Adelaide Olympic set for national FFA Cup debut, four decades after formation in sixth-tier amateurs
FFA Cup debutant Adelaide Olympic is set for its maiden appearance on soccer’s national stage, four decades after it began life in the sixth tier of SA’s amateur ranks.
A top-flight SA club which began life in the sixth tier of soccer’s amateur ranks and almost failed to make it past its second season is set to debut on the sport’s national stage.
Adelaide Olympic would meet Perth side Floreat Athena in the FFA Cup round-of-32 at the Parks on Wednesday (7pm kick-off).
The home clash came a month after the Ferryden Park-based outfit downed Adelaide City in the state knockout final to secure its first major trophy and progress to the national phase.
It was also four decades on from Chris Tertipis and a group of fellow Greek migrants pulling on the boots for the club’s inaugural campaign as Adelaide Asteras.
“I was the oldest player there and I only went to help make up the numbers in the reserves,” Tertipis, now 72, recalled.
“But I finished up playing in the first team.
“We won the league very comfortably and scored more than 100 goals.
“It was a good bunch of people and it was a family sort of club.
“But to be honest, I never thought they would be playing in a (FFA) cup game like this.”
Olympic entered the tie in blistering form on the back of a 14-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
The recent heroics mirrored those of Asteras in 1979.
Playing out of Woodville West Reserve, the club won promotion and thumped Elizabeth Downs — a side four divisions above it — 7-1 in its run to the last eight of the Challenge Cup.
But Tertipis said the early success was tempered by off-field teething problems and he was persuaded to take on a leadership role.
“At the end of the second year, the committee was going to break up,” said Tertipis, who linked up with Chris Despotakis in the original team.
“But a few people asked me to become president so I said ‘I’ll accept the position, providing we join the federation from the amateur league’.
“I was there at the club six days a week.
“We used to wash the strips, mark the pitches, put the nets up and then take them down.
“I did everything, even sweeping and mopping the changerooms.
“But I wasn’t the only one, everybody did it and all the people worked together.
“To see where Olympic is now makes me very proud.”
Tertipis, who was also a referee from 1978-2013 and later served as a junior coach, oversaw the move to the Metropolitan League, which the club won in its maiden federation season.
He instigated a name change to Thebarton Asteras, as home games shifted to Kings Reserve, before three second division titles were secured under the Olympians moniker.
Captain Ricardo Da Silva said the passionate founders of Olympic, which took on its present identity in 2001, had provided extra motivation for the biggest match in its history.
“It’s really exciting to see the old generation are still connected to the club and still proud of the club,” the Portuguese-born ex-Adelaide United playmaker said.
“In a few years time, hopefully other people remember our team too.
“But you can’t get just one achievement, you have to be consistent and keep achieving things.
“Hopefully we can do something this year that will last longer than just this year.”
Coach George Tsonis’ men sat third on the NPL SA table, buoyed by 17-goal striker Christos Pounendis and Italian front man Fausto Erba (10 strikes).
Olympic also possessed a watertight defence boasting 35-cap Albanian international Kristi Vangjeli and cup final man-of-the-match Matt Halliday.
It would face four-time WA champion and fellow Greek-backed side Floreat, which had previously produced the likes of ex-West Adelaide star Stan Lazaridis.
The visitors were led by five-cap Socceroos defender Adrian Madaschi and leading scorer Robert Petkov.
“We’ve watched a few videos (of Athena) and we’re preparing as much as we can to know what to expect,” Da Silva, 35, said.
“But the best thing we can focus on is ourselves.
“The results don’t lie, but you have to have a proper culture, proper dedication and a good group that sticks together.
“To win this match would mean another step forward and making more history with the club would be very special.”