Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks. They have just removed the warning signs from the Manuka precinct alerting passers by to the higher than average level of lobbyists in the area and the café patrons now have faces. There is no greater sport in Canberra than politics and the imminent arrival of [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 14 (2011/12)
February 28, 2012 by 4 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League Melbourne Heart have moved a step closer to securing their finals position following a 1-0 win at home to ladder leaders Central Coast Mariners at the weekend. The second half was just 5 minutes old; when youngster Eli Babalj slid the ball past Matt Ryan after Fred’s shot [Read more]
How much does Phantom hate his team’s enemy?
February 22, 2012 by 10 Comments
by Bill Walker How much do I hate my team’s enemy? How much do I hate Rangers? After listening to News Radio (BBC bit) at three in the morning and hearing that they had lost ten points I rose out of bed and immediately sent this greeting to the lads at the Ibrox. Greetings [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 11 (2011/12)
February 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League While the result of the season’s 3rd and final Melbourne derby read 0-0, the atmosphere and electricity inside the ground was certainly worth more than that. It was the first derby that I had ever attended, and although I probably got the least eventful of the lot so [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 10 (2011/12)
February 1, 2012 by 3 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-league As the season reaches the business end, the top 6 is beginning to take shape, and not without the odd surprise either. Following a comfortable 3-1 win on the weekend over the Melbourne Heart, Wellington have climbed to 2nd on the table behind central Coast, and look to [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 9 (2011/12)
January 11, 2012 by 4 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League The festive period in the A-League has brought colossal changes across the league. The main one was clearly the sacking of former Melbourne Victory manager Mehmet Durakovic, and the subsequent appointment of North Irishman Jim Magilton. The sacking came after a string of poor results for the Melbourne-based [Read more]
The other Gary Ablett
January 4, 2012 by 2 Comments
by Hamish Cameron On Monday, a Gary Ablett of a different kind passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 46, played for Liverpool and was later controversially transferred to Everton. Ablett scored in his first match and won two championships and the FA Cup during his spell with Liverpool, and became [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 7 (2011/12)
November 29, 2011 by 4 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League Melbourne Victory has moved to 3rd on the A-league table with a dramatic 3-2 win at home to Gold Coast on Sunday. The North End’s “You’ll be sacked in the morning” chant directed at Mehmet Durakovic was quickly extinguished less than a minute into the game, when an [Read more]
Melbourne get the Heart pumping
November 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
by Nick Sculley There have been times this season when you could be forgiven for thinking that the Melbourne Heart were indeed the biggest club in the A-League, rather than their cross-town rivals. However there has always been a missing link; whether it is their inability to put the Victory to the sword in [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 5 (2011/12)
November 8, 2011 by 5 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League Before their draw with Melbourne Victory at the weekend, it would have been very difficult to dispute Brisbane’s stronghold on the A-League. But the team who many fancied pre-season to take out the title, Melbourne Victory, somehow managed to get a point from what was an absolute epic [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 4 (2011/12)
November 2, 2011 by 5 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League The Brisbane Roar has firmed as favourites to take out the A-League this season following their 7-1 demolition of Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night. Funnily enough, it was a come from behind win following Dario Vidosic’s early goal which put only a seed of doubt [Read more]
In A-League of Its Own 3 (2011/12)
October 25, 2011 by 3 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League Both of Melbourne’s teams are already in trouble. In the aftermath of the weekend’s derby, it seems that both Victory and Heart are in for horror seasons if nothing changes. For the Victory, their wealth of quality players in the final third of the pitch has brought them a [Read more]
In A-League Of Its Own 2
October 19, 2011 by 6 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League Following a first round stalemate with rivals Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory was looking to get some goals on the board when they made the trip to Adelaide for their Friday night blockbuster. For the Reds, Dario Vidosic was to make his debut for the club, and the Victory [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 1 (11/12)
October 5, 2011 by 4 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League After the longest and most dramatic off-season the A-League has ever seen, the AFL and NRL have made way for what should be the most competitive season yet. It’s hard to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room, and the signing of Harry Kewell to Melbourne Victory was [Read more]
Manchester dreaming and other football stories
May 19, 2011 by 6 Comments
By Roy Hay It has been a good year for both halves of Manchester, with City winning the F A Cup and qualifying for the European Champions League next season while United has won the English Premier League for a record 19th time and has a European Champions League final against Barcelona to come on [Read more]
LET’S JUST CALL IT ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL, OR SOCCER FOR SHORT!
April 21, 2011 by 23 Comments
The final session of Gaelic football for kids in Abu Dhabi last Sunday involved a match against the parents at the British School – delicious irony in that given the history between the Irish and the English. But that’s another story. The kids call it “Gaelic”, but the parents call it football, after all, its [Read more]
In A-league of Its Own – Grand Final edition
March 17, 2011 by 7 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League Well, what a climax to an amazing A-League season. The Version 6 Grand Final last Sunday was one of the all time great games of domestic football in Australia. In front of a crowd of over 50,000 and many more watching from around Australia and the world, pre-match favourites [Read more]
One for the ages
March 15, 2011 by 3 Comments
Brisbane Roar vs Central Coast Mariners 2-2 full time 4-2 on penalties Lang Park 13/3/2011 Crowd 50 128 By Hamish Townsend The problem with soccer in Australia is that it has no weight. Thousands of people like me love the game, but having wiped their ethnic history and any sense of tribalism it feels like [Read more]
In A League of Its Own: Prelim Edition
March 7, 2011 by 4 Comments
Tom’s Weekly Outlook on the A-league After a long season, we are finally at the Grand Final, and after Brisbane emphatically destroyed every team in the competition, it came down to Central Coast and Gold Coast to decide who would take on the title favourites. Central Coast hosted Gold Coast on a beautiful Saturday night [Read more]
Picture research- what is involved
March 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
By Roy Hay Last week Les Shorrock, the doyen of Victorian football (soccer) photographers, who worked for Soccer Action and the Age among others, sent me a copy of a picture from his files that he was unable to identify. It showed five players in action, three from one club and two from another. It [Read more]
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