SOCCER
SOMERVILLE Eagles and Rosebud United announced new coaches last week for their 2027 seasons.
State 5 side Somerville appointed Liam George to his first senior coaching position while newly merged State 4 side Rosebud United opted for a joint senior coaching set-up with Mark Larner and Julien dos Santos at the helm.
George has a strong background in NPL junior boys and senior men’s programs and has a Football Australia C licence.
He was in charge of Skye United’s reserves for four seasons before returning to his boyhood club Langwarrin as under-16 boys NPL head coach.
He became Langy’s joint technical director alongside Gus Macleod but moved to Springvale White Eagles as head coach of the under-19s for the 2025 season.
He stepped up to manage the under 23s for the final four matches of 2025 and was re-appointed to lead them into the 2026 VPL2 season.
So what attracted him to the Somerville job?
“I knew the work that Zach (Peddersen) and Craig (Bozelle) had done and that they had a good squad,” George said.
“The culture looks to be top notch and I want to build on the work that Mark (Larner) has done.
“He got the team into fifth spot this year and has given us something that we can work on.
“If we bring in players they’ll probably be local and not just a good fit in terms of the club’s culture but they must be able to play their part in the way we want to play.”
George plans to start pre-season next month and is looking at “one maybe two” practice matches before Christmas.
He is in talks with the club about his assistants.
“We’ll likely appoint from within but I’m looking to bring someone in from outside as well.”
The unusual part of Rosebud United’s joint coaching decision is that dos Santos and Larner had not met prior to the selection process.
“I didn’t know Julien beforehand but from the conversations and meetings that we’ve had we have a similar idea of how we want the side to play and how we want the club to evolve by bringing the junior and senior sides of things together,” Larner said.
“Only time will tell how that works out but we’ve both got some good ideas and hopefully we can complement each other.”
Larner brings extensive experience across both elite player development and senior football.
His coaching qualifications include an English FA Level 2 Coaching Certificate, a Welsh FA C licence and a Football Australia C licence.
He has worked within Melbourne City’s elite academy programs as well as holding coaching and development roles with Football Victoria including head coach of its Schools Academy and involvement in its All Abilities program.
He was head coach of Mount Martha before spending the last three seasons as head coach of Somerville Eagles.
In addition to his senior coaching responsibilities Larner has been appointed Rosebud United’s technical director overseeing coaching development, football methodology and the establishment of consistent standards and player pathways throughout the club.
“The TD side is definitely a three-year project from my perspective but the senior coaching side is really a matter of seeing how things pan out.”
First choice goalkeeper Colin McCormack has retired and Larner acknowledged McCormack’s importance to the side.
“He’s a massive loss but the consensus is that the rest of the squad is really competitive.
“We may bring in one or two but we are hopeful that at least 85 to 90 percent of the squad will return so apart from Colin there’s no real gap to be filled.”
Dos Santos brings over 15 years of coaching experience across junior, youth and senior football.
He has a UEFA B coaching qualification and his coaching background includes roles as under-19 head coach and technical director at Moreland City as well as five years of involvement at Rosebud.
“Julien has a strong understanding of the current playing group, the local football environment and the culture of the club,” Rosebud United president Stuart Johnston said.
“Most recently he helped guide Rosebud’s reserves from the bottom of the table to a second-place finish also stepping into the senior men’s coaching role for the final two weeks of the 2026 season and helping the team secure its place in State League 4.”
As expected Johnston was upbeat about the coaching appointments and confident that one of his committee’s first major decisions would be a success.
“In Mark and Julien we have two highly qualified coaches who bring different strengths and experiences but importantly share a willingness to collaborate, challenge each other and put the interests of the players and the club first.
“We have a wonderful opportunity with Rosebud United to build a club that genuinely connects junior development with senior football.
“A strong junior pathway should make our senior football stronger and a successful senior program should give our younger players something to aspire to.”
Meanwhile Frankston Pines held its presentation night recently with Howie Anderson winning the senior men’s best and fairest with Jaden Taberner runner-up.
Anderson also won the players’ player award with Kenny Akalan runner-up.
Akalan won the Golden Boot award and the 1% award went to Zac Beitner.
In the reserves young Lachie Salter won the best and fairest, players’ player and Golden Boot awards.
Best and fairest runner-up was Brent Brown and players’ player runner-up was Caleb Parr.
Pines’ senior women were also celebrating promotion from State 6 and Chloe Sadler-Gray won the best and fairest award with Marce Tombra runner-up.
The players’ player winner was Dayna Lawrence and Maggie Salloum was runner-up.
Salloum’s remarkable 54-goal haul earned her league and club Golden Boot honours.
The players’ player in the women’s over-35s was Alice Gillies, the coaches’ award went to Berta Armijo and Vanessa Weaver won most improved.
Skye United recently announced the results of its presentation night.
Marcus Spivey won the senior men’s best and fairest and Golden Boot awards.
Best and fairest runners-up were Benjamin Lund and Jason Nowakowski.
John Ramsden men’s player of the year was Paul Aitchison and the Chris Attard recognition and appreciation award went to Manuel Varas.
Reserves best and fairest was Brodie Varas and the runner-up was Ben Geurts.
The Golden Boot award was shared by Liam Attard and Sebastian Stevens while the rising star award went to Sirnan Turky.
Alex Jones won the State 3 women’s best and fairest and Golden Boot awards, Charlotte Chard was best and fairest runner-up and the rising star winner was Elysahbeth Umback.
The State 5 women’s best and fairest was Sophie Clarke, the runners-up were Victoria Maltar and Madison Plompen while Plompen won the Golden Boot award.
