Photo: Croatia's John Michniewski saves from University's Michael Driessen at KGV Park in 1984 (Ralph Dymond Collection)
Something is seriously wrong in the local Division One kingdom.
Northern Suburbs DOSA had the unfortunate distinction of setting a new record for men’s football in Tasmania on Saturday.
The club’s reserves lost 31-0 to Beachside, with Adam Direen netting ten of Beachside’s goals.
The previous record was established in 1993, according to local soccer statistician, Keith Roberts, when in a Division 4 game, New Norfolk beat University Tigers 24-1.
The biggest scores at senior level occurred in the north in 1972 when Launceston Croatia lost 19-0 twice - first to George Town and then to Ulverstone.
The biggest score in the south in the top flight occurred in 1952, when Caledonians beat ANM 17-0, and in 1959, when South Hobart beat Kingston 17-0.
Saturday’s results also featured a 16-0 reserves win for Taroona over Christian United.
These results should be investigated by Football Federation Tasmania because there is obviously something drastically wrong.
The Division One competition feeds the Premier League in terms of promotion for the champion side, but there can be little depth with scores such as these.
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Clarence United are, quite rightly, fuming after the late cancellation of their game against Northern Rangers on Saturday in the state-wide top-four finals series.
With the team bus warming up and the players ready to depart for Launceston, the club was informed mid-morning that the game had been postponed because the ground was unplayable.
Clarence were then asked to front up the next day to play the game in Ulverstone, but declined because of the short notice and the unavailability of some players.
It looks as if the game will now be played in Launceston next Saturday, throwing the finals series back by a week.
The Hobart Olympic women’s team, which was due to play Launceston City in Launceston, reached Campbell Town before being informed their game had been postponed.
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South Hobart, coached by Jed Donoghue, added the Premier League Reserves title to their silverware this season, despite going down to Glenorchy Knights 3-0 on Sunday at South Hobart in their final league match.
South’s seniors, of course, won the Premier League title and so that is the second year in a row that the club has won both the senior and reserve titles.
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I sometimes listen live to “Football Fever”, an excellent radio program about Australian football, which is broadcast on Sydney radio station 2KY on Sunday evenings from 9pm to 11pm.
It is hosted by Paul Williams and Jason Lovelock.
Last Sunday, they interviewed Bonita Mersiades, Football Federation Australia’s Head of Corporate and Public Affairs.
During the interview, Mersiades was asked about a Tasmanian A-League bid.
She said that no bid had yet been received from Tasmania and that if one were to be received in the future it might be considered if there was an expansion of the A-League beyond 12 teams.
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Michael Driessen made an appearance for University's senior Premier League side some weeks ago in the postponed match against Clarence United on a Thursday evening at Wentworth Park.
The veteran had not played senior football for some seasons.
Michael told me he almost scored and that reminded me of his days playing for University.
Above is a photograph of Michael, taken by Ralph Dymond, showing him almost scoring for University against Croatia-Glenorchy back in about 1984.
The goalkeeper making the save is none other than John Michniewski, who had come to Tasmania after playing professionally in the US.
A professional from Poland initially, Michniewski came to Tasmania to join New Town Eagles, but after they were relegated, he joined Croatia.
38 comments:
walter,no amount of fancy footwork around the boardroomtable will fix div 1 unless some facts are faced.standardwise the real div 1 is the premierleague reserveleague.the top 3 premierleague reserveteams would comfortably hold a spot in the premierleague.with our small population we dont really have the luxury of hiding a lot of the better players away in a reserve league while we expect teams from the present division 1 to step up two grades to premierleague.the present system only assures that the weaker clubs remain weak,while the top 3 premierleague clubs are top heavy with talent.it would have been interesting to see the likes of metro playing against the top 3 premierleague reserves sides.while fft keeps on with the policy of forcing clubs into youth developement before they can play in the higher leagues the competition will suffer.only teams that prove on the park that they belong in the top 3 divisions should be there,no ,matter wich club they belong to.the offseason should be the busiest time for all the clubs and all that time spent on recruiting people from all age groups to come and join their club.we should not judge a aclubs succes by the silverware it wins every season but by the number of teams it puts on the park every week.the clubs cannot hold fft responsible for the growth of the game,the onus is on the clubs themselves to see their club grow.the more people they can get to play the better it is financially as well.
Walter - not sure why Driess would have told you that I can tell you that he definately did not play for KLUSC seniors this year and has not for at least 6 o r 7 years, I may be wrong but I don't think he was even registered for KLUSC, strange set of circumstances...
FFT have over recent years, made extremely strong clubs inelligible to compete in the Div1competition. The question is: have these players from clubs moved to Div 2embraced other clubs in the quest for a better quality league?
In my clubs case, no. Players have chosen to play Div 2 this year, not participate at all, or choose to play at a higher level within the club. The exception is 2 guys who fit the last catagory but with different clubs.
I can only speak for myself, but the reason I choose to play Div 2 for Newtown Eagles is loyalty. I have been involved there since the early 90's and have met life long friends, many of whom still have a social kick.
The worry with the decision made last year, is that after participating well, the league lost a team that finished runner up, Kingbrough and Kingston Cannons which took points off a lot of good sides, and replaced them with 2 Premier League squads, and a club which didnt win Div 2.
That means the heart has been ripped out of the comp, and unfortunately made it extremely lopsided.
I remember South Hobart in recent years have also had strong Div 1 outfits. My worry is where the players have gone from these teams. I reckon we have lost up to 10 guys from last years teams due to the decision. Thats 10 blokes not participating and that is a concern.
Where does FFT go from here. It will be interesting.
Walter the new norfolk - uni tigers game brings back a giggle i recall the game and my solo goal before being benched.
the goal uni got by memory was scored by new norfolk , uni didnt have enough players so in the interest of playing the game some new norfolk players swapped sides and one of them scored for uni .
no sheep stations to play for and the interest of the game and players counted more on the day ...
truly one of the only times a friendly actually was hahaha .
That is a disturbing scoreline, does anyone know if they had 11 players on the park?
Charlie
My mistake completely. Michael was playing for University against Clarence on that recent Thursday night. I wasn't thinking straight (yet again!). Thanks for drawing my attention to the error, and, Michael, if you read this, I apologise. You did tell me you played for University. I will correct the post.
That makes the photo even more relevant in a way!
Cheers!
DOSA only had 9 guys on the park. and some were doubling up after U19. to their credit they remained on the park for 90 mins but it was disheartening even to be playing on the winning team. Big concerns for div 1. margins like that don't improve a league nor do they do anything positive for players on either team.
Walter,
With Regards to the CLARENCE V RANGERS Game.
FFT conducted a ground inspection on Friday and past the ground as playable.
Heavy Rain started early Saturday morning and did not stop until around 1300hrs.
This caused considerable water to sit on the surface, and would have made for a repeat of Devonport Vs Burnie for sure If Clarence had have made it to Launceston.
I can appreciate they were disapointed, however, atleast they had not arrived yet.
Our president was given three options by FFT. PLay Sunday at Ulverstone, Play mid week at KGV or Play Sunday at KGV, guess which we picked?
We had already travled to Hobart for SWC on Saturday prior, (which by rights should have been played in the North, as this was always played one year in the north, next in the south, somehow we missed the opportunity to host it), couldnt expect the guys to travel south again!
Clarence Prez then rang ours, to discuss options as it sounded they were going to forfeit if game went ahead on Sunday, Our president said and I quote as I was present, "We will go with what ever FFT decide, but we have put in our preference"
At the end of the day, what can anyone do about the weather? we would have loved to play, but after watching our Under 16's play in those conditions earlier in the day, I can say Im glad the game didnt go ahead!
Pretty disappointing from DOSA to not organise players, even if a few of the senior players could have helped them out.. DOSA senior team was barely division 1 standard this year, reserves and 19 struggled, but its as a club they were a long way off with results like that! But with the rules the way they are who else is there to make up the numbers??? i agree with what fft are trying to do with the competition structure, but a couple of teams are way behind the 8 ball!
freddy it is those rules that ruin competition,nothing should ever interfere with that.you will never get leagues of evenly matched teams unless the leagues are sorted out on the park instead of round the boardroomtable.after all the game is about teams and the people in those teams.
Capt Aus - front page on sunday examiner showed div 1 nthn rangers playing at churchill park on saturday.
was this ground better than birch rd????
I feel for Dosa as it will only hurt the club, but what can they do when players opted to play for clubs like Clarence,South,etc. who have up to 3 or 5 teams in a single league and Div one struggle to find players. No matter how hard they try, if out of 3 or 4 teams a club can not pick the best team there will be something wrong with the club. some Div 1 teams have just Manage to fill a team or nine players, big difference. It is not FFT or clubs fault but the parent or Mature player who think his kid is better off playing premier league club and to pay hundreds of dollar to get their child playing for that club but could not register their child for a lower fee with Div 1's. Please read with in the line here as my English is not the best.
Freddy, in regard to "the rules" and who is eligible to apply for Div 1:
Barnstenworth, Huon Valley, Kingston Cannons,Phoenix, New Norfolk and Woodbridge.
Huon and Cannons opted out of it this year due to the criteria I believe.
Pixel, you have a point regarding which clubs players go. Success will bring players. If I had no allegiance to a club today I would choose a successful one with a good setup for my playing ability. That is why the "best" set up clubs will get a good playing membership.
I cant speak for Dosa, but the sympathy reaches only so far, if there was a knowledge that a lack of staff were available before the season then it has itself to blame for the critism, and I dont in anyway mean the players.
The dynamics of teams will change year to year, as Hobart United's seasons have shown, but I reckon the consistent clubs year in, year out are the ones best administered.
marty,if clubs had something to play for and there was a reward for success then especially the weaker clubs would have more chance of hanging on to their better players.and as you say succes will attract others who want to be part of it.
The rules should stay, its no good playing a kingbour, new town, south hobart team that 1 week is weak and the following very strong due to players dropping back or moving up, it creates inconsistant results and is unfair to the other clubs.. i think the league structure needs time thats all, i just hope teams like dosa take it seriously next year!
freddy i have no doubt the dosa guys take it seriously.they haven proven that by turning up every week and taking the hidings.it is the present system that is unfair to dosa,nelson and hobart.they were forced to face teams that are two or 3 grades better then they are
I agree Freddy, with the fact players can move downwards into lower divisions, be it 1 senior, and 2 reserves at a time. We even in Div 2 use the rule if we are short, with permission from Premier and reserve coaches.
Would you accept a team from a premier club without this concession??? Ie our Eagles side cannot choose anyone in a higher league.
any club should be able to drop a player to a lower league because of formloss or coming back from an injury,it only becomes a problem freddy if the whole higher league side was used to obtain a result in a lower league.that sort of scenario can easily be regulated.
Jerrie, i wasnt talking about the dosa players more about the committee and organising your club so that 9 players dont turn up to play i think a very good beachside reserve side!
Marty, yea that wouldnt bother me at all so you would hav your own squad as such?? and i suppose under 19's too??? almost a stand alone team apart from the committee ect...
Anything is achievable Freddy, without recruiting, we now would have access to 2 div 2 sides, 1 div 3 side and an under 18 squad.
back to reserves and then div 2 i agree and the same in div 1 back to reserves then div 2 or 3 but if you have premier and div 1 you can end up with very inconsistant results because you end up with very inconsistant teams on the park. thats unfair on a team that possibly plays you at differant times.
yes freddy even the goal averages in that league show a total mismatch
i suppose you need to keep an eye on what happens next year jerrie to see if the other clubs keep improving. Some of the clubs in div 1 have lots of youth coming through. im sure that will show next year. but what im getting from your comments you wouldnt hav much idea about whats going on..
Just a correction there Capt Oz, it was Andrew Brown the Clarence coach who rang me not their president.
????? wasnt Rangers Div 1 it was Rangers under 14 div 1. Part of the NTJSA comp.
Think Birch may have been a bit better than that but not much from what I hear
point taken freddy lol.i am a 60 year old geriatric with alzheimers setting in,with 2 sons playing today.since rapid no longer exists i hope newtown eagles will wipe the floor with everyone next year.i spent a great time there.freddy youth comin thru is great but it does not mean automatic improvement.basically it only means that the next generation of players is getting ready.out of every hundred kids you might find 3 or 4 with above average talent.the great thing is that today we some avenues to take these kids further ie ken morton,tis and clarence and i believe zebras also have a program going.freddy unless we allow the strongest teams with the best players to make up the top 3 divisions those kids will still face the same issues as the present day players,namely cricket scores instead of football scores.the only way to get even competetive leagues is by earning your spot on the park.it will never be archieved around the boardroomtable
In todays modern game of football with loyalty gone out the window and the desire to achieve success by our acalades won on the ground more the driving desire it leaves us in the situation something like this.
1. we play the game as it is with the strong teams naturally drawing the eye of would be stars.
2. the weaker teams having to find more consistent players to bolster there ranks rather than the household name players.
3.we hope that the new found desire by clubs and officialdom continues so that the current rush of rising stars continues and that these move to all clubs not just the ones with a premiership in there eyes.
The only bad senario i see is too few clubs if some are dropped to help field sides and this resulting in the old mundane game of playing the same fiddle too often and leading into the same old game play week in weeek out.
honestly the amount of teams playing in tasmania isnt the problem at the moment its keeping them interested in playing and this ultimately meaning the retention of players that saeem to drift away well before there days of good play is over.
This has to filter down from the top with consistency at admin level through to club level and then and most impportantly player level with people playing there chosen sport for the pure love of the game and not its political agendas.
walter, from what i hear the Olympic Womens team was almost at the ground when they received a call from FFT. pitch inspection on Friday? it has rained even heavier in Launceston these past few weeks and if they had checked on the forecast, the sun would have been only shining you know where!! we can blame the weather as much as much as we want to and we are all frustrated, but some better planning would help.
oh my god jerrie are you really 60 i thought sam was ya dad hahahaha guess im still a spring chicken at 54 ehhhhhhhhhhh
some very good points there irate and yes sam is my youngest.regarding the points you make all the more reason to give every player something to play for,after all they all pay a fair amount of money to play and there should be absolutely no discrimination,if you are good enough you should be allowed to reach your highest possible level.to help clubs retain their better players they have to have something to play for
as you see irate sam has a lot to put up with lol
yes jerrie he does but so does my boy with all the crud i give him. wasnt that long ago they both played along side each other instead of as opponents with sam attempting to save his shots but there the players to create interest for the younger ones coming through the ranks and this is what is needed i guess -- more names people recognise and mention daily , like the old days when croatia was croatia and white eagles were white eagles etc etc etc.. thank heavens we have a mediator in walter who calls a spade a spade to keep things in perspective ehhh
what about a salary cap or a draft or zones????
is your boy at eagles irate?
no jerrie he is that infamous striker at knights
good point ???? but how do you cap someone that doesnt get paid thats 95 percent of tasmanian players and hard to enforce a zoned player setup when there is nothing to make then follow it. if your not paid to play and someone says go here or there i know were they will go and it aint to football im afraid.the zones work for juniors . ie: northern ,eastern and central had there areas but kids seem to have more loyalty and devotion than older players so i dont think that would work
i gladly go into the zone with cap in hand to get a salary irate and ????????????.
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