It all started one summer in the late fifties playing cricket on the remains of an old brick making kiln on the corner of Dove Street and Beans Road Thebarton (which is now called Dew Street). The wicket was the well cooked floor of the furnace and was known by the players as the Karachi wicket - just like the wickets in Pakistan at that time. Micky Lisgos lived directly opposite the kilns in Dove Street. The site is now an open community park with a playground.

A group of lads would front up and form two sides complete with umpires and scorers. Nicky Nicholas was one captain as he had the best bat and ball. The opposing captain was whoever had the second best bat and ball - it was game on!! If Nicky Nicholas was given out and he disagreed, like a true sportsman, he would pack up his bat and ball and go home. The appeals and disagreements could be heard from two blocks away attracting new players and spectators. 

This core group quickly grew to thirty to forty players that formed and began playing football scatch matches during the winter months, fifteen to twenty per side. The games were played on Torrensville United’s ground, opposite Coca-Cola, on Port Road - now known as Bonython Park. These games were often bruising bloody affairs. During one such game, a lad (Andy Kotsano) sustained a serious leg injury and was taken to hospital. This prompted the group to consider forming a team and playing in a recognised league. Thanks to Mick Cacas, Mick Lisgos and Nick Nicholas a team was eventually affiliated with the United Church Football Association.

The team played its first game against Cowandilla Church of Christ in Division 3 on Saturday 29th April 1961 and hence the birth of The Greek Orthodox Football Club. The club’s home ground was in the south parklands opposite the Master Builders Association and the “change shed” was a small group of acorn trees that a few lads would surround with blankets while others changed. These trees also came in very handy when nature called. The uniform as such was a varied and multicoloured affair with players wearing white shorts, black shorts and even school greys along with odd socks. Luckily the United Church Football Association wasn’t too tough on fines.

Mick Lisgos was the stand-in captain and led the side for the first ten games. Eventually, players voted and Tom Frossinakis, who at 16 years of age, became the youngest captain of an ‘A’ Team in the U.C.F.L.

The subscription fee was one pound five shillings ($2.50) and the match fee was two shillings (20 cents) and went for the umpires payments. Getting the players to part with their money was as difficult as getting them to train. The composition of the team was rather intriguing for it often consisted of guys who were conned into playing the day before the game. On more than one occasion some lads who had the misfortune of riding their bikes along or across the oval while the match was in progress would be stopped and asked if they could play football. Some would eventually become an integral part of the team.

The ground was a cow paddock turned battlefield with an abundance of three corner jacks. Because of the contour of the ground players would suddenly seem to disappear down a huge crevis while chasing the ball. There were, in fact, some bad ankle injuries due to the state of the ground which was full of large cracks. 

After some pressure from the United Church Football Association, the Adelaide City Council erected a green 20 x 8 (6 metres x 2.4 metres) shed as a change room with no water or power. Eventually in 1966 through the dedication of a few players and our own plumber (Peter Barris) these shortcomings were overcome - including the digging of a trench from South Terrace to the shed to connect the water.

The boundary line was always something of a mystery; hard to see mainly because the player who thought of doing it, would hurriedly grab a sack of lime and more or less mark out where he thought the boundary should be. In some places, the line was almost non-existent and elsewhere a foot (30 cms) wide. To say the boundary umpires were often confused would be an understatement. 

The first uniform consisted of blue and white vertically striped guernseys and white shorts, similar to North Melbourne colours.

In those early days, many greek parents were opposed to their sons playing any type of contact sport, being more interested with their professions, apprenticeships and the family business than kicking “a stupid leather egg around!”. Consequently, a few players concealed from their parents the fact that they played football at all. Tom Frossinakis, in fact, played for two years without his father knowing. It wasn’t until 1963 that the GOFC could roast its sole parental supporter, Mr. George Svigos.

Transportation was always scarce and whoever had a car or ute was always in demand on Saturday mornings. A lot of players met at Bambacas’s shop in Sturt Street and it was a common sight from 1964 for Tom Melios’s Ford Customline ute to roll up to a game carrying half the team.

Of course, the club needed a coach so Michael Cacas placed an advertisement and a phone call came from a certain Jimmy Hall who had coached in WA. As he was the only applicant, had coaching experience and didn’t want any money, he naturally got the position. He was a quietly spoken person who won the support of all the players and he did a marvelous job by almost getting a premiership in his first year.

The club’s first social night was held at the Thebarton Community Hall. Admission was two shillings (20 cents) and as it was imperative to raise money to finance the club, a number of prominent Greeks were invited to attend. Donations throughout the night amounted to 70 - 80 pounds ($140 - $160) which paid for the club’s first set of guernseys and registration fees. It was all systems go!!