It was a year of euphoric highs and cataclysmic lows for South Melbourne Women’s FC in 2015, as a Grand Final triumph came just weeks after learning their fate for 2016.
The proud club failed in their application to become one of eight founding clubs in the new Women’s National Premier League Victoria competition for next season, after their application was rejected on the cusp of the WPL Finals.
While their resolve was tested in those final few weeks of the season, they did enough to secure back-to-back WPL titles, all this despite the fact their future potentially laid in State League One for the upcoming season.
With their appeals options all but exhausted and the mediation period now over, we got the opportunity to speak to the woman who oversaw a rollercoaster season for South; President Gabrielle Giuliano, talked about the Grand Final success, their unsuccessful WNPL bid and the recent merger of South Melbourne and South Melbourne Women’s.
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Let’s start off with the positives of the 2015 season, the Grand Final. Was the win – albeit you probably were the underdogs against the Boroondara Eagles – a vindication of your long-term success in the competition rather than 2015 as a stand alone season?
Certainly from my perspective, I always had confidence that the girls could do it. We were thwarted by a lot of injuries throughout the season so at the time we did come across Ashburton United and Boroondara Eagles, we never had a full squad. We played with a lot of our reserve team girls, who did an amazing job throughout the season. But the belief and mentality of the girls I never doubted for a moment. I was probably a bit more optimistic than them, but we worked really hard throughout the season, from both a mental perspective as well as a physical. I never doubted them.
The first one that we won, there were a couple of comments saying that it was a fluke. I don’t understand that in football, or in any sport, [there are no flukes]. We certainly put that little theory to bed the second time. You’re always going to have people suggesting that we had good luck, or whatever you’d like to call it. At the end of the day, the determination of the girls, the fact they had a belief in something and following the game play, you end up winning.
Can you give us an update on the merger and how that’s tracking at the moment and whether it is all official? How will this help South Melbourne WFC?
The merger is pretty much done. We are one, the only official duty that needs to happen is that the men need to vote in their AGM, which is a given anyway as it’s something that they’ve wanted to do for a long time. That’s an official process, but for everything else, we’re moving and transitioning forward for the next 12 months to make sure that everything is aligned. As far as from the women’s perspective, we come in as an equal partner. Year’s ago, we weren’t that way, but due to our success and the growth of our club, the men have total respect for us and it can only get bigger for us.
We obviously have a big supporter base, which for years have been asking ‘When will the women join us?’ We can now share in facilities, in coaching, expertise and sponsorship. That in itself is very good for the girls because we were limited. We did well, but with exposure from their TV show, media coverage, it can be fantastic for the females. We’re wanting to play double headers in front of the men and that’s in the process at the moment. So it’s all those things that no other club can or will do that can help the exposure of women’s football.
If there is so many positives, was there a reason the merger wasn’t done at an earlier date?
We’ve been talking for two years, building relationships and making sure that everything from the female perspective was good. So not really; we were very close just before our application for the WNPL but it just takes time. You’ve got boards, you’ve got meetings and no real reason other than timing.
Do you feel as if the merger and the sharing of resources would have helped your bid for the WNPL at all?
I don’t think so. We were never lead to believe that [having a men’s team aligned would help the bid] to be the case. We were always led to believe that we were a strong club on our own right. We also got advice that our application was fine on its own so hence my communication with them prior saying that ‘we will be merging, what should we do?’ Our advice was that there was certainly no problem, put the application in on your own.
It’s an obvious fact now, looking at the successful applicants that this is not the case. Obviously the successful applications have been amalgamations, or clubs that have got men’s involvement as well.
Why was it then that you felt your bid failed to meet the mark set by the FFV?
As far as we stand at the moment, we believe that it was a good application. It was successful and we believe it was in the top eight. We haven’t had any feedback officially – I don’t think any other club has had official feedback – as to where we went wrong.
We’ve requested it as I think every unsuccessful club has, but the FFV have not given any information back in writing as to why we weren’t successful, other than their answer which was ‘You’re not in the top eight’. The theories and the stories that our application wasn’t good enough, we totally disagree with. It was a professional application that was put in with people who have worked hard in that application. To hear rumours that we failed on facilities is beyond laughable.
If there is any club in Victoria that every WPL club knows has the best facilities in Victoria, it’s us. For [us to hear] that it could be one of the main reasons is ridiculous.
Do you believe then that the FFV should be doing more to provide support you by providing feedback as to the downfalls of the individual bids?
Without a doubt, who wouldn’t want that? Unfortunately that’s not the case so we have to fight this now. We believe we have a strong case so regardless of the situation, we have to take it to the next stage.
Is there any concerns that the development of the girls that stay on might stagnate playing against lower quality opposition, or do you believe the opportunities presented by the merger will provide better access to professional facilities and coaches?
As far as our plan for moving forward – if we are to be playing in the State League One – our club will be running as we have in the past, very professionally as we would have if we were in the WNPL. There will be intense training, opportunities to play WNPL teams in pre-season friendlies and we’ll try to play as many throughout the season if we’re not in the WNPL.
Everything will be as if we were playing there, the only difference being that we won’t be able to control who our competition is on the weekend. The girls are aware of that. They’re quite satisfied and are saying so long as the coaching, the facilities and what we’re provided is amazing, then that’s what they’re interested in.