Meet a Random Uni White!
by Dennis Kraaijenbrink
2011
Who am I? Just an amoeba in a vast football ocean, but all football stories at any level can be interesting and inspiring. Soccer (football) in the 90s at Uni White, as in any decade, is filled with memories and moments to take into old age. As we reminiscence, I am sure that those passionate players of the past will look back with a warm glow as we remember, for example, our club’s conquest in 1992 with former coach William (aka Bill) Hill in charge. I wore the captain’s armband with a lot of pride and played sweeper (libero) in that unforgettable season.
I started kicking all kinds of balls as soon as I started walking. For us Dutchies the World Game was more than a sport. Football was played at all levels, and it was part of our life style for many of us. We had no other major distractions in the sporting sense. Football was the major sport in the Netherlands, and it was part of Netherlands culture. I started playing football in the streets of The Hague (South Holland, the province the ancestors on my father’s side were originally from) with pebbles and old tennis balls. The orange leather balls were just for the rich kids. In hindsight, I can confidently say that street football has been my best “teacher”. Back in the old days, many players including myself were developed in the streets. They were playing in many different kinds of situations, and had to survive and improvise in group games without a leader. Most importantly, they were training without coaches. It taught us technical ability in a small space and gave us that natural instinct to control the ball with great efficiency.
Nowadays, there are football academies, coaching programs, camps, skills development courses, and competitions at a very early age. Great for tactical awareness and appreciation but, at times, they are not always compensating for the quality – the instinct was missing. I did eventually play for a local amateur club (SV Duinoord, established in 1914), which eventually became a member of the KNVB (Royal Netherlands Football Association). We were just little kiddies and we played pre-junior football with the smallest leather football (size number 1). We all wore black and white boots: coloured boots didn’t exist back in my days (60s)!
Our training sessions mainly consisted of ball control exercises to make us feel comfortable on the ball. We were encouraged to play plenty of football games at training. There were no heavy physical exercises as we were already fit as young children. All players at any level and age were required to undergo and pass a full medical examination. I intensely disliked it, but it had to be done if you wanted to play organised football in the Netherlands.
Many of our friends and family started to emigrate to Australia in late 60s and early 70s, so I came to Australia as a young child and continued playing football in Adelaide. Football in Oz (otherwise known as soccer in the land of Oz) was almost unheard of in the 60s and early 70s. The only regular football show on television was the Big Match (a British football television programme) with Brian Moore. Australian Football Rules and cricket were the dominant sports in the 60s and 70s. Those who did play soccer were mainly Australians with Anglo-Celtic or Southern European ancestral origins, or recent arrivals like myself.
The coaching methods at the clubs in Australia were vastly different from those in the Netherlands. Children used the largest soccer ball (size number 5) and had to do heavy physical exercises at training, Very little work was done with the actual ball. A lot of emphasis was placed on physical strength, running and fitness. I felt creativity and technical ability was severely sacrificed for work rate efficiency.
I personally found that a lot of players were happy not being in possession of the ball and prefer to see it at least 50 feet in the air or 50 yards downfield. In Australia, players of yesterday were ashamed if they didn’t have what everyone calls “fighting spirit”, but in the Netherlands their pride was hurt when they couldn’t control the ball with the first touch.
We were encouraged to express ourselves more freely in the Netherlands. A lot of the top Dutch teams (e.g., AFC Ajax) used to build their sides around their creative players to get the best out of them. We were always taught to pace ourselves and not to take the risk of using up our stamina by going all out from the referee’s first whistle until the end.
My football experiences in the Netherlands was very technically-inclined. Passing and trapping or “killing” the ball were and are the most fundamental skills. Young players were encouraged to develop more naturally. More emphasis was on skills, systems and tactics rather than conditioning as previously mentioned. The game was more of a “chess” game, but mixed with a sudden change in acceleration and then it would come down to almost a walking pace game. At the end of the day, the player’s ability with the ball counted the most.
I also discovered soccer in Australia to be very culturally-orientated in the 60s, 70s and 80s. On the other hand, the youngsters in the Netherlands played the game as Dutchies. We came in different shades of colours, but not a single person would question our national identity. We were all just ordinary Dutch kiddies. We all knew we were and are Dutch, so why even bring it up in any conversation. Physical features were never raised or questioned.
Coming to Oz was definitely a cultural soccer shock to my system. New Australians were often told that soccer was a game for “sheilas”, “wogs” and “poofters”. Many of the teams back in the 60s and early 70s were migrant-based clubs, which in turn created a noticeable degree of cultural division and subtle racism. Also, I felt there was a general lack of nurturing, pathway and interest in youth development (on and off the field) in the 60s and early 70s. Some individual coaches did their very best to encourage and help youngsters to develop and grow into very competent soccer players. But a nation-wide restructuring of a development philosophy and talent identification process were really required to create a production line for quality players capable of playing at the highest level. Consequently, a lot of promising youngsters were wasted (or even discarded) and seemingly vanished into thin air.
Furthermore, the Australian soccer game back in those days was played differently. Needless to say, I didn’t say a word as I was just a young child. I was basically forced to play a similar game with a lot of hard running, long and high balls, which didn’t really suit my football personality. I felt it was detrimental to my natural game as I became more “used” to that kind of game at the expense of my technical and natural ability. My game suffered a great deal. I felt that the ball was no longer naturally “attached” to my feet with an “invisible” string as the years went by.
I started off playing junior soccer with Adelaide Hellas (currently known as West Adelaide SC) and progressed to senior soccer in the 2nd Division of the SA State League (currently known as the SA Premier League) before quitting the game for about eight years. I hit my so-called “peak” with the Flames in the 80s (currently known as Adelaide Olympic FC, Thebarton Oval). Then former schoolmates of mine named Edward (aka Eddy) Vidakovic and Chris Pazios encouraged me to make a comeback to the World Game in the early 90s. Both Edward (aka Eddy) Vidakovic and Chris Pazios played for Uni White with great distinction. But back in the late 80s, Uni White was well-known for being the “punching bag” of the Collegiate Soccer League. They were one of the bottom teams and losing a match without the double figures was considered a moral victory for Uni White.
Having played competitive soccer with the Flames, I was determined to change that trend. I was very passionate and fiery back then, and I wanted to play for a winning team. I was determined to make Uni White a force to be reckoned with. So I started looking for high quality players. I ended up with recruiting a significant number of Australians with a German background including the talented Jan Pfitzner, strongman Eric Priebe and the amazing brothers Edgar and Armin Mayer. Then the dynamic German and Canadian imports followed, Frank Klockgether and Alan McGregor (vice-captain) respectively.
So what were my personal and humble soccer highlights in Australia? Having been invited as a youngster by former Crystal Palace professional W. (Billy) Birch (Senior Adelaide Hellas coach) to join pre-season with the Adelaide Hellas A-squad. A squad which featured former SA Greats such as Nick Pantelis, David Pillans, Barry King, Barry Reynolds, Neil McGachey, Alex Zervas, Ian McGregor, Peter Tsitsos (goalkeeper), and W. (Billy) Birch himself. Having played regularly at Hindmarsh Stadium (home matches). Having played at Olympic Sports Field (Kensington Oval) against Adelaide Juventus (currently known as Adelaide City FC) at a junior level. Having played against high profile SA players such as Carlo (aka Charlie) Villani (former Australian international), Neil McCachey, Sergio Melta, Ian DiBartolo (son of former Australian International Charlie DiBartolo), Phil Russo, Gordon McCulloch, Udo Joske, and the likes. Having played with former 1st Division players from the SA State League (known as the SA Super League since 2006) such as Rino Cavuoto (formerly with Beograd, known as White City Woodville since 1992, and Uni Dodgers), Ugo Sale (formerly with Beograd and Uni Dodgers), Kon Karagiolis (formerly with West Torrens Birkalla (in 2002 the club’s name was changed to Adelaide Galaxy), USC Lion, Polonia Adelaide SC (known as Croydon Kings since 2002), Adelaide City FC, and Uni Dodgers), David MacDonald (formerly with Cumberland United), and the likes. Getting the most votes from the referee officials when I played senior soccer with the Flames (2nd Division). Winning the A2 Division Collegiate Soccer League title with Uni Dodgers (1999) managed by Tony Trimboli (player/manager). Becoming a recipient of a “Valued Player Award” in the SA Masters Soccer League, 2004 (2nd Division). Winning the Indoor Soccer League title (Premiers) as a goalkeeper (2nd Division) with the Real Pretenders (Blackwood Community Recreation Centre, 2008).
Believe it or not, my most memorable and enjoyable times were with Uni White in 1992 without a shadow of doubt. I personally would not swap it for any of my other soccer experiences in Australia. It has been “THE” highlight in my short and humble soccer history in Oz, and I will treasure those short but precious moments for the rest of my life.
It was an unbelievable season and a great achievement at any level. Uni White was crowned the Collegiate Soccer League champions with goal scorer extraordinaire Edgar Mayer netting 52 league goals. The team blitzed the 2nd Division by netting an astounding 128 goals and conceding just 22 as it romped through its 20 games unbeaten. At the SA Collegiate Soccer League Meeting dated 6th of July 1992, the Chairman (Michael Hihimanis) even read an anonymous letter, criticising Uni White for being in the 2nd Division as a result of their unbeaten run, scoring an average of seven goals per game.
The Uni White squad featured a strong Australian “Germanic” flavour, but ALL players, supporters and club officials including the late Mr. Ron Hill senior (William (aka Bill) Hill’s father) made an important contribution to the team’s success. The amazing Mayer brothers had a marvellous understanding which led to many goals. Left foot specialist Edgar was at his best under pressure. He always asked me to mark him at training and push him around so that he could get used to it and get even better. I used to mark him like glue with my shoulders rubbing against his, using my hands and arms to hold him down but just enough not to make it a foul: he loved it and so did I. It paid dividends as he was unstoppable with 52 league goals.
As a result of Uni White’s undefeated season, the club’s name was published in the South Australia’s Advertiser in 1992 and 2006!
That 1992 season was surreal and those players from that time would surely agree with me. Those people who were not aware of Uni White’s existence may have possibly asked, “Who is Uni White”? A local SA amateur team that plays the game for the love of it. A struggling local team of the late 80s when the players of that particular era used to say, “Let’s go for a moral victory, keep the score under ten goals”.
Those people who were not aware of the Collegiate Soccer League’s existence may have also commented, “Who cares about the Collegiate Soccer League” knowing that the professional Australian National Soccer League (NSL) had already been going for a number years with Adelaide City FC crowned the 1991-1992 NSL Champions, featuring high profile Australian internationals such as Robert Zabica, Tony Vidmar, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin (a former Adelaide University student), Ernie Tapai, Carl Veart, and Steve Maxwell.
It wasn’t just a simple matter of playing another soccer match on a Saturday afternoon: Uni White genuinely cared. We were all very proud to represent the Uni White club, including those players like Chris Pazios, Joel Magarey, Chris De Savi, Ray Ferretti (aka Baresi), Heysen Struga (goalkeeper), Roger Tinning, S. Poletti (New Zealand import), J. Dohler (aka Guz), and all the other remaining players as well. We were all united as a team to fulfil a dream for the club: a dream which was turned into reality! (Note: players like Constantinos Papadopoulos (aka Con Platini), and Greg Richards trained with the Uni White team very late in the season and then Tim Turner followed for the next season). The Uni White players were so focused on their own game that the name of the most successful soccer club (i.e., Adelaide City FC) in Australia rarely or never got a mention in our conversations. It was truly surreal as if we were living in our own little world and nothing else mattered except for winning all our matches in the Collegiate Soccer League of SA!
We were very insular at that particular time: like a butterfly still in its cocoon stage and seemingly aloof of any other competitions. We drew our inspiration from within ourselves: our enthusiasm, determination and passion was truly remarkable. One of the reasons why it was such a precious and exceedingly rare (no losses and no draws) season in our club’s history. Also, it was a turning-point. The bar was raised and more successful seasons and silverware (titles) followed as statistics would confirm.
A lot of credit must also be given to Club President William (aka Bill) Hill who was the coach of the 1992 team. A gentle coach who showed a lot of patience, tolerance and great organisational skills. He was one of the very best coaches I have ever had in Australia. He gave players like Edgar, Armin, Jan, Frank, Eric, and myself the freedom to express our own natural games. Furthermore, the ageing and injury-prone players like myself were allowed to have lighter training sessions. A sign of a truly outstanding coach and mentor. He certainly got the best out of me because his seemingly “underrated” coaching methods suited my football personality and slight body frame. I was enjoying the game once again since my football days in the Netherlands. The natural street football instinct was no longer there, that died many years ago ….. but the ability to read the game from the back as a sweeper was enough to make a humble but important contribution to the team’s overall success.
I for one will always cherish and treasure those special moments with Uni White in 1992. I sincerely hope all those other players of the 1992 season will also share the same sentiments for the rest of their lives. Thank you all for those wonderful memories, Uni White forever that’s it!
Written by D. [G] Kraaijenbrink [aka Guul] 25 March 2011.
Notes
Uni White = University White
Uni Dodgers = University Dodgers (now defunct)
SA = South Australian; South Australia.
Acknowledgments
I should like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank current Uni White players and committee members Joe Windows and Stephen Safralidis (aka Steve Saf or Safro) for their support, patience, and encouragement in writing my article.
I would also like to acknowledge the encouragement of William (aka Bill) Hill, the late Mr. Ron Hill senior, Edward (aka Eddy) Vidakovic and Chris Pazios in supporting my short, but adventurous and successful comeback to the World Game.
Last but not least, a big thank you to all my former Uni White team mates of the 1992 season. Thank you so much for those wonderful memories!
