SOCCER PROMOTION within two years and a personal honour thrown in. Adrian Pace dares to dream. The 27-year-old “veteran” of Aspendale Stingrays senior squad thinks both targets are realistic and he’s confident that at least one of them is within striking distance. “I think promotion is definitely on the cards,” Pace said. “The squad is pretty strong. A lot of the boys came up from the under-18s who won their league and they will only get better after the experience they got last year playing their first senior games. “I think I’m the oldest one there. Our average age is…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER WHEN it became clear that there would be no senior season this year Blake Hicks took it harder than most. He had high hopes for 2020. It was to the year that Rosebud made their mark in State League 5 by clinching promotion. “We really thought we were in with a good chance of going up,” said Hicks. “We’d had such a good pre-season and we’d gone undefeated. “I was on a goal a game and ‘Pags’ had scored in just about every appearance.” Mark Pagliarulo had been the club’s marquee off-season capture after joining from Somerville Eagles and…
SOCCER WHEN Luke Mulder gazes into a crystal ball he sees his beloved Somerville Eagles thriving at a purpose-built facility five years from now. The 49-year-old father of four only joined the Eagles in 2017 but for the past three years he has been in charge of the fledgling club’s rollercoaster ride. No other club president in local soccer circles has had to navigate a safe passage through such turbulent waters. That’s because stunning onfield success and cyclonic off-field upheaval have shared top billing in the Somerville saga. Not to mention a pandemic and its effect on the 2020 season.…
SOCCER FOOTBALL Victoria early last week placed a full stop next to the 2020 season for senior teams in the metropolitan region. However the state body clings to the hope that junior competition at both NPL and community club levels can resume in September pending state government approval. The anticipated end to the 2020 season was first announced in an email to clubs and followed up the next day with an official media release whose main points were: Senior metropolitan competitions (NPL and community) will not proceed or resume as fixturedJunior NPL and community club competitions are planned to resume…
SOCCER WHILE Adam Jamieson thinks the 2020 season is all but a write-off he has an idea how Football Victoria could salvage something from the wreckage. The Mornington gaffer has called for the state body to make the most of the opportunity to align elite junior and senior competitions for 2021. “I think the season is pretty much done now,” Jamieson said. “But this is a chance for FV to address what I think is a real disconnect between what they’ve done with the NPL junior season and what the seniors are doing. “I don’t understand how juniors play 33…