Off the Pitch Podcast: How South Melbourne is going to fill its grandstands

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Credit: South Melbourne FC

With a loyal fan base and a strong digital presence, South Melbourne FC is well-positioned to attract crowds as it enters the new national second tier, the Australian Championship.

South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club that currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria.

The club is set to be one of the founding clubs taking part in the newly launched national second-tier competition, the Australian Championship.

In episode eight of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch podcast, South Melbourne FC President Nick Maikousis explained that while the club can attract large crowds, doing so takes significant effort.

“I think if we’re talking about the clubs that have purely made the national second tier now, I think Preston and South is evidence that can be the case, but it still needs a lot of work, from all of us need to,” he said on the podcast.

“For example, we can get a crowd at South, but it takes a lot of effort on behalf of the club, for example, the FFA Cup games last year, we’d fill our grandstands and the product looked great, but it takes a lot of effort to achieve that.

“Will it get there? It’s just going to take a lot of work, I don’t think we should be too romantic about what the NSL looked like towards the end, because sure, South would announce crowds of 7,000 or 8,000 people coming to a Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening game in summer.

“The truth is, it was always slightly less a number than that, but in our forecasts, we plan to make sure we fill at least one of the grandstands there.”

Still, Maikousis confident the club will draw strong support ahead of the commencement of the Australian Championship, highlighting its large and active online following.

“We’re confident we’ll get the support, our social numbers are significant, our social numbers are still enormous,” he said.

“We put a video together not that long ago, Postecoglou’s highlights after he won the Europa and I think that’s had 2.8 million views globally.

“So we’re fortunate that we do have a successful South person in the game globally but we’ve maintained, I think, close to 120,000 social media followers now for a long time.”

To hear and learn more about South Melbourne FC, you can listen to the full interview with Nick Maikousis on episode eight of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast, available on all major podcasting apps and here.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

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Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

 

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

 

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.

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