AS Mildura City Soccer Club celebrate 50 years this weekend, MITCH RODD and SAM FARMER were invited to the club’s home base at Kenny Park to take a walk through their history.
ROWS of silverware adorn a significant trophy cabinet on the right-hand wall at the entry to Mildura City Soccer Club’s Kenny Park clubrooms.
A giant honour board also gazes down on all who walk beneath it, adding to a strong sense of a club proud of its rich history.
The ‘Citizens’ have become a powerhouse of the Football Federation Sunraysia S-League competitions over their half-century of existence, winning nine Senior Men’s, seven Senior Women’s titles and multiple junior flags along the way.
But for current president Vince Pollifrone, what happens off the pitch is perhaps more important as the results on it.
“It’s all built around a good strong family culture, that’s something we pride ourselves on,” he said.
“It’s just as important, as far as I’m concerned, to have people off the pitch that do a lot of behind-the-scenes work to help us put things together on the pitch.”
In the beginning
AC MILAN is one of the most historic football teams in Italian and even world football.
The classic red and black vertically-striped jersey is iconic and one a brand new club being established in Mildura in 1973 were inspired by.
However this new club’s name Milano was not a direct tribute to AC Milan, explained Frank Marziano, who is the club’s longest-serving member, joining in 1975.
“In 1973, it was founded by nine local Italian fellas and originally it was named Milano, before it changed in ’76 to just Milan,” he said.
“They picked Milan as a name because none of the blokes there were actually from Milan. It was a neutral city.”
Then similar to a nation-wide push in the late ’70s, Milan was asked to, as Pollifrone put it “Australianise”, their name, a decision which would spawn a new local team.
“At the time there was a few people on the committee who suggested going with Mildura City, and half the committee said it didn’t keep enough of the Italian heritage,” he said.
“That part of the committee stayed a year out, Milan went on to become Mildura City and Three Colours was formed in 1980s from the other half of the committee.”
While the name had changed, the colour scheme remained with the red and black stripes only changing on two occasions across five decades.
“Just one year we went to the full red, then we went to the splash look, which was an ‘in thing ‘in the early ’90s,” Pollifrone said.
“We normally now keep our jerseys for three or four years so the sponsors get a bit of mileage out of them.”
The club were initially based at Merbein’s Chaffey Park before a switch to Old Aero Oval number 5, before finally relocating to their current Kenny Park home in 1987.
All the jerseys from over the years have been kept and will be displayed during Saturday night’s gala event.
Building success
ANY titles Mildura City have won would not have been possible if not for building solid structures through junior development, Pollifrone believes.
Building from junior level in boys and girls competitions has been fundamental for driving the senior sides forward, with the likes of Marziano and current coaching guru George Moraitis among others playing a vital role.
“We put a good coaching structure in place, led by these two guys who have done a power of work at junior level,” Pollifrone said.
“We really wanted to build a strong girls and women’s program too, which we believe we have done.”
“I was 17 when I first went on the committee and when it came to each year they were asking who was going to put their hand up to coach,” Marziano added.
“But from about ’85 onwards, it was more no you need to get someone who wants to do it and who knows a lot about it.
“In my time, the biggest change is seeing more women playing the game, and the club is getting stronger as a family. We’ve seen people come across from other clubs and said we’re more family orientated.”
Outside of the title wins, two particular awards are a source of pride for Pollifrone.The first is the Football Federation Sunraysia Club of the Year, which accumulates points from every grade, an award they have won 22 times.
The other is two Northern Mallee Sports Awards Club of the Year gongs, “because it’s not just being recognised in your own sport but across all sports”.
Another success for the club off-field has been their long association with the Mildura Show every October.
“One of the hallmarks of our club is the spaghetti van at the show,” Pollifrone said.
“That started in 1980 and still today the club does spaghetti and meatballs. It’s all about us being part of the community in other ways.
“We’re glad the older guys in 80s made a recipe and we’ve stuck with it, it’s never changed.”
Mildura City Soccer Club’s 50th-anniversary gala event is at the Club Da Vinci on Saturday, with numerous ex-club members returning for the event. Archie Thompson is the special guest.
For more details, follow the club’s Facebook page.
