South Melbourne wins inaugural Australian Championship title on historic day
Six months ago South Melbourne stared down the barrel of a lost season. They made the extraordinary move to sack their coach, and the rest was history. Go inside the Hellas remarkable year.
The 2025 season will go down in South Melbourne’s already deep folklore.
In May, the club was sitting second last in NPL Victoria and facing a very real relegation threat.
It parted ways with premiership-winning coach Esteban Quintas, Sinisa Cohadzic picked up the reins and the rest, as they say, is history.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE’S HISTORY-MAKING AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP TRIUMPH
A Dockerty Cup triumph, winning the trophy for a record-breaking 10th time, came in August and Hellas finished the league season 5-4-5 to finish ninth.
South marched to the Round of 16 in the Australia Cup and then came arguably its crowning glory on Saturday.
One of Australia’s most famous football clubs secured another piece of Australian football history by winning the inaugural Australian Championship title, defeating old NSL rival Marconi 2-0.
It will now enter the Oceania Professional League in 2026, while simultaneously competing in NPL Victoria.
Hellas captain Marco Jankovic played almost every one of the club’s 42 games this season and be a leader in the club’s remarkable turnaround.
“It’s very different, the club is different on all levels,” he said.
“Especially going into OPL next year, things are changing a lot, so we’re moving into a very exciting time for South Melbourne.
“It’s great to start with a big, big trophy.”
After Cohadzic took over, South Melbourne won or drew 24 of 30 matches and finished the season with two pieces of silverware.
It has cemented the South Melbourne coach’s place in club history as only six times in the club’s history has it won two trophies in a season.
“It’s a story to tell,” Cohadzic said after Saturday’s Championship victory.
“For a lot of coaches like myself the opportunity needs to be there.
“Australia doesn’t have too many opportunities for coaches but there’s so many young coaches coming up that are capable of doing the same thing.
“Now it’s a question for us as a nation, where can we provide that opportunity.
“This is a wonderful platform but I think it needs to be a home-and-away league where coaches, players, administrators can thrive in it.”
Jankovic scored South’s second goal in the Australian Championship final.
He said trophies defined South Melbourne.
“Being at this club, no matter what competition we’re in, we have to win,” he said.
“Every time we play we expect to win, no matter who we’re playing if it’s Australia Cup against an A-League team or in the NPL.
“That’s what this club is about, winning trophies, and we’re going to continue to chase that for the next 100 years.”
“BORN TO WIN TROPHIES”: SOUTH MELBOURNE CLAIMS HISTORIC TITLE
It had to be South Melbourne.
For so long the “old soccer” powerhouse has claimed to be the best club outside the A-League, adamant it belonged at the top of Australian football.
Now it has proof.
A dominant 2-0 win over traditional NSL rival Marconi sealed the inaugural Australian Championship title on Saturday.
South has been one of the leaders in the push for a true National Second Division and was one of eight championship foundation clubs is the first to etch its name onto the trophy.
Hellas captain Marco Jankovic then put his name in the history books as he was awarded the first grand final man of the match medal.
In front of 4667 fans, a clinical first half at Olympic Village sealed the triumph.
A horror Marconi turnover gifted Manny Aguek the opener in the 12th minute and Jankovic doubled the lead at the 20-minute mark.
“People need to understand that this club is born for trophies,” South Melbourne coach Sinisa Cohadzic said.
“From the start we said it’s a failure if we don’t win this trophy and it was, in the end, well deserved to be honest.
“We set ourselves to be aggressive from the start, we knew we were quicker than them and, then on set pieces, we knew we had taller players.
“It was hard work, the dressing room was fantastic, the culture is fantastic and I have wonderful players to work with.”
South made a bright start and threatened early with two Max Mikkola long throws and a penalty shout denied by the video referee in the opening minutes.
The breakthrough came thanks to a wayward back pass straight to the feet of Aguek.
The South Sudan international rounded his defender and smashed the ball into the back of the net.
It wasn’t long and the lead was doubled thanks to South’s set piece expertise.
A Mikkola corner found Jankovic’s head and an elusive header found its way into the back of the net.
“It’s amazing, the fans have come out this whole competition, and this is the icing on the cake,” Jankovic said after lifting the trophy.
“Being at this club, no matter what competition we’re in we expect to win, every time we play we expect to win.
“We knew we needed to be strong on set pieces and if it wasn’t me it would have been Jake (Marshall) or Tommy (Giannakopoulos) or Nahuel (Bonada) and thankfully I got a good header on it.”
There was late drama a minute before halftime as Marconi thought it had found a way back into the match.
A header towards goal looked to be an easy collect for South goalkeeper Javi Lopez but the ball slipped through his fingers and very nearly across the line.
PREVIEW: SOUTH, MARCONI CLASH IN INAUGURAL FINAL
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The Stallions asked for a review but the appeal was unsuccessful.
The second half turned into a chess match with South happy to sit on its lead and Marconi unable to threaten in any meaningful way.
Hellas topped the shot count 25-11 and had 19 on target to eight.
Wests APIA defender Dredon Kelly was named Player of the Tournament, while Sydney Olympic’s Ali Auglah claimed the Golden Boot with six goals in the group stages.
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