Sydney Olympic FC
Sydney Olympic FC is a semi-professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. A member-owned club, its senior men's team plays at the Belmore Sports Ground, in the National Premier Leagues NSW. Its senior women's team plays at The Crest, in the NPL NSW Women's. Both leagues are situated in the second tier of the Australian league system. It also competes in the Australian Championship as a foundation club.
One of many Greek Australian soccer clubs, it was formed in November 1957 as Pan Hellenic SC, and rose to Football NSW's first division in 1961. The club failed to find on-field success in the state league, though strong fan support and financial stability gained it entry into the National Soccer League as a charter member in 1977, when it adopted its current name. Olympic would play 27 seasons in the league, winning two championships and two NSL Cups. Following the NSL's demise in 2004, the club returned to NSW's first division, where it has remained since. While the club has historically fielded women's teams in decades past, its modern women's team was founded in 2006, and won promotion to the first division in 2018.
Sydney Olympic have won three NSW men's titles. It reached the NPL's national semi-finals in 2018, and its best performances in the Australia Cup are round of sixteen finishes in 2014 and 2015. Among Olympic's records are the two highest-attended NSL regular season matches – 18,985 in a 1998–99 match against the Northern Spirit, and 18,376 in a 1979 match against Newcastle KB United.
History
1957: Pan-Hellenic – The Beginnings
In the late 1940s and 50s there were several small Greek teams for the purposes of socialising and giving a sense of home for the newly arrived migrants. These teams included; Taxiarchis, Atlas, Astro, Pansamiakos as well as several others. Many people wondered about uniting all of these smaller teams to establish 1 strong Greek team in order to participate in the NSW Soccer Federation. The founding date of the club is set as 28 November 1957, as this was the first meeting of Club Founder Christos Giannakoulias at his home in Alexandria, together with Elias Michalopoulos, Giorgos Lagoudakos, Emmanuel Karras, Dimitris Vlachos, Stelios Papageorgiou. It was decided there, that the newly formed team would be known as Pan-Hellenic, as it represented the shared journeys of Greeks from all over the world who migrated to Sydney and not just from Greece and Cyprus, but also from various other places like; Egypt, Romania, Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Anatolia and Asia MinorThe club was established as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club and its initial strip was blue and white vertical stripes.
1958–60: NSW 2nd Division
In its first season in 1958, Pan-Hellenic found itself in the NSW 2nd Division, which at the time was split into 2 groups – Western & Eastern – After topping its group, Pan-Hellenic faced off with Budapest, who had topped the other group in the Grand Final, which Pan-Hellenic won 3–1. This still was not good enough for promotion and Pan-Hellenic was forced to play a separate play-off with Budapest for promotion. The initial match ended 1–1 and a replay was ordered a few days later, which Budapest won 4–0.For season 1959, the Federation did away with a Finals Series and promotion playoffs, instead awarding promotion to the club which topped the competition table after the 26 rounds. Pan-Hellenic would miss out again on promotion, as it finished runner-up to Neerlandia.
In 1960 and in what would become a tradition in Australian Football, the format was changed yet again. A Finals Series would be played this season, Pan-Hellenic reached the Grand Final again, but would go on and lose to Polonia 2–1. But this time, the team which would end up atop the competition ladder was crowned the Champions and would be promoted, fortunately for Pan-Hellenic, they finished top of the ladder 1 point ahead of Polonia, were crowned Champions and finally earned promotion to the NSW 1st Division for 1961.
1960s: NSW 1st Division
In its first season in the NSW 1st Division in 1961, the club would finish in the top 4 finishing 4th, a fantastic achievement. In the Finals Series Pan-Hellenic lost its Semi-Final to Hakoah 1–0.1962 saw Pan-Hellenic finish in 7th place. The 1962 season also saw a competition attendance record for the regular season, with 16,265 spectators attending Pan-Hellenic's home match at Wentworth Park with APIA Leichhardt on July 8th. In 1963, Pan-Hellenic rebounded to once again make the top 4, finishing 4th once again and qualified for the Finals Series. South Coast United delivered a heavy blow in the Semi-Final, dishing out a 7–1 loss to Pan-Hellenic. The 1963 season also saw the previous season's record attendance for a regular season club match in NSW beaten, when 19,676 spectators saw the 1-1 draw between Pan-Hellenic and APIA Leichhardt.
In 1964, Pan-Hellenic finished a disappointing 6th in the League, while in contrast, it made a better fist of it in the Cup, reaching the Semi-Finals. The Final round of the 1964 league season, witnessed a record breaking attendance for a non-Finals match in Australian club football. Pan-Hellenic and APIA Leichhardt drew 27,150 spectators, in a match Pan-Hellenic ultimately lost 6-2 to its old rival.
While in 1965 the club endured a difficult League campaign, coming within a whisker of being relegated, finishing 2nd last and having to endure the 3 relegation playoff ties. The first 2 ended in draws against Polonia, the 3rd match was a 5–4 thriller to Pan-Hellenic. 11,000 turned up on a Wednesday night to see the match, a victory which preserved the club's 1st Division status. This was in total contrast with Pan-Hellenic's Cup form, which saw them go on a run all the way to the Final, only to lose 3–1 to Hakoah.
For season 1966, Pan-Hellenic finished in 5th spot. The club would return to Finals Football once again in 1967 finishing in 4th, but would once again fail to progress in the Finals Series. 1967 also saw Pan-Hellenic go on a great run in the inaugural National Club Knock-Out competition the – Australia Cup – falling one game short of the Final, as it lost to APIA Leichhardt 3–2 after extra-time in the Semi-Final.
The 1968 season, was the highlight of the pre-National Soccer League era, Pan-Hellenic finished 2nd in the standings and reached the NSW First Division Grand Final for the first time. Pan-Hellenic rode the wave of momentum, crowds of: 11,500, 10,153, 14,521, 18,180 against Polonia, St George, Hakoah and APIA respectively in the back half of the 1968 season, catapulted the team into the Grand Final, Pan-Hellenic would unfortunately lose 4–2 to bitter rivals Hakoah in front of a crowd of 22,111 at the Sydney Sports Ground.
To bring the decade to a close in 1969, Pan-Hellenic would have to settle for a mid-table 6th-placed finish. The club also experienced another great Cup run making it to the Final once again in 1969, a Final it would ultimately lose 3–2 to Prague.
1970s
After some lean seasons:1970, 1971, 1972, 1973
1974 saw a marked improvement in the team under Socceroos coach Rale Rasic. Pan-Hellenic just missed out on the top 4 to finish in 5th spot. In the Cup, the club failed to reach the latter stages.
Season 1975, did see Pan-Hellenic once again make the top 4, finishing in 3rd place, their highest finish in years. In the Finals Series Pan-Hellenic dispatched Auburn 2–1 in the Semi-Final to make it through to the Preliminary Final. A crowd of 15,374, one of the biggest attendances in years, saw old rivals Pan-Hellenic and APIA go at it again, unfortunately for Pan-Hellenic it went on to lose 1–0 after extra-time to APIA Leichhardt, in a tight and tense affair.
In its final season in the NSW State League for the time being and its last season under the name Pan-Hellenic in 1976, the club just missed out on a Finals spot, ending up in 5th place.
1977: Sydney Olympic & the NSL
For 1977 the club became a pioneering founding member of the National Soccer League, and also changed its name to Sydney Olympic.Sydney Olympic had a tough initiation into National League Football in 1977, finishing 3rd last. 1978 saw a vast improvement from Sydney Olympic as it finished in a much-improved and respectable mid-table position.
In 1979 Sydney Olympic endured another difficult campaign, finishing in 2nd last place. The Federation at the time, then made the decision to "cut back" on teams from NSW and being the last placed NSW team, beating only South Melbourne who had finished last, Sydney Olympic was controversially relegated.
1980s
The spell back in the NSW First Division competition for the club did not last long, with Sydney Olympic defeating the Parramatta Eagles 4–0 in the 1980 NSW Grand Final to win the NSW First Division. That victory secured Sydney Olympic a return to top-flight Australian football in 1981 where it remained until the NSL folded in 2004.The 1980s for Sydney Olympic were characterized with great football, large and passionate support, fantastic players, unfathomable highs as well as a litany of failures.
Seasons 1981 and 1982 were a period of stabilisation for the club, as it settled back into the National Soccer League. Sydney Olympic finished both seasons in the safety of mid-table security. During this period many young players and future legends of the club would be given their opportunity to make their mark for Sydney Olympic.
The mid-1980s are generally referred to as a Golden Era for Sydney Olympic. It was exciting times and the club was on a high, huge crowds flocked and followed the club wherever they were playing, and on the park the team was playing magnificent football and in later years would be labelled as one of the best club sides in Australian football history.
Between 1983 and 1986 Sydney Olympic played in 4 consecutive National Finals. Beating Heidelberg United in the 1983 NSL Cup Final and beating Preston Lions in the 1985 NSL Cup Final. Sydney Olympic also made it to the NSL Grand Finals of 1984 and 1986, losing to South Melbourne FC and Adelaide City respectively.
After this period, there was an exodus of players at Sydney Olympic meaning the team almost had to be re-built, as only a few players would remain. It showed as the club dropped back to a mid-table finish for season 1987.
Sydney Olympic bounced back in season 1988 to finish 5th and qualify for the Finals Series once again. Though disappointingly, they would go on to lose that Semi-Final 3–1 to the Marconi Stallions.
1989 would prove to be a bitter-sweet end to the decade for Sydney Olympic. The club climbed the ladder and enjoyed a great season, finishing 3rd and once again qualifying for the Finals. A Semi-Final victory over Melbourne Knights was followed by a Preliminary Final victory over St George FC, meaning Sydney Olympic found themselves in their 3rd NSL Grand Final in 6 years. But it would not be 3rd time lucky for the Blues, as they succumbed to an injury-time winner in the Grand Final to lose 1–0 to Marconi in front of 23,387 fans at the Parramatta Stadium. 1989 also saw another great NSL Cup run for Sydney Olympic, reaching another Final. But the club could not make up for their Grand Final loss & lost the 1989 NSL Cup Final 2–0 to Adelaide City.