2023 NPL Victoria Season

[MelbourneDaggers]

Hi all,

So down here in Melbourne, our local football season (ain't talking about AFL) is about to kick off tomorrow. Thought I'd give you all a brief introduction into non-league football here and a link to where you can watch our free livestreams if you're ever interested. I'll also provide info for what games I'm doing commentary for if you ever feel like listening to those games.

Round 1
South Melbourne vs Moreland City (Thurs. 7:30PM/8:30AM)
Bentleigh Greens vs North Geelong Warriors (Fri. 7:30PM/8:30AM)
Oakleigh Cannons vs Green Gully (8:30PM/9:30AM)
Heidelberg United vs Dandenong Thunder (8:30PM/9:30AM)
Port Melbourne vs Avondale (Sat. 6PM/7AM)
Altona Magic vs Hume City (6:15PM/7:15AM)
St Albans vs Melbourne Knights (Sun. 5PM/6PM)

Times are in local/London time.

South Melbourne (my local) is a predominately Greek backed club founded through a merger of the "Anglo" South Melbourne United and Hellas. Played in the previous national league until restructuring. Holds a lot of honours. Once played in the Club World Cup and coached by Puskas. Was last years league winners. However, got belted in the Grand Final. Something I should have foreseen given the omen of the deeply insulting display that was the so-called honouring of Her Majesty The Queen as that game occurred shortly after her passing. To this day I still don't know what pissed me off more.

Moreland City are a freshly promoted side. Don't know too much about them. Only been around in common form for thirty odd years. Pretty much played exclusively below the second division up until about five years ago. Formed by shitloads of clubs merging into each other. They do have historical connections to the aforementioned South Melbourne United as the junior team as they went on to do their own thing back in the day.

Bentleigh Greens have connections to the Cypriot community. I reckon they have the best canteen in the league. Have only really found success in the last decade winning the league once but have multiple premierships (done by winning finals).

North Geelong Warriors are freshly promoted and are based in the outer areas of the state's second city Geelong. His Majesty The King spent part of his school years down in Geelong. The Warriors are backed by Geelong's Croat community. Yo-yoed between the first and second divisions during the 2010s. Haven't really won anything of note since the 90s.

Oakleigh Cannons are a club I really ******** hate. Run by arseholes but they do have a good beer supply. Another Greek club. Their President's wife is a senior figure in the local football federation. Accusations of corruption are constant as they are consistent. Somehow only the second biggest bunch of wankers in the league (IMO).

Green Gully are a Maltese club with an alright ground that desperately needs some love. Good spot for aeroplane spotting and getting really wet socks. A very historic club that haven't played below the first division since the late 70s. Spent a couple years in the former national division.

Heidelberg United are another very historic club with ties to the Greek community. I don't have anything nice to say about Bergers. They were once sponsored briefly by a brothel after the demise of the old national division - https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/20768 ... the-great/

Dandy Thunder are Albanian backed and have a pretty active and loyal following that's bounced back since covid. Not a great deal of historical success. Generally a decent away match.

Port Melbourne are another Greek club that had ties to South Melbourne informally during South's time in the old national division. Very little else can be said here.

Avondale are absolute pricks with no fans. Brought their success illegally. They love a day in court. Third biggest wankers in the league. Almost literally have no fans.

Altona Magic are a rather historic club at a state level. Backed by the local Macedonian community. Really like their canteen. Ground is in an industrial area so it constantly smells woeful down there.

Hume City are a Turkish club miles away from everyone else. So a pain in the arse to get to. The kebabs are decent but the ground is shit. Even with all their facilities. Has a history of infamously shit club badge design. A running joke pretty much. Venue gets a lot of football action for clubs and women's football at a national level due to the facilities.

St Albans are another Croat club with an alright little ground. Very little to be said. Very much outshone by neighbouring clubs.

Melbourne Knights are an extremely historic club who produced Mark Viduka (a name you probably would know). Very good canteen thanks to them being part of the Croat community. Fanbase is infamous for being a bunch of fascists. Seeing salutes and hearing war songs are not uncommon there. Without a doubt, the biggest wankers in the league!

[MelbourneDaggers]

Realised I forgot to link the streaming platform. So here's the link - https://npl.tv/football/football-victoria/

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Oakleigh Cannons are a club I really ******** hate. R

I'll hate them as well. I trust your judgement on this.

Oakleigh...bunch of pricks.

[MelbourneDaggers]

Oakleigh Cannons are a club I really ******** hate. R

I'll hate them as well. I trust your judgement on this.

Oakleigh...bunch of pricks.

That's the spirit mate!

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Oakleigh Cannons are a club I really ******** hate. R

I'll hate them as well. I trust your judgement on this.

Oakleigh...bunch of pricks.

That's the spirit mate!

There is a four letter word starting with a "c" that seems to be used a bit Down Under I was going to call Oakleigh, but I think in England and certainly the US it is a much naughtier word than should be used on a fan forum maybe. But you have my permission to use that word if you like and make it more colorful and colourful also.

[MelbourneDaggers]

I'll hate them as well. I trust your judgement on this.

Oakleigh...bunch of pricks.

That's the spirit mate!

There is a four letter word starting with a "c" that seems to be used a bit Down Under I was going to call Oakleigh, but I think in England and certainly the US it is a much naughtier word than should be used on a fan forum maybe. But you have my permission to use that word if you like and make it more colorful and colourful also.

Yeah, unfortunately the Charlie Uniform November Tango Sierras won their opening fixture last night. I shall do a post-Round 1 update soon once the final fixtures are played.

As a sidenote. That word is probably the only word in Aussie English that is tone dependent. As such, depending on your tone you're either saying hi to your best mate or about to get into a fight. Then you get class attitudes towards it. All very complicated and you'll almost certainly hear it utilised in any and all games in the NPL.

[MelbourneDaggers]

Round 1 Results -

South Melbourne 2 Moreland City 1
Bentleigh Greens 1 North Geelong 3
Oakleigh 3 Green Gully 1
Heidelberg 0 Dandy Thunder 1
Port Melbourne 2 Avondale 2
Altona Magic 1 Hume City 1
St Albans 1 Melbourne Knights 1

POS TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
1 Oakleigh 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 3
2 North G. 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 3
3 South M. 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
4 Dandy. 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
5 Avondale 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1
6 Port Mel. 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1
7 St Albans 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
8 M. Knights. 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
9 Altona Mag. 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
10 Hume City 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
11 More. City 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0
12 Heidelberg 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
13 Bentleigh 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0
14 Green Gully 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0

Round 2 Fixtures -

Hume City vs Heidelberg Fri. 7:30PM/8:30AM
Melbourne Knights vs Oakleigh
Green Gully vs South Melbourne 8PM/9AM
Moreland City vs Bentleigh Sat. 3PM/4AM
Avondale vs Altona Magic 3:15PM/4:15AM
North Geelong vs Port Melbourne 5PM/6AM
Dandy Thunder vs St Albans 7PM/8AM

[MelbourneDaggers]

Round 2 Results -

Hume City 1 - Heidelberg 1
Melbourne Knights 1 - Oakleigh 1
Green Gully 1 - South Melbourne 3
Moreland City 2 - Bentleigh Greens 1
Avondale 3 - Altona Magic 0
North Geelong 0 - Port Melbourne 2
Dandy Thunder 4 - St Albans 4

So a very high scoring weekend in Australia's best football league!



Round 3 Fixtures -
Bentleigh vs Green Gully Fri. 7:30/8:30
Oakleigh vs Dandy Thunder 8:30/9:30
Avondale vs Hume Sat. 3:15/4:15
Port Melbourne vs Moreland 6/7
Altona vs North Geelong 6:15/7:15
St Albans vs Heidelberg Sun. 3/4
South Melbourne vs Knights Mon. 7:30/8:30

[MelbourneDaggers]

Round 3 Results -
Bentleigh vs Green Gully Fri. 0-2
Oakleigh vs Dandy Thunder 1-2
Avondale vs Hume 3-2
Port Melbourne vs Moreland 1-1
Altona vs North Geelong 1-0
St Albans vs Heidelberg 1-0
South Melbourne vs Knights 2-1

Table link - https://websites.mygameday.app/comp_inf ... 0178-0-0-0

Round 4 Fixtures -
Fri
Green Gully vs Port Melbourne
Heidelberg vs Oakleigh
Sat
Moreland city vs Altona
North Geelong vs Avondale
Hume vs St Albans
Dandy Thunder vs South Melbourne
Sun
Knights vs Bentleigh