A Historical Glance

The Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (originally known as the “Alexander The Great Soccer Club ”) was founded in 1958 by Greek immigrants from Florina.

Three years earlier (1955) the founding members of “Alexander The Great” dissociated themselves from the petty politics and the unbalanced ideological strife which characterised the Northcote Florinian Social Club in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.  They decided to form their own social club, the Clifton Hill Social Club.  It was at that time when families, mainly immigrants wives and their unmarried children, began to arrive in Australia in great numbers.   

In May 1955 the founding members, George Baniscas, Nicholas Themelkos, Tryphon Rakovalis, Tryphon Avramopoulos, Chris Samartzis and Peter Economidis commenced their meetings at the residence of Tryphon Rakovalis in Fairfield. Their successful gathering attracted mostly Florinians, as well as Greeks from other regions.  In 1957 discussions to establish “Alexander The Great” began.

Markos Economidis managed to convince the committee of Clifton Hill Social Club to contribute the funds required to purchase the necessary gear for the team.  

On 12 May 1958, the Clifton Hill members organised their first appeal.  A total of 125 pounds was collected. Wishing to broaden support for the soccer team and in an effort to avoid any politicalaffiliation and, thus, conflict, the leaders of “Alexander The Great” launched a campaign to run a completely independent sporting club. Their move gained momentum immediately.

The first committee consisting of George Baniscas (President), Markos Economidis (Secretary), NicholasThemelkos (Vice-President), Tryphon Rakovalis (Treasurer), A. Doukas, E. Mangopoulos, G. Milopoulos, V. Iliopoulos and T. Iliopoulos and Members. They declared Megas Alexandros its administrative independence from Clifton Hill Social Club.

The colours of the team, yellow and black, were decided and based on the memory of the team in ‘Florina, Greece’. The name Megas Alexandros (Alexander The Great) came from the region were Alexander The Great was King.

During the first two years (1958-1959) “Alexander the Great” received the financial support of the Clifton Hill Social Club, as well as of their own membership, the spectators and supporters, even the players. The records of the club indicate, for example, that on 1 February 1960 the players donated the amount of 5 pounds 3s Od. The inaugural game was played on 13 September 1958 attracting four hundred spectators and 2 pounds 2s 1 Od was collected, an amount which was increased to 5 pounds 8s 3d within three months following the successful and popular start up of the club. The committee members walked around the fences to collect the entrance ‘tickets’ in a hat. Their wives were responsible for washing the playing gear and for having the first-aid box ready. The main expenditure areas included the hiring of the soccer grounds, administrative expenses,  players’ clothing, fees for the referee, usually 1 pound 1 Os Od and drinks for the players.

In 1959 the first elections took place which returned the old committee with the addition of A. Nicolaides, L. Pavlides, E. Kreskas, P Boubis, S. Sakellarides, and S. Theos. The new committee increased the numbers of social activities in an effort to attract more family members to stabilise the affairs of the club and create a stronger team. The weekly social dances of the club were held at the Masonic Hall, Queens Parade, Clifton Hill. The members paid two shillings and sixpence as an entrance fee, which cleared an average of 40 pounds per week.

Following the successful first two years, “Alexander the Great” applied unsuccessfully for a place in the Victorian Amateur Soccer Football Association (VASFA). The club’s secretary, Markos Economides, in his letters dated 9 February and 17 March 1959 to the President of the VASF H.J. Dockerty, requested “Alexander the Greats” admission to the Victoria Provisional League. The club received a negative reply in a letter signed by VASFA’s Secretary-Manager, S. Beaton, claiming that the Greek club had not played a sufficient number of games to prove its strength, durability and financial stability. In September 1959, the committee, amidst renewed recruitment of players and membership, reapplied. This time Alexander the Great was admitted to the Provisional League, together with four other teams.  By this time, the Club had managed to build a strong and skilful squad of twenty-one players, almost unbeatable in their category in Victoria. The 1958 and 1959 team included the players A. Balis, A. Boutlis, J. Dafinis, Th. Doukas, D. Filippou, E. lordanis, K. Korfiatis, A. Politis, N. Romanides, C. Rakovalis, S. Savvides, A. Soumelides, P Themelkos, C. Zouros and C. Zygomanis.  In 1960 Megas Alexandros was enriched and further strengthened with Th. Boutlis, L. Foutoulis, the brothers Evan and George Morihovitis, Th. Tangas, E. Taskas, K. Xanthopoulos and C. Zouros.

During its inaugural appearance in the provisional league competition, "Alexander the Great" was declared the undisputed champions of the league, easily winning 34 points and scoring 113 goals. The official magazine of the VASFA, Soccer News, in its 24 September 1960 edition under the title ‘Alexander are Real Champions’ paid tribute to the Club implicitly signalling, perhaps, remorse for the delayed admission: “of the entrants, Alexander proved themselves champions when they easily won the League Championship with a total of 34 points. Their attack was the best of any team competing in Victorian soccer this season, with 113 goals scored.”

With its successful appearance in competitive soccer, the club received an additional boost in the following years (1961-1963), winning all league competitions and climbing to the State League in 1964.  In 1965 Alexander’s activities declined due to internal administrative problems and the team was relegated.  Next year (1966) the club again won the first division premiership and was promoted to State League only to drop back in 1969.  In 1970 it survived the transition and became a leading force when it won the 1975 Victorian State League (today’s Victorian Premier League)Championship under its then name of Fitzroy United Alexander Soccer Club under coach Manolis Poulakakis.

In 1977 Fitzroy United Alexander was a founding member of the Philips National Soccer League and proved to be a model team for consistency, since it managed to score, throughout the years, the second best performance rate of all Australian teams competing in the highest league. At one stage (1982-1985) seven of the 16 national ‘socceroo’ players were players from “Alexander the Great”.

Following the formation of the Philips National Soccer League in 1977, the club commenced negotiations with the Heidelberg City Council to move its grounds from Fitzroy to Heidelberg. The local council decided to lease the historic Olympic Village, (the training venue for the Melbourne 1956 Olympics) to Alexander.  The terms and conditions of the lease were advantageous to the Club which was obtaining access to a prestigious soccer field, with a pavilion and track and field facilities. The industrious committee, led by a solicitor and ex-player of the team, James Mangopoulos, began in November 1977 negotiating the possibility of leasing the grounds surrounding the pitch at the Olympic Village. It was a painful and cumbersome process demanding a lot to planning.

In 1978 the Mangopoulos Committee announced its plan to move to Heidelberg and advertised the erection of a covered grandstand seating 1,500 spectators, turnstiles and public facilities for 3,000 people, incurring a ‘cost of $400,000 out of a total cost of the overall scheme of about $950,000.  The contracts, however, were not finalised until 1982. The City of Heidelberg agreed to lease the land for thirty years, charging the Club a nominal amount. The club in the meantime obtained an official legal status by its registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Victoria in 1977.

The late 1970’s and early 1980’s the Club went through what many regard as its “Golden Era”.  In 1980, the Club won the “Top 4” play-off series beating Sydney City by 4 goals to nil in Canberra.  Towards the end of the 1980’s, the Club encountered difficulties both on and off the park.  It was twice relegated (1987 and 1989) but managed to be promoted the next year back into the National Soccer League, mainly because of the enormous support that it continued to enjoy from its loyal supporters.

In the 1990s it continued to play a prominent role in Australian soccer, operating with a yearly budget of more than $500,000.  However, in 1995 the Club suffered a major set back when it was excluded from the National Soccer League along with Brunswick Juventus and the Parramatta Melita Eagles.  Soccer Australia, led by David Hill began the “cleansing process” of the league trying to remove all remnants of ethnicity by forcing Clubs to change their names.  Alexander The Great made an attempt to rejoin the National League in a joint partnership arrangement with the Collingwood Football Club and whilst things looked promising at the start, pressure from the AFL saw the venture collapse by the end of its inaugural season.  The team did however manage to with the National League Cup in 1996 emulating the feats of Heidelberg United who won the cup for the first time three years earlier in 1993.

 In the years that followed time was running out for “ethnic clubs”.  With the formation of the “A-League” all of the remaining Clubs suffered a similar fate to Heidelberg United when they too were excluded from the league.  Alexander The Great managed to re-group and continued playing in the Victorian Premier League with mixed results.  Since 1996 the Club has been relegated twice from the  Victorian Premier League but managed to regain its promotion.  In 2001, Heidelberg United were crowned Victorian Champions for the fourth time in its history. 

Today, the Club has managed to stabilise its on-field performances and is hoping that in its next 50 years it can continue to grow within the current climate and be a viable entity.