‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 15 The end and a new beginning.

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 15

The end and a new beginning.

When season 1996 came around I wasn’t to know it would be my fourth and final year at JPII. Living in Berowra and working in Marayong was a 80km round trip everyday! Fortunately, my last season at JPII was to be a successful one,  just like 1995.

Being involved in the NSWCCC Representative side was fantastic. Trent Worrall and Adam Scarpin were both in the squad as were the Carle brothers, Nick and Leo from Fairfield Patrician Brothers. As the football gods would have it I was later to coach their nephew Andre Carle, much later at SPX. Playing in the annual NSW All Schools tournament the side came through as Champions, a great achievement. As ever politics played a part and the tournament was made up of two NSWCHS sides, us the Catholic NSWCCC and independent school side NSWCIS.  Little did I realise at the time but the following year I’d actually be switching allegiances’ going over to the NSWCIS association. Even less predictable at the time was our achievement of also winning the NSW All Schools tournament with NSWCIS years later in 2015!

Working alongside Catholic stalwarts Bruce Baker, Dave Mamo and Mark DeVries, we put together a formidable side to win the Championship out at Valentine Park. Something that sticks in mind here was a key coaching change switching the talented Nick Carle from wing back to wide left midfield. Having watched him,  he was great going forward but struggled with both stamina and defensive intent. Having a defender behind gave him license to do what he did best. Nick later went to play for Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets Crystal Palace Bristol City and Australia. His brother Leo, who played more centrally in the midfield, was also I fine player but had a bit of a temper. Both went on to be good coaches.

A side story to these players was a pre-season JPII game back in 95’ out at Fairfield. The game was being played on some far flung paddock and I had no idea where we actually were! Being big MCS rivals the game started to get out of control. Several flare-ups occurred as I worried for our sides safety. The Carle Boys and their pals were not being reigned in by the coach Bruce Baker who was refereeing the game. Another scuffle was diffused by Michael Cunico,  who knew some of their squad. Then ten from time I’d seen enough even though  we were 3-2 up. I marched on to the field and said “Thanks Bruce” shaking his hand, “But we haven’t haven’t finished yet” said the surprised Fairfield coach. “We have” I said, turning to take the JPII boys off the field. To me, once again my Duty of Care took precedence. The MCS was always keenly contested but the only other similar incident took place down at Eastwood one afternoon. On this occasion,  Rugby League players watching from the sideline misinterpreted a bit of push and shove at the end coming on to start an all in brawl! This was tricky because trying to break it up, several Eastwood players wanted to punch my lights out. Fortunately some of our players stepped in. What stuck in my mind was an Eastwood bloke shouting “Why are you sticking up for a teacher?” Our blokes just came back with “Because we are!”. No harm done but it was a very uncomfortable walk back to my car parked a kilometre away.

At the start of the 1996 MCS campaign, Headmaster Michael Carr posed a straightforward question. “What is going to prevent you winning the MCS again?“. My answer wasn’t a difficult one to come up with. Always the optimist I answered, “We are missing one piece, an important one, a goalkeeper.” It was to my surprise that he just said, “Well go and find one, don’t your players know anyone outside of JPII?” I told him I’d work on it.

Over time it seems that a lot of the big successful League and Union schools have done their share of ‘recruiting’ players. Personally it was new to me. Quickly I pulled together a few of the senior players and asked if anyone knew a good goalkeeper. Jason Vella came up with an immediate solution. “My mate Bubba is a great keeper, he is a Hindu kid who goes to Mitchell State High in Blacktown.” I countered quickly with, “Ask him if he wants to come to JPII to play in goal for us”. So here we were, a Systemic Catholic Senior High School trying recruit a player from a Non-Catholic State school up the road. In truth I didn’t really have too much time to think about it because Jason came back to me quickly and said, “Bubba wants to come here but won’t pay School fees”. Who was I to argue? I went to the school office and told them to put Bubba’s name on the JPII waiting list. To my surprise the office called me a fortnight later saying, “Do you know someone called Bubba, he has a place to start at the school!”

Well the rest is history. Angatesh ‘Bubba’ Rao proved to a brilliant keeper. He played eleven games in the MCS Competition only conceding four goals in those games. Returning Captain Adam Scarpin, led the side brilliantly, fully deserving his call up to the NSW Schoolboy side. Trent Worrall had his third season in A Grade while Jason Vella also returned, his brother Brian had played left back in our original 1993 MCS winning team. Our last regular season game had been a shock 0-1 loss to Auburn. Up until then we had swept all before us. This loss didn’t prevent us from being Minor Premiers still winning it by several points. What it did do was help us focus. We were in another MCS Grand Final alongside our B Grade side who were also Minor Premiers in their competition. The semi-finals had been at Valentine Park, Glenwood. This was the headquarters of Football NSW, even though they had multiple pitches there were always a bit shifty when it came to bookings. You’d think you were playing on the main pitches when in reality you could be punted to the dreaded outside fields. Apparently at that time the NSW Association owned the surrounding land for as far as could be seen at Glenwood. This meant that FNSW were always comfortable and eventually able to build their super stadium with two Astro pitches and lovely grass field. For me, to be the scene 25 years later of probably my greatest coaching success with SPX,  winning the NSWCIS Cup. As mentioned earlier, the MCS Season 1996 was indeed a great one. Minor Premiers again with a record of seven wins, a draw and single defeat. Experienced players Worrall Waring Borg Vella and Captain Scarpin all went around again. Three stepped up from B Grade, Mancia, Longhurst and Makrypodis while newcomers Kishtoo and Galea also made the grade alongside Constantino and stylish centre back Adamcewicz. A young chap named David Beecroft was found guilty of family association and dispatched to fullback! We accounted for Emu Plains in the semi-final 2-0 with our best performance of the season. All this added up to another Grand Final at Melita Stadium alongside our B Grade who also made their Final as Minor Premiers. They won an exciting game 3-2 over Fairfield.

Our final against Holy Cross Ryde proved to be very tense, ending goal-less. Extra time came and passed. For the fourth time in two seasons we went to penalties, crowning the season off win a 

4-2 shootout win. Champions again! Working with our coaching team of Mark Campbell, Chris Wilson, Christine Dent  had proven a successful  combination.

Three MCS doubles in four seasons and a win in the Statewide NSWCCC Cup made it seven finals from seven at Melita. The JPII MCCS girls Side also picked up its third consecutive final win in 1996.

As it would eventuate, things were changing out at Marayong. The school was changing from a Senior High School to 7-12 and I took the opportunity to move closer to home at St Pius X College Chatswood for 1997. Little did I know it would the venue for an even greater football love story!

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 16 Sliding door moments.

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 16

Sliding door moments.

People often speak of ‘sliding door moments’ when events can go one of two ways. I had a sliding moment re-run when I got my job teaching at St Pius X College at the end of 1996.  John Paul II was undergoing massive change and I took the opportunity to look elsewhere. Back then jobs were advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald Saturday edition. I’d stuck my application in and was hopeful of a positive response. After a week or so, a letter arrived in the post box politely informing me that I had been unsuccessful in my application. I found out that Australians also had a version of ‘Dear John letters as well! Slightly disappointed I went back to my beloved JPII to rethink my next move. 

The etiquette of interviews and interviewing can be strange. So it was when I then went for an interview at another Catholic School out at Dural. I was keen to secure a permanent role so read up on the background of the school which was an Opus Dei college. The role was a History/Commerce  based one but in the interview it emerged that the school actually taught an ‘adjusted curriculum’ with certain historical events not being touched upon. Feeling the need to fit in around the conservative ethos of the college, I answered several questions with some pretty creative answers. 

Headmaster: “Steven, tell me what you would consider to be a major failing in yourself”.

Me: “A lot of people would see it as a big weakness of mine but I’m very traditional”.

Thus, people who know me well, would have been shocked to hear this exchange. However, the pressure to secure work as an immigrant often drives one to accept jobs teaching the health hustle or working with crazy Catholic extremists. This response I gave was exactly the stuff that that Headmaster wanted to hear. As I left the interview, the person behind the front desk said it would be a little while before I would receive an answer and would I like some printed prayers to take away with me? Thanking them for their kindness I said I had plenty of my own including the Stones classic, ‘Dear God, if I can’t get what I want, please help me get what I need’.

To my surprise, a few weeks after my ‘Dear John’ communication from St Pius X College, they were back advertising the same Business Studies / Economics role in the Sydney Morning Herald. Puzzled at this, I just happened to have a chance conversation with a fellow JPII staff member Mark McGinity. He revealed that he had in fact worked down at Chatswood for several years. Rather than be put off from reapplying he encouraged me strongly to write in again, only this time he would phone ahead and put a word in for me! This involved getting a ‘yellow post-it’ sticker placed on my CV to at least ensure an interview. Voila! I got an immediate phone call offering an interview. As is the way with buses turning up in two’s and three’s, I also got an Interview at Patrician Brothers Blacktown, back then it was a 7-10 feeder school to JPII. All this while still waiting a response from the Dural School. It transpired that the original job was offered to a chap named Chris Saltos. He had changed his mind after accepting and went to St Aloysius instead, leaving St Pius to go through the interview process once again. As fate would have it, I later became friends with Chris and was actually his boss out at HSC Business Studies marking. 

The Blacktown and Chatswood interviews dove-tailed perfectly. My morning at Patrician Brothers went well, they clearly liked my combination of Business, Economics and Football. I would happily have gone there but the attraction of Chatswood was a chance to reduce my traveling. Walking up the steps at St Pius X College suddenly brought back a memory because this in fact was the ‘St PLUS’ of my earliest Australian experiences when I was dropping off all those speculative resumes!

I remember quite clearly how the interview went and who was there. Deputy Jim Olsen, Curriculum Co-ordinator Margaret Vere and Principal Brother Paul Leary. Some people are natural comedians without actually realising it. Brother Paul was one such person. While the other two staff were trying to conduct a professional conversation, Brother Paul would exclaim, sometimes almost shout and take the interview off into regular side-tracks. Thus, when he asked why I was willing to come to St Pius X College I took a chance to impress with some numbers I’d researched earlier. I explained that by getting a job at his college I’d be saving myself 600 hours of driving a year. Feeling satisfied to have given a decent answer to his question, he immediately asked what I’d do with those hours. Off the top of my head I said that I’d dedicate 300 to my family and 300 to St Pius X College. Bang! He bashed his hand down on the table and turned to Margaret Vere and said, “I like this bloke, can we offer him the job now?”. Jim Olsen quickly jumped in with, “Not that we are offering you the job now but do you think you’d take it if it was offered?” I quickly replied with. “I went to Blacktown this morning and am also waiting for a reply from the Dural school, but if offered I would prefer this role at St Pius X College”. I drove off back home to Berowra happy I’d done my best and within 15 minutes of getting home, I got a phone call offering me the job. The next morning I called back to accept it. I never found out if I would have been offered the Patrician Brothers Blacktown role but interestingly Dural rang me a few days later offering ‘a friendly second interview with a view to offering me the job’. I thanked them profusely but had to decline their offer having accepted a job elsewhere. A bit of a near miss but things worked out well as I’m now in my twenty third year at St Pius X College. Chris Saltos often reminds me he helped me get the job when in fact I owe all the thanks to Mark McGinity, who eventually came back St Pius X himself!

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 17 Finding the World Game.

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 17

Finding the World Game.

Having worked in various locations around the world I have always been a big advocate for finding some familiarity when living somewhere new. For me it always through the game I loved, football. Having spent time working in both Israel and the USA, a couple of stories will illustrate this. 

Probably spent over a year in the mid-seventies living on Kibbutz Tel Katzir in the Jordan Valley. While we didn’t have an official football team we spent many hours playing under floodlights in the shadow of the Golan Heights. With such a variety of nationalities around we always found ways to divide ourselves up into teams. Being up against the South Africans was always a task. They never liked to lose at anything so playing against old mate Neville Nankin  was always tough but fun. Playing the Israeli’s was something else because from the start there would always be disputes, they never liked the basic physicality of the Brits.  I was learning Hebrew quite quickly, much helped by volunteering to coach the Kibbutz kids football team when they took on other Kibbutizm in the Jordan Valley. My future wife Terrie often reminds me of a classic surreal event when Tel Katzir’s team hosted Kibbutz Ha On from up the road. To my amazement lined up on the other side was a bloke I had gone to school with, the late Brendon Burke. If that wasn’t a big enough surprise, half-way through the match a dog came running onto the field with a dead chicken in its mouth. While this was disturbing it only got worse because the dog was closely followed by a cow who once on stubbornly refused to shift! The realisation of what a special moment that was, shows how fortunate we were to have such opportunities while getting an insight into other cultures all speaking the ‘world language’ what was football.

Another overseas working experience was the three summers I had on Summer Camp in Connecticut, 1979, 1981 and 1982. Again football played a big part in the story as I coached the Camp Delaware kids side and took part in the regular Yanks v The Rest of the World matches. Taking place at night-time, these games were ‘under lights’ and resembled WW3. In those days the camp kids urged on their counsellors in a gladiatorial arena. Here no one died only an occasional ego or shin being bruised. In those various summers, I joined a large group of British and Irish Camp Counsellors to travel across to the West Coast delivering cars for a freight company or driving South to Florida. On these trips we rocked up to universities such as Emory, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania and Yale and challenged their side to a game. Interestingly, most obliged but only after a day or two. We later found out that their coach wanted to protect his games record and called in Alumni to enhance the team and avoid defeat. What was most striking to us at the time was the sheer quality of the University facilities. This was with the realisation that Football wasn’t considered a major game. This of course ignored the fact that football was the biggest participation sport in the USA at a Youth level. A few years later I also worked for four months down in Houston, Texas. Once again, finding the familiar football outlet was important. Luckily I got talking to some other ex-pat Brits and signed up to play for a team whose home base was a bar. While our team were predominantly British and Irish, the rest of the League had teams from a list reading like the United Nations. An experience in itself, coming up against Mexicans, Guatemalans, Costa Ricans, Polish and Japanese to name but a few. My lasting memory of playing in Houston was actually a farce. There we were half-way through an evenly balanced game when it started raining. Unperturbed we played on. After all, our blokes were used to colder rain than this. What was a wet field going to do? So we continued while the rain continued and continued. After twenty minutes the ball ceased rolling freely and the centre circle disappeared in an ever growing puddle. Eventually only the advent of lightning forced us to stop. The game was abandoned and my football career in the states was over. 

That comradery  in sport, as I stated previously, was why it was so important for me as immigrant to find a football team to join in Australia. Thus, in March 1992 I was walking down from our temporary home on La Mancha Caravan Park to answer the advert for players posted in the local petrol station. My destination was Berowra Oval and the meeting was pretty fateful. Walking into the changing room I was greeted by Englishman John Everitt, who upon asking my name turned to introduce two others. “This is my brother Jimmy and this is Colin Strang, who is also a Pom. Looks like we will be playing together down at Brooklyn in the ‘Stunned Mullet Cup this weekend”. And so it was

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 18 Building a competitive team – Berowra

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 18

Building a competitive team – Berowra

Our first Over 30’S season at Berowra in 1992 was certainly a learning experience. The dominant side was Dalmatia, a prominently Croatian club that stood out as a fine footballing side. All their players were comfortable on the ball, smart tactically and the sort of side who could spoil your weekend. Wahroonga were also very competitive, as were North Turramurra who were ethnically German and Austrian. Near neighbours Brooklyn were a bunch of aggressive, committed never say die players who were always our bogey team. Most of the rest of the clubs didn’t like coming north of Hornsby and we could match/intimidate most of them on our day. We desperately lacked both depth and consistency. Colin Ing was our organiser while Billy Roberts was already mid forties. We had a solid keeper in Chris Rayner, tough fullbacks in Colin Strang and Gary Williams and the stylish John Everitt at Centre back. The late Ross Beattie was a fine athlete. Jimmy Everitt was in a class of his own further forward but in that first season we were accommodating a few players who had never really played seriously. I can hear the questions already. You were all into your late thirties, weren’t you just happy to be out there playing socially? Unfortunately, not! Sure we were a Vets team but we believed we could win it. As time went on we added some new faces. The experienced midfielder Dave Renn, Steve Czerif who wore more bandages than most mummies and the much travelled sailor Andy Hobbs who literally took no prisoners in any skirmish. By our second season we were gradually moving into the top half of the table while still shy of the top two and by the third year ‘baby faced assassin’ Paul Ryan was with us, as was the on his day brilliant Peter Raymen, who directed the midfield. By this time Dalmatia had disbanded and we all about to move to the newly established Over 35 version of the KDSA competition. Unfortunately, a super successful Kissing point All Age side decided to come in and proceeded to win the thing for at least the next five years. One year we made the grand final only to hear it was almost certainly to be washed out by torrential rain. This wouldn’t usually have been a problem but Andy Hobbs was going away so we just had to play the game. Montview Oval is usually one that tolerates a lot of rain but this weekend most of it was under water. Our opponents Kissing Point were looking at us bewildered that we intended to go on with it. The rain actually brought them down to our level and it proved to be a tough edgy contest of few chances. Predictably one error was to decide it and stand in keeper John Everitt allowed the slippery soap ball to squeeze in from a narrow-angled cross. There it was a 1-0 loss to a team we were usually inferior to by at least four goals. In that same season we had a fine run in the KDSA Cup to the semi-finals. In one round we downed All Age side Homenetmen, a game also played in the wet played at Norman Griffiths Oval. This was truly a clash of football cultures with our blokes getting a rare Australian opportunity to slide tackle. That pitch was absolutely destroyed and a muddy mess by the finish. More importantly we somehow held on for a 1-0 win to earn the right to face top Premiership side Chatswood Rangers in the semi-final. Playing at Berowra Oval we weren’t given much chance in the game but actually led 1-0 before going down 5-2 to the team who eventually won the Premier Division that season. Something that I particularly remember there was playing against Jimmy McBreen who even in his forties was a brilliant player. Jimmy had played for NSL sides Newcastle KB United, Wollongong Wolves and APIA-Leichhardt in Australia. Watching him glide effortlessly around controlling the game was a pleasure even when playing against him. His son Danny later played for Central Coast Mariners and was the top A League scorer but it was his dad Jimmy who carved out a legend on the North Shore. As the decade come to an end we were building a decent side but really went to another level when joined by an array of new faces but that is another story.

Clip from the Stunned Mullet Cup early 90’s

https://youtu.be/WeQeyKaKrJA

Drop ten, turn and face. Quiltys’ Football Yarns 19 A shot at the top

Drop ten, turn and face. 

Quiltys’ Football Yarns 19

A shot at the top 

As people will know football has been a long journey for me. One of my ongoing motivations has always been bringing together groups of players to be competitive and hopefully bring home a few trophies. This applied equally whether I was playing or coaching. As already shown with Berowra Over 30/35’s this was a long story of often being strugglers. Then, in 1998 the stars aligned and suddenly we recruited five or six new players to become super competitive. Kissing Point were still the benchmark but at last we were up there with them. From the back we had a fine keeper in Branko Lolich, who was big, strong and confident. Nuggety utility player Derek Kirk had played a good level of football in both Scotland and New Zealand. He added that ‘X factor’ in terms of experience and a rocket shot. Three skilful / strong midfielders also came to play in Steve Scott, Mark Williams and Craig Barry. Adding some grunt to the midfield was Irishman Noel Hopper and compatriot wide man Kevin Cronin. Mark Salkeld, Lindsay Spooner and "Honey monster' Dave Bleasdale improved the defence. Dave Parker added some athleticism up front but we still based the attack around a renaissance ‘Frank Worthington’ in Jimmy Everitt. Jim was always tantalisingly unpredictable. We filled in for a side with eight players one time and he took the keeper out  badly at a corner. The female supporters of the Brooklyn side charged on and wrapped him up in the goal net pushing and verbally assaulting him. They had not liked being called ‘Brooklyn Harridan’s’ Two other stories that in some way illustrate the upgrade in intensity were our regular season clashes with new side Mt Colah and the North Sydney 'poms'. All of these games took place down at Foxglove Oval and while never condoning violence, in these two matches our boys stood up for themselves.  Playing North Sydney was always an experience. Like us they had a high proportion of Brits and Irish players, usually playing good football. Their Brits and Irish were just fresher off the boat. As a matter of fact I knew and lived  alongside several of them in England. Danny Ewin, Monty, Johnny Smith and Gary Dawkins were all Hackney boys. 'Mouse' and 'Maggot' were also from the old country. On the day of the match Algy ‘Ice Cool Rowan’, with whom I went to school with in Bethnal Green, sparked a mass brawl centre field. Being injured for much of the season with a knee injury, I was on the sideline. Many could be named but won’t. Safe to say at least two players from each team were sent off and both teams had to lodge a ‘bond’ of $600 in order to play again.

In the initial Mt Colah game, there some shocking push and shoves. The crowd spilled over onto the pitch several times and again both sides finished short. Nothing to be proud of but just an indication that these old timers were becoming grumpier not friendlier in old age. In that game we smashed Mt Colah 5-0, which unfortunately, only added spice to the semi-final later in the year. In another tough at times brutal contest we won through to the Grand Final but unfortunately played a massive price with Derek Kirk sustaining a broken foot whilst being fouled. That said we still had a strong squad for the final against Minor Premiers Kissing Point. Personally, I was still out injured and Derek was on crutches. In the game we started very well, took the lead then after an hour went two up. From the sideline I was calling the changes. With a big squad I tried to get everyone a run and we were doing well. Then, as is the way with champion sides, Kisso came storming back. We conceded a good goal but then started to lose our grip, as the opposition won and scored a penalty to make it 2-2. In the heat of battle Jimmy Everitt got a yellow and unfortunately a follow up second to be sent from the field. Regular time finished and extra time couldn’t split the teams. In a penalty shoot out that is remembered for all the wrong reasons, we only scored one of our five losing 4-1! Jimmy, Derek and myself were the usual penalty takers but all on the sideline for this shootout. Over the years much has been said about this ‘Final’ opportunity that we missed. We went very close but in truth went down to the' Over 35’s' club of the decade, in Kissing Point. Being Champions from 1994-99 which was 6 years in a row, just proves the point. There was our opportunity that we passed up in 1999. As sometimes happens in club football eras come and go. Kissing Point lost their dominance and we were never able to challenge again at Berowra, half of us actually going down to play at Wahroonga for a few seasons. The millennium turned over and at forty-five years of age I was proud to still be playing. Little did I know then but I would actually play on for another twenty years!

As a sad postscript to this post we heard today, 27th May 2020, that good friend Jimmy Everitt has passed away. Fond memories of playing with and knowing you over 27 years. RIP ♥️⚽️

Drop ten, turn and face. Quiltys’ Football Yarns 20 SPX the first year 1997

Drop ten, turn and face. 

Quiltys’ Football Yarns 20

SPX the first year 1997

Joining St Pius X College in January 1997 was one of the better decisions I have made. Not just because it gave me 600 hours saved from travel but also because it was a challenge to change and shape a culture. That is not something I realised walking through the front door but more a reality that was revealed to me over time. John Paul II was a senior High School with over a thousand Year 11 and 12 students. While it is true to say that it had a winning culture in Sport Performing Arts and Academia, it also had a very mature approach to the way it approached the education of its students. This was an intangible that I didn’t fully appreciate until I left.

For me both schools represented a challenge. In some ways the challenge was similar in that the prevailing sporting culture was not a football based one. At JPII Michael Carr and Bill Dowers had built a Rugby League monolith competing on a state and national level. I soon appreciated that there was also a deep vein of Football talent largely untapped. I was told this by Michael Carr himself at interview. My response at the school was to set standards and provide a pathway toward success through bringing together those players, both male and female, as formidable units that won competitions.

At SPX the task was different in nature. At this college there was a historical Rugby Union culture. Apparently in the seventies and eighties the school was very competitive on the Rugby Union field. For a variety of reasons this was no longer the case by the late nineties. Reasons would include a lack of size in both school numbers and with the students themselves. The demographic nature of the school had also changed significantly over a decade. Being a Catholic school it always had its share of Anglo-Irish families. By the late nineties it also had sizeable groups of ethnic Italians, Croatians, Armenians and Lebanese. It also had a growing number of students of Chinese and Korean extraction reflecting the changing demographics of Chatswood itself. St Pius X was in some ways in denial. The Rugby 'Old Boys' were very supportive, the main Grandstand at Oxford Falls faced the magnificent Rugby Field and the halls of the Treacy Centre were adorned with photos of past Rugby Union glory, Football being a distant second in all respects. This in 1997 was strange in itself because the demographics of the school suggested it might be otherwise. Coming to SPX, I took up a role teaching Business Studies, Economics and Commerce. Never shy, I also assumed the role as 1st XI Football Coach and Football Convenor. Very quickly I became part of a volatile triangle which included Peter Bromley who was the Sports Master and Br Paul Leary the Principal. What these two guys seemed to have in common was a dislike of Football. It just took me a while to realise what this dislike was based upon. Coming from the Football hothouse of JPII I found the non-football culture at SPX to be a disappointment. Not just because the Western Suburbs kids seemed more tough and resilient but also because I was unaware of the school sporting dynamic. 

Apparently at that time the college already had many youngsters playing Rep Football outside. Upon questioning they told me that they weren’t encouraged to also play school football. It was put up as a ‘one or the other’ choice. The impact of this was to rob the school sides of the best, most talented players because their parents chose, more often than not to play outside where they would get good skills coaching and at least 20 games a season. At School there were only six or seven matches. The other underlying factor was the tradition of ‘channelling’ the best athletes into Rugby Union from Year Seven. Faced with these realities I approached my roles in a way to maximise change at the college for my chosen speciality sport, Football.

In those first few months several meetings took place around sport. However, probably the most significant event I attended was the school swimming gala down at Longeville. It pissed down all day long. There I was up the back of the grandstand with Carla Leonardi and twenty or so of the school’s ‘lively’ students. Multiple conversations revealed that while these guys in Year 11 and 12 played good football, they wouldn’t play for the school. Somehow in between getting drowned wet many times and skirting with catching pneumonia, I think I convinced them that things were about to change. Two incidents illustrate the nature of my task changing the culture. No, they were nothing to do with Football parents not liking their sons training in the rain but all about picking players to play for my new SPX 1st XI in 1997. After a few training sessions down at Beauchamp Oval I identified midfielder Armen Makaradi as my first captain, only to be told by him the Rugby Coach wanted him to play in the 3rd XV Rugby side instead. Armen was devastated when he came to tell me. Needless to say I sorted this out quickly. Just a week afterwards I posted my first Football squad on the notice board, only to be informed that because a few had not played for SPX the year before, they could only play 2nd XI in 1997. Again this was quickly resolved. I marched into Paul Leary’s office with the rugby coach close behind to pose a few questions. Paul, who was bit taken aback listened intently.

 “Br Paul, who is the 1st XI Coach at SPX?” I asked.

“You are, Steve” He responded. 

“Br Paul, who picks the 1st XI Squad?”

“You do Steve” He answered.

“OK Brother, please tell the Rugby staff that as soon as possible because If I cant pick who I want you can find another 1st XI Coach”

For about thirty seconds all was quiet. Then Br Paul pointed to me and said, 

“Steve picks who he wants”

Of course this was not a conversation that I would have planned as a new staff member but it was probably the first step in making SPX a Football school.

Armen turned out to be a great captain. Other players included Michael Marchione, Alan Sardelich, Rob Khatchadourian in goal, the brilliant striker Anthony Fiorenza, his brother Daniel and stylish midfielder, the late Fabian Mastrangelo. We had a very competitive side making the ISA Grand Final which was played out at a windy Christie Park under lights against St Patrick’s Strathfield. This was the beginning of a great football rivalry between the schools. Their coach Dave Timillero my counterpart and sometimes nemesis over many seasons. The season was made up of 19 matches. Interestingly, we entered and progressed to the later rounds of both the NSWCIS Schools Cup and the NSWCCC Cup. Going down St Pat’s in the former and a brilliant Oakhill side in the latter. Later we discovered we weren't supposed to play in both! This introduction of competition against teams from outside our own ISA competition was an immense benefit. The ISA Final was the inaugural one played of a night with 300 supporters in attendance. The game itself remained 0-0 until the last minute of extra time when St Pat’s scored the winner. Even in defeat it was clear we had taken a key step in establishing our game as a major one at the college. Many of our supporters on the night were Rugby players. That sport didn’t have a finals series, so this was an opportunity to show school spirit the game ending 10 O’clock at night!

Probably just as important was the recognition our players got at ISA level, six getting capped. Anthony Fiorenza who scored 22 goals up front on his own made the NSWCIS side which was a great achievement. Tasting that exciting night of near glory we were set up to return the following year to go one better. And so it was.

Season: Played 19 Won 11 Drawn 2 Lost 6.

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 21 1998 - ISA Champions

‘Drop ten, turn and Face.’ Quilty’s Football Yarns 21

1998 - ISA Champions

As a coach it is always useful to find a motivator for your side. In some cases in can be what someone has said, done or failed to do. As the SPX 1st XI came together after our 1-0 ISA Final defeat in 1997 I implored the boys 'to remember this feeling of losing a final'. As fortune would have it, significant numbers of our squad were back again the following season to put things right.

One of the ongoing tasks of the 1st XI Coach and Football Convenor at SPX was to discover our hidden talent. In only my second year at the college this involved chatting about football to all who would listen. In this way I discovered which good players were playing  outside in Rep football.  A key conversation at this time was with a certain Damien Pisano. Damien had come through his time at the college without playing for the school sides. He had played all his football outside for Representative teams and was presently with NSL side Sydney Olympic. This was some uphill task. His ongoing point to me was “Why should I play for SPX? It has never supported or encouraged me in any way with my football ambitions. If anything I have had impediments put in my way”. This was a difficult argument to counter but with the aid of his mate Alan Sardelich, I made a case. We tried all approaches. ‘The football community will look up to you’. ‘You have an opportunity to get a chance at School based recognition and glory up on that podium, at assembly’. ‘Through school you have an alternative representative pathway to NSW and Australian teams’. In the end through sheer persistence we got his agreement to playing for the School 1st XI. This was probably the most important ‘convincing’ conversation I had with a player at SPX. Now I could say to every other parent and player “If Pisano can make the time to play for SPX, I’m certain your son can do the same.”

Thus, in the 1998 season our task of lifting Footballs profile at SPX was showing good signs of progress. Once again we entered both the NSWCCC and NSWCIS Cups fronting up against teams from different competitions. Oakhill pulled us back in a game we led 2-0 only to go down 3-2 in extra time, having fielded a very young side. We also ran into a crack Sydney Grammar side to exit a second Cup competition. Steep learning curves were plotted in games against Cranbrook, Knox, Aloysius and Newington. We discovered that, the more we played, the better we got! When the ISA season came around we only lost one game and that was by 2-1 to St Pats. We came off beaten but also with the knowledge we could go closer the next time we met. Winning five ISA matches made us runner up and a home semi-final with St Spyridon’s. We had beaten them 5-0 in the regular season so it was a big surprise when we went 1-0 behind in the semi-final. Drawing on our extensive match experience we stormed back to win 4-1 booking an ISA Final berth in the process. The speed of Kaan Peker, hard work wide of Marc Scardelli and goal touch of Pisano with 17 goals carried us all the way.

Competition in the squad was fierce. We carried two keepers in Khatchadourian and Byok. Bullish Steve Georgevski, Shant Kahramanian, Seb Oreb-Johnston and Daniel Fiorenza made a no nonsense defence.  Interestingly on first viewing I had judged Anthony Perich to be too slow to play 1st XI. I’m glad to admit I was wrong because this player read the game so well it made up for any lack of pace. Bill Gleeson and Mark Campbell were right to press me on this one! Alan Sardelich provided that touch and X factor. Captain Robert Ciampi led the midfield of youngsters Richard Cuthbert, Shaab Kargarian and the strong Garth Moring. Utilities Gough, Zaknich and Williams all playing their part.

On the night of the ISA final Christy Park was buzzing with 300-400 supporters form St Pats and ourselves. On what was an awful night weather-wise, I’m sure no one noticed the wind and rain. As with the 1997 Final defenses were dominant, chances few and tension was all too apparent. The St Pat’s crowd had identified Pisano as a danger-man and proceeded to ‘give it to him’ throughout. At the time I had written that ‘this years squad perhaps lacked the flair of 1997 but were more than their equal in teamwork’, and so it was. With the match edging ever closer to sudden death extra time, we made the vital breakthrough. Pisano won the ball on the left and drifted right before unleashing a shot in off the far post. With barely two minutes left we were in front. As is way with many of our Christy Park finals there was hangover to be discussed later. Apparently in celebrating his winner the goal scorer slid down on his knees in front of the St Pats crowd closely followed by the rest of the team.  I spent an hour with Br Leary on Monday reviewing the footage! The celebrations at the final whistle were wild. SPX had won its first ISA Grand Final.

In the context of SPX football the importance of this win should not be underestimated. Byok, Kargarian, Perich, Peker, Ciampi, Moring and Sardelich all played for the ISA. Pisano went on to play for NSWCIS while Mark Campbell was the manager of that side. Long term friendships were established with parents Ron Cuthbert and Paul Parkes refereeing a host of games for the college in the following years. Our blue and gold ‘Croatian’ checkered shirt made its one and only appearance in season 1998 retiring rightly as a Champion SPX kit.