SOCCER JASON Grieve was offered two State 4 coaching jobs in 24 hours last week and not long after was unveiled as the new head coach of Frankston Pines. Grieve was interviewed for the Pines job the night before Baxter offered him its senior role. The 53-year-old was in demand after a five-year stint at Mentone during which he took the club into State 4 and consolidated its status. “I guess Baxter for me was the right job at the wrong time,” he said.“Pines was more of an opportunity to shape the whole club – it’s a much bigger role…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER EARLY this year Rob Vickery was set to scale down his involvement with Langwarrin but by the end of October he’d started his first year as president of the biggest soccer club in Frankston and the peninsula.The 56-year-old says it was the realisation of Langwarrin’s place in the community that triggered his backflip.“I sat through a presentation and had a moment when I realised this is a massive part of our community with over 750 players and we simply can’t afford to stuff this up,” Vickery said.“I’d done a lot of work in many different areas of the club…
SOCCERNEW Frankston Pines president Liz Diaz is under no illusions about the enormity of the task ahead. After slumping to a second successive relegation the Monterey Reserve club has now lost its entire executive plus senior coach Donn Delaney and is bracing for a player exodus. But it’s not just a personnel shake-up that confronts Diaz. “We’re not in a great place financially and I think everyone knows that,” she said. “Others might want to sugar-coat it but I prefer transparency. “We’re starting from the bottom of the hill.”It’s believed that the debt is close to $30,000, a far cry…
SOCCER THERE are derbies galore in State 4 South next year and Ben Symonds can’t wait to throw himself headlong into the action. The 21-year-old Rosebud midfielder is fresh off a championship in his first full senior season and already the lure of squaring up to Frankston Pines, Chelsea, Baxter, Somerville Eagles and Mentone excites him. “Oh yeah we’re all looking forward to the derbies,” Symonds said. “Everyone gets really pumped up and it’s a different level of excitement. “There’s an extra edge to a derby for sure.”Symonds has no doubt that the ’Buds will need to go to another…
Soccer CAN Derren Elliott and Mount Martha defy the critics and join the race for promotion from State 5 South next season?The Mariners were granted State League status in late 2019 but have played just three full seasons since due to the impact of the pandemic. And despite never finishing in the top half of the league new head coach Charlie Platt and new assistant Elliott have set an ambitious goal for 2025. “Look it’s too early to say we’re going to do this or we’re going to do that but if everything comes together then I’m hoping that at…