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Monday’s cup final day at KGV Park was a success.
There must have been about 800 people in attendance and the weather behaved.
Plan B came off for Football Tasmania, who transferred the games from Clennett’s Lightwood Park to KGV Park because the Kingston ground was not in prime condition because of the rain over the weekend.
I wonder if more people would have attended Clennett’s Lightwood Park had we had good weather leading up to the big day? I guess we’ll never know.
As far as I can recall, when the Milan Lakoseljac Memorial Trophy was first instituted, there was a rule that the final always had to be played at KGV Park, the home of Tasmanian football.
I had a chat to Brendan Lakoseljac, the son of the late Milan Lakoseljac, at Monday’s finals and he said he had no recollection of this rule.
I must try and find my original article about the cup and see if I mentioned it.
It seems eminently sensible, though, and the analogy I always draw is this: If Manchester City and Manchester United met in the FA Cup Final, it would be played at Wembley, the home of English football, and not in Manchester.
It was good to see Milan Lajkoseljac’s family at the game, and his granddaughters presenting the medals.
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Tasmania’s top female match official, Lauren Hargrave, came down from Canberra for the cup finals and she was the fourth official in the two women’s cup finals played on the day.
She is certain to officiate at next year’s Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Talking of officials, Brenton Kopra, who refereed the Lakoseljac Cup Final, accidentally received a ball in the face during the game.
It was nasty as the ball was travelling fast and Brenton went down and appeared dazed.
He managed to continue and was cleared of concussion at half-time.
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The death has occurred in Brisbane of former Caledonians defender Tony Dickinson, who was 69.
He passed away after a long illness and several former team-mates and former Tasmanian players attended the funeral.
Dickinson played professionally in England before coming to Tasmania in 1980 but spent only a short spell here.
Peter Brine, the former Middlesborough FC player, who came to Tasmania in 1981 to play for Hobart Juventus was a former team-mate of Dickinson in England.
Brine was one of the finest imports to play here. He and Eric Young, formerly of Manchester United, both played for Hobart Juventus in the early 1980s.
Brine also played for and coached Olympia.
He eventually settled in Townsville, while Young returned to the UK and became a policeman.
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Kingborough Lions United contested the two women's cup finals on Monday but, unfortunately for the club, lost both.
In the Women's State-Wide Cup Final, Launceston United beat Kingborough 3-1, while in the Women's Development League final, Clarence Zebras downed Kingborough 3-0.
Launceston United's American import Alexis Mitchell was player-of-the-match in the Women's final, while Clarence Zebras' Eliana Diafokeris, who scored a hat-trick, was named as player-of-the-match.
It was the first State-wide trophy for Launceston United since 1967.
2 comments:
Hi Walter, with your comment about the venue. In England they chose Wembley because it was the national stadium, the same as in Scotland. The most important aspect to this was that it is neutral. KGV has never been neutral, but in Tasmania there isn't a big enough supporter base to warrant a neutral stadium. When Wembley was being renovated they opted for the Millennium Stadium, again to provide neutrality, as other teams would complain if Man Utd played at home in a cup final. Tasmania needs one very good, purpose built stadium that can be used by 1/2 club teams and also for cup finals.
Hi Walter, Totally agree the Lakoseljac cup should be played at KGV every year. This is where Milan applied and entertained the crowds with his craft. Not sure if it was a rule implemented by FFT but it should be just like the FA Cup in England. FFT need to update and maintain the facilities at KGV to keep the home of football alive in Tasmania.
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