This is who Olympic is a big club who doesnt give a fark!
Battling to stop a Greek tragedy
October 10, 2003
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Stable influence: Skipper Ante Juric, who nears his 10th year as an Olympic player. Photo: Tim Clayton
Sydney Olympic are no strangers to turmoil, but this season looms as a make-or-break one for the club, writes Michael Cockerill.
History has taught us that Sydney Olympic is a club which doesn't like to sit still.
Twenty-three coaches in 26 years. Nine different home grounds. Three name changes.
The last man to take Olympic to the title - Gary Phillips - was unceremoniously dumped on the eve of last season's finals with his team in second position. His successor, Lee Sterrey, subsequently secured the minor premiership and then a place in the grand final before he, too, was shown the door with barely a backward glance.
And still, despite the compelling evidence of under-achievement (just two championships), the treadmill continues to gather pace. On Sunday, Olympic will christen their 10th home - Kogarah Oval - with yet another new coach (Peter Papanikitas), virtually a whole new team, and under new management after the former owners, a consortium headed by Nick Politis, jumped ship after losing $13 million in five typically eventful seasons.
"I tend to laugh it off," says skipper Ante Juric - a rare symbol of stability as he approaches his 10th year as an Olympic player.
"Every year there seems to be 10 to 15 new faces in the dressing room, but you just get on with it. In the last few years we've had some success, which helps . . . the club now reminds me of when I started. We've gone back to our origins, and the guys who are now in charge have done an incredible job in the circumstances."
Those circumstances had Olympic on the verge of extinction after the grand final in May. When the Politis group walked, taking their chequebooks with them, the agreement was the club's ownership would revert back to the members who had sold it five years earlier.
The trouble was most of those members had no money, and no inclination, to invest in a loss-making exercise - sentimental attachment or not. For a few weeks it seemed Olympic were doomed, until lifelong fan Jim Augerinos rallied the troops and reminded them of Olympic's heritage, and their obligations to those who had gone before them. The plea succeeded, and Olympic survived. But for how long?
With a new competition on the way, this will be the last season for the NSL as we know it. Those clubs who aspire to be part of the revamped Australian Premier League will need to find four or five times the money they are spending now. Can Olympic do it?
"Our aim was always to keep the club alive and lay the foundation for the APL," Augerinos says.
"The generosity and enthusiasm so far has been fantastic - I think people like the fact the club is back in the hands of the members. And I believe we'll find more people over the next year to help us because the younger generation wants to get involved."
New president Steve Kamper has only been in the chair for two months but already he's thinking about revival instead of survival.
"It's premature to be making statements about how we'll be structuring ourselves for the future, but I'm sure we'll have some formidable backing behind us," he says.
"We definitely want to be part of the new competition - there is no purpose in just doing this for one year. There's a long-term vision there. By the end of the year we have to have everything in place - there's no point in mucking around. I'm confident we're on the right track."
Given Olympic's turbulent history, however, the road ahead remains littered with obstacles. Perhaps the biggest is the inflated expectations of the fans. If the team fails to perform this season, plans for the APL could disintegrate in a wave of recriminations.
Patience and understanding has rarely been the strong suit of the Olympic supporters. Last weekend's 4-0 drubbing in the local derby against Northern Spirit already has club officials suggesting the crowd for Sunday's landmark game against Sydney United (women will be admitted free) will be down by a couple of thousand. Even Kamper described the defeat as "upsetting".
Olympic fans are giving - they have donated four cars to the players, they have offered free dry cleaning for the season, the club has been given free premises for its administration at Dulwich Hill, and even security for home games has been provided at a vastly reduced rate. The move closer to the heartland of Sydney's Greek community has also been rewarded in other ways - season ticket sales are up by about 60 per cent, and more than $800,000 in sponsorships have been sold - including a six-figure deal with a Sydney radio station announced yesterday.
But in return for their support, the fans and the backers demand that the team performs. Herein lies the perennial balancing act.
With 13 members of the grand final squad gone as a result of the cutbacks - goalkeeper Clint Bolton was the last, reluctant, departure on the eve of the season - it stands to reason that the fans should lower their sights. Most of the newcomers are recycled state league players, although a last-minute spending spree did see Juric and Hiroyuki Ishida return, and Michael Baird and Iain Fyfe arrive from interstate. The squad, at best, can be described as "experimental".
There is enough talent to suggest the second half of the season will be better than the first, and a place in the finals is not beyond reach. But in the meantime, it is a matter of keeping a lid on emotions as the team, and the club, tries to get back on its feet.
"When I first came here, I copped plenty," Juric says. "But if you show a bit of loyalty, if you show you care for the club, they'll get behind you."
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