Team of the Century

The **South Melbourne Soccer Club** **Team of the Century**was an event on February 12th 2002 - held at the Palladium at Crown Casino - at which South Melbourne's greatest ever side was announced.

The night was hosted by George Donikian and SBS journalist Kyle Paterson. Along with a commemorative portrait commissioned for the event, there was also a commemorative jersey.

## *Team of the Century* shortlist

A shortlist of players was made from which the final team would be selected.

### Goalkeepers

* Marko Fode
* Peter Laumets
* Bruce MacLaren
* Michael Petkovic

### Defenders

* John Bedford
* Steve Blair
* Alan Davidson
* Fausto De Amicis
* Mehmet Durakovic
* Takis Mantarakis
* Ange Postecoglou
* Mike Pye
* Bobby Russell
* Steve Walker
* Arthur Xanthopoulos
* John Yzendoorn

### Midfielders

* Peter Bourne
* Oscar Crino
* Jordan Ieremiadis
* Boulis Kambouropoulos
* Michael Mandalis
* John Margaritis
* Ken Murphy
* Steve Panopoulos
* George Papadopoulos
* Mike Peterson
* Billy Rogers
* Andreas Roussis
* Ted Smith
* Paul Wade

Forwards

* Ernie Ackerley
* Jimmy Armstrong
* Doug Brown
* Duncan Cummings
* Charlie Egan
* Alun Evans
* Antonis Hatzieleftheriou
* Antonis Karagiannis
* Jim Pyrgolios
* Paul Trimboli

Every player on the shortlist was inducted as an inaugural member of South Melbourne's "Hall of Fame".

Among the notable exclusions from the shortlist were Con Nestorides and Ulysses Kokkinos.

## *Team of the Century* squad

16 players were selected for the final team. The *Team of the Century* coach was Manny Poulakakis, while Ange Postecoglou was named captain. The starting XI was made up of the following players in a 4-3-3 formation:

* Michael Petkovic (goalkeeper)
* Mehmet Durakovic (defender/sweeper)
* Alan Davidson (right full-back)
* Steve Blair (centre-back)
* Ange Postecoglou (left full-back)
* Paul Wade (right midfield)
* John Margaritis (centre-midfield)
* Oscar Crino (left midfield)
* Jim Pyrgolios (right forward)
* Jimmy Armstrong (centre forward)
* Paul Trimboli (left forward)

Five players were included on a substitutes bench:

* Peter Laumets (goalkeeper)
* John Bedford (defender)
* Takis Mantarakis (defender)
* Boulis Kambouropoulos (midfielder)
* Mike Petersen (midfielder)

Alan Davidson was selected at right-back, despite having never played in the position at South Melbourne.

## *Team of the Century* portrait

A portrait of the *Team of the Century*, in front of a Middle Park stand backdrop, was painted by Dave Thomas. Thomas had done a number of sporting portraits, including both teams and individual athletes.

A limited edition print run of the painting was also made available. The first 150 were signed by 16 surviving members of the *Team of the Century*. Numbers 151-200 were autographed by the captain, coach, and the artist. A further 400 unsigned prints were also available.

A handful of unsold unsigned prints were available well into the early 2010s.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.smfc.com.au/teamofcentury/
2. ↑ https://www.smfc.com.au/hallofchampions
3. ↑ DESIRA, P. (2002, Feb 19). South's team full of legends.*Herald Sun*
4. ↑ DESIRA, P. (2002, Feb 23). South choice shocks Davo.*Herald Sun*
5. ↑ https://southmelbournefc.blogspot.com/2014/11/bubblewrap-artefact-wednesday-framed.html