A whole decade might have passed since Sydney Olympic played at the elite level of Australian football but don’t think the two-time national champions remain sated by past glories.
“We want to be the best club in the country, as simple as that. We want to be number one again,” says George Mpliokas, Olympic’s media manager. “When a big club gets relegated, be it Europe, Asia or South America, they don’t roll over and stop caring. They want to get back to the top. We’re a big club and we’re no different.”
Of course, there is no mechanism for promotion in Australian football, and not for the foreseeable future. That means Olympic’s grand ambition can’t be fulfilled just yet, even if their geographical catchment, wedged directly between Sydney FC and Western Sydney, is often discussed as an area of A-League potential.
But over a 48-hour stretch, commencing this Sunday at 4pm, Olympic are the big-ticket football item in Sydney once more. It starts with the marquee clash of football in this state: the NSW Premier League grand final, held against Blacktown City, at Edensor Park.
“We’re hoping for between 5000 and 10,000 to head out to the “Chicken Farm” [the mischievous nickname for the home ground of their arch-rivals, Sydney United],” Mpliokas said. “And we’re hoping for the same amount to pack out Lambert Park two days later.”
That second match, on Tuesday night, is Olympic’s clash with Victorian Premier League club Bentleigh Greens – where a spot in the FFA Cup quarter-finals is on the line.
It can’t be held at Olympic’s usual venue, Belmore Sports Ground, because they couldn’t secure the venue for the match, an unfortunate reality of sharing with NRL club Canterbury-Bankstown.
While Olympic are revelling in having their name up in national lights, a rarity in the A-League era for lower-tier clubs, they’re not exactly thrilled about having to play twice in three days.
“Our players aren’t full-time, so I don’t know how they’ll do their recovery when they have to go back to work on the Monday,” Mpliokas said. “We wanted to have it moved but the FFA said we have to play. We’re not complaining though it’s a pretty tough ask.”
But this is an Olympic side which has got used to doing things the hard way. At the end of last season, coach Peter Tsekenis and assistant coach Peter Papoythis quit, followed by several players, including captain Phil Makrys. It’s understood not all was well between the boardroom and the dressing room.
The Belmore-based club had to rebuild from scratch under new coach, ex-Socceroo Grant Lee, who infused the group with young talent, albeit with 38-year old veteran Paul Henderson between the posts. Even to get to the grand final, they had to upset minor premiers Bonnyrigg, a feat managed on penalties.
The squad has performed so well that subsequent interest from the A-League has been inevitable. After trialling with the Wanderers, Japanese pair Taiga Soeda and Go Shirai have caught the eye of Graham Arnold at Sydney FC. The form of Harris Gaitatzis and right-back Brayden Sorge hasn’t gone unnoticed, either.
But Blacktown City has ample talent of their own, including ex-Sydney FC pair Mitch Mallia and Zach Cairncross plus Kearyn Baccus, who was included in a Socceroos’ training camp barely three years ago. Their Japanese import, Ryuji Miyazawa, provides the creative spark.
On Tuesday, Olympic will need to curb Bentleigh’s gun New Zealand striker Ryan De Vries, a player coach John Anastasiadis is “baffled” isn’t in the A-League.
Interestingly, the Greens boast two winners of the Football Superstar reality television show, Luke Pilkington and Liam McCormick, who spent time at Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar respectively.
source: smh.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 