The History of the Modbury Soccer Club 1965-1992 was compiled by Charlie Fitzgerald and is reproduced here. You can download a copy of the original document in .pdf format (8.6 Mb) 

Acknowledgements

When I “volunteered” to do this history of the Modbury Soccer Club I did not have any idea it would grow like it did. When I went to the South Australian Soccer Federation Offices with Gerry McCague about 6 months ago to get permission to look into their books I thought that it would take about a month.

There would have been no chance to complete it without the help of lots of people. I have probably made a nuisance of myself at the bar but if you don’t ask you don’t get told,that’s my motto, so I would like to thank all those who racked their brains to solve some of my in depth questions such as “When did the Jets start?” Believe it or not that was the question that caused most “discussion” especially during Friday afternoon “happy hour”. I would like to thank all the old timers, not necessarily in years, who have helped and for their old documents. They may not know I found them but people like John Ramsay, Harry Lowden, Len Smitherman, Terry Kavanagh and Terry Thorp, I found their records in some peculiar places, and to Sandy Powell, Reg Ward, Peter Ward for some events and dates, to Mick Dye who loaned me some old records and league books he had, and to Mick Duffy who gave me some old papers, and then Russ Moon who handed over a case full of some useful and some useless information to me.

The outside bodies I would like to thank are Sean Holden of the South Australian Soccer Federation, he let me into their old books, records and files. One person I received more help from than I could have wished for was Gordon Warren of the Tea Tree Gully Council, he provided me with copies of all the documents regarding the car park and other dealings between the Club and the Council, and a lot of it was not as I had been told by different members over the years.

I would like to think that newer members find some interesting facts and that for the older members it may bring back some memories. If I have spelt any persons name wrong then I apologise but I have copied them from paperwork of the past. The one thing I would like to say before people come telling me that something I wrote was wrong or it happened at a different time and that is, if there is a date on it then I have taken that piece of knowledge off a document, that could be an official letter from the Council, the Federation or even a Government Dept, it may even have been an old minute typed by a previous Club Official, one thing for sure is that I did not make it up. Most of the very old stuff started off with a mention from maybe Sandy Powell or somebody, then I went and found some sort of proof, nothing is on just hear say, except where members made a point of suggesting that certain other members received special mention on different projects.

I have tried not include any information that could be personal, e.g. players wages etc, or a cause of embarrassment to anybody or more importantly considered libellous. The different Committees of the past have long talked about writing down the history of the Club,I have a least given it a go so if any body wants a moan about this version,you know the answer.

Charlie Fitzgerald

MSC Elected Officials

Dates of Note

History of the Modbury Soccer Club

The Beginning

The planning for the Modbury Soccer Club to apply to join the Federation probably started in late 1964 or early 1965. The original application form to join the South Australian Soccer Federation is dated 2nd March 1965, it was signed by the first Secretary Keith Gunstan, the first Chairman is listed as Christopher Pratt. The original colours are listed as follows: Shirts: Two Blues Shorts: White Socks: Light Blue. The ground is listed as Modbury Oval, Main North East Road,Modbury. This was behind the Modbury Hotel, the application was to join the 3rd Division Reserves and the playing member subscription was five shillings. The original committee document lists the following:

The Club was only in its 2nd or 3rd month when on the 22nd of April 65 the members had a special general meeting to vote on a motion of no confidence in the recently appointed committee, the letters do not show who was left it only shows four people elected to the Executive Committee, these were as follows:

The club played in the Third Division Reserves in that first year and at the end of the first season finished 7th out of 10 teams. The 3rd Div Res listed the following teams in order of finish.

Salisbury
South Adelaide
Mitcham
Wakefield Wanderers
Campbelltown
University
Modbury
WTC
Doxa
Don

The playing records of the two teams were,

The second team was listed as playing in the 4th Div, but later letters show that the Club had 3 teams, two could have been playing amateur, and were only applying to go in the 4th Div later in 1967.

The following year 1966 for some reason the team was promoted to the 3rd Division proper, not the reserves. The teams that made the 3rd Div up were:

Campbelltown
RAAF/RAF
WRE
Para Hills
Salisbury
Don
Modbury
Mitcham­
University
Western Teachers College.

That was the order of finishing in 1966.

The season of 1966 was the first time that the Modbury Soccer Club fell foul of the Federation because that year they had two points deducted for fielding an unregistered player. They appear to only have had one team in that year, the league tables at the Federation only list a 3rd Div, however the Club at that point had THREE teams, the committee had applied to the Federation to be exempt from fielding a junior side due to lack of interest in the area. In the Nov of 1966 the Club put in a request for an additional Senior side in the 4th Division, they must have already had 3 sides because the Secretary sent a cheque for $30 for the 1967 season plus a memo that the extra $10 for a 4th team had been budgeted for and the money had been put to one side and would be sent if they were accepted.The club received a letter to say they could take the place of Port Adelaide “C” team in the 4th Div, their first game on the 11th May 1967 was against Cumberland “C” team at Le Fevre Tee, North Adelaide,this was a home game but the ground was unavailable, then on the 20th of June 1967 the Club cancelled the 4th team.

On the 3rd of May 1968 the Secretary wrote to the Federation,he was apologising for the delay in sending the fees for the 1968 season as funds were low, he enclosed a cheque for the full amount, $45. The Club also wanted a further exemption from a junior side for the 68 season, the Federation agreed to the exemption on one condition and that was that if the Club finish top of the league they would not be eligible for promotion.

On the 9th of December 1968 the Federation received a letter from the Modbury Soccer Club saying that they wished to change their name to the Modbury Prague Soccer Club, they had been offered a land agreement with the TTG Council for a pitch plus land on Golden Grove, TTG. The letter said that they could have a 99 year lease. The letter asked for an account of all debts by the MSC and that they in turn would pay them off.The new postal address was to be at 45 Gordan Road,Clarence Park. The new Committee was made up of Chairman Mr M. Kopel, Secretary Mr S. Satanek and Treasurer Mr N. Lyons.

The Federation also received a letter from Frank O’Shea to say that the new name was because the Czechoslovakian Community in the area wanted to promote soccer but they wanted their ethnic background in the name of the Club. The members of Modbury Soccer Club had a meeting about the name change etc. and vetoed the idea, the motion was defeated, around the same time there were ideas of bringing a complete team out from the UK through RDC Homes and they would sign for Modbury, the team were known in the UK as something like the Torpedos or some fancy name and this was considered as a name change but nothing came of it.

On the 19th of Dec 1968 the Secretary wrote to the SASF a letter of apology because no application to play in the 3rd Div had been received by the 30th Nov 68 therefore the Clubs affiliation to the league was cancelled, the Sec said that the pressure was due to the TTG Council offering an oval and it was an oversight on his part, he enclosed a cheque for $30 fees plus $9 fine plus 5% owing from last years fees, the Federation accepted the money and the apology. On the 17th of February 1969 the members had another special general meeting and elected another committee, they notified the Federation and asked could they change their second strip to all red. There was no record of any answer from the Federation. In 1969 the club had three teams, they had a First, Reserves and Juniors and it stayed that way until 1992, this is not including the Colts, when the Federation altered the playing format to Seniors and U19’s with four over age players allowed.

The playing records listed later for the period 1965 to 68 are as they were at the Federation and as you will see they are a little mixed up,however it is how they are recorded.The end of the 1969 season saw Modbury have its best finish in its five seasons in the Federation league, the first team finished 3rd and the reserves also finished 3rd,the juniors played a lot less than all the other teams and finished 2nd bottom due to other teams forfeiting games. The decade finished off on a slightly sour note with the Federation sending a letter saying they would fine any club that did not pay referees as they were not to interfere with his duty, it appears some Modbury official questioned a referees interpretation of the laws of the game.

The 70’s

The 70’s started with the Club again suffering the wrath of the Federation, they were reprimanded for their attitude and lack of interest in 3rd Div meetings by non attendance, they were ordered to attend the next meeting.

The 1970 season started with the club still playing at Modbury Oval and still in two blues, they were still in the 3rd Div but were now establishing themselves. The same names crop up in the management positions regularly but we must not forget that if we could check all the AGM’s from 65 we would see that there are names that do not show on Federation records, such names that the old timers bring up as Terry Kavanagh, John Ramsay, and Reg Ward, yet these members do not appear in the records. The list of these unsung heroes would fill a book and I would guarantee that some name would be left off, especially many female names who are listed in some of the minutes. When you look at the Federation files the one thing that strikes you is the amount of changes in Exec Management that occurred so often and yet according to the Federation Year Books they are not apparent, however it seems to be the same names in management that crop up, you have Frank O’Shea, Harry Lowden, Len Smitherman, Alan Matthews, Gerry Danher and Sandy Powell. The 1970 season saw the end of Frank O’Shea as a major exec committee man, although he still remained around the Club, he is now one of our sponsors so he still has a connection with MSC.

The records at the Federation show that Modbury moved to “Modbury Park” on Golden Grove for the 1971 season, however some of the older members who were around at the time say that they still used Modbury Oval but 71 was the year they applied to move. The reason they did not move to the present ground was that they had to have change rooms built, these original rooms are where the present inside toilets are, plus the fact the pitch had to be made from virgin land. These dates will probably cause some discussion at the bar but I can only go by the records available in black and white. I can not see the Council letting the Club play on the ground until the lease was signed, unless they had to pay a weekly or monthly fee but there is no record of this.

The 1972 season was not a good year for discipline at Modbury with the team having points deducted for playing a P. Gibbs who was not a registered player, that was 15.4.72, he was not cleared to Modbury until 17.5.72. On the 5th of July the Club was ordered to supply the name of the committee man who abused the referee after a game with WREI. The Club was threatened with a fine for non co-operation.

Also on the 5th of July TWO PLAYERS, a Duncan Forbes and Gordon Hopkins were suspended “Sine Die” for their part in the”Wolves” match at Olympic Sports Field on the 17th June 1972 and their arrest for disorderly behaviour and assaulting police. On the 19th of July 1973 Gordon Hopkins had his ban lifted but placed on a good behaviour bond till the end of the 1974 season.

The season of 1971/72 saw Modbury buy their first player, they paid for Terry Coulthard from South Adelaide the fee was $100, although to be fair to Terry he said about $25.

In 1972 the Club was listed as playing at Modbury Soccer Ground and another change was they had changed their strip from light blue & dark blue shirts with white shorts and blue socks to Royal Blue shirts and shorts with white socks. They had what was to be their most successful season up to then with the first team and reserves finishing 4th and the juniors 2nd, the first team had points deducted for fielding an unregistered player, see above on the 15th April, however in the reserve league ALL the teams except Modbury lost points for unregistered players.

When the lease is studied it appears that the change to Golden Grove was made at the beginning of the 1973 season, as the lease was signed by Chairman Sandy Powell and Secretary Harry Lowden on the 31st of October 1973, an amendment to the lease was made on the 11th October 1974. The lease was for 21 years and is due for renewal on the 31st of October 1994, the lease figure is for ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) per year, the amendment altered this to FIVE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN ($511) for the first FIVE years then $100 for the remaining 15 years, taking into account that the Club had paid the first year. The amendment was made to repay a loan to the TTG Council for erecting fencing which was a requirement for promotion. The amendment was signed by the same two committeemen.

The Year of 1973

Not only was the lease finalised but this was to be a year and half on the field. The First Team under the coaching guidance of Sam Miskelly won the 3rd Division, the Reserves won their league and the Juniors came 2nd in their Division. The First Team also won the Barker Cup in 73, this trophy is no longer played for. The First Team won their Division on goal average from Adelaide University. The league had been reduced from 12 teams to 10 this year and only one team won promotion. Unfortunately the records to the Barker Cup seem to be missing, it was also called the Metropolitan Cup and was played for by 3rd Div sides. The trophy was played for until about 1983 when the 3rd Div seemed to disappear.

Among the players who played in that season were the following; Nick James, Wolfgang Herberer, John Bebbington, Dave Southgate, Robbie Brierley, Frank Mullins, Ian Brotherton, Glen Durrant, Peter Mullen, John Hall, John Simpson, Michael Smitherman, Tony Goodman, Steve Amos, and Paul Fennell. The officials on the Photograph are listed as Sandy Powell (Chairman), Sam Miskelly, John Mullin (Com), Len Smitherman (Team Manager), Harry Lowden (Sec).

These are on an old photograph of the 3rd Div Champions and I am sure that other players were used that year. One point of interest is that Frank Mullins had been signed from Broken Hill where he had been out on loan from USC Lion.

The Club received a cheque on the 26th of October 1973 for $150, this was for winning the 3rd Division.

The playing record for the Seniors that year was quite impressive, it was as follows:

The Club applied for promotion to the 2nd Div on the 8th Nov 73, this would be granted by the SASF if the following improvements were carried out:

1. Ground fully enclosed
2. Permanent spectator barrier around playing area.
3. Dressing rooms with showers.
4. Toilets.
5. Separate dressing rooms for match officials.

The outer fence had to be finished by the 15th March 1974.

The following league tables are for ALL three teams at the end of the 1973 Season.

THIRD DIVISION

If the playing records that are listed at the Federation in the year book for 1974 are to be believed then there is something that does not add up. The 1st team played as follows:

Home            Away

They won the league on goal aggregate and yet when you look at the league it says For 53,if you add up the listed scores for the season it is For 46. The answer being obviously some scores were recorded wrong. The aggregate record of ALL three teams was.

On the 26th of February 1974 the Tea Tree Gully Town Clerk sent a letter to the Federation to inform them that they had engaged a fencing contractor to erect the fence but unfortunately he had trouble in obtaining fencing material,there would be a four week delay and the fences would not be finished by the 15/3/74, and the contractor would not give any assurance that the fence would be ready for the first match against Port Adelaide on the 20th of April 74, the Federation said it understood the problems and accepted they were not of our doing and granted us permission to play the first game without fences on condition we were responsible for spectators not invading the pitch. If the fence was not erected by our second home game on the 11th May 74 then action may be taken and we may have to forfeit the Home advantage.

On the 7th March 1974 the Club applied to change its strip to: Shirt.. Blue with white collar and white V insert.

Shorts: Blue with one white stripe down each leg.
Socks: White with double blue band.

The start of the Clubs 2nd Div season began against Port Adelaide and this was to be a year of consolidation in the 2nd Div, but the year in A grade was not very successful with the first team finishing in 9th position out of 10 teams, the reserves finished 3rd but the juniors were bottom in their league.

This was the year that a proposal was put forward by John Ramsay and seconded by Ken George that each team was to have a team manager as well as a coach, the motion was passed.

Probably the first big money buy came that year with C.Murray from U.S.C Lion for the fee of $400.

The Club offered to share the ground with Don Utd for the 1975 season with the terms being 10 league games only for a lease figure of $1,000 to be paid in full on or before the 31/3/75. I gather they declined as the Federation did not get involved.

On the 24th Oct 1974 the Club was about to be threatened with its first legal action concerning a player, a goalkeeper called Rohde from Don Utd was injured in a clash with the Modbury No 9 and finished in Hospital with 3 broken bones in his back and suspected Kidney damage and his parents were talking of suing, the Federation were keeping close tabs on it, it must be said there was no bookings in the incident.

1975

This was the 1st meeting of the Amateur league and it was attended by Sandy Powell and 2 persons from the Club who had applied for an Amateur Team to be included in the new league, entry was confirmed on behalf of M.S.C. The management Committee decided that the Amateurs would be self administered by those wishing to play Amateur, it was decided that they would be responsible for admin, debts, fees, supply and cleaning of strip and cleaning of change rooms after match, they would be classed as an associate team and the management committee would not be responsible for them.

The Club had money problems this year with money missing from the Club accounts. Len Smitherman loaned the Club $1,000 to cover the loss, it was to be paid back as soon as possible,this was a huge amount for an individual in 1975, there was also another benefactor who loaned the Club an interest free loan of $750, it was a Mr Norm King, the money was to be paid back when the Club could afford it. The management committee made him an honorary member for that year with free admittance to all home games. Mr Sandy Powell then proposed that ALL accounts be audited      in future, the motion was carried.

In April of 75 the Club was approached by Ray Burdett by letter saying he wished to play for them,the committee informed him that he would need permission from his club Hellas, they agreed to put him out on loan from May 1st to Oct 31st for a loan fee of $250, plus the players terms, will not go into his individual terms, he signed in time to play his first game against Don Utd, the coach at the time for Modbury was R.Clarke.

The Club was running a Television Lottery to raise funds. On the 1st of May 75 the committee was approached by two players who wanted signing on fees for the year and also non amateur players wanted match payments of $4 with $12 for a win, $8 for a draw and fines for non training. The committee decided on the following terms:

1st player $75 now and $50 at the end of the season with insurance for loss of work through injury,same match bonuses as other players but no match fee.

2nd player $50 now and $50 at the end of season providing he plays

75% of senior games,no match fees, same win/draw bonus as other players.

Non amateurs $9 per win, $4 draw for players who take the field in a senior game plus $2 per win bonus if they finish in the top 5, all players on a fixed match fee get no bonuses.

The reserve coach was told only Senior Coaches were to be paid.

The Committee were approached by the Amateur rep Mr Gerry Danher to say that the Amateurs wished to be part of the MSC and not a separate entity, they proposed that all the monies should go into Club Funds with no restrictions, T. Kavanagh proposed and S.Powell seconded that the Amateurs be administered by MSC and ALL monies collected by them be handed over to the Treasurer, the Club would then be responsible for them. Motion passed. The Amateurs were also allowed to sell beer at home games provided no State or Federal laws were broken.

The committee also decided that year that the coach should confer with the team manager over team selection. The players had a revolt over the coach and R.Burdett took over as senior trainer with a match selection committee consisting of Team manager, Ken George, R.Burdett and Reserve Coach Lawrie Gillan, it was also decided that 75% of the Reserve team must be under 25.

The Club signed Peter Worthington from Salisbury Utd for $200.

The Committee decided to approach the TTG Council regarding building of Change rooms,Council said it had no plans for any works at the soccer ground.

In July of 75 the Vice Chairman reported that the Sturt Football Club had a change room for sale at $3,800, the Club formed a building Committee consisting of Terry Kavanagh, John Ramsay, Frank O’Shea, Gerry Danher, Reg Ward, Don Dyson and N.Lyons.

A Special General Meeting

A Special General Meeting was to be held at the Modbury Hotel on 13th Aug to seek approval of members to purchase the change rooms, and ways of raising the money. The building committee was split into two groups admin and construction and after consultation with building experts it was decided that it would cost $10,000 to purchase,transport and re erect the building onto the Modbury Soccer Ground.

Opening Address

Mr A.Powell the Vice Chairman welcomed all the members present and thanked them for their attendance,he explained that Mr Ken George was overseas and he (Mr Powell) would Chair the meeting. He said that members would by now have received notification for the reason for the meeting and the reasons why it had been called. For many years now the members had complained of the lack of Clubroom facilities. The Executive Committee had at last been able to take the initiative and obtain a building that would make an ideal clubroom as well as provide extra changeroom accommodation. A building sub committee had been formed and a member of that committee would present a report to the meeting. Certain proposals had been formulated and these would be open for discussion tonight. If the proposals were accepted it would mean the club could go ahead and build or re-erect on the Soccer ground.The hard work would start and members would be required to help not only with the financial side but with the physical side as well. The voting was for financial members only and was done by card ballot, and counted in front of members.

The member of the building committee who addressed the meeting was Terry Kavanagh. He started by telling the meeting that the building advertised was the old Sturt Football Club rooms and was 60ft x 40ft, it had been inspected before dismantling and the building committee decided that it would be a worthwhile purchase. As other sporting bodies were interested in the building the committee made a decision to buy and accordingly paid a deposit. The construction experts estimated it would cost $10,000 (TEN THOUSAND) to purchase and re-erect the building on the soccer ground. Guarantors had been found to cover this amount and it was anticipated that finance would be available.

Proposals

The meeting had 3 proposals, they were:

1. That this meeting approves the action taken by the exec comm to obtain a building from D.E.T Contractors for the sum of $3,800 and the setting up of a sub committee to arrange finance, planning, Council approval and construction subject to council approval

Proposed by D.Dyson, Seconded by Reg Ward.

Result of vote: Votes for 41, Votes against 0

Motion carried unanimously.

2. That the meeting approves the offer of financial life membership of the Modbury Soccer Club on the payment of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS,to be a restricted list of THIRTY and preference be given to current financial members.Such membership to carry entitlement for life to the same benefits as those enjoyed by those paying annual subscriptions.All accepted life members to deposit the agreed sum with the Treasurer within SEVEN days of this meeting.

Proposed by Frank O’Shea, Seconded by Harry Lowden

Result of vote: Votes for 39, Votes against 2

Motion carried.

3. The original proposal for a loan of $10,000 had no proposer, however the proposal was amended and accepted as the 3rd proposal. That this meeting approves of an amendment to clause 17 of the Club Constitution to permit the exec comm to extend the Club overdraft and other borrowing combined to a sum not to exceed at any one time TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($20,000).

Proposed by Gerry Danher, Seconded by Artie Young

Result of vote: Votes for 40, Votes against 1

Motion carried.

In the closing address Mr Powell said that the committee could now go ahead and that the members would be kept informed of all progress. Mr O’Shea enquired of the Secretary how many financial members the club had, the Secretary replied that as of the 13th Aug there were 73 financial members, Mr O’Shea wished to lodge a recommendation as to players paying membership subscriptions. Mr Kavanagh said that the building of a clubroom would resolve the matter as non financial members would not be permitted to use the facilities provided.

The turn-out for the meeting was 41 financial members.

The offer of Financial Life Membership was taken up by 18 members who were financial at the meeting on the 13th of Aug.

LIST OF THE 30 LIFE MEMBERS.

Sandy Powell*
Bert Thompson
Don Dyson*
Frank O’Shea*
Terry Kavanagh*
Ken George*
John Ramsay*
Harry  Lowden*
Arthur  Young*
Gerry Danher*
Ken Butler*
Laurie Larsen
Frank Mullins*
Glen Fairman
Barbara Barnett
Shirley Dyson
Horst Eisner
Len Coker*
Tommy Hackworth*
Lawrie Gillan*
Tommy Larsen*
Gerry McCague
Keith Bray*
Peter Ward
David Griffiths*
Manfred Conen
Duncan Powell
Joyce Powell
George Lower
Alan Davies

The symbol * denotes that the person was a financial member at the time of the vote on 13th August 1975, the list was made up by the Secretary Mr Len Smitherman. The ladies listed could have been on the associates list but in that case they would not have been full members. The list of full members is elsewhere in this record.

On the 16th of September 1975 the Club applied for an overdraft of $10,000.00. In the 1976 season Modbury had their biggest Federation win to date by beating Malta Utd 8-1 at home,this is for the first team. The Club had bigger wins but it was either in the reserves or in the Amateur days. On the 21st of October 1976 the Secretary informed the Federation that the building of the Clubrooms would start during the closed season.

1976-1978 Building of Club Rooms

The present Club was built between 1976 and 1978 and there were many people involved in the building,but when asking older members the names that crop up more than any are Terry Kavanagh, Tony Goode and Tommy Larsen, in the case of Terry it appears he did all the leg work with regards to planning and clearance with council and legal obligations, along with Tony and Tommy it is said that they worked nearly every day on it and a number of older members said that they deserved a special mention. Because the list does not contain all the Christian names I can only fully name those that I know and they are in alphabetical order.

Chris Banwell
Keith Bray
Joe Breslin
K Brook
Manfred Conen
Terry Coulthard
Jack Curtis
Gerry Danher
Tony Davies
Alan Davies
Mick Duffy
Dennis Forbes
Ken George
Lawrie Gillan
Tony Goode
Dave Griffiths
Bill Griffiths
Tommy Hackworth
Tommy Howsen
Jimmy Johnstone
Terry Kavanagh
Tommy Larsen
G Lower
R Mason
Gerry McCague
Frank Mullins
Dave Munden
Neil O’Brien
Sandy Powell
Alan Ramsay
John Straatman
Bob Taylor
Peter Ward
Peter Worthington
Artie Young

I apologise if some of the initials are wrong but the list was not too clear. There are also probably names that are missing.

The list is not available but I have been told that about 10 Club members took out personal loans to raise the cash for the building of the Clubrooms, the repayments to be made by the Club, the members used their own homes as collateral.

On the 12th of February 1977 the Club applied to change its colours to Shirts: Royal Blue, Shorts: White, Socks: White with Blue bands.

In the season of 1977 the Club achieved its biggest Federation win to date and it was away against South Adelaide 8-0.Although some players of the time seem to remember that South scored a goal, it is registered at the Federation as 8-0.

On the 30th of June 1977 the Secretary wrote to the Federation and asked if they could pay the insurance bill of $300 in October due to financial difficulties.The Club just wanted some breathing space due to a lack of cash flow but they were told to pay it as soon as possible.

On the 27th of September 1977 the Secretary wrote re Federation fees and the non payment of such. He explained that due to the building of the Clubrooms,that the club was short of cash. The materials for the rooms cost $35,000 and the labour was being supplied free by the members and players,the insurance value of the new clubrooms was $80,000. The Federation were also informed that the playing staff to a man had offered to play for no match payments for the season to help out,also they were told that the TTG Council had offered NO help at all. The Club asked for a deferment of the Federation fees to help them.

On the 4th of November 1977 they were informed by the Federation that they had NOT been granted a deferment of fees.

The building of the new clubrooms was completed in 1978, the building that was purchased from the Sturt Football Club was never used. The only part ever used was the steel beam which can be seen in the club today, a few of the besser blocks were used for the front retaining wall but most of them were sold to recuperate the initial cost, any left over were given to the members who asked for them.

The year of 1978 set off with the Chairman Gerry Danher resigning on the 24th of March due to business commitments. The new Chairman was Tommy Larsen. However in November at the AGM the members elected Anthony Reynolds as Chairman and Sandy Powell as Secretary. The new Clubrooms were completed.

During the 1979 season the Club suffered its biggest ever loss in a home game against Noarlunga, they were beaten 10-1 in a spiteful game and one player D.Lawson was suspended “Sine Die” in the after match. He was allowed to play again in Amateur soccer on appeal. The return game at their ground was not much better Modbury lost 6-1. The incident did not end there as Lawson was sued for damages of $1,500 by Neal (other party), Lawson offered $166 which was rejected then the club offered to pay $500 to save going to the Supreme Court, the offer was accepted and the case dismissed, it had been going on for a long time because the date for trial was 24th Mar 1982. The solicitors sent Modbury a bill for $756.20 but they donated $350 back to the club.

In the period of the 70’s and early 80’s the Club were involved in Soccer Carnivals, they seemed to have been not only popular with the fans but also quite successful and they were a source of income that seems to have been swallowed up by the length of the present seasons, in some of the carnivals there were teams from Broken Hill and Whyalla and the event was sometimes run on a round robin theme.

At the end of 1979 at the AGM the members voted in Lawrie Gillan as the Chairman, he listed his “helper” as vice chairman Harry Green. The members seem to remember that most of the Secretarial work was done by Cathy Taylor even though she was not listed as a “helper”, the papers lodged with the Federation show that at the AGM there was only 4 people nominated for the full committee.

The 80’s

This was the year of the 15th anniversary and by now the Club was a regular 2nd Div Federation side although the 6 completed seasons in the 2nd Div had not set the World alight. The facts are that in 6 seasons they had not finished higher than 6th and had only won a total of 27 games out of 108, Lawrie Gillan was appointed Chairman and Secretary for another term, with Cathy Taylor doing all the paper work or so it appears.

On May 7th 1980 the Chairman applied to the TTG Council for their permission to fit floodlights for training,even though the lights had been in use since April 80.The council approved the lights on 5th Aug 1980. Then on Aug 21st Lawrie Gillan on behalf of the committee applied for a council loan of $10,000 to carry out the following:

• Plant trees along Golden Grove and Milne Rd fence line.
• Install the new lights nearer the pitch.
• Setting up of a childrens play area adjacent to the public urinals.
• Building of a verandah.

On the 8th Oct 1980 the council rejected the request for a loan but instead decided to send the club a copy of new policies in relation to leased areas.

The 1980 season saw the Federation increase the 2nd Div to 12 teams.

In ’81 the members voted for a new Chairman and Secretary,they voted in Keith Bray as Chairman with Leonie Norman the Secretary. Then unfortunately on 29th Nov Leonie had to resign and Eric Everett took over as Secretary. Then in ’82 Keith was again given the nod along with Eric Everitt.

Car Park

This next section was probably the darkest part of the Soccer Clubs History and warrants an explanation that will leave the format of the history following the years, most of the information obtained is from official documents between TTG Council and the Club over a period from 1980/81 to the eventual solving of the problem in 1987. The club had been in dispute for a few years with the TTG Council over the car parking situation, the club wanted the council to bitumen the pitch surrounds but the council, after consultation with the Highways Dept, wanted the cars around the back of the clubrooms. The situation appears farcial because the tenders for the clubs idea were a lot cheaper than the councils grand scheme which included extending the leased area, when all is considered the Council has to get value for the constituents money so the rear car park it was, as it increased the value of the leased area. There are letters to say that the official cost for a rear car park was to be $30,000.00 whereas the inside one was half that.

The committees hands were tied and the carpark was started during the reign of Lawrie Gillan, this was probably early or mid 81. The finance for the car park was through a lease amendment.

9th Dec 1981. A letter from “The Corporation of the City of TTG”.

It was addressed to Secretary of MSC Miss C. Taylor and was from the Town Clerk Mr I.F. Kinner, it went as follows:

EASTERN CAR PARK DEVELOPEMENT-AMENDMENT TO LEASE AGREEMENT Dear Miss Taylor

Further to previous advice,Council on Tuesday evening,24th November 1981 resolved to amend the existing Corporation/Modbury Soccer Club lease agreement by deleting Clause 3 which reads:

“The annual rental for the said premises shall be the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) payable on the 1st November 1976 with a partial payment of Twenty Five Dollars ($25.00) due on the 1st August 1976”.

and inserting in lieu thereof the following clause:

“The annual rental for the said premises shall be the sum of Five Thousand Two Hundred & Eighty Four Dollars ($5,284.00) payable on the 1st Nov 1982 and thereafter on the 1st November of each year for the remainder of the leased term to the 31st October 1994”.

Would you please arrange for the enclosed formal amendment document to be signed, sealed and returned to this office at the earliest convenience, and note that the first payment of the amended agreement will fall due on 1st of November 1982.

Yours I.F.Kinner

The amended lease was signed on behalf of the club by Keith Bray and Leonie Norman. A copy of the lease amendment can be seen else where in this history, see if you can spot the mistake.

Then on 6th January 1982 the chairman Keith Bray wrote to council he required somebody from the council to inspect the asphalt as it was unsatisfactory, he wanted this doing prior to signing the amendment, so the carpark was obviously finished although it seems not to standard.

The council replied on Jan 14th and an Engineering Operations Technical Officer met Keith Bray to sort out the problems.

On the 25th of March 82 the committee wrote to the council to see if they would grade the car parking area which surrounds the pitch, as it was in a shocking condition. The council replied that they would carry out the grading by providing the plant and manpower but the club would have to pay. The council did the work but the club complained that they had received an invoice for $370.40 when the work had been done 12 months previously in two hours and only cost $55.00,they had admitted that conditions on the first occasion were not conducive to grading an area they felt that the work should be done again and forget the invoice.It appears that the council did not agree with the forgetting of the invoice and it was just added on to the monies that the club owed the council and it was now reaching serious proportions as the next letter received shows.

On the 13th October 1982 the TTG Council wrote the following letter:

Dear Madam

A routine investigation has revealed that an amount of $3,120.22 owed by your club to Council for water rates and insurance dating back to August 1981 still remains outstanding.

Several attempts to recover this amount have been unsuccessful and consequently Council will be left with no alternative other than to take steps to terminate the lease of the Modbury Soccer Club if this amount is not forthcoming by Monday 25th Oct 1982 or if the club does not provide Council with a written submission satisfactorily explaining why the club has failed to respond to Councils repeated requests for the outstanding amount and what steps the Club is taking to remedy the situation.

Signed I.F. Kinner…Town Clerk.

10th March 1983 the Council wrote to say the Club now owed them a total of $14,488.22.

13th April 1983 The Club requested a breakdown of the figures, the Council explained in detail that they were for EWS, Insurance and 2 Lease payments and that the Club had paid only $1,000,so they still owed $13,488.22.

On the 9th May the Club Secretary Lawrie Gillan (Eric Everitt had been elected Sec at the previous AGM so he must have resigned) wrote to the Council and offered $300 a month even though this would not cover the Lease each year, in fact the lease needed over $400 to cover it. This offer would just have accumulated more debt at the rate of over $1,600 per year. Lawrie wrote asking for details of the debts and he queried the amount due on lease payments.

On the 25th July 83 he asked if he and the Chairman Ken Wilson could meet with the Council Finance Committee.

2nd Aug 83 the Council replied to say that it agreed to the request and that a meeting between the Club Chairman and Secretary were to attend the next TTG Finance Meeting to discuss the Clubs current financial position, they requested that they take some financial figures and future plans with them,the meeting was arranged for 7.30pm Tues 16th Aug 1983 at Council Chambers at 1020 Nth East Rd Modbury.

The Council replied on 15th Aug to the letter written on 9th May so Lawrie or whoever would not have had the time to prepare the full amount of information that was requested,although it must be said that they did not seem to have any financial direction for the future, to be presented at the meeting the following day.

The main bone of contention for the Club was that they only owed one lease payment,the council said that they owed two with a third due on the 1st of Nov 1983.The Council sent a copy of the lease amendment which if you check the due date of the first payment then you can understand the mix up. However the club had only paid $1,200 off that so along with the $3,120.22 the Club were in strife.The way the Council was looking at it was that the Club owed two payments of $5,284 minus $1,200 which is $9,368 plus another payment of $5,284 due in a month or so and the other Council debts of $3,120.22 which if things were not sorted out it would amount to $17,772.22.

At the meeting the following day the Club failed to provide the Council with the information requested by the Council,they were then given until 21st Oct 1983 to provide Financial Statements for the 12 month period ending 30th Sept 83. The Club seems to have made no attempt to provide the requested information on or before the deadline given.

The Club had an AGM in Oct 83 and the new Chairman was Ken Wilson along with Nick James as Secretary and Mick Dye as Treasurer.

It was on the 15th Nov 83 that Mick Dye wrote to the Council and sent a copy of the Financial Statement, he apologised for the delay but explained about the AGM and the new committee needed time to formulate a forward looking policy based on the accounts.

It was a long letter but basically it says:

The main cause of the financial problems was the car park payments which had been forced on the Club by the Council even though the

Club members did not want it or use it as they park at the front and the Club had a cheaper plan rejected.

The letter then went on to inform new council members that all the work done at the ground over the years was performed and paid for by members. The next part I will write it exactly as Mick did:

Having had our previous ground,which we owned, acquired by the Council (now Civic Park) we were moved to our present site only to discover it covered by trees and bushes. These were cut down and the stumps removed, and the ground levelled and laid out by club members the Council doing the seeding only. As regards the clubrooms the finance was provided by members who took out personal loans, the repayments to be made by the Club. All construction work was carried out on a voluntary basis by club members. At no time despite numerous submissions have we received any assistance, financial or otherwise from the Federal or State Governments or from the TTG Council.

As you will appreciate these personal loans attracted a high interest rate and short term payment. This was explained to the TTG Council when their proposal for the carpark were made known and they were then informed that repayments of the magnitude required would be a crippling impost on the Club,and we would have great difficulty in making regular payments.

He then goes on to explain that Federation fees had risen and the refrigeration gear in the Club was in need of replacement and that the Club would like the Council to take into consideration that the Club during its tenure had more than any other sporting body in the area had proved its independence and willingness to support and promote despite the lack of outside help,and then asked the Council to make serious consideration into the removal of this encumbrance to our future development.

The Council replied on 7th Dec 83 to acknowledge receipt the above submission and the Financial Statement but the information was required by 21st Oct at the very latest and that unfortunately the information was not forthcoming until after the Finance Committee meeting and consequently Council had adopted the following list of recommendations of the committee.

1. That Council registers its extreme disappointment at the Modbury Soccer Clubs failure to provide the information requested by Council,at its August 83 meeting and directs the Club to submit by the 19th December 1983;

(a) An Income/Expenditure Statement for the year ending 1982/83.

(b) Details of the Clubs financial ability to meet the outstanding lease payments and other outstanding amounts owing to the Council.

(c) An amount of $900.00 representing the unpaid lease payments for Oct, Nov and Dec 83 and a written assurance from the Club that it will continue to pay an amount not less than $300 per month until such time that a decision is made by Council in accordance with

Part (2) hereunder.

And that the Club be advised that failure to comply with this direction will result in termination of the Lease Agreement without further notice

Part (2)

That on compliance with (1)above,a report be submitted to the

January 84 Finance Committee recommending a scheme which will enable the Modbury Soccer Club to continue using the Modbury Soccer Ground leased facility while reducing the amount outstanding and meeting the existing commitments.

You will note that (1)part (c) of the recommendation has not yet been compiled with. I must stress the importance of your Club meeting this particular requirement if it wishes to continue operating as the Lessee of the Modbury Soccer Ground.

On receipt of the unpaid lease payments and a written assurance from the Club that it will continue to pay an amount of not less than $300 per month as per part (c) of Councils resolution, then a further report will be submitted to Council as detailed in part (2) of the above resolution.

Signed R.C.S.Hunter.. Council Secretary.

In response to this letter the Chairman Ken Wilson sent a letter on the 30th Dec 83 very similar to the one Mick Dye had sent a month or so before.It basically ignored the Councils requests for money etc and just asked them if they could see their way clear to take over the debt for the carpark.

17th January 1984 Mr A.S.Mugge (Administration Officer) with the TTG Council prepared an internal report for the Finance Committee.It concerned the letter and Financial reports that Mick Dye had sent to the Council in November,The purpose of Mr Mugges report is to investigate all the circumstances in the case of outstanding accounts etc.The report starts off with the terms laid down by the previous Council order issued on the 7th Dec 1983.He then goes on to say that the Club had complied with the Councils directions.

The next couple of chapters I will copy from the report:

Once again, the Club has stressed that it is unable to function at a viable level while it is required to meet the loan repayments for the car park off Milne Rd. The Profit and Loss account for the year ended 30th September 83, would tend to substantiate this assertion although it could be argued that certain changes in the operation of the Club could perhaps reverse this situation.

A greater emphasis on fund raising, the use of volunteer labour and a return to “amateur” soccer could change the financial viability of the Club.Unfortunately time constraints have prevented Council officers from meeting with Club representatives to discuss the function, aims, goals and objectives of the Club to determine whether it is realistic to expect the Club to change its operation to this extent.

The other important consideration is the car park itself,the alleged cause of the Clubs financial problems.Despite agreeing to its construction and signing the necessary amendments to the lease agreement for the recovery of its cost of construction ($30,000) the Club has argued for some time that the car park is superfluous to its needs.

Briefly the car park evolved from conditions of Planning Consent in respect of an application for the extension of the Clubrooms. Discussions between the Club and Council, taking into consideration a Highways Department proposal to convert Golden Grove to a multiple lane Highway with the resultant relocation of the soccer pitch and loss of existing car parking space,led to a decision to increase the leased area and construct a second car park thereon.

It is important to note that the Highways Department has abandoned its proposal to acquire portion of the leased area fronting Golden Grove Road and consequently a reasonable amount of land surrounding the soccer pitch will remain for car parking. Despite this fact, the Highways Dept, for safety reasons still requires an access point to the ground from Milne Road to prevent the use of the existing Golden Grove entrance way as a main access point.

It then goes on to consider a formation of a sub committee to meet with the office bearers of the Club.

The recommendation were:

(1) That the submission of the Modbury Soccer Club Inc, dated 15th Nov 1983 and the accompanying Profit and Loss Statement for the year ending 30th Sept 1983 be received.

(2) That a sub committee comprised of the Chairman of the Finance Committee and a Recreation and Welfare Committee and other appropriate officers to be determined by the Town Clerk/City manager meet with office bearers of the M.S.C Inc,to discuss the Clubs function, aims, goals and objectives and report back to the finance committee with the appropriate recommendations on the Clubs financial situation and tenure of the Modbury Soccer Ground leased area.

3rd February 1984 the Council wrote to the Club and informed them of the terms and conditions laid down.

16th Feb 84 Club Officials met with a Council Sub Committee,the meeting lasted 2 hours and at the.time was considered productive.

22nd Feb 1984 the Club responded vith the letter below to the Council from Ken Wilson/Chairman.

Dear Sir,

After exploring all avenues open to it the committee of the Modbury Soccer Club Incorporated has come to the conclusion that in regards to the repayments for the carpark it is unable to meet its commitments and survive.

Yours faithfully

K.Wilson..Chairman MSC.

27th February 1984 the Council wrote to the Club and ignored the above letter to inform them that the cost of ground maintenance of the playing field and its surrounds, the committee had wanted this doing by the council, the Councils Tech officer had constructed a report to a level the Council required, it offered the Club two options, the first being the Club do it to Council standards and the second being they do it and Modbury pay, the cost was $1,002, that sounds like offering a drowning man a drink of water.

6th March 1984 the Chairman Ken Wilson wrote to the Council to explain that after meeting with the Council on the 16th Feb and directed by them to analyse their 84 Budget to see if there was a way of reducing the deficit and remaining viable. He explained that the Club had lost over $5,000 in 83 and were expecting to lose between $1,000 and $2,000 plus loan repayments on the car park. Full discussion had taken place with the players and most said they would play for no payment in the coming season and those who “required payment will be dispensed with”. This of course would jeopardise Modbury’s chances of promotion to the First Division. The Club would also make further cuts in expenditure by using more voluntary bar staff, however there would be increases in Federation fees and certain old plant and equipment would have to be replaced so it was a vicious circle and the Club was only going to survive if the Council released it from it’s car park commitment so we could establish a firm financial base so as to build a successful Club.

13th March 84 in an internal report to the Recreation and Welfare Committee to explain the history of the case, Mr Andrew Mugge wrote that the Modbury Soccer Club finances were bad. The Club was repaying a $30,000 loan plus interest to the Council and currently owes an amount of $11,855 in outstanding annual loan repayments for the construction of a bitumised and kerbed car park within the leased area, a total repayments of $65,223.00 ($30,000 plus interest of $35,223.00) and their total repayments to date are $900.

He had a two hour meeting with Club Officials and as a result they had told him that the Club was constructed by renumbers, some who had taken out personal loans, the Club was still repaying some of these. Despite several submissions to both Federal and State Governments and the TTG Council they had not received any financial assistance. During discussions the representatives had continually made reference to previous non repayable grants to other lessees by the Council, these being $90,000 in 1983 to TTG Sportsrnans Club and 1980 the Council gave $6,000 to Modbury Sporting Club. He then went on to explain player/coaching and barstaff payments made by the Club in 83 which amounted to a total of $26,336.

The report also quotes Ken Wilsons letter of 22nd Feb regarding the Club being unable to survive due to car park repayments.

In taking this course of action the Club has left the Council with only two options both of which would have serious ramifications.

The termination of the lease would cause concern throughout the local sporting community, while cancellation of the loan would draw some adverse comment at large when publicised.

The Modbury Soccer Club is an Incorporated body and therefore with the exception of those members with personal loans no individuals would be disadvantaged by a lease termination. A termination would not necessarily mean the end of the Club.This would remain as a separate entity with legal responsibility to fulfil its financial obligations of those it has with the Council.

It should be understood that if the lease was terminated the Council would assume control of an established licensed clubroom, soccer ground and surrounds, BUT also the added running costs associated therewith,in addition to absorbing the cost of the carpark construction. He then goes on to offer several options if the lease was cancelled such as lease back to MSC or another soccer club or form a management /advisory committee however as he then explains ALL of the options represent increased administrative costs to the Council, plus the Council did not want to appear to be vindictive but rather seeking to recoup funds expended on the carpark. He then recommends the following:

The Council would make an ex-gratia payment to the Modbury Soccer Club equal to the balance of the loan due on the construction of the carpark within the leased area as at the 30th June 84 but to be reviewed in June 85,at· which time further consideration would be dependent on receipt of financial documentation from the Club detailing its current financial position. It will be expected that the Club makes every effort to meet its commitment to pay accounts rendered after the 30th June 84, as per amendment of the Lease Agreement and your co-operation in this regard is sought.

The Council required an audited profit and loss statement for the 12 month period 1st July 84 to 30th June 85.

3rd April 1984 the Club received the Councils letter with notice of the ex-gratia payment of $10,368.00 to clear its debts.

28th Sept 84 the Club received a letter from the Council to say that the Financing Department had researched the Modbury Soccer Clubs account and has advised an amount of $1,487.54,not covered by the ex-gratia payment, in miscellaneous debts dating back to June 82 was still outstanding.

The Secretary Mick Dye wrote on 21st Nov 84 and offered to pay $20 per week to reduce the debt, the Council accepted on the 20th Dec 84 but required it monthly for their convenience. Then they mentioned that Council had raised an invoice number G6659 for $5,535.30 being the lease figure due 1/11/84,this is now payable and the $20 will not cover the lease amount.

22nd February 1985 the Council sent a letter to the Club saying that after making an agreement to pay $80 per month in Dec they, the Council had not received any payments and they requested a cheque to be forwarded to cover the 3 months.

The Club had asked the Council in Nov 84 to cost a movement of the fence and a mound compacted and basic landscaping,the Council replied on the 9th April that the Engineering Dept had estimated the cost at $10,000.00 but if the Club wanted it doing the Council would seek some assurance from the Club it has resources to carry out the operation and they wanted the Club to deposit funds in a Council Trust Account as a guarantee.

24th June 85 the Club were thanked for its Financial Statements but they were not in sufficient detail and therefore an audited balance sheet was required by 12th July at the latest.

The Treasurer Mick Dye sent an audited account for 84/85 and a proposed income and expenditure for the 85/86 financial year.The Council were not impressed with the figures.

23rd July 85 in a TTG internal report to the Community Services Committee from Mr Andrew Mugge outlines the history of the whole affair once again, the ex-gratia,the lot.The Club had a starting debt of $1,487.54 and they offered $80 per month,this was accepted but in 14 months the Club had made only 3 payments of $80,the current debt is $6,587.75,the Financial Statements showed a loss in 84/85 of $1,402.00.The Club was estimating a loss due to expected promotion to the First Division of $19670.00 for 85/86. He then goes into the same options as last time with hidden expense etc.

The recommendations were as follows:

• That notice be served on the Modbury Soccer Club of the Councils intention to call tenders for the annual use of the Modbury Soccer Ground and Club rooms.
• On receipt of responses to invitation to tender a final decision will be made by council as to the future control of the Modbury Soccer Ground.

2nd August 1985 the Council wrote to the Club informing them of the above ruling.

27th August 85 the Club wrote requesting a meeting with the Finance Committee of the Council.

6th Sept 85 the Council agreed to two members of the Club addressing the Councils Community Services Committee on 17th Sept

85 as it was considered that this was the appropriate committee to hear ”your deputation”.The Club attended and their main complaint was that they had paid 7 payments of $80 and not 3 as indicated.

22nd Oct 85 in another internal report prepared by Mr Andrew Mugge for the Community Services, he explains that the Club had paid 7 payments but they still owed at Nov 1st $11,782.75 to the Council, he then goes through the history again and presents a Building Dept report which states that the Changerooms and toilets are in a state of poor maintenance and in need of repair.Then it goes on to say that the Club had attracted sponsorship from a local builder and there was a cash contribution of $10,000 and together with more judicial management things will improve.

The report goes on to say that it was ironical that the Club has had its most successful year having finished the top of the Second Division which brings about automatic promotion to Div One Soccer, subject to the Club meeting the requirements of the S.A.S.F parallels can be drawn between the Soccer Club and the Tea Tree Gully Cricket Club which was promoted to District Cricket and the improvements to the Pertaringa Oval cost the Council $90,000.00.

To prevent a re-occurence of this the Council passed a resolution in March 83:

All sporting bodies utilising a leased area or reserve contemplating movements with in the gradings of their given association, be requested to give reasonable advice to Council in writing and seek Councils approval prior to accepting nominations from the Association.

Mr Mugge then went on to recommend the following:

(1) That the position regarding the lease agreement with the MSC be deferred until Dec 85.Community Services Committee and in the interim a committee of Council shall have negotiations with representatives of the MSC concerning the financial and maintenance issues which are of concern to Council.

(2) That the negotiating committee comprise of four members of the MSC and a committee consisting of the Mayor,Chairman of the Community Services Committee,Chairman of the Planning Committee and the City Manager or his Nominee.

In the Dec of 85 the meeting took place with the Club and the above Council Committee, the main bone of contention from the Club was that it was not really OUR carpark because we could not fence it off and it was used by local residents and their visitors and by people using Ashley Reserve and it was a thing we did not want right from the word go. The people who represented the Club were I am told, they are not mentioned by name in any documents that I have seen, Peter Ward, Cathy Taylor and Jim Challinor, there were only three and from conversations with both sides the general idea was it would be a good idea to have people from the Club who had not been involved in past negotiations.

The result of the meeting was that the Council would write off the balance of the car park loan provided the Club pays an amount of $15,000.00 in three equal instalments of $5,000.00.Council also accepted the Clubs offer to rectify problems with the adjacent toilet block and bring facilities into conformity with the Building and Health Act requirements.

24th Feb 1986 receipt of the first $5,000 was acknowledged and note was taken of the Clubs efforts in effecting improvements,it was quite impressive.The Council for record purposes requested written confirmation of acceptance of the requirements.

3rd Mar 86 the Secretary Terry Thorp acknowledged on behalf of the Committee.

6th January 1987 the final payment of $5,000.00 on the car park was made.

Back to the History

On the 3rd of February 1982 the then Mayor Don Stuart accepted the position of Patron of Modbury Soccer Club offered by the committee.

On the 25th March 1982 the club built the present coaches dugouts in brick to replace the old galvanised iron ones.

The club applied to the council to erect a new verandah along the front of the club in early 1982 and the council agreed on condition that the plans were passed by the building act was adhered to,the final permission was granted on 12th Nov 82.

The verandah was erected in 1983 and was donated to the club by two stalwarts in Artie Young and John Straatman, the work was carried out by volunteers in Dean Pinyon, Mick Duffy, Gerry McCague and Alan Brown, there was another person but he is only known as the fireman.

It was during this period that the Club formed another amateur team that was to become the “Jets”, the members will argue the date but the majority lean towards March 1983, they all remember it was a very hot day and they played in the cup at Elizabeth, they are still going strong and now have 3 teams in the Sunday amateur league.

In the Oct 83 the Committee voted in a new Chairman with Ken Wilson taking over and Nick James as Secretary.

The year of 1984 saw the Club take on another change, this was the year that they changed their strip to Blue and White Hoops, Blue Shorts and White socks.

19/11/84 the Club asked the Council if they could bring the pitch up to standard. The Club was represented by Ken Wilson and Terry Kavanagh and they met the Council to discuss pitch problems. The result of the meeting was that the Council would carry out the work but the Club would have to pay for it. They offered to spray the weeds and to renovate the bare patches and would use their new Lily turf layer, it is interesting to break down their charges:

Then they turned round and said that the pitch would not be ready for the season so plans were made for Sept/Oct when they would re­ estimate.

On the 3rd of Dec 84 the Club was placed on a good behaviour bond of $250 by the Federation for the 85 season. Mr Michael Dye was fined $100 suspended providing no breach in 85. The fines were the result of an incident concerning 18 year old Kevin Llewellyn who was refused treatment by the referee after an incident and after he abused the referee he was sent off and subsequently suspended.

The 1984 season saw the 2nd Div increased to 13 teams as the Federation had abolished the Metropolitan League (this was basically the 3rd Div) when Windsor Melita were the last champions. This was also the end of the Barker Cup. The Club had to play 24 games in the 84 and 85 seasons and it seems to have worked wonders for them.

In Oct 84 the members elected Artie Young as Chairman, he told me that he had just finished 8 years on and off as team manager, and Terry Thorp as Secretary, this was Terry’s 1st of his 4 consecutive years.

6th May 85 the MSC Chairman Mr A.Young was charged with subjecting a referee Mr P O’Flaherty to a TWO minute barrage of abusive and provocative language on the 23rd Mar. The Federation dismissed the charges.

On the 15th June 1985 the Club celebrated its 21st birthday by paying off the final instalments of the loans to become the only Club in S.A. to own their Clubrooms, they had a party and the guest of honour was the TTG Mayor and his Mayoress, Mr and Mrs Tilley.

1985 SEASON

To say that history repeats itself is evident at the Club because as was the case in 73 the Seniors won their league,the Reserves won theirs and the Juniors came runner up in their league,then to put the cream on it the U16’s came runner up in their league.It was a terrific overall result for the Club.

The team had a dual coaching system with Mickey Dye and Nick James sharing the job, the players in the squad were numerous but the following names are prominent: Peter Jacob(Capt), Fran Jacob, John Jacob, Mick Duffy, Peter Stanzack, Andy Nixey, Paul Fennell, Grant Warner, Kevin Llewellyn, Richard Llewellyn, George Hajack, Harry Jones, Tim Brown, Chris Matthews, Greg Baines, Mick Thomasi, Andy Locke, Pete Smith, Paul Whyle, Rocky Trimboli, the team manager was Alan Douglas, the trainer was Vic Sheppard who was in his first year at the Club and up to the time of writing is still the trainer. As in other items where names are mentioned there will probably be some that I have missed, if so I apologise.

The leading goalscorers were Tim Brown with 24 and Kevin Llewellyn with 14.

1st Nov 1985 the Club was accepted for the 1st Division providing the that ground met certain standards and this included a players race, enclosed, running from the change rooms to the pitch. This was erected by Dick Parkinson in the closed season with the help of Terry Thorp, the concrete path to the pitch was done by Mick Duffy and Fran Jacob. It had to be finished by 6th Dec 1985.

Below are the playing records of the 3 Federation sides.

[insert tables]

I have tried everywhere to obtain the Seniors match results but could not obtain them,not even Mick Dye had a copy.

I cannot find too much about the Club after the success in the 85 season, there does not seem to be any paper work available. Oct 85 at the A.G.M. the members voted in Lawrie Gillan as the new Chairman and Terry Thorp was once again Secretary.

For the coming season in the 1st Division the Club appointed Mick Dye as sole coach and stuck with the same players except for signing Duane Gray, Peter Stanzcak and Phil Mullen.

It was the first time a Modbury player had been eligible for Rothman Votes and for a side that got relegated we did not do too bad, we scored as follows:

Duane Gray 17 (equal 3rd), Phil Mullen 10, Paul Fennell 5, Tim Brown 3, Andy Locke 3, Peter Stanzcak 3, Andy Nixey 2, Richard Llewellyn 1, we also had 4 players ineligible John Kaye 7, Rocky Trimboli 2, Fran Jacob 1, Glen Durrant 1.

The season a long one but a learning experience for both the players and the future committees,unfortunately the players who the committee had signed at the beginning of the season, left the Club when they were relegated and this alone is a lesson.

At the end of the season Modbury were relegated and Mick Dye’s services were dispensed with. The final table and results are below.

[insert tables]

October 1986 at the A.G.M. the members voted in a new Chairman in Peter Ward with Terry Thorp on his 3rd term, they had Jim Challinor as Treasurer.

Nov 17th a new coach Roger Rojuch? I think thats how you spell it, was appointed to get the Club back up to the 1st Div.

Nov 86 the committee asked Kevin Llewellyn to design a certificate of appreciation for sponsors and also the new letter head, for this service he received the grand sum of $20, paid in April 87.

Dec 8th 1986 the committee were arranging the Children’s Xmas party and they were issuing different jobs to each committee person and they actually gave Brian Spooner the job of finding a “loud hailer” to keep the kids in check, somebody had a sense of humour.

Jan 5th 87 Dick Barnes approached Gordon Pickard re sponsorship,he gave a cheque for $5,000, which paid off the car park and he pledged $500 for every win, he also suggested a home/away series against Adel City with the winner picking up $6,000 and $4,000 to the loser.

9th Feb 87 Ian Wallace a committeeman required the history of the Club to be organised and also a Club Newsletter started, he knew of certain companies that would pay up to $100 to advertise in the newsletter, regarding the history “Why not just ask older member?”

During the Feb/March period the Club signed Peter King, Noel Flounders, Dave Humphries, Ray Deeley and a keeper called Vidmor but he did not stay as the Club had too many goalkeepers.

During this period under the treasurer Jim Challinor the Club started having more BBQ’s and functions at weekends to bolster the Clubs finances and things were, according to the balance sheets starting to improve, the reason could have been that the car park was paid off and under Dick Barnes the sponsorship side was looking very good.

Mar 87 under the direction of George Hallas the Club had its BBQ built by Mark Anderson, better known as Westie, the bricks were provided by Dick Barnes again.

April 6th 87 Roger was removed, he probably holds the record as the shortest league Coach at Modbury as he was sacked after two games. The Club started their fightback under him with a 3-1 defeat at home to Elizabeth City and a 1-0 defeat away to Seaford. Billy Gray who was coaching the juniors, took over the Seniors.

May 12th 87 the Club got the first quote for floodlighting,they had several quotes but the best was suggested by Gavin Thompson, it was for 4 poles and 16 lights and his quote was $20,512.00.

31st July 87 the committee to thank Tony Chipping for donating the fencing and to Matt Halliday and Tom Hackworth for their work in erecting the fence under the verandah.

1st August 1987 the Club won promotion back to the 1st Div with a 1-0 win at Brighton to finish runner up to Adel City on goal diff, they beat Seaford in the last game 2-0, thats how close it was as you can see by the league table.

[insert tables]

For finishing R/U the Club received $1,000 which was spread amongst the squad.

3rd August 87 Dick Barnes acquired plans for the extension and he would use his own licence so we could do it ourselves. On the night of the celebrations Gordon Pickard had offered sponsorship and he said he would confirm it in writing as soon as possible.

17th Aug 1987 Fairmont Homes wrote a letter to the Club offering $10,000 to purchase players only, he would also “organise” other businesses to put money into a “player purchase fund” to be administered by Dick Barnes, Peter Ward and the Senior Coach, also he would pay the Club $500 per win. He was planning to build a house for Adelaide City which we could involve ourselves in and split the profits, Dick worked out the deal could be worth $30,000 to Modbury.

Aug 31st 87 Billy Gray re-appointed as Coach for the 1st Division. The Club was about to take off with its plans, they were not going to make the same mistakes as the last time in 1986.

On Sept 14th 1987 the Club submitted their plans for the extensions and the “foreman” Dick Barnes was trying to find somebody to donate the materials. Once again Fairmont came good with the promise of some material donation and also the terms of the Adel City house, if we made it a joint venture the Modbury would get 15% of the proceeds.

14th Oct at the A.G.M the members voted in the same exec committee to give the Club the necessary stability. It was at this meeting that Sandy Powell was made an Honorary Life Member, it had been suggested by Peter Ward then Fran Jacob had nominated him with Bob Taylor as seconder, it was a unanimous vote by the members present.

2nd Oct 87 the Federation issued a letter from FIFA that member Clubs could not take disputes between each other or their Federation before a court of law under article 48 of FIFA rules.

8th Oct 87 the Secretary Terry Thorp lodged the official plans with the TTG Council for re-development of the clubrooms.

10th Nov 87 in an internal report by Andrew Mugge to the Community Services Committee of the Council regarding the annual financial statement of the MSC for the year ending Oct 87, in his words, it was for their perusal. The report states that the Club now had a strong management and for the first time in the Clubs history it is a strong financial position. He recommended that the C.S.S accept the financial report and that they congratulated the Club management over the past two years for their efforts.

15th Dec 87 in another internal report on the Clubs application for proposed extensions, Andrew Mugge said that the Club had advised it would meet the entire cost with its profits from the past 12 months and assistance from major sponsor Fairmont Homes. The Councils own Building Dept had done an approximate costing on the work to be done, if carried out by private contractors it would be $140,000.00.  Mr Mugge said it was ambitious and if carried out satisfactorily would ”enhance the leased area and add to the Councils Community Assets”. However Council should proceed with some caution in the matter given the Clubs fluctuating performance in respect to the Milne Rd carpark. He recommended the Clubs proposals.

21st Dec 87 the Club received official permission to go ahead with the extensions.

28th Dec 87 Committee appointed Dick Barnes and Arthur Smallwood to co-ordinate the building programme.

28th Dec 87 the Club were officially notified by the S.A.S.F. that they were accepted into the 1st Division for the 1988 season.

31st Dec 87 the Club had signed the majority of the previous years squad and had started to sign new players for the oncoming season. Some of the players came from amateur Clubs so the money from the Fairmont sponsorship was not involved in all the signings.

1988

The year started with player activity and I will just list the signings that were made before the season started and not the date they signed, suffice to say it was between 31st Oct 87 and the start of the 88 season. The list was: Ian Cole, Mal Richardson, Richard Parsons, Glen Hope, Jason Batten, Billy Boyle, Duane Gray, Tony Raper, John McCormack, Jim Mitchell and Fairmont Homes bought Bryan Edwards for us, that was 11 players which was virtually a brand new squad.

1st Feb the new kitchen was donated by Supreme Joinery,thanks once again to the persuasion of Dick Barnes.

Feb 88 the new goalposts were erected thanks to the donation of Matt Halliday.

Feb 88 the SASF brought in the new rule regarding NO glasses or bottles to be taken outside the Clubrooms on match days, only plastic drinking utensils and they are to be only used in the licenced area, in other words only under the verandah and up to the gate to the change rooms.

15th Feb 88 the committee suggested a new constitution be drafted and put before the members.

Mar 88 the Club applied for permission from the Federation to fit cabins temporarily as change rooms as the extensions would not be ready due to unforeseen circumstances, the Federation gave the Club the permission as long as they gave full protection to the match officials.

15th March 88 slight damage was reported when the footings were going in, the Club would cover rather than claim on insurance.

28th Mar 88 it was estimated by Dick Barnes that the cost to the Club of the extensions would be approximately $10,000.00, he then listed the items that had been sponsored by different companies.

All the bricks donated by PGH Bricks and Hallett Bricks. All the electrical switches etc donated by Clipsal.
All the tiles donated by Direct Tiles.
Direct Hardware and Wingfield Timber also donated some forms of materials in the form of discounts etc.
This was once again through Fairmont Homes.

25th April 88 Dick issued a notice to the committee to say that he was NOT impressed by the poor response of Federation and Jet players in their attitude re-assistance, he pointed out that it was mainly for their benefit.

9th May 88 some of the Committee were not happy with the teams performances, fitness etc so they advised Billy Gray.

9th May 88 the Committee asked the Council to upgrade to surrounds and provide a costing so that we could plan for it financially. The first approximate estimate was around $3500.00 as the Clubs share.

May 88 the extensions were finished for the Adelaide City game on the 14th May and the transportables were returned, as previously stated Dick Barnes Arthur Smallwood and Russ Moon were the main organisers of the extensions but I have listed below the members who helped in any way they could, the names are in alphabetical order and I apologise for anybody I have missed.

Dick Barnes
June Barnes
George Beck
Mick Beck
Gerry Branigan
Jack Curtis
Mick Duffy
Charlie Fitzgerald
George Hallas
Carole Hallas
Gerry McCague
Russ Moon
Chris Moon
Dave Murray
Dick Parkinson
Dean Pinyon
Arthur Smallwood
Dave  Smallwood
Dave Smallwood Jnr
Ron Smallwood
Brian Spooner
John Strathman
Terry Thorp

The Club also would not have progressed as fast as it had,if it had not enjoyed a very profitable sponsorship with Cordon Pickard and Fairmont Homes.

18th May 88 .Billy Gray resigned as coach and Peter Ward resigned as Chairman,however Peter withdrew his resignation after discussion with the Committee, so after 9 rounds and 1 cup game they appointed Norman Lees with Brian Dooley as an assistant.

6th June 88 the Committee went out and signed their most expensive signing in Djuro Arezina from Beograd for $7,000.

4th July 88 the Adelaide City House was started and Dick Barnes was looking for volunteers.

29th Aug 88 the season had finished 2 days earlier and the Club had finished in 9th position in what was to be the last Rothmans league as it was to change to the Foundation League in 89.

The players who scored in the Rothmans Medal were in order: Duane Gray 13pts, Ian Cole 9, Jim Mitchell 7, Richard Parsons 6, Mal Richardson 4, Jason Batten 3, Kevin Llewellyn 3, P.Millar 1,  once again the Club had illegible players: Bryan Edwards 9, John Kaye 9, Djuro Arezina 4.

29th Aug 88 the Committee also were told that the canteen and BBQ had made a profit of $6,857.00 and this was raised by the efforts of members Chris Moon, Carole Hallas, June Barnes, Wendy Moon, Lisa Barnes and Kym Barnes, the Committee thanked the ladies for their efforts.

28th Sept 88 on behalf of the Club Peter Ward wrote to the Council to request they start the ”upgrading of the surrounds of the Modbury Soccer Club” on condition that our share would be no more than $3,800 out of the total cost $11,400. The list of work to be done was: Re-alingnment of fence $3,500, Reshaping of ground for planting and car parking $2,400, Weed spraying $500, Planting shade trees for screening and ground cover $2,000, Water dripper system $1,000, The entrance to the Oval resurfaced with rubble $2,000, Total $11,400.

20th Oct 88 the Club held its A.G.M and Dick Barnes was elected Chairman and Brian Spooner as Secretary.

24th Oct the Club picked up $1000 for the Fairmont Cup and Fairmont said that they would sponsor us again, Gordon also offered Modbury a Danish player called Sorenson but it came to nothing.

31st Oct 88 the Chairman suggested that the Club looked at erecting an honours board, the Secretary said he would see to it.

7th Nov 88 the Club lodged the plans for the bar extensions with the Liquor Lie Board.

12th Dec 88 the Committee thanked Wendy Moon and Lisa Barnes for their efforts in raising the money for the children’s swings.

16th Jan 89 the Club received permission for the extension to the clubrooms.

16th Jan 89 the Club was offered the transfer fee of $7,500 for the Kent Brothers by Fairmont Homes. The Club also signed Alistair Crooks and Ian Woods for the coming season.

6th Mar 89 Norman Lees was sacked as coach for disciplinary reasons after the Para Hills game.

10th Mar 89 a very interesting point to come out of the past was that the present SASF Director of Coaching Mr Carlos Buzzetti had his application for the vacant coaching position turned down.

14th Mar 89 the Club swapped their most expensive signing, Djuro Arezino, for Steve Amos in a straight swap with Campbelltown. Steve was appointed Player/Coach.

3rd April 89 a proposal from C.Fitzgerald and seconded by G.McCague that all monies the Club received from the canteen be used to erect floodlights at the end of the season was passed unanimously.

3rd April 89 the Committee first discussed the overseas player Danny Docherty with a view of sponsoring him for 2 years, Terry Thorp had already spoken to him on the phone, the Club would look at finding a sponsor.

April 89 the Club celebrated with a 25th anniversary cabaret.

10th April 89 the Committee decided to sign Danny Docherty for 2 years and to sponsor him and his wife and child, the Clovercrest Hotel offered 2 weeks accommodation in their motel units.

11th April 89 the Club sent the transfer papers over to Docherty for him to sign and return, plus an agreement for him to sign and a copy of the Dept of Immigration rules regarding sponsored players. He signed the papers on the 24th April and returned them, he had played for Greenock Morton for 7 years, Dumbarton 2 years and Queen of the South 2 years, they were his present Club. He was 25 years of age and he was coming for 2 years with his wife Janet and baby Nicole.

24th May 89 the Club purchased the tickets for the player and his family.

5th June 89 Danny Docherty arrived in Adelaide ,it was Monday morning and they were taken by Russ Moon to the Clovercrest to settle in. Eventually after seeing several houses they picked one in Redwood Park, the Club paid 2 weeks rent and the bond of $600.

25th July 89 the Committee decided to have a new logo and letter head, they were designed by Malcolm Koch for $70 and we paid for envelopes, paper and complimentary slips for a total cost of $436. This is the logo being used at present.

2nd Sept 89 the Club won the PGH Cup final by beating Para Hills at Hindmarsh Stadium 2-0. The Club hired some buses for the Final, they hired 1 for the players and 2 for the sponsors from Keys Buses then they hired 3 from Flynns for the supporters who wanted to drink and smoke during the trip there and back, the total cost for all the buses was $820 but they collected $720 so it cost the Club $100 for a terrific piece of PR. The bar that night had a very good turnover. On the way to the final they beat the following:

The squad that won the PGH Cup in 1989 was as follows: Coaches; Steve Amos and Jim Muldoon, Steve also played, Trainer Vic Sheppard and Team manager Jim Challinor. The players were Alistair Crook, Richard Parsons, Mal Richardson, Robbie Williams, Stuart Douglas, Carl Whitehead, Danny Docherty, Bryan Kent, Terry Kent, Duane Gray, Peter Millar, Gary McCleod, Ian Woods, Ian Cole, Bryan Edwards, Alan Hulls, Malcolm Koch.

One of the squad Gary McCleod was involved in a very bad car accident. Unfortunately he has not played since.

The team reached the semi finals of the West End Cup where they were beaten 6-0 but in the playoffs for 3rd and 4th we won 5-3 and our goalkeeper Alistair Crooks scored a hat trick.

25th Sept 89 the canteen raised $9000 and this went towards the lights.

In the Foundation player of the year the Club had Richard Parsons finish equal 3rd with 18pts, Duane Gray 6, Ian Cole 5, Danny Docherty 5, Carl Whitehead 2, Alistair Crooks 1.

11th Oct 89 at the AGM the new Chairman was Russ Moon and the Secretary was Charlie Fitzgerald.

16th Oct 89 the Club collected $6,000 for the PGH win, and also $1,500 for the West End Cup, both the prizes went to the players fund, the players donated the $1,500 to the Gary McCleod fund which the Committee had set up, they had several functions and donated 40% of the bar takings to the fund. The Club handed over a total of $3,750 on the 23rd Oct 89 to Jim Challinor and Mrs McCleod.

23rd Oct 89 Danny Docherty approached Russ Moon and told him that his standard of living had dropped, he said we owed him more money.

31st Oct 89 the Secretary Charlie Fitzgerald checked with the Dept of Immigration as to what money we were up for, their reply was that he had to have an income not less than the unemployment allowance plus we were responsible for the conditions we signed for on the sponsorship forms, e.g.medical. If he wanted a transfer then the other Club had to satisfy the Dept of Immigration, the SASF and the Modbury Soccer Club that they could take over sponsorship and compensate Modbury for any expenses incurred during their sponsorship of him.

6th Nov 89 he approached the Committee saying he was only getting $420 a week wages and he was broke, this did not include any money he had received from the Club in loans, match fees etc.

27th Nov 89 the Committee wrote to the Federation to complain about Azzurri poaching Ian Cole, Duane Gray and Peter Millar with out any permission, the Federation instructed us to write to Azzurri.

18th Dec 89 Danny Docherty approached the Committee for a $500 loan however when it was suggested that we give it to him, but he would play in the Ampol series for nothing to pay us back he then changed it to a gift, at this point Jim Muldoon who was with him suggested we give him a gift of $2,000 or let him go, the Club declined on all counts and decided to notify ALL other Clubs and especially Para Hills that he was a required player.

8th Jan 90 Steve Amos approached Gordon Pickard behind the Clubs back for player sponsorship, he got $5,000 plus $500 every week for best player, it was a total of $16,500 but the Club would receive nothing, he had taken our main sponsor. Russ Moon collected the $5,000 the following day and on instructions from Steve Amos and Jim Muldoon he offered Danny Docherty $2,500, he declined the offer and said that he wanted to play for another Club. The coaches went to talk to him with Russ Moon and Gerry McCague and he had a change of mind and the Club put $5,700 on his head, this included tickets and all other expenses occurred, if he stays in Australia. Most of the rest of the money went to signing on fees that the two coaches chose to pay to several players.

During this period our cup team broke up and players left and players came, those who left included Alistair Crooks, Ian Cole, Duane Gray,Peter Millar, John Kaye, John McCormack and Ian Woods.

The Club signed Dave Edwards, Neil Edwards, Andy Thomson, Peter Mullen, Martin Cockerill, Dave Humphries came back off loan, Aaron Bray and Brian Gale.

4th Jan 90 Cheryl Grey became the first female bar manager just one month after Sandy Powell resigned.

At this point I will put all the information about the floodlights and sprinklers in one section to keep it together.

Floodlights

The Club first made enquiries regarding new floodlighting on the 12th May 1987 when they approached several firms for quotes to erect lighting that was good enough for training purposes or even match conditions. The best of the quotes was from Gavin Thompson of Lighting Services at Elizabeth, he quoted originally $20,512.00 for 4 poles and 16 lights (4 on each pole) which included all electrical work and the lights to be fitted in weather proof boxes. The Club had to put them off for a time due to financial priorities, these being players were required and team expenses were going up in leaps and bounds.

1st May 1989 The Club once again approached several contractors for quotes and Gavin Thompson came out best, but this time Russ Moon contacted Mr Ray Parsons (father of Richard) from Thorn Alilighting for advice and guidance and he acted as our Technical Co-ordinator in all legal and technical matters and along with Russ Moon they put in a lot of time and effort to get the lights up. The plans were ready and all the paper work required by the different bodies was officially lodged along with a fee for $35 to the TTG Council by Roy Parsons on the 31st Jan 90, it was for 6 poles and 12 lights, the plans were also lodged with the South Australian Planning Commission, the Commission made two proviso’s these were:

1. The lights are to have shields fitted (if necessary) to prevent direct light from the floodlights on nearby roads and houses.
2. The lights are to be switched off at 8.30pm on ANY night.

On the 29th June the TTG Council temporarily approved the idea as long as their recommendations were followed, basically it concerned the shields and also that Modbury Soccer Club paid for them. Through out the dealings between the Club and TTG Council the Club dealt with Mr Mike Coligan (Recreation Facilities Co-ordinator) and he helped the Club in every way possible and his help was appreciated. On the advice of Mr Coligan and Mr Parsons, we requested that the floodlights be purchased through the TTG Council so we could try to obtain them with exemption from sales tax, this request was lodged on the 3rd July 90 and on the 12th of July we received notice that the Australian Taxation Dept had no objections as the lights were regarded as ‘durable goods’, provided that the Club acknowledges that Council would retain ownership of the floodlights, the Council then requested it in writing that the Club acknowledges that any fixture on leased land remains the property of the Council i.e. floodlights. On the 22nd of August 90 the TTG Council gave approval to erect 12 floodlights on 6 poles at:: House No 75,Lot No Res,Golden Grove Road, Ridgehaven. The Club were instructed to notify the following bodies before construction E&WS, ETSA..Telecom, Highways Department, SA Gas Company, and for some unknown reason Australia Post.Then we had to wait for approval off the S.A.Planning Commission.

On the 4th Sept 90 the Club received a letter from the appeals Tribunal which stated that any person wishing to lodge any appeal against the Club erecting floodlights had 21 days to do so and this was from public notice of the construction, this period had passed and that NO appeals had been lodged with the Tribunal in respect to the Clubs application so everything was ok. The Club started the wheels rolling by ordering different parts.

However 14 days later on the 18th of Sept the appeals Tribunal wrote to the Club saying that an appeal had been lodged by a person who had sent her appeal to the wrong Dept and the wrong place and too late but we had to appear at Samuel Way Buildings on 21st Sept to hear the appeal. The Club were represented by the Chairman Russ Moon and the Secretary Charlie Fitzgerald, the TTG Council sent Mr Mike Coligan and The SA Planning Commission sent a solicitor, the person who had appealed was a Mrs ER Tiltins of 1 Pepe Court, Mod she lived opposite the Club and reckoned that the lights would shine in their eyes in the evenings when they were sat on their balcony, she had lodged her original appeal 1 day before the 21 days were up, the tribunal had received her appeal 7 days late. The Chairman of the Tribunal listened to Mr & Mrs Tiltins then the Club had their say and the Commission Solicitor had his say although he offered nothing to the cause, Mr Coligan’s presence was noted then the Chairman made the decision to reject the appeal as we had been instructed by different Departments to shield the lights and we had agreed to do so, it all ended amicably. The lights were erected and ready to be switched on officially November 19th 1990.

The official cost of the lights is listed as $10,797.00. The one thing I must mention is that ALL the money for the lights came from the canteen and BBQ profits, achieved by the members who had to work so hard all year, and they had been putting a lot of money into the Club over the years and they can not go by without mention they were Chris Moon, June Barnes, Carole Hallas, Wendy Moon, Lisa Barnes and Kym Barnes and Dick Barnes.

Sprinkler System

During this period the Club also decided to install an underground sprinkler system and work started on 12th Oct 90 and with the help of a few of the members Russ Moon once again organised the job. The labour as for most jobs at the Club in the past was provided by members and the lights and sprinklers were done by basically the same people Russ Moon, George Hallas, Charlie Fitzgerald, Mick Duffy, Gerry McCague, ob Walker, Lee Moon, Steve Edwards, Dave McGlade, Alan Davies, Dick Parkinson, Terry Thorp, Brian Spooner, Iian Millar, Jack Curtis, Gerry Branigan and not forgetting Chris Moon who kept us all in tea and coffee! I may have missed somebody but if I have I apologise.

The job was completed at the same time as the lights and the cost was officially $8,750.00 and both the lights and the sprinkler system costs were in the 1991 financial year. The Club took out a short term loan to pay for the sprinklers with the idea that once again the canteen ladies would come good during the year and they did. This again needs special mention with Chris Moon, June Barnes and Carole Hallas and Wendy Moon doing most of the work, it was especially hard on June as her husband Dick had been in hospital for a long spell and he had been very sick.

20th Feb 90 the Committee had a meeting with Steve Amos and Jim Muldoon regarding complaints from the other coaches and a few players over a total “lack of communication” between Coaches etc. The meeting ended on amicable terms.

5th March 90 the TTG Council gave the Club till June 90 to pay the $3,800 for the ground improvements that had been done in 1988.

5th March 90 the Club started selling season tickets, 10 home games for $30, saving $20. It was not a success.

19th Mar 90 paid the Council $1,500 off the $3,800.

9th April the Committee suspended Steve Amos till further notice and Jim Muldoon took over the team.

14th April 90 the date of the infamous Beograd game when crowd disturbances saw both side heavily fined, the punishment that the SASF dealt out to Modbury was absolutely ludicrous. The best way to record the incident is to copy sections of official documents.

The day started with an incident during the U18 game when a Beograd player attacked a Modbury player (Eoghan Trower), he threw him against the fence and the lad finished in Modbury Hospital with a fractured left arm and a chipped bone in his wrist, the referee Mr Ulrich Henn did not see the incident and it was only when the linesman told him did he send off the Beograd player, unfortunately the Beograd supporters treated him like some kind of hero and the trouble was virtually assured. The rest is history with trouble at half time which resulted in Mr Brian Spooner calling the police and when they came the trouble stopped, they stayed until 10 mins from the end then left, at the end of the game the trouble really blew up with 3 Beograd players, Matthew Peace, George Nesgos and Jovan Dacic in the middle of it along with the Beograd “trainer” Steve Nikolich who just happened to be the Beograd Chairman as well, the police came back and the trouble stopped, the police stayed till 6.30pm then left.The referee Mr Jim Rossis sent off the 3 Beograd players who were involved in the incident then sent off Bryan Kent for an incident he did not see, it was “seen” by Mr Ulrich Henn the linesman and was not connected to the trouble, they both sent in match reports to the Federation and so did the Modbury Secretary.

Friday 27th April 90 the Club was summoned to a “hearing” at 6. 45pm before the disciplinary committee under Chairman Mr Les Avory, and L Alagich, P Marafioti, S Witwicki. G Milton, C Markou, D Penna. The Disc Comm read all the reports then interviewed Jim Rossis, Ulrich Henn did not appear. The the Beograd Club were next, represented by Mr Steve Nikolich, the same one in the middle of the trouble, and Mr Milosevic, they were called in and heard then left and Russ Moon and Charlie Fitzgerald were eventually heard at 7.58pm they left at 8.30pm, as we left we both were convinced that we had just wasted 32 minutes as any decision had been reached before we entered the room.The one thing that is amazing is that the “Avory Committee” found Modbury guilty as charged:

1. Inadequate ground control
2. Lack of control of alcoholic beverage at ground
3. Pitch invasion at half time
4. Failing to notify police
5. Failing to adhere to rule V.1.4 Drink Containers

The Beograd Club were found guilty of:

1. Pitch Invasion at half time
2. Inadequate crowd control
3. Lack of control of alcoholic beverage

The disciplinary committee recommended:

The Modbury Soccer Club be fined the sum of $3,500 and placed on a good behaviour bond for 2 years of $2,000
The Beograd Soccer Club be fined the sum of $2,500 and placed on a good behaviour bond for 2 years of $2,000
Both Clubs to pay the Federation Office within 7 days all monies owing

They also advised the board that the two clubs have 10 white coats for any meeting of the Clubs during the period of the bond (2yrs).

3rd May 90 the board informed Modbury of the following decision:­ The Modbury Soccer Club be found guilty on the following:

1. Inadequate ground control.
2. Lack of control of alcoholic beverages at ground.
3. Pitch invasion at half time.
4. Failing to notify police.
5. Failing to adhere to rule V1.4 (drink containers)
6. Bring the game to disrepute

The board felt that these fines would have been greater had it not been constrained by the Constitutional requirements, however in the event of repetitions of similar incidents within the bond period the board will consider suspensions impositions or loss of points.

Modbury SC be fined $1,200 for the above and place on a good behaviour bond of $1,200 for 2 years, $200 for each offence.

8th May 90 the Club appealed on 5 of the offences and did not appeal against the 6th charge which had appeared between the two decisions of the Federation boards.

It is not necessary to go into all the appeals because any body present at the game can see that they were trumped up “charges”, we always thought that we were going to a hearing not a trial. The appeals tribunal squashed number 5 and dropped the fine $200.

The secretary C.Fitzgerald had been to the police station and he had obtained the following police message times:

Message 1600 Caller Mr B.Spooner
Received 15:39, 2 patrols arrived at ground 16.02, 2 patrols left at 16.33

Message 1612 Caller St John Ambulance
Received 16.52, 3 patrols arrived at ground 16.57, 2 patrols left ground at 17.15, 1 patrol left at 18.14

This information was obtained from the police communications Dept and would allow charge 4 “failure to notify police” to be dismissed in any court in the land. The Secretary rang the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee Les Avory on the advice of the Fed office, he informed the Sec it was bad advice and that his interpretation of Charge 4 was “we allowed the police to leave”, this was the man who had chaired a committee to “try” the two clubs. Nobody will convince me that the disciplinary board was not absolutely useless, they did not know their own constitution and were led by a man interpreting evidence in a way that defies all logic. It was just another revenue earner, justice never came in to it.

The Sec also objected to the lodgement of the bond as this was not done in the courts of the land, the procedure was to accept by signature the conditions and acceptance of the bond. However as any body who has dealt with the Federation knows “they are never wrong”

7th May 90 Steve Amos is sacked as coach, he wants to play elsewhere

4th June 90 the Club received the receipts for the total $3,800 was paid, the ground improvements had been paid for.

2nd July Danny Docherty wanted the Club to make enquiries with regards to further sponsorship, the Secretary went to the Dept of Immigration and got him all the forms and handed them to him.

28th July 90 the Reserves won their league under the coaching of Mick Dye.

[insert table]

Modbury won the league on goal difference, also they could claim one point from the Hellas game which was not played.

30th July 90 Danny Docherty decided that he wanted an operation, the Club on the advice of the Federation told him he needed a referral from his Doctor, he approached the Committee to say he had never had a referral and we would have to pay all his physio bills, he then went to the Federation office to see if he could go private for his operation, they said not unless we had seen a referral and we booked him in as we would have to pay any extras, he ignored this advice and went ahead and had an operation without the Club knowing about it or where he had gone, and the Club was being held responsible for his costs.

19th Aug 90 the Club withdrew its sponsorship of Danny Docherty, due to a total breakdown of relationship, this was on the advice given to Charlie Fitzgerald by a Mr Lou Tripodi of Dept of Imm, Docherty had moved homes and pocketed the bond money, he had moved jobs and gone to hospital without Club knowledge leaving the Club with large bills, we were advised that we had to give him 14 days notice, we told him at 5.15pm, then at 5.25pm Para Hills made enquiries about hirn, they were told that it was now in the hands of the Dept of Immigration and the SASF.

21st Aug 90 after further Para Hills enquiries Russ Moon and Charlie Fitzgerald went to see Mr Mike Lukovich the Para Hills Chairman at the Somerset Hotel he offered something ridiculous and tried to bluff about visa’s and how he had brought lots of players over to Beograd, the Modbury officials who were only there to try and recoup the money the player had cost the Club,left him and told Para Hills to come back with an offer around the $13,000 mark, this included his return tickets ( part of the Dept of Immigrations conditions of transfer).

Aug 90 Para Hills called and arranged a further meeting at their Club. Russ Moon, Carole Hallas and Charlie Fitzgerald met Mike Lukovich, Alex Jackson and Gerry Varley, the best they came up with was they may pay for his tickets out here, all discussion stopped at that point.

25th Aug 90 the team was beaten in the semi final of the PGH cup by Hellas 2-0 at Hindmarsh.

27th Aug 90 the Club was fined $129 for late payment of Income Tax C. Fitzgerald sent in an appeal and the fine was waived this time.

10th Sept 90 paid the Federation a fee of $29 to register a visa player George Whyte, not a sponsored player, who was coming out from Scotland.

10th Sept the treasurer bought the tickets for the Docherty’s return and lodged them at the bank.

14th Sept 90 the Club escorted Danny Docherty and his family and they were given the tickets to return to Scotland, they left Adelaide at 07.45.

Sept 90 the Club only had one player in the top 10 listed for Foundation Player and that was Terry Kent on 28 pts.

15th Sept 90 the Club in conjunction with the Lamont Bros and Gary Hart held a Charity game between England and Scotland for the Flinders Medical Centre Children’s research Dept, it raised $1,165.

24th Sept 90 the Committee decided to nominate Dick Barnes as Clubman of the year for 1990, they would arrange a meal for himself and June his wife.

14th Oct 90 after several conversations and complaints regarding the bond the Club had lodged, the Federation called C Fitzgerald into the Hindmarsh Office and returned the full $1,200 with no explanation but we must understand the conditions still stood.

15th Oct 90 the outgoing Committee recommended that the incoming Committee hold a Special General Meeting within 3 months of election to alter or have a new Constitution.

23rd Oct 90 AGM held with members voting in Russ Moon as Chairman and Charlie Fitzgerald as Secretary again.

29th Oct 90 the Committee decided to form a sub Committee to hold interviews with the Coaching applicants, there were several listed but in the end it was 8 after a few were discarded without an interview. The sub Committee was Russ Moon, Gerry McCague and Charlie Fitzgerald.

30th Oct 90 three members of the Committee Russ Moon, Charlie Fitzgerald and Jim Challinor attended a meeting at Hindmarsh to discuss the future of soccer in this State. The theme which was put forward was an idea by Les Avory to have 3 leagues of 8 and the 1st Div was to be called the Premier League and was to be decided by a North and South Competition the year before formation. The idea was defeated and the Federation was to say the least upset. The Chairman of the Fed Committee had to close the discussion when Croatia said they had brought a young lady to represent their interests, she turned out to be a Constitutional lawyer and destroyed Avory and his ideas, meeting closed, resignations at the Federation included Les Avory and Julie Mourant, both had fought for the idea.

5th Nov 90 the Committee appointed John Nyskohus as Coach for his first term.

5th Nov 90 Croatia rang up to find out when the Club first heard of the Nth/Sth idea, the answer was “on the night”, they replied that the 1st Div clubs had not been told but ALL the 2nd Div knew, the people who had thought the idea up had slipped up, all the 1st Div Clubs voted against it.

5th Nov 90 the committee discussed the new Constitution as requested by the previous committee, C Fitzgerald said that he would get copies of the four Constitutions that were to be discussed. These were (a)The original, (b)An amended original, (c) Iian Millars version, (d) Peter Ward/Jim Challinor version.

11th Nov 90 the 4 copies of the Constitutions were handed out by the Secretary to all the Committee for them to study.

19th Nov 90 the Committee held a special meeting to discuss the 4 Constitutions.

27th Nov 90 the Secretary C.Fitzgerald resigned.

4th Dec Dave McGlade was appointed Secretary by the Committee.

21st Jan 91 Terry Loveday did the technical drawings of the pitch with the lighting and sprinkler positions.

25th Mar 91 the Club had a scoreboard erected and donated by Adelaide Pest Control which is owned by Frank O’Shea.

13th May 91 the Committee were told there was a rumour that Danny Docherty was back on a 3 month visa, there were very strong rumours who had paid his passage but there was no definite proof.

16th May 91 the Club received a letter from a Solicitor called Greg Griffin who said that he represented Danny Docherty who had come back and he wanted “the money we owed him”, but they would waive all claims if we transferred him to a Club of his choice for no fee.

He also said we were refusing to give him a copy of his contract, he would give us 7 days to reply then if we did not he would issue proceedings in the Supreme Court, to seek freedom of contract and to seek damages in respect of non payment of monies owed to him.

18th May 91 Russ Moon spoke to Charlie Fitzgerald who had dealt with the Docherty papers when we cancelled his sponsorship, they decided that speed was of great importance because the Club could not afford to get involved in court cases, Russ Moon rang Peter Duncan MP and he gave the name of a solicitor in the City, he was a Mr Michael Giorgio and C Fitzgerald made an appointment with him for two days later.

20th May 91 Charlie Fitzgerald went the SASF to get a ruling, in turn they contacted the ASF, they advised the Club to contact our solicitor and let him give Docherty’s solicitor a copy of his contract. It was explained that the MSC hold on him was null and void from the day we returned him to Scotland, and we had no contract with him, the SASF said that they would probably not register him as a player in this State due to the unsavoury reports of why we sent him back. All the facts were put down on paper and then C Fitzgerald went to the Dept of Immigration and spoke to Lou Tripodi he said that any attempt to register Danny Docherty as a Visa player in this State would be objected to as he offered nothing to Australia and he had abused the rules of a visa player on his previous excursion.

The solicitor Mr Giorgio read all the information and asked if we had a record of all monies paid to Danny Docherty not counting wages in his 14 months of sponsorship,also could he have details of any other Clubs that had approached us before he left. When he was here previously we had to ask the Federation to have a word with Para Hills for poaching, then when we cancelled his sponsorship we had 2 Clubs make enquiries, they were Azzurri and Para Hills. On the advice of the Dept of Imm we put his transfer fee at the cost to us at the time, because he was still in contract, and to include the cost of his return air tickets, it was a total of $13,000, this figure did not include all the hospital fees we received after he left. The Dept said if any Club wanted him then that would be a fair price but only if the SASF agreed to his transfer. At that point Mr Giorgio contacted the SASF and the Dept of Imm manager Lou Tripodi and verified the information that had been given to him, he then contacted Docherty’s solicitor Mr Griffin and said that if we went to Court then we would put in a claim for OUR monetary claim. All interest in Danny Docherty dropped in this State, at the time of writing he is playing in Queensland with his mate Jim Muldoon.

27th May 91 the TTG Council notified the Club that the new rule regarding a fresh glass with each drink was now law.

11th Sept 91 the reserves won the Bailetti Cup 1 – 0 beating Omonia at Hindmarsh Stadium. The squad was as follows:

Coach, Alan Leadbeater; Dave Humphries, Neil Edwards, Mark Lister, Carl Whitehead, Danny McCombie, Michael Stephenson, Sean Moore, Mike Donnelly, Ian Kirk, Adam Read, Bill Droulias, Martin Potts, Andrew Sheppard, Andrew Walker, Heath Weber, Richard Price; Trainer, Vic Sheppard; Team Managers, Mick Duffy/Charlie Fitzgerald.

1991 the Seniors came 3rd in the West End Cup by beating Beograd 2-0 after losing the Semi Final to Salisbury 1-0.

25th Sept 91 the Club held it’s AGM, the Chairman was Brian Spooner but there was no Secretary voted in ,that position would be filled by the new committee, at the first meeting C Fitzgerald took the position but his was future was conditional on employment.

Oct 91 Richard Parsons finished runner up to Andy Read in the Foundation Player of the year on 22 pts only 2p ts adrift. This is the highest finish ever for a Modbury player.

15th Oct 91 the committee signed John Nyskohus for his 2nd tjme he also had Alan Leadbeater as his Reserve Coach.

28th Oct 91 Jean Murray took over as Secretary and Distinctive Homes became the new major Sponsor.

16th Feb 92 there was a special meeting at which the “Irish Mafia” were voted in with Chairman Gerry McCague, Secretary Mick Duffy and Treasurer Gerry Branigan. The Club was not in a strong financial state when GB took over as treasurer but with his nick name of “cratchit” he at least put the brakes on and in the end if any body wanted money out of the Mafia you had to fill your application out in blood, but it was necessary and it was done.

April 92 the Federation had started a scheme where State teams could have National league players on loan for part of the season Modbury had Ross Aloisi from Adelaide City till June. The Federation as usual altered the rules half way through the trial period of loaning National players but unfortunately Ross had booked a holiday in Italy, he said he had a good time at the Club and the Committee presented him with a track suit when he left.

Sept 92 Adelaide City beat Modbury 1 – 0 in the final of the Ampol Cup which had been moved from pre season to end of season. The comp is for the top six plus the two National Sides and they form two groups, 1st, 3rd ,5th plus a National side then 2nd, 4th and 6th plus a National side, Modbury had finished 6th so were in Group 2. They qualified in their group along with West Adelaide.

Azzurri, Croatia and Birkalla finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the league and West Adelaide and Adelaide City are National League sides, with the latter being the best side in Australia.

GROUP TWO

SQUAD USED: Richard Parsons(Capt), Darien Bauer, Ian Cole, Neil Edwards, Bryan Edwards, Richard Preston, Jason Batten, Carl Whitehead, Mark Muscroft, Mike Donnelly, Leroy Hirons, Mark Lister, Andrew Walker, Heath Weber, Brendan Altus, John Klein, Matt Kladouris.

[Insert table]

16th Sept 92 the members had an AGM and voted in Peter Ward as Chairman with Terry Coulthard as Secretary, ow ever due to Terry being the licence holder for the Club he relinquished the Secretary job on 19th of Oct and Iian Millar became Secretary.

Nov 92 the committee appointed John Nyskohus as Senior Coach again and this would have to be a record at Modbury, 3 consecutive years as Senior Coach. He also chose Alan Leadbeater as his Reserve Coach and Vic Sheppard as his Trainer, he has been in the job at the Club since 85

One thing I could not find, “was there ever a new constitution”?

Conclusion

One of the most obvious conclusions I have made whilst writing this history is that the members should be very proud of their great achievements in such a short time especially with it’s financial restrictions, it is not like one of those wealthy Ethnic Clubs where they can call on their members for a monetary pledge. The amount of work put into the Club by members is enormous and the club rooms, change rooms, ights, sprinklers etc are proof of this. There is one thing that stands out however and that is the number of past members have put a lot of work into the Club then suddenly stopped coming in, surely they are not all dead, it may be an idea for a future committee to track some of them down and hold a get together one day.

Another thing is regarding members who help out week in and week out, they are not recorded at the official level such as SASF, they only record the elected Chairman and Secretary.In my opinion it would be a good idea if future committee’s kept a full record of all members,and all coaching and playing staff and all work done by volunteers, I don’t mean changing light bulbs. The amount of work that somebody like Alan Davies puts into the Club, he is always ready to help out behind the bar,is to say the least enormous over the years and yet there is no mention of him really.In the past there were people who have put lots of effort into different things yet nobody knows about them,I know that the motive for helping out is not just to see your name in the records but it seems a little strange that some of the past Chairmen and secretaries go down in the Clubs history and yet they probably did nothing for the Club other than hold a title. If full documentation of the Clubs everyday running was kept and the members had full access then I think that they would feel part of an organisation and not just a member of a drinking Club where the attitude is developing that ”somebody else will do it”. It is also a noticeable fact that some members have done every job going at the Club in one way or another or others who have been around from their playing days and are willing to sit on committees and roll up their sleeves and help out doing any job, but there are others who seem to have the attitude ”I would like to be on the committee but I am not the type or I don’t have the time”, then they stand at the bar and pick on everything the sitting committee tries in their effort to make the Club run smoothly, I know from past experience this is soul destroying and anybody who doubts this can ask any ex committee person or put their name down for the next committee.

I would like to think that if the present and future committees use the idea of an on-going record of events then they use this history as a starting point. I would also like to suggest to the future committees that they keep a full set of minutes in the Club for the sake of those who follow in years to come (hopefully the Club can survive). In these days of computerised information and record storage it should not be hard .I would like to see some person appointed to keep all playing records and not rely on the team manager or coach, it seems ridiculous to me that we do not have a clue who has played how many games or who has scored how many goals whilst playing for the Modbury Soccer Club, this job to me is an essential part of any soccer clubs history.

I hope this record is of some help to the Club.

Charlie Fitzgerald.