SOCCER THE first thing that strikes you as you enter the Centenary Park clubrooms is a bar with a Shiplap timber cladding façade. There’s signage on the façade. It reads: “The Clayton Lee Bar.” Lower your gaze to a 75-year-old grey-haired man with a welcoming smile and a lilting Welsh accent. He is serving behind the bar – his bar – and he’s been doing that for decades. Since July 1982 when the Lee family from south Wales emigrated to Australia Clayton Lee has been one of the constants of the local game. Lee, wife Ann and oldest son Darren…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER ASPENDALE Stingrays captain Peter Dimopoulos has a blunt message for players thinking of joining the State 5 club. “It’s a culture-driven club so no matter how good a player you are you have to be prepared to be part of the group,” the 25-year-old said. “Look, at the end of the day it’s a State 5 club and if you’re not going to get in amongst the boys and be prepared to have a bit of fun then you won’t fit in. “Right now we’re in talks with one or two players to come down and see what they…
SOCCER ANDY McIntyre could become the fourth Mornington player to join Peninsula Strikers in the off-season as the State 2 outfit closes in on the signature of the experienced defender. Campbell Steedman, Stevie Elliott and Jamie Davidson have already moved from Dallas Brooks Park to Centenary Park. Liverpool-born McIntyre, 31, joined Langwarrin during the 2014 season and switched to Mornington for the 2019 season. The promise of better things to come at Strikers was part of the lure of Centenary Park. “Strikers have a lot of young lads coming through and they said they just need a bit of experience…
SOCCER MITCHELL Blake is one of the few local players who can claim to have played for just two clubs in the past 25 years. The 31-year-old’s career kicked off at Lawton Park as a five-year-old defender but he found his football niche eight years later when he switched roles and went up front. That was the trigger for regular Golden Boot awards and the transition from junior to senior football came in spectacular fashion. Current Langwarrin senior assistant Jamie Skelly was coaching Langy’s reserves when Blake was called on. It was an away game against Clifton Hill and the…
SOCCER A CRASH course in coping with senior football this year bodes well for Peninsula Strikers’ assault on the 2023 State 2 South-East championship. That’s the belief of Strikers’ defensive midfielder Calvin Delaney. The 20-year-old (he turns 21 on 30 November) was part of a major squad makeover overseen by his father and senior coach Donn during last pre-season and early signs drew derisive commentary from many onlookers. “Of course we heard the criticism but it was way too harsh,” Calvin Delaney said. “Anyway we were too excited about the season and we didn’t care about the negativity. “A lot…