I’m hearing reports that Southern Championship club Olympia Warriors are considering a merger with NPL club Clarence Zebras.
Olympia held a special extraordinary general meeting yesterday and a proposal for this merger was passed by 31 votes to 27.
It would have to be passed by the club’s Board before any definite action could be taken.
And the Board of Clarence Zebras would have to approve the proposal as well.
I’m not sure who attended yesterday’s meeting, but I am led to believe that many of the club’s traditional Greek supporters may not have been there.
A merger between a Greek-backed club and an Italian-backed club would be extraordinary and possibly unique in Australian football.
It would be anathema to many traditional supporters of both sides.
How many traditional supporters there are these days, however, is open to question.
Former Olympia president George Mamacas has come back from New Zealand to live in Australia again.
He is currently overseas but I’d love to ask him what he thinks of the proposal.
The trouble with this type of merger is that football is in danger of going in ever decreasing circles and eventually disappearing up its own orifice.
Imagine if we ended up with, say, just five clubs who played each other endlessly.
How boring would that be?
Local football has already disappeared from much of the local print media.
Such mergers have the potential to make the sport completely non-existent in the print media.
These are only my thoughts and many people may disagree.
I don’t have to run a club, so it’s easy for me to say as I have no skin in the game as such.
I just thought I’d put the news out there and see what the football community thinks.
87 comments:
Absolute joke of an idea. Hobart Zebras already dead and buried and now Olympia. RIP Tas football
It would be good if some of the concerned supporters actually turned up to a game or two during the season. Buy a membership and a coffee to help support the club.
Money and an Eastern shore monopoly - seems about the right fit for these two clubs. No need to worry about developing a good club culture or focussing on youth football development... just throw more money at the problem!
The Clarence United and Hobart Zebras merger was always seen as a takeover, not a merger. Now it spreads to Olympia.
Ridiculous idea. I don’t know which club approached who. It appears both clubs management are not up to the job and have allowed 2 huge clubs in the game disappear up their own backsides as you say Walter. Olympia have been in serious trouble for a couple of years due to inept management of the club . No one appeared to do anything about anything until it was too late. Now they face a merger just to survive? Worked well for Clarence hey! Another poor excuse for a club. Their merger saved the Clarence name and tainted Zebras. Now Olympia are contemplating a merger with that lot!
Good luck and good bye to you all.
Football tas is dead it’s more like football npl! Football TAS don’t care about anyone else!! It’s a disgrace and in my personal opinion scrap the npl all together bring back the spl and npl saves clubs from merging and bring with a top 4 state cup at the end of the season
You ask about traditional supporters Walter. Clarence obviously have a few but I don’t think Zebras have any traditional supporters left. Why should they after the treatment of the history of that club.
Enough said. One good thing for the merger would be that they would then have 2 canteens instead of 1. How fantastic as that seems to be the reason the original merger occurred . How brilliant!
Olympia Zebras
Just wow
Clarence Warriors
Just wow
Potentially not a merger,
both clubs could fold and a new club could be formed from the rubble .
Why would you do that to your club?
Don’t be surprised if Olympias past president funds and runs it.
If he was smart he would run Olympia and do what is necessary to survive and Clarence can waste away which is what they deserve.
Would honestly prefer George and the Greek community just get behind Olympia and make it great again.
Oh dear someone's a bit bitter. Clarence survives in name only and has since the merger.
And it’s zebras who approached Olympia. Not the other way around.
Story straight. Zebras approached Olympia, and there were many ‘traditional’ greek supporters at the meeting. The missing part is FT has rejected Olympias NPL application even though every criteria was met. FT changed the goals posts citing league structure and performance (top two championship finish) was required. Olympia, if it wants its players to have a pathway to the NPL have to consider it.
Second part, DJ approached Mamacas, and Mamacas put him in touch with the board. This is a DJ/Mamacas production.
You sure about that?
Clarence clutching at straws following their disgraceful, ridiculous merger .
Olympia be wary. They will end up ruining your club also. Why would it be a Dj/ Mamacas production! George referred him to the existing board didn’t he? He has no role (at the moment) so Clarence will be dealing with the existing board.Dangerous move for Olympia that may only benefit Clarence. The Zebras /Clarence move has already ruined the history of one great club. Dont let them ruin another great club’s history,
Zebras should just consider a total takeover by Olympia.
I mean, the Parthenon is still standing after all these years and is older than the Colosseum so they know how to build things that last.
Anon 7.26 pm.
Olympia don’t have to consider it at all. They can get stuck in and do the work required , seriously, rather than just put people in positions where the teams are treated as social rather than have standards in place that result in success. This approach has cost them now.
Merging with Clarence will be disastrous.
I totally agree. Npl is all FT worry about. I guess if it is returned to what you suggest, many people at FT will no longer be employed.
If FT say you must finish in top two of NC or SC, why would Ulverstone be trying to get into NPL??
Bring back Callies!!
If zebras approached Olympia, then there must be something wrong with them in the background for an NPL club to approach a championship club for a merger.
Something smells fishy.
Or should I say smells like a zebra.
There must be something more sinister happening behind the scenes at Clarence that they are hiding and not being truthful about.
This makes me feel ill
I think the demands running a club are just so high we will see more of these mergers .
Simple not enough people do much except !
Heresy. No more, 'Come on boys, you can do it!'
The demands are still the same. A merger will not make it easier. You don’t end up with 2 presidents , 2 treasurers,2 secretaries double the size of board etc. The existing 2 presidents at Clarence does not seem to have improved things one bit.
Hahahahahahaha this would be all time. The absolute ripping that Olympia and Clarence United gave each other over the years for the battle of the Eastern Shore, and the all time rivalry between Olympia (Greeks) and Hobart Zebras (Italians)... And now they're all the same club!! Hahahhaha.
Why don't Launnie United, Launnie City, Riverside and Dev combine to be NW Tas FC.. and then South, Kingo and Knights combine and be Western Shore FC, and we have a 3 way battle for years to come!!
And when that all folds, all 3 teams combine into the Tas team, and they can play VIC NPL teams in a few pre-season friendlies!
When the local print media carries the results of underwater hockey and pƩtanque yet has no local football results, surely we know all is lost. Do something FT.
Anon September 23 @ 8:28pm
Olympia have been getting stuck in and getting the work done, but unfortunately with FT always moving the goalposts, getting into the NPL will be harder.
Getting into the NPL should not be what this merger should be all about as Olympia should keep trying to get into the NPL on their own (which is not an easy feat) but having FT blocking your every attempt does not help.
Especially if Olympia had met all other NPL criteria requirements for 2025 to then have FT change the qualification requirements which was only notified/advised to Olympia at the time of the NPL rejection letter was received as advised at the meeting on Sunday.
FT are a monopoly unto themselves and rule football in Tasmania like they see fit, and unfortunately, the decision of who to include comes down to the CEO.
Who knows, in 2 or 3 years time, Zebras might be no more and Olympia are there to take their spot on the eastern shore.
Taking over Clarence Zebras could be awkward for Mamacus. Maybe George doesn’t want to compete against his beloved Olympia, it would surely be more convenient if Olympia just disappeared
Anon 10.20 pm.
There is a sh…. load wrong with them. They stuffed Hobart Zebras and now they stuff up. Clarence . Joke!!!!
11:26 spoken like someone that has no idea. Clarence exist in name only. It's still Zebras through and through.
Money talks. Always has. If Mamacus returns, wouldn’t be so bad. Love or hate the guy, you can’t deny the excitement around the past Olympia games. Loud Greek music, George on the microphone & a little dancing. The NPL games are lacking atmosphere. Too many coaches spitting the dummy, & throwing tantrums.
You would naturally expect FT to run the game as they see fit - that is their role. (And it's not all bad in fact!)
Trouble is they do not engage at all well with the football community. They lack transparency (annual and financial reports for example) ; the CEO is always absent it seems (witness the NPL decider post game "presentation''); they have an essentially unnaccountable President (no new election for this position for many years).
If this is to change for the better it might begin by the FT Board agitating for improvement. The catch-22 is that the President decides on the make-up of the Board. It's time maybe that the NPL clubs started to unite around the necessity of getting someone fresh as the President - someone with a real connection with both elite and grassroots sections of the football community.
I'm up for Souvlaki and Pizza , let's go boys make it happen
Spanner in the works: Is this all a Walter beat-up?. š
Let the Greeks handle the money and the Italians run the canteen and then Clarence ,well maybe they can just deal with the council
You say you George is good because he's either loved or hated yet coaches spitting the dummy is bad.
No, just no. The Greek gods won’t allow it
Nothing wrong with the Eastern Shore buying a Premiership ! Good enough for Glenorchy and Devonport
šš Very true
Trouble is they are both broke.
Imagine not being good enough to play NPL at Clarence then leaving to start fresh at Olympia only to end up merging with Clarence ššš ft and football in Tasmania is so embarrassing it’s not funny
George could sail his mega yacht into the Bellerive quay and wade this way around the foreshore to Wentworth Park to watch his new merger team play.
With some back up tunes on bouzouki
A super club to align with Mr Pignata‘s pretty rendering of Wentworth Park - brilliant idea, get behind it football fans - Juventus Olympic Park - “the home of Clarence” - I’ll get signs made up now Del Boy
I reckon u might find that players left Clarence because of the culture or lack it.
I reckon a Lindisfarne under 12 could get a game at Clarence.
They will still fail.
What the F is going on. The game has gone. I have Lost all interest.
I think the next 2 to 3 years will determine if the NPL continues in Tasmania in its current format.
If it does fold, then the killing off these clubs, especially Olympia since Zebras already did this with Clarence, will be sad.
Hahaha don’t think so mate
Fine goodbye see you later don't let the door hit you on the way out. We just had the best NPL season ever. Clubs come and go. Goodbye clarence hello South East united. This is life.
What will club committees, Boards and Presidents be remembered for.
Lol, South East United ? Are you serious ? Where are they going to play ? On that cow paddock at Sorell ? Yeah they had a good season and all credit to them but one season don’t cut it
The difference between the paddock and Wentworth Park is a fence. That fence also gets put up 5 minutes before clarences first home game of the season and comes down 5 minutes after their last.
South East in for another year of irrelevance with no NPL application, as some were led to believe.
That’s harsh Clarence now have the mighty warrior park to play at
Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
What are you talking about "the best season ever" Football in Tasmania has been going backwards for years. Big clubs with long history like Juventus and Olympia should never have got, the question is why have these clubs gone????
What ?
Yes what happened to all the Big talk about NPL coming from South East ?
application was never for 2025
Zebras tainted themselves and continue to do so.
Clarence weren't a club of any relevance and still aren't. Zebras were and now are not. That wasn't claremces doing.
What a waste of time
Anon 6:54am,
English please. This sentence does not make sense.
"Big clubs with long history like Juventus and Olympia should never have got", got what exactly??
That is not what Nick Taylor has been spruiking all year.
He was even telling anyone that wanted to hear about it at the game between Knights and Devonport at the last league game saying that they had put in an application.
Unfortunately with South East, they will be a one hit wonder as they won't be able to sustain the paying of players to continue as they did this year.
It is not viable or feasible to do this in the Championship.
So they won't be able to do this in season 2025.
3 teams could win the league in the last 2 games that's a great season champ
That’s Nick Taylor!!!!!
Let’s be honest if we structured our npl around population base then kingbourgh Clarence Sorell Hobart c 2 and maybe a Brighton in the future for south
Launceston x 2 Devenport and maybe an Ulverstone or Burnie
So that would mean merger or other teams in lower divisions
Just read that 2 new teams may come into the NPL in 2026. Ulverstone…. I would understand Somerset, but the Ulverstone… FFT have lost the plot if it’s true.
And population I think people forget how small the North West coast is, no chance in sustaining two NPL teams.
Agreed. Devonport have to buy players now as there is no depth across the northwest coast at NPL standard - well top of the table standard. Plus not everyone wants to be on a bus every second week when you actually work a full time job
Interesting that the first state league had Burnie George Town Ulverstone and devenport
Population is one part of it but having teams in those geographic areas does not mean that you'll breed success.
Brighton and sorell are still very much AFL areas so it'll always be difficult to compete.
Kingborough is a good example of this.
Big catchment area but not enough interest to make them competitive.
Culture and success of a club will always drive player attraction, sponsors and success.
Probably in a time where soccer was semi popular. Plus can’t have worked out too well as it collapses back then also. Now basketball and AFL have the jump on juniors having the JackJumpers and an impending AFL team coming in.
I think you are spot on there ,even the better women have left the game to play AFL.
Now we have a bunch of kids running around in the WSL that a few years ago ,wouldn't have played ,their parents and other sites think they going ok but skills level starting at a low base.
Older players don't want to travel FT has no idea.
Laka cup final but not competitive?
The only possible reason for this merger would be to have a club big enough with $$$
Is to play on the mainland.??? A tassie team. ???
The competition in Tassie isn't strong enough to go to the next level. Also to keep our talent in the game. If FFT aren't going to do it then someone has too??
10.21am.You have no idea.
What about the Laka Cup ,Cup games sometimes the best team doesn't make it ,look at the FA Cup someone else takes out the better team,injuries can affect team did your team win a final.
At the end of the day, it is how we are able to attract and then retain players, from all ages, whether it from under 6 to men's and women's teams to social players.
For some reason we cannot retain players, past or present, or keep them involved in some way and that is where our sport is falling down and suffering.
We all get busy in our lives and there are so many distractions that football is no longer important to those people, but how do we change this?
How do we keep people involved to harness club growth for all teams?
Unfortunately, I do not have the answer, but I wish I did.
AFL Tas is going back to regional as they realise their standard and pool of players was wearing thin who wanted to play state league. It’s already happening now in our league. It was a novelty and had excitement when it first came back, but now? No one really cares, including FFT it seems
Regional with a statewide pathway to the Devils VFL team for the most talented players. Without a similar pathway it makes sense to have the best playing the best week in week out.
It is FT job to care. That’s what they are paid for. Bring back John Boulos . He was the only CEO to give Aris’s about the game in this state. The competition was flying when he was around d and many supporters of the game knew who he was and he would chat with anyone. Many have said it many times , “ time for a clean out at FT”. Employ people who give a toss .
The best aren’t always playing the best. A lot of ‘older’ players who would be up to NPL standard give it away due to family and work commitments.
Yet they want to put 2 more teams in the NPL… an absolute joke of an idea. The league already had a top four and bottom four split. The two new teams they want to bring in, what recent success do they bring? Another team from the NW coast is a joke
As I have said previously, I see the statewide competition of the NPL not being sustainable in 2 or 3 years' time.
The same thing has happened to the TFL as has already been stated.
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