From the archives - 19 October 1996

Today is the last day of 2018 so I thought I’d delve into the past and revive some Tasmanian football history.

Perhaps we can learn something from history so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.

I reached into my archives and pulled out the match program from the 1996 Wrest Point State League Grand Final.

Most of my younger readers will be surprised to see that this grand final was played on Saturday, 19 October 1996, at KGV Park, with the kick-off at 7.15pm.

How many of you are shocked that the season went for so long?

It wasn’t long for fans and players.  That was a normal season.

I feel our season is now too short and I admit that I am a fan of four rounds in the current State League, the NPL Tasmania competition.

It comprises nine teams and I reckon there should be 32 games per team in all.

Now that the summer cup is history, and now that we have artificial pitches and Daylight Saving Time, 32 rounds should be a piece of cake and fair to all.

It would certainly sort the sheep from the goats and the most consistent team would win the title, having played every other team four times  -  twice at home and twice away.

Back in 1996, there was a Cadbury League in the south and a Boags Premier League in the north.  Both were the second-tier competitions immediately below the State League.

The day (19 October 1996) began with the Cadbury Boags State Premiership Cup match between University and Burnie at 2.30pm.

This was the second leg of the final and University won 4-3 and 8-6 on aggregate.

The teams were:

University:  Alistair Bain, Grant Anderson, David Proctor, Paul Enkelaar, Craig Cooper, Shane West, Simon Goninon, Scott Barlow [now Chairman of A-League club Sydney FC], Matthew Shaw, Michael MacDonald, Graham Crook, Mark Rapley, Chris Green, John McCarthy, John Demir [Andrew Robinson (Coach), Doug Gray (Manager), Ron Coutts (Physio)]

Burnie:  Mark Overton, Ian Miller, Russ Troughton, David Mitchell, Scott Parke, Tim Jones, Rodney Smith, Chris Olsen, Rodney Leary, Hugo Luttmer, Simon Jago, Trent Johnson, Allen Parke, Ray Parke, Shane O’Neill [Ray Parke (Coach), John Wheeler (Manager)]

Denis Laing was the referee, assisted by Graham Vines and Tom Hutchinson.

That game was followed at 5pm by the Wrest Point State Youth Grand Final between Launceston Juventus and South Hobart.

Launceston Juventus won 3-0 with two goals by Jon Mereszka and one from Shaun Miller.

The teams were:

Launceston Juventus:  Alastair McGrath-Kerr, Darryl Brownlie, Tomas Pinkewicz, Liam Monagle, William Hernandez, David Newman, David Craig, Peter Savill, Shaun Miller, Thomas Martschinki. Jonathan Mereszka, Adam Clydesdale, Ian McGrath-Kerr [Chris Couch (Coach), Robert Morgan (Manager), David McKay (Physio)]

South Hobart:  Kristian Beardwood, Mark Scotney, Bret Anderton, Paul Thomas, Dion Byas, Garth Plunkett, Bernhard Klasen, Luke Rayner, Ashton Maggs, Chris Rayner, Jared Richardson, Luke Barlow, Nathan Robinson, Nigel Binns, Kirk Stanton, Will Russell [Bret Anderton (Coach), John McCormack (Manager), Ian Colhoun (physio), John Harbinson (Trainer)]

Craig Granger was the referee, Troy Smith and Stuart Day the assistants, and Tom Hutchinson the fourth official.

The State League Grand Final kicked off at 7.15pm, as previously stated, and at half-time there was the J Boags & Son 50 metre dash final, a sprint race.

Olympia beat White Eagle 2-1.

The teams were:

White Eagle:  Craig Jones, Ricky Turner, Martin Nidorfer, Michael Driessen, Richard Ketchell, Craig Pitt, David Stoddart, Scott Young, Colin Sherpherd, Matthew Holloway, Paul Morrison, Adam Jones, Andrew Savage, Richard Leszczynski [Mark Leszczynski (Coach), Chris White (Manager), Frank Bansel (Trainer)]

Olympia:  Neil Connell, Chris Hey, Corey Slade, Geoffrey Vaughan, Michael Berwick, Glen McNeill, Peter Tsakiris, Raymond Benson, Trevor Carson, George Kalis, Craig Nichols, Matthew Sly, Greg Calvert, Rowan Trappes, Alan Rankine, John Ioannou [David Crosson (Coach), Russell Allie (Physio)]

Kim Barker was the referee, assisted by Rebecca Di Martino and Leon Ashlin, while Paul Jones was the fourth official.

Richard Leszczynski gave White Eagle the lead in the 16^th minute and that’s how it stayed until half-time.

Referee Kim Barker awarded Olympia a penalty in the second half which was converted by Glen McNeill, while Trevor Carson headed the winner for Olympia from Alan Rankine's corner.

David Smith, the recently appointed coach of Hobart Zebras, was the CEO of Soccer Tasmania in 1996, while John Barker was president of Soccer Tasmania.

Devonport won the Ansett Northern Women’s League that year, while Nelson Blue won the Ansett Southern Women’s League.

May I wish everyone a happy New Year and all the best for 2019.

It doesn’t look as if my new website is going to get up, so this site is the one to go to from now on.