SOCCER ASPENDALE Stingrays are on track to christen their multi-million dollar Aspendale Gardens Sports Ground facility in 2021. The $12.5 million multipurpose complex will allow the State 5 club to reboot its expansion plans and immediately grow its junior program. The Kerr Crescent project is jointly funded by Kingston council ($8.5m) and state government ($4m). For some time now Football Victoria’s 2018 Club of the Year has been forced to curtail training to one session a week for most of its junior teams but the AGSG facility should address that problem. “Our biggest restriction over the past five years has…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER LANGWARRIN has re-signed Scott Miller as head coach for the 2021 season. It will be the former Fulham and Socceroo assistant’s third year at the helm. “I signed on again because I’ve enjoyed my time there,” Miller said. “I think the club needed a little push in a different direction and that’s what I like to think we’ve provided there. “Obviously this year was out of our control but we’d put together a good squad and were performing well in pre-season and starting to play a game style we wanted to play. “My intention and the coaching staff’s intention…
SOCCER ANDY Lancaster has made a sudden departure from the Seaford United coaching setup. The club icon emailed president Willie Lyn recently to tell him of his decision to end his coaching partnership with senior player-coach Matt Morris-Thomas. Lancaster had a long and distinguished playing career at North Seaford Reserve. He is a three times senior best and fairest winner and is the club’s second highest scorer behind legendary goal ace David Greening. He also has served on the committee and only stepped down earlier this year from his role as sponsorship coordinator to concentrate on his coaching duties. There…
SOCCER THE long-awaited announcement of Football Victoria’s refunds policy was made late last week. The policy was prefaced by a reference to a recent Australian Sports Foundation survey on the severe economic impact of the pandemic. It estimated the total financial loss to Australia’s 70,000 community sports clubs to be around $1.6 billion which jeopardises the survival of many. FV hasn’t been immune to the impact of having its competitions disrupted by suspension and eventual cancellation. The federation stood down most of its staff from March and all of its staff from August. It has been formulating a refund policy…
SOCCER SOMERVILLE Eagles senior coach Stan Packer and assistant Paul Robinson have committed to the State League 4 outfit for 2021. Packer filled the void last June created by David Greening’s unexpected departure. Director of football Zach Peddersen was delighted with the news and has given both coaches his backing. “I’m really pleased to have Stan and Paul leading the club forward in 2021,” Peddersen said. “Both are keen to get stuck into pre-season as soon as restrictions allow us. “Stan’s been busy speaking with our squad from last year and Paul is looking into bringing youth into our reserves.”…