during the match, yet we crumbled and were pegged back both times.

As I said last week, the players look scared and the confidence of the entire joint is way down, and it is not something that can just be picked back up at the flick of a switch.

The games are running out, as are our opportunities to turn this season around. We have some massively important matches coming up and we need to get out of this funk we are in ASAP otherwise this season will slip away, which would be a shame and a waste of this year.

A team bonding session or whatever it may be (strippers, piss-up?) something needs to be done to spark this group of players to life. As our squad is far too good to be losing to and dropping points to some of the junk we have done especially at home, and we are far too good to be as low as we are on the ladder.

We need to turn it around. Fast.

For the Club Championship, the U18s lost 3-0 and in the U20s, they managed to somehow come up with a 2-1 win.

Our next match is an all-important Round 7 FFA Cup Qualifier on Wednesday Night June 5, against the Marconi Stallions at Belmore Sports Ground. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm. With the form we are in, we are going to need some sort of heroic performance to get through Marconi and finally get over this hump, that has seen us fall at this stage of the Cup for the last 3 seasons in a row.

Our next match in the League is on Sunday Afternoon June 9, away to Blacktown City at Lily Homes Stadium in Seven Hills. Kick-Off is at 3pm.

Sutherland Sharks 3-0 Sydney Olympic

In all my years watching Sydney Olympic, Saturday Night would have to go down as one of the most pathetic displays by any Sydney Olympic team ever. Copping our 2nd loss of the season to a lowly Sutherland team and it was a thrashing in every aspect.

It’s amazing to anybody watching, how far this team has fallen in only a matter of weeks, the players look like strangers out there, something is dreadfully wrong and the vast majority of the players look unhappy and don’t give a shit.

Defensively we continue to be poor and continue to leak goals, for the first goal, we allowed the Sutherland player to waltz right through us and OK not much could be done about the finish but the poor signs were already there.

The second goal was an absolute shambles, as a mix-up at the back saw us cop a killer cheap goal right on the stroke of half-time and the third goal just rounded out what was a shocking night for the club and the supporters who made it out there on Saturday.

In attack? It’s amazing how that part of our game has fallen off a cliff as well now. I do not remember us creating one decent opportunity against Sutherland on Saturday Night, it was bleak viewing.

We lauded the coach last season and rightfully so, but this season he’s been all over the place. Some of his selections in the starting side must be questioned and players are also playing out of position, bringing on Niko Tsattalios at half-time against Sutherland, only to bring him off again 20 minutes later, was at the very least, very very strange.

I guess the signs were there that all was not well, after what we witnessed against Nepean on Tuesday Night in a Round 6 FFA Cup Qualifier, needing some extra-time heroics to beat a 4th division team 2-1. Setting up a Round 7 FFA Cup Qualifier against Marconi, good luck with that the way we are travelling.

Confidence is clearly down and we’re almost at panic stations. We have just witnessed poor back-to-back showings in losses against 2 of the bottom feeder teams in the competition.

How we respond in the next couple of weeks will 100% tell us everything about the club and where we are going, we need to see some sort of reaction.

Now that the signing window has opened, most clubs are strengthening their squads by making signings.

Sydney Olympic has signed nobody of note at this stage and we are in most need of an injection, particular in midfield and defence. There are players at the club that are not doing their job well enough and should be dropped for others and replaced by players who will, whether new signings or other players in the squad.

For the Club Championship, there are no signs of improvement in terms of results either. The U18s drew 0-0 and in the U20s we lost 1-0. It has been a number of weeks since we have won in the 18s or 20s. A shocking run of results which sees us creep ever closer into a relegation battle that nobody wants.

Our next match is on Sunday June 2, against fellow cellar dwellers the Mt Druitt Town Rangers at Belmore Sports Ground, let’s see if we can maybe win a game at home. Kick-Off is at 4pm.

Half-Way Point - Sydney Olympic 2-3 Sydney FC NPL

After a good last few weeks, we have returned to the results which we saw and which blighted the early parts of our season. Quite a few should hang their heads after what happened on Friday Night.

No team should have the amount of chances we had and be as dominant as we were and still not come away with the win. It just cannot happen at this level and if you want to be taken seriously in this competition, you just have to beat the lesser teams at home and we have failed to do that during this first-half of the season.



For all the chances we did miss, at least supporters and people watching our matches can sit there and say that we are at least creating them. At the other end of the park it is a totally different story and where our real problems lie this season.

Defensively we have been very very poor. We have one of the worst defensive records in the League this season.

And to compound that fact, at the half-way point of the season (11 rounds) we only have 1 clean sheet in those 11 matches, dreadful reading.

To put this further into numbers, at the half-way point last season we were:

22 goals for and had only 8 goals against in 2018.

At the same point in 2019, we also have scored 22 goals, but we have conceded a whopping 18 goals against.

At the half-way point last season, we were sitting on 9 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss. This season we have 4 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses.

Being realistic, to replicate our first-half of the season performance from 2018, was going to be very difficult to achieve, but the drop off and difference has been huge, and it is not as if we have had a massive turnover of players.

For our defensive efforts to be this bad compared to last year is incomprehensible.

Furthermore, our home record this season so far has also been abysmal. Only 1 win from our first 6 home matches, that is also not good enough, and you can’t expect to be challenging if you do not win most of your home games.

Not sure what can be done to turn this around, the inconsistency is killing our season.

Most supporters would acknowledge that our squad is not as good and not as deep as some other sides in the competition and some even might say, that we just do not have the quality this season.

There is still another 11 matches to go this season, so we will see what is dished up.

For the Club Championship, the U18s drew 2-2 and in the U20s we lost 2-1. A shocking run of results which sees us creep ever closer into a relegation battle that nobody wants.

Some people are scoffing at this possibility, be aware that relegation is calculated not on First Grade standings but via the Club Championship, and if we continue on the road we are on, do not be surprised to see Sydney Olympic in NPL 2 in 2020. Ask Marconi, Melita, Bankstown, St. George, Bonnyrigg, Spartans, Canterbury how fun that experience is.

Our next match is a Round 6 FFA Cup Qualifier against Nepean FC, Tuesday Night May 21, at Cook Park in St. Mary’s. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.

Our next match in the League is next Saturday Night May 25, against the Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw Park in Miranda, Kick-Off is set for 6.30pm. Hopefully the players are up for it this time and can reverse the embarrassment of the first encounter this season.

Sydney United 1-1 Sydney Olympic

The 116th meeting of Sydney Olympic and Sydney United has ended in a stalemate and should go down in my point of view, as one where we should have added victory number 54 to the wins column. Only some heroics from the opposition goalkeeper, saved them from another defeat.

The first-half can be characterised as a stalemate. We played well during it, kept the ball well, ran hard and looked enthusiastic, but neither us nor they, created any significant goal scoring chances during the first-half.

There were the usual niggling antics from them and they did do their best to try and hack Alejandro Sanchez out of the game. They tried that last season and the great man murdered them. I don’t think they understand that getting him pissed off, doesn’t serve them well.

This should have proven the case once again at the start of the second-half, as we had several absolute golden chances to take the lead. The opposition goalkeeper made a string of crucial saves, while another effort looked destined to go in, but for a last ditch goal-line clearance from them.

Alejandro, Harris Gaitatzis, Jack Stewart, Jinya An all had great chances to open the scoring, but we could not get that all-important goal.

Predictably and only a short time later, the opposition who had nothing up until that point in the second-half, went down the other end via a flukey long range pass and hit us with a sucker-punch of a goal.

In what was a good sign for Sydney Olympic, we did not drop our heads or mope around, instead we quickly went to work for an equaliser.

We did not have to wait long as only a couple minutes later we drew level. A nice pass found Alejandro free behind the defence, who then crossed into Radovan Pavicevic who was free inside the box and he did the rest to bring the score back to 1-1.

We had chances throughout the back end of the second-half to snatch a winner, but it was not to be and we had to settle for a 1-1 result.

If it wasn’t for the opposition goalkeeper having a good day, we would have collected another vital 3 points, but it was not to be.

Overall, we are playing well and starting to get into a groove. We have some vital must win matches over the next couple of weeks so hopefully, our form holds up and we can get the job done over the next little period.

For the Club Championship, the U18s were smashed 6-2 and in the U20s, we were also well beaten 3-0. Another not so great weekend.

We have discovered our opponents for Round 6 of FFA Cup Qualifying, we were drawn to play away against Nepean FC. The match will take place on Tuesday Night May 21, at Cook Park in St. Mary’s. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.

Our next match is in the League and it is on this Friday Night May 17, at home at Belmore Sports Ground. In what is a must win match against Sydney FC’s NPL team. Kick-Off is at 8pm.

On the women’s side of things, they suffered a rare home loss, going down 2-0 to the Northern Tigers.

Marconi Stallions 1-3 Sydney Olympic

After last round’s much needed victory over APIA Leichhardt, Sydney Olympic has followed that up with a magnificent performance on Saturday Night, by defeating a very good Marconi side, at Marconi Stadium.

The match did not start off on the right foot for Sydney Olympic. As within a couple of minutes of the kick-off, we went 1-0 behind. Thoughts turned to the match played a few weeks ago at Marconi, between Marconi and Sydney United, when Marconi started off similarly and were up 5-0 inside the first 20-odd minutes.

Thankfully, any fears of a repeat of that were put to bed. As 30 seconds after we had conceded, a long ball from the back, found Alejandro Sanchez in space, who finished off brilliantly to restore parity.

After this fast start by both sides, for most of the rest of the first-half, we dominated the play and we well may have scored another 2 or 3 goals but it was not to be. Marconi came back into the match late on in the first-half, but neither side could add to the score-line and so we went to the half-time break locked at 1-1.

At the start of the second-half we looked the much better side once again, regaining the ascendancy. We did not have to wait long to take the lead, as the ball once again found Alejandro Sanchez free inside the box and he finished off well again for his 2nd of the night and put us 2-1 up.

Marconi tried to come back again, knowing they needed to after falling behind. They had their fair share of chances, but we held firm defensively. In this period of Marconi dominance, we still had chances to kill the game off.

With 10 minutes remaining though, we did ice the game and made it 3-1. Thanks to a spectacular freekick from Nikola Kuleski, a real rocket which gave the Marconi goalkeeper no chance of saving.

At the full-time whistle, it was a happy bunch of Sydney Olympic Supporters who made their way out to Fairfield to support the team, as we recorded another important victory.

Through this tough stretch of fixtures, we have managed to take maximum points now against APIA and Marconi, with Sydney United beckoning next week, making it a trifecta of derby matches.

There has been a vast improvement from how we started the season to how we are playing now and there are some good signs going forward.

For the Club Championship, the U18s lost 1-0 and in the U20s we came away with a 1-1 draw.

Last Wednesday Night we progressed to Round 6 of FFA Cup Qualifying, after coming away with a 2-0 victory over the Stanmore Hawks. There were some nervy moments at times, but we did enough to get passed a tricky and in-form opponent.

We now await on who will be our opponents in the next round.

I will now touch on the situation, that phantom, that has become the Tempe Reserve redevelopment. The Inner West council are dragging their feet and have been for 5 years. Unlike before where some information was available, I personally, have zero idea what is going on, that may not mean much, as who am I, but still.

What I do see, and see it regularly, is countless announcements of other teams getting millions in funding, having pitches built etc. One wonders what is going on, maybe the Club can clear it up?

Our next match is Sunday Night, May 12, in what will be another tough match away at Edensor Park against Sydney United. Kickoff is at 5pm.

On the women’s side of things, they trounced their opponents, the Emerging Jets, 5-0 on Sunday and after 9 rounds are sitting top of the League.

Sydney Olympic 3-1 APIA Leichhardt

Sydney Olympic has recorded its first home victory of 2019, after putting in its best performance of the season so far, in dismantling traditional rivals APIA Leichhardt, on ANZAC Day last Thursday.

In total contrast to most of the beginnings to our matches this season, we came out looking sharp in the first-half against APIA, a very good APIA side too. Although we started brightly with a lot of enthusiasm, we did not create too many great goal scoring opportunities inside the first 20 minutes, the same can be said of APIA.

After witnessing a scrappy opening to the contest, in the last 15 minutes of the first-half, we would go up a couple of gears and alter proceedings.

On the half-hour mark, we were awarded a freekick just outside the box and given a great chance to open the scoring and we did not pass it up. Jinya An curled in a brilliant left-footed effort right into the top corner of the APIA goal, to give us a 1-0 lead.

5 minutes later we doubled our lead, as Alejandro Sanchez was put through on goal and he made no mistake to finish off expertly. APIA had a chance to pull a goal back but we handled the pressure well and subsequently, we went down the other end right on the stroke of half-time and made it 3-0, as Alejandro Sanchez was found free inside the box, to finish and score his 2nd of the game.

As was expected at the start of the second-half, APIA came out strongly looking to get back into the contest, we held them out until 20 minutes into the second-half, when they managed to score a freekick themselves to bring the score back to 3-1.

With APIA piling on the pressure, they left space for us to hit them on the counter-attack and with a bit more composure, we could have extended our lead and killed the game off for good. In truth, APIA had some good moments throughout the second-half, but defensively we held firm right to the end to confirm our 3-1 victory.

So after a shaky start to the season, it was an impressive victory to ease some of the pressure. Of course, it is only 1 game and we need to build on this, keep pushing and string a good sequence of results together to start climbing the ladder.

For the Club Championship, the U18s won 2-1 and the U20s lost 2-0.

Our next match is this Wednesday Night May 1, an FFA Cup 5th Round Qualifier, a derby against NPL 3 side Stanmore Hawks, at Peter Moore Field. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.

Our next match in the League is Saturday Night May 4, in what will be a tough match away against Marconi, at Marconi Stadium, Kickoff is at 7pm.

On the women’s side of things, after their 2-1 win against Manly on Thursday Night, they sit top of the table after 8 rounds.

Hopefully everybody had a good Easter, whether you celebrated last week or this week.

Sydney Olympic 2-2 Manly United

Despite playing on Sunday, on Wednesday, and then again on Friday, the boys put in a good shift and with a bit more luck and/or composure, we may have and probably should have, walked away from this match with all 3 points against Manly United.

As was expected, we started the match off a bit sluggishly, but as the game went on, we gradually got ourselves into the swing of things.

It was a fairly even first-half as both sides had opportunities to open the scoring in the first 30 minutes. Unfortunately, it would be our opponents who would open the scoring before half-time, with yet another flukey long range strike. We’ve been on the receiving end of way too many of those already this season.

It was definitely a disappointing end to the first-half and at the half-time break we went in 1-0 down.

We looked a lot more sharper at the start of the second-half and it did not take us long to find the equaliser. With Mitch Stamatellis finding the back of the net via a quality header, which beat the Manly goalkeeper.

Although the opposition had their own chances, we were on top from that moment on and had a plethora of chances throughout that second-half to take the lead, but once again as has been the case this season, our finishing let us down.

As expected, Manly went down the other end and took the lead themselves with a sucker-punch of a goal, once again, we have been on the receiving end of a fair few of those as well this season.

Credit where credit is due, the players did not drop their heads and continued to look for goals and 5 minutes from the end, we grabbed our 2nd equaliser of the game, thanks to a wonderful volley from Dimi Petratos.

We had a couple of chances late on to grab a winner, but it was not be and so we had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

As the full-time whistle was blown, it was a mixture of disappointment and pride as the result was not ideal. The players put in a shift and gave it their all but deep down, we felt we deserved more than just a draw.

The injury crisis at the club has widened, with the inclusion of Alex Sanchez and Hagi Gligor to the injury list. The latter appears to have ruptured his ACL for the 2nd year in a row, pretty sure it was at this exact same part of the season as last year. If this is true, it is a devastating blow for the bloke and we wish him all the best in his recovery again.

They both join Zac Mackenzie, Brendan Hooper and now Niko Tsattalios and Radovan Pavicevic, who looked to have picked up knocks as well, during the match with Manly.

This of course, has taken a heavy toll on the team and our results, this current packed schedule we are experiencing is not helping things either.

A rare bright spot for the club during this difficult opening 1/3 of the season, is the emergence of Dimi Petratos who due to injuries, has been given his chance to show us what he’s got in 1st Grade. And he hasn’t disappointed with his performances so far and even scoring in our last 2 matches.

For the Club Championship, the U18s lost 4-0 and the U20s won 3-1.

Last Wednesday we made relatively light work of Lindfield FC in our Round 4 FFA Cup Qualifier, winning the match 3-1.

In the Draw for Round 5 FFA Cup Qualifying, Sydney Olympic has drawn the Stanmore Hawks, a very interesting match-up. Details TBC.

The boys now have a solid break before our next match on ANZAC Day, Thursday Afternoon April 25, against traditional rivals APIA Leichhardt, at Belmore Sports Ground, Kick-Off is at 4.45pm. Will it be 5th time lucky in trying to notch up our first home win of the season?

Rockdale 2-1 Sydney Olympic

The tailspin this team is experiencing is bewildering to say the least. The players who performed so well last season, have simply not come to terms with the fact that it is a new season and you have to do it all again. Quite a few of them have been woeful.

Max Burgess and Riley Woodcock have been big losses no doubt. But, is anyone going to seriously tell me that should mean that we turn into a putrid, shadow of the side we were last season?

The recruitment in itself to cover those losses was virtually non-existent, not to mention some of the people who were brought in. Whoever was in charge of that side of things, needs a good long hard look in the mirror and probably needs to be doing something else in some other field.

We lost only 4 matches in all of the 2018 season. We’re not even 1/3 of the way into this 2019 season and we have already lost 3 matches and to put that into more context, we have had what some would call a “soft draw” to start the season. We have lost matches against teams we have no business in losing to.

Further to this, we have also yet to play the likes of Manly, APIA, Marconi or Sydney United. Things will only get worse.

As for the Rockdale match, it was a match where we should have come out firing from the get-go, stomp on their throats and kill the game off early, but we pussy footed around for most of it, which is becoming a trait in this side.

Ironically, we managed to score first. Now you would have thought that in doing so, we would shut-up shop and try to hold on, given we were with 10 men. But instead we buckled under the pressure and copped 2 goals in the latter stages of the second-half to send us to another defeat.

Sure there are genuine gripes about the cheat of a referee who officiated the match, but we have to rise above that sort of stuff and not give these types of referees who go on a power-trip when given a whistle, any excuse or opportunity.

In terms of the red card we copped, it is unfortunately exactly what happened. Nikola Kuleski got himself into a situation he was never going to profit from and was given a 2nd yellow for dissent.

We have not beaten this Rockdale team since 2015 now, which is hilarious when you think about it. They are not a traditional heavyweight of the competition, I can’t remember them winning anything in this League, nor are they a great rival of Sydney Olympic’s, but for some reason these clowns are our bogey side.

Maybe them facing Sydney Olympic and it being a sort of World Cup Final for them explains it, they have nothing else, so it has to be it.

To go with that abysmal result in First Grade, it was a clean sweep of failure. The U18s lost 2-0 and the U20s lost 3-0.

If this sort of garbage continues, we will seriously find ourselves in a relegation battle. And as has been seen over the last few years, Marconi, Melita and Bonnyrigg have all been relegated, so there can be none of this, “we’re too big to be relegated” or “it won’t happen to us” rubbish.

I don’t know what they’ve been doing at the Club, but they need to wake the fuck up and fast.

Our next game is against Lindfield FC in a 4th Round FFA Cup Qualifier, This Wednesday Night April 17, who play association football on the North Shore. It will be played at Charles Bean Oval in Lindfield with Kick-Off at 7pm. What odds we lose that one as well?

Our next match in the League is against Manly United on Friday Afternoon April 19, which is a Public Holiday, at Belmore Sports Ground, Kick-Off is at 4.45pm. We have yet to win at home this season and if we don’t win this one, pull the curtain down on 2019.

Sydney Olympic 0-2 Wollongong Wolves

3 matches in 7 days looks to have gotten the better of us, as we could not back-up our victories over Hakoah and Mt Druitt Town, going down 2-0 at home to the league leading Wollongong Wolves on Sunday.

Perhaps feeling the effects of the week, we started the match off a little slowly, with Wollongong pouncing early. They had an early chance to open the scoring but were denied by Paul Henderson.

After this inauspicious start, we got ourselves into the game and started to play well, looking threatening in attack.

It was end-to-end stuff, as both sides went back and forth threatening to score. We nearly did midway through the first-half, as Alex Sanchez was put through on goal, he then rounded the goalkeeper only to miss the opportunity. It must be said that it looked a fairly tight angle.

Literally the next passage of play, Wollongong broke away, counter-attacked and went down the other end to open the scoring.

At half-time we went to the sheds trailing 1-0.

The second-half pretty much went the same way as the first-half. Both sides were adventurous and looking for goals, but given our predicament of being behind, we chased a goal a little harder.

The back and forth struggle continued and on several occasions we found ourselves in great positions to grab an equaliser, but the quality in the final pass or shot was lacking.

As we continued to push late on for a goal, we were exposed by another Wollongong counter-attack and with around 5 minutes to go they scored their 2nd to put the game to bed. As we went down 2-0.

It was a match where with a bit of luck we might have gotten something from, but it was not to be. 

We have now not won any of our 3 home matches to start this season, which is always disappointing. We have to win our home games.

It’s been a very hot and cold start to the season for Sydney Olympic, which is evidenced in our results so far this season, twice being held scoreless, another two matches where there were goals galore, sometimes we look like world beaters and at other times bottom feeders. Frustrating to say the least.

In terms of the Club Championship, the U18s picked up a 1-1 draw, and in the U20s, we picked up a 1-0 win.

Last Wednesday, Sydney Olympic ventured out West, for our Round 2 catch-up fixture with Mt Druitt Town.

We were the far better side in the first-half but somehow went into the half-time break with only a slender 3-2 lead. Had we taken our chances, we could have and should have been well out of sight by half-time.

After some nervy moments in the early part of second-half, we put our foot down and took enough of our many chances to run out comfortable 6-2 winners, the score could have easily been double-digits.

We got the all-important 3 points which is what matters.

Sad news during the past week was the passing of Club Legend, Sotiris Patrinos. Brought to Australia from Atromitos in 1960, he helped us win promotion to the NSW 1st Division. He was with us for the next 10 years and will go down as one of the greatest in the Club’s history.

R.I.P. and condolences to his family.

Our next match is away at Rockdale, on Sunday April 14, Kick-Off at 4.30pm.

On the Sydney Olympic Girls side of things, Round 5 saw them draw 1-1 with the Illawarra Stingrays and remain undefeated so far this season. They are sitting in 2nd spot on the ladder at this stage.

Off the Mark – Hakoah Sydney City-East 0-1 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic is off the mark for season 2019, registering our first win against an opponent who has always been a thorn in our side going back decades, Hakoah. We did it the hard way and there definitely were some nervous moments near the end, but we well and truly deserved the 3 points.

Before a ball was even kicked and given our predicament, one had the feeling that the match was destined to be one of those tight and nail-biting affairs, where one chance and one goal could win it for either side and as the match got under way, those feelings were proven right.

There were not too many clear cut chances created by either side during the 90 minutes. It wasn’t totally devoid of goal scoring opportunities, but I don’t know if it’s that pitch of theirs or what it was, but the contest was mainly a midfield battle and almost a battle of wills out there.

We played decent in the first-half, solid in defence, but neither team could break the deadlock as the score remained at 0-0 at the half-time break.

We looked much better in the second-half and managed to find the all-important breakthrough mid-way through the second-half. New recruit Jack Stewart, found some room for himself in the box to finish off well and score his 1st goal for the club.

We also had the best other chance of the second-half right near the end as Harris Gaitatzis let off a long range bomb, which was somehow parried onto the crossbar by the Hakoah goalkeeper.

Not that he needs to redeem himself, but Paul Henderson made up for his error last week with a fine performance in goals, keeping yet another clean sheet and keeping Hakoah out all match, and they did have a few chances.

So, it’s good to get off the mark in 2019 and have our first win in the bank, hopefully we can go on a run now and start climbing the ladder.

Obviously most things we do this season, will be scrutinised and compared with what we did last season. One thing is certainly clear, that in attack we do have issues. We are clunky with our combinations, Alejandro Sanchez and Radovan Pavicevic look down on confidence, Jack Stewart is new to the club and with Max Burgess leaving and Harris Gaitatzis coming in, it is almost a new-look forward set up. It looks like it may need some time for it to gel.

In defense, Zac Mackenzie went off early during the game with what looked like a serious injury, but I do not know that for certain. William Angel played the entire second-half at Centre-Back. By now, Will has to have played in every position for us down the years.

That is 3 Centre-Backs injured now, as Brendan Hooper has a long-term injury also and Mitch Stamatellis has yet to feature for us either this season. Our depth will be tested in the next little part of the season.

Finally, congratulations to Niko Tsattalios, who notched up game 100 for Sydney Olympic on Sunday.

In terms of the Club Championship, the U18s lost 2-0 and in the U20s, we picked up a 3-2 win.

We need to keep up this momentum now, as on Wednesday Night, April 3, we have our Round 2 catch-up match away to the Mt Druitt Town Rangers, at Popondetta Park in Emerton, Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.

This is followed by Round 5, and we will be looking for our first home win of the season on Sunday Afternoon, April 7, against an in-form and top-of-the-table Wollongong Wolves outfit, at Belmore Sports Ground, Kick-Off is at 4pm.

On the Sydney Olympic Girls side of things, in Round 4 they smashed the North Shore Mariners 7-0, to go top of the NPL 1 women’s competition. A pretty good start to the season.

Sydney Olympic 3-3 Blacktown City

Another home match, another poor start and another match where we found ourselves in the position of having to chase a result at home, where after 2 matches now, we have not managed to pick up the 3 points.

It was a disastrous start, as within the first 15 minutes we found ourselves 2-0 down. The first goal was essentially a free header from a poorly defended corner and the second came via a rare mistake by Paul Henderson, who looked to have made a straight forward save, before dropping the ball and allowing Blacktown to tap in for their 2nd goal of the afternoon.

We were not playing all that poorly, but we were just caught on the hop by an always well prepared and opportunistic team. Meaning we once more had to dig deep to get anything from the match.

There was a glimmer of hope for Sydney Olympic just before half-time, thanks to a goal of the season contender by Nikola Kuleski, who knocked in a beautiful freekick from about 25m out to claw a goal back.

We had further great chances just before the half-time break to dramatically pull level, but some poor finishing meant it was not to be and so we headed to the half-time break trailing 2-1.

Not even 30 seconds had passed into the second-half before we found an equaliser, a nice through ball found Alejandro Sanchez who made no mistake to make it 2-2 and open his account for the season.

Things looked to have been back on track and we could now just focus on getting into a rhythm in the second-half and search for a winner. But, only 5 minutes after we had equalised, we went behind once again, courtesy of a speculative long-range effort that beat Paul Henderson. We were up against it again.

On the positive front, we never dropped our heads and continued to keep working hard and we were rewarded around 10 minutes later, as a well worked move was finished off well by Jason Madonis to bring the score back to 3-3.

In the final 30 minutes, we had several golden opportunities to find a winner, but it never came and we had to settle for a 3-3 result.

We paid for our poor start and it is something we cannot afford to keep doing, as it is far too difficult in this League, to continually have to fight back to get results and it will eventually, become a drain on the players as the season progresses.

The fighting spirit shown is admirable, but we must be better and be switched on from the opening minutes of matches.

In terms of the Club Championship, the U18s got pumped 6-0, while the U20s picked up a 3-1 win.

Round 4 is on Sunday March 31, we travel to face the always difficult Hakoah Sydney City-East at Hensley Athletic Field, Eastgardens, Kick-Off is at 5pm.

On Wednesday Night, April 3, is our rescheduled Round 2 match away to the Mount Druitt Town Rangers, at Popondetta Park in Emerton, Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.

On the Sydney Olympic Girls side of things, they drew 2-2 with Sydney University, who are usually the heavy hitters in this League. It has been a good start for Sydney Olympic in its debut season in NPL 1, starting off with 2 wins and 1 draw after 3 rounds.

Poor Start – Sydney Olympic 0-1 Sutherland Sharks

Sydney Olympic has gotten its title defense off to the worst possible start, after a lacklustre showing in the 2019 season opener against Sutherland, in what was our first home match of the year.

The hot weather conditions were not going to be advantageous for either side and it was never going to help the spectacle and that is how it turned out, as we in particular, lacked any real energy and enthusiasm. Add to the fact that Sutherland being a bottom feeder team, sat back and were being overly physical. How they stayed with 11 men on the park is anyone’s guess.

Despite these handicaps, we still managed to create enough goal-scoring opportunities and should have gotten on the scoreboard at least once during the 90 minutes.

A couple of good saves from the Sutherland Goalkeeper kept us out, while the woodwork also came to their rescue throughout the match. Overall, it was a frustrating afternoon for the very decent crowd that rocked up for Round 1, to see Sydney Olympic play.

In defense, there were a few lapses and we were caught out of position on a couple of occasions. We weren’t tight enough at the back at times and we left ourselves way too open in midfield, which allowed the opposition to have a couple of attacks on our goal.

It was one of those matches that had 0-0 written all over it and given how poor the match was, most would have begrudgingly taken that result and moved on to next week. But mid-way through the second-half, Sutherland managed to beat our defense and fluked a goal on the break, to hand us a 1-0 defeat.

All in all, it was a fairly disjointed performance from Sydney Olympic. I’m not sure if it is the result of several players still having their heads in the clouds after last season or what it is, but there was something definitely off about the display on Sunday.

No one wants to lose their mind and go over the top after 1 loss, but missing the likes of Max Burgess and Riley Woodcock are going to be heavily felt, and it turned out that way on Sunday, as we missed their quality.

The coaching staff and the players need to work it out quickly, as we all know this NSW NPL competition is relatively short, only going for 22 rounds. So, 3 or 4 poor weeks to start the season and we will be chasing our tails for the rest of it, effectively rendering our season over.

Mitchell Stamatellis was not sighted at all in the matchday squad or even in the 20s match, either he was suspended or has picked up a knock. Troy Danaskos, Niko Tsattalios, Michael Gaitatzis all played in the 20s win.

In terms of the Club Championship, the U18s lost 2-1, while the U20s won 2-1. A reminder of how that works:

A first grade victory / draw is multiplied by 4.
An U20s victory / draw is multiplied by 2.
An U18s victory / draw is multiplied by 1.

Given that we only won the U20s this round, that gives us 6 Club Championship points to begin the 2019 season.

If we are to believe the news, this will be the last season that teams will be promoted and relegated via this Club Championship system (Thank God).

Round 2 now, already becomes a vital must win match against newly-promoted side, the Mt Druitt Town Rangers. It will be on this Saturday Night, March 16 at Popondetta Park in Emerton, Kick-Off is at 7pm.

On the Sydney Olympic Girls side of things, who are newly promoted into NPL 1 for this season, they were successful in their first outing, smashing the Blacktown Spartans 5-2.

Sydney Olympic Off-Season – February

February has been a busy month for Sydney Olympic. Firstly, here are the pre-season trial results:

Sydney United 2-3 Sydney Olympic
Canberra Olympic 1-0 Sydney Olympic
Gladesville-Ryde Magic 2-5 Sydney Olympic
Manly United 2-1 Sydney Olympic
Blacktown City 0-1 Sydney Olympic

A bit of a mixed bag of results there, but of course the results don’t necessarily matter at this time of the year, getting game time would be the main priority.

The disappointing thing I guess for most Sydney Olympic Supporters during this pre-season, is where these matches have taken place. Making it a little bit difficult for the supporters to get out and check the team out.

Some disappointing news, was that despite the fact that the Club had announced the re-signing of Riley Woodcock for 2019, it appears he has decided to stay in Perth for his own personal reasons and will not feature for us during the 2019 season. Which is a fairly big loss, as he was a very important player for us in 2018 and was a major factor in the success we achieved.

In the last little period, the Club also announced the signings of Jack Stewart and Alex Gollan. Honestly, I haven’t come across either of these guys before around the traps, so I have no major insights on what they can bring to the Club. Having some sort of depth in First Grade this season is the obvious benefit.

A couple weeks ago the Club also held its Annual General Meeting.

I will not be going into great financial detail in public via this blog, but Sydney Olympic is tracking in the right direction on this front.

As for this Tempe thing, ever since it was mooted some 5 years ago it has excited everyone who has ever had anything to do with Sydney Olympic. After 5 years though, we have seen nothing happen on this front.

The Club assures that this is a top priority for the Club and to be patient as negotiations are on-going. Looks like there will be more of the waiting game in 2019.

Onto this season’s jersey, Sydney Olympic is going with a V design for 2019, can’t say that I can recall the Club ever using it, I could be wrong. Doesn’t look too bad.

This Sunday March 3, is our final pre-season match:
vs. SD Raiders – Thomas Hassall Anglican College, 125 Kingsford Smith Avenue, Middleton Grange – 3pm.

The week after, on Sunday March 10, the competition gets under way, with Round 1 of the NSW NPL, as we host the Sutherland Sharks at Belmore Sports Ground, Kick-Off is at 4pm.

On the Sydney Olympic Girls side of things, they dominated their NPL 2 competition last season, got promoted and are now in NPL 1 for this season, I dare say with some of the signings made, they will be looking to have another big year in 2019. 

Sydney Olympic Off-Season – January

Happy New Year and welcome to 2019 and in Sydney Olympic’s case, hopefully an even bigger and better season to look forward to.

Obviously given what we did last year, it is very difficult to go any bigger or better. But, the challenge for everybody at the club is to do it all again and go back-to-back. No matter what sport you are talking about, it is one of the hardest things to do.

One area where the club can, no, must go better, is in the FFA Cup. After qualifying for the first 2 editions of the tournament in 2014 and 2015 and making it to the Round of 16 on both occasions, we have missed out the last 3 years. That must be a target for the club in 2019.

In terms of how the squad is shaping up, this is what is known:

Retained: Paul Henderson, William Angel, Jason Madonis, Niko Tsattalios, Alejandro Sanchez, Radovan Pavicevic, Hagi Gligor, Jinya An, Thomas Whiteside, Nicola Kuleski, Riley Woodcock, Darcy Burgess, Zach Mackenzie, Ezequiel Consoni, Jake de Marigny, Stephen Athanaseris, Billy Patramanis.

New signings: Mitch Stamatellis, Troy Danaskos, Harris Gaitatzis, Michael Gaitatzis.

Gone: George Timotheou, Max Burgess, Rafael Jimenez, James Demetriou, Paul Katsetis.

Unsure: Brendan Hooper.

We’re looking in relatively good shape. Don’t rule out any more signings either.

The club has released information on up-coming pre-season trials, this is what we have to look forward to:

Sunday: February 3: vs. Sydney United – Sydney United Sports Centre (Edensor Park) – 6.30pm.
Sunday: February 10: vs. Gladesville-Ryde Magic – Christie Park (Macquarie Park) – 6.30pm.
Sunday: February 17: vs. Manly United – Cromer Park (Cromer) – 6.30pm.
Sunday: February 24: vs. Blacktown City – Lily Homes Stadium (Seven Hills) – 7pm.
Sunday: March 3: vs. SD Raiders – Ernie Smith Reserve (Moorebank) – 3pm.

So if you want to check how the team is looking, head out and catch a game during this pre-season.

Onto the Tempe situation. Straight from the Inner West Council:

“Council is currently in an exclusive dealing period with Sydney Olympic for upgrade works at Tempe Recreation Reserve. Sydney Olympic are in the process of preparing updated designs and plans for their proposal. Once these updated plans are formally received by Council, they will be presented at a Council meeting”.

So basically it is as you were for the time being.

Fingers crossed.