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Sydney Olympic FC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sydney Olympic FC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Sydney Olympic Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore, New South Wales (Capacity 11,500) |
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| Chairman | James Kospetas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head Coach | Milan Blagojevic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | New South Wales Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | NSW Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian football (soccer) club based in Sydney, Australia. The club has also been known as Pan-Hellenic, UTS Olympic and Olympic Sharks. The club currently wear Errea shirts.
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Sydney Olympic was founded in 1958[1] by Greek immigrants, under the name Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club . The original strip as worn by the club consisted of blue and white vertical stripes. The club quickly became competitive in the New South Wales 1st Division, and also attracted good crowds. The highlight of the pre-National Soccer League era came ten years after the team's founding, when in 1968 they reached the New South Wales First Division Grand Final, eventually going down 4-2 to Hakoah.
In 1977 the club became a founding member of the National Soccer League, and also changed its name to Sydney Olympic. Just two years after the commencement of the NSL, Sydney Olympic was relegated back to the New South Wales First Division after finishing second last in 1979. The relegation was caused in a bid by the league to cut back on teams from NSW, and as Sydney Olympic were the bottom placed NSW team for the 1979 season, were the chosen candidate for relegation. South Melbourne had actually finished at the bottom of the league ladder.
The spell back in State League competition did not last long with Sydney Olympic defeating the Parramatta Eagles 4-0 in the 1980 Grand Final of the New South Wales First Division. That victory secured Sydney Olympic a return to top flight Australian football in 1981 where they remained until the NSL's demise in 2004.
After three consecutive mid-table finishes from 1981-1983, Olympic became one of the more formidable sides of the competition in the remainder of the 1980s. This period included Grand Final losses in 1984 to South Melbourne, 1986 to Adelaide City and 1989 to cross-city rival Marconi. The following season, the NSL's first summer season, saw Olympic overturn their loss to Marconi when the two teams met again in the season 1989/90 Grand Final. Sydney Olympic won the game 2-0 with goals to Alistair Edwards and Robert Ironside before a crowd of 26,353 which was a record at that time in Australian club soccer.
The 1990s saw Olympic slip back somewhat, with a series of mid-table finishes, and a poor record in the finals when they did reach them. In season 1995/96, Sydney Olympic formed a partnership with the University of Technology, Sydney and became known as UTS Sydney Olympic. During that time, the club's home ground was Leichhardt Oval. Season 1996/97 saw a change of home ground to the Belmore Sports Ground. In April of 1997, Sydney Olympic enjoyed a record home attendance at Belmore of 13,724 against the Marconi Stallions. The club's worst defeat came in January 1998 when the Canberra Cosmos inflicted an 8-1 loss on Olympic. During season 1998/99 Sydney Olympic was involved in the match which attracted the largest crowd for a home and away game in the NSL's history. In what was the Northern Spirit's début match in the NSL, a crowd of 18,985 saw Sydney Olympic defeat the Spirit at North Sydney Oval 2-0.
The 2000s saw Olympic's fortunes take an upturn, starting with their biggest ever NSL win, a 6-0 defeat of South Melbourne in January 2000 at Belmore Sports Ground. Season 2000/01 saw Sydney Olympic finish fourth on the competition ladder. During the finals, Olympic made it through to the Preliminary Final, losing 2-0 against Minor Premier and eventual runner-up South Melbourne.
Season 2001/02 saw the club move base once again, this time to the Sutherland Shire in Sydney's south, an area with no NSL representation, but a large base of registered junior players to potentially tap into. Olympic played out of Toyota Park. The move had also involved a change of name from Sydney Olympic to Olympic Sharks with the traditional blue and white colours of the club still in place. This season also saw Olympic capture their second NSL title, a lone Ante Milicic goal being enough to defeat Perth Glory at Subiaco Oval in front of 42,000 fans. The following season saw the Olympic Sharks win its first ever minor premiership by finishing on top of the NSL ladder, which eventually lead to a rematch of the previous season's final. This time however, it would be Perth who would take out the title, winning 2-0.
Despite the on field successes, the move to the Sutherland Shire was short lived. Poor attendances took their toll on the venture and for season 2003/2004 the club chose to revert to the widely preferred name of Sydney Olympic and moving to OKI Jubilee Stadium at Kogarah. Following the demise of the NSL in 2004, Sydney Olympic participated in the NSW Premier League and just missed out on the end-of-season final series. In 2006 Sydney Olympic returned to Belmore Sports Ground and also forged a relationship with the Eastern Suburbs Soccer Football Association.
Sydney Olympic celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2007, with the club's jersey reverting to the original blue and white vertical striped design.
The Sydney Olympic Supporters Committee is a voluntary group who work incessantly to assist the club with fundraising and match day operations. With corporate sponsorship becoming harder to come by, the Supporters Committee is an integral element; its importance symbolic of the relationship between club and community.
Another well known supporter is Manuel Plomaritis, also known as 'Aliti' on the Sydney Olympic forums. Mr Plomaritis is also commonly interviewed about Olympic on local Greek radio. Mr Plomaritis is a common fixture at Sydney Olympic games (both home and away). Mr Plomaritis has recently declared his support for A League club Sydney FC and has even suggested merger talks between Olympic and Bankstown City. He is also a fervent proponent for a B League where the youth of soccer in Australia can learn their playing skills and be instilled with, to quote Mr Plomaritis, "tradition, passion and a sense of Olympic forever."
All funds raised by their endeavours are directed back to Sydney Olympic FC in order to assist with the administration of the club. One regular fund-raising activity is the weekly Monday night poker tournament that takes place at the "Alexander the Great Club" at Marrickville. Weekly prizes are obtained, and a running championship point system also operates and a season-long winner is crowned. All members of the community as well as beginners are invited to attend. Champion of the inaugural season and current cup holder is 'Ravpav of SOCOG'. The most famous incident thus far was Aliti folding four kings and an ace (unbelievable but true). Apparently Aliti didn't like the fact that the kings on the playing cards were coloured red and black instead of blue and white.
- National Soccer League Champions 1989/1990, 2001/2002
- National Soccer League Runners Up: 3 Times
- National Soccer League Minor Premiers 2002/2003
- National Soccer League Cup Winners 1983, 1985
- New South Wales Super League (Premier League) Winners 1980
NSL Player of the Year Awawrd
- 1982 - Peter Katholos
NSL Top Goalscorer Award
- 1991/1992 - Tim Bredbury
- 1998/1999 - Pablo Cardozo
NSL Under 21 Player of the Year Award
- 1997/1998 - Brett Emerton
Mark Brennan (1998-99)- Mick Coady (1982-84)
Ian Rush (1999-2000) 2 apps 1 goal
Brett Emerton (1996-2000)- Tim Cahill (1994-96}
Glen Moss (2003-2004)
| Preceded by Marconi Stallions |
NSL Champions 1989/90 |
Succeeded by South Melbourne |
| Preceded by Wollongong Wolves |
NSL Champions 2001/02 |
Succeeded by Perth Glory |
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Football in Australia by state
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| Southern: Football NSW |
Northern: Northern NSW Football |
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