1978 Articles

Hallelujah!!  Construction had begun on the new Clubrooms which added a feeling of permanency and stability for all involved with the Club. 

Following the Clubrooms being burnt down late the in 1977 and the Club losing absolutely all of their possessions the Council placed two Atco huts in the carpark as temporary change rooms for the players and opposition teams.  The huts had no showers and were to be shared with the Adelaide Baseball Club as they also used Weigall Oval and Clubrooms as their home base during the football off season.

Selection of the teams for Saturday games was done at the Highway Inn on a Thursday night.  The team sheets were displayed at the Hotel and on the Friday morning the team sheets for the A, B, and C teams were also displayed at Bambacas’s Deli and Snack Bar in Sturt Street.  After the games on a Saturday players and supporters would journey to the Highway Inn for the player awards and post-match get togethers.

Emanuel Politis kindly donated 1 set of gurnseys to the Club and all home games were still played at Weigell Oval.  It was a big inconvenience with having no Clubrooms however it did not distract from the playing efforts of all three teams. 

At the AGM Michael Varvounis was elected President for the second year running and Keith Koehne continued his role as Senior Coach. Steve Condous returned to the Club and took on the coaching role of the B team while Peter Economou coached the C grade in back-to-back seasons.

1978 also saw the Club’s first mobile medic being appointed with Peter Remmington taking on the role and he provided the invaluable medical service that had been lacking at the Club since day one.

A number of new players joined the Club including Vic Bergaman, Paul Condous, Jeff Mann and Steve Finos.  Angelo Mele also returned from Woomera and Nick Condous was back from injury. All of these players strengthened the team.

Considering what was happening at Weigall Oval the A grade and B grade teams were making big inroads with the A’s sitting top with 11 wins and 1 loss and the B’s sitting 3rd with 9 wins and 3 losses.  The C’s were sitting 7th with 4 wins and 7 losses and a draw.

During a C Grade game against S.A.I.T. Institute at the Levels ground on Main North Road the Greek team started with only 14 men on the field.  As the Greek players slowly arrived, after the game had started, they were told to change and go straight on to the ground.  When Jim Diamanti arrived he yelled out to the players I’m here guys” and went and got changed and like the four late arriving players before him ran straight onto the field.

There was only one problem, the team was unaware that there were more than 18 players on the ground.  

The C team was well ahead just before half time leading by 6 goals when the Captain of the opposing team fronted up to the Umpire requesting a head count and yes, you guessed it.. the Greeks had more than 18 players on the field.  As a result the Greeks had their entire score erased up to that point in time and approximately 10 goals were wiped from the scoreboard.

When the game recommenced just before half time the Greeks were down by approximately 5 goals and they kicked a goal just before the half time break to be approximately 4 goals down.

At the half time break Peter Ecomonou, the C Grade Coach talked to and encouraged his players to have the belief that they could still win the game.  As history tells it the Greeks came out eventual winners of the match.

Footnote: Glen Herriman (aka Royce Hart) was the teams star full forward and took a specky mark in the goal square over his opponent and converted it to a goal just before the head count and the goal was subsequently disallowed. Glen was a devastated man at the time and the tale is still spoken about to this day at many a coffee catch up with past players.

Come the end of the minor round the A’s ended up Minor Premiers and the B’s finished 3rd and the C’s failed to make the finals however the C team players were a big asset to both the A and B teams when injuries hit both teams hard.

The A grade played 2nd team GAZA in the 2nd Semi Final but lost to GAZA 13-9 (87) to 11-9 (75).

The B Grade lost its 1st Semi Final (No records kept).

In the Preliminary final the A’s had to play Ethelton at Kilburn Oval for a place in the Grand Final and for promotion to A2.  The A’s won by 14 points 14-10 (94) to 11-14 (80).  This win enabled the Club to be promoted to A2 in 1979 in its own right, something the Club had been striving for for years.

In the Preliminary Final full forward Terry Evreniadis was reported for striking.  At the Tribunal he provided movie evidence to prove his innocence however was found guilty and was given a one match suspension.  Bob Targa was ruled out of the Grand Final due to being injured. 

The Grand Final was played at a blistering pace from the onset and the Greeks were well in control, in fact they were 6 goals up with 18 minutes to go when GAZA’s centre half forward kicked 5 goals in the last quarter to lift his side to the amazement of everyone. GAZA defeat the Greek’s 18-9 (117) to 15-14 (104). Goalkickers were Mann 6, Grabgowski 3, Samaras 2, James 1, Davey 1, Jucha 1 and Condous 1. 

Bob Targa won A Grade Best and Fairest

Peter Elia won B Grade Best and Fairest

Emanuel Lavrentiadis won C Grade Best and Fairest.

Towards the end of the season on Sunday 23rd July 1978 the new Clubroom and sporting complex was opened by the Honorary Steve Hamra the Mayor of West Torrens.

It was the Club’s first bricks and mortar facility ever and one person at the opening ceremony commented that “It is quite a contrast between this and the old shed eh!” and another older person commented “Quite a difference between the old shed at Weigall Oval and the old 20 foot by 10 foot shed in the South Parklands in the United Church League days.” It was also a far cry from 1961 to 1963 when players changed in a Star Grocery Van when available or behind blankets as shown in the first 10 years comical poster.

The Club continued to field an Electric Light Cricket team during the summer months.  Wins were hard to come by and the games were very competitive.