SOCCER MORNINGTON won its fifth Steve Wallace Memorial Cup on Saturday and will use its success as a springboard for a tilt at the State 1 South-East championship and an NPL berth. It was the sixth staging of the annual charity event which is a celebration of the local game and honours Stephen William Wallace, Langwarrin life-member and former club president, committeeman, coach, player and Bayside League referee who died on 19 July 2011 at the age of 54. The tournament had its fair share of controversy centring on disputed refereeing decisions and an argument over which sides should play…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER SCRIPTWRITERS for the hit TV series Vikings could draw inspiration from the goings-on at Southern United. The NPL women’s club came into being in late 2015 as a consortium comprised of representatives from Langwarrin, Casey Comets, Mornington, Peninsula Strikers and Seaford United. There was much fanfare and high expectations for a club with the largest catchment area in the elite competition. But while trying to find its feet in the newly created league Southern found itself slowly but surely immersed in a civil war that would have brought a smile to the face of Ivar the Boneless. The club’s…
SOCCER FOOTBALL Federation Victoria will announce this week that Peninsula Strikers have been reinstated in State 2 South-East after being relegated last season. The federation contacted Strikers late last week with an offer of reinstatement and the club jumped at the chance. Reports that State 1 North-West club Bendigo City had pulled its senior team out of competition and that a State 1 South-East side had taken up that vacancy remain unconfirmed. However South Springvale, which was relegated from State 1 South-East last season is understood to have been reinstated thereby creating the vacancy for Strikers. The remarkable turnaround has…
SOCCER THE draw for the 2018 Steve Wallace Memorial Cup has been conducted and this year’s tournament features eight clubs split into two groups. Group A comprises Langwarrin, Casey Comets, Peninsula Strikers and Baxter. Group B is made up of Mornington, Frankston Pines, Seaford United and Skye United. The annual fundraiser for the emergency department at Frankston Hospital will be held at Baxter Park on Saturday 3 February. The Bayside Football Association will again supply the referees and event organiser Tanya Wallace is seeking donations for the major raffle to be conducted on the day. She can be contacted on…
SOCCER SKYE United completed the first signing coup of 2018 when it convinced scoring legend Caleb Nicholes to come out of retirement and join the State 3 South-East promotion candidate. Nicholes, 35, had three stints with Langwarrin having first joined the club in 1999. He has also played with Fitzroy City, Frankston Pines, East Richmond and Springvale White Eagles and scored 192 goals for Langy. Nicholes made 249 league appearances for the Lawton Park outfit and won an unprecedented 10 club Golden Boot awards. He retired after playing in last year’s State 1 South-East championship side and scored in the…