Gleeson FC

Ahead of Presentation Night this Saturday night, our final season review comes from the A Grade!

Competing in Division 1 for the first time since 2009, the boys adapted well to life in the top division, earning a creditable draw in the opening game against BOSA and followed that up with a 4-2 win over USC Lion. That positive start turned into a dream start when the boys pulled off the unthinkable, beating eventual champion Modbury on their own deck to sit top of the table after 3 games.

Getting points on the board was crucial given half of our starting line-up embarked on overseas adventures from Round 8-15. Unfortunately, we only picked up 1 point during this period with too much quality missing from the squad. There were also some crushing defeats in this period, with losses to Sturt Marion, BOSA and Titans all occurring in the last minute seeing us drop to the bottom of the table. Our relegation was finally confirmed in Round 17, a day which we ended our losing run by beating Sturt Marion 1-0. 4 points from the final 2 games, coupled with the strong start, showed what the squad was capable of, but unfortunately it was a case of too many quality players missing for too long.

Despite the relegation, Joe Ruggiero had an incredible season in goal, with his athleticism and shot stopping regularly keeping us in games. Despite missing a large chunk of the season, Alby Schettini and Steve Van Diepen had solid seasons in defence along with Matt Hopper and Mick De Leo.

Skipper Nathan Monda, Gianni Marro, Dave Altamura and Andrew Tamburrino were key contributors across a range of positions throughout the season. Michael Ceccarelli put in several huge performances in midfield, while Cristian Ricciardi didn’t miss a beat upon his return from a serious knee injury.

In attack, Marco Balsamo tirelessly led the line while Lucas Fazzini provided a handful of moments of quality.

The focus now turns to 2025 where the boys will look to bounce back!

We continue our season review as we near our presentation night next Saturday!

Similar to the C Grade, while the table would reflect a bottom placed finish for the B Grade, it was a season that was filled with competitive performances, hard luck and late heartbreak. An opening day 3-1 defeat to eventual champion BOSA set the scene for the season, with the boys hugely competitive but too often falling the wrong side of tight scorelines.

Results were extremely difficult to come by in the first half of the season, with the boys sitting bottom after 10 games with just 1 point. Despite these results, performances remained solid and the boys finally got their reward in Round 11, thumping USC Lion 6-1. Win number 2 followed soon after, putting in their best performance of the season in a 4-2 win over St Peters and then finally securing our first home win of the season with a 3-2 win over Old Ignatians in Round 16. The final 2 games summed up the season, conceding the winning goal in the dying moments against Sturt and Pitbulls which pushed us back to the bottom of the table, putting an end to the strong finish to the season.

Veterans Adam Barila and Josh Andijanto marshalled the defenced strongly all season alongside the rapidly developing Eli Monda and the perennially cramping Carlo Labbozetta. Mid-season recruit Ben Quagliarella formed a solid midfield partnership with Ryan Andijanto and Amer Khan while Luca Labbozzetta, Julian Esposito, Mo Jafari, John Caretti and Jordy Moore all had their moments in attack.

Gleeson FC are on the hunt for a new C Grade coach for season 2025. For anyone interested this is an opportunity to work with a great bunch of players and along side our enthusiastic coaching team.

For inquiries or expression of interest please message our page or email us: [email protected]

Ahead of our Presentation Night on Saturday the 2nd of November, we continue to review the season of each of our 4 teams, now moving on to the C Grade.

The C Grade experienced a difficult season finishing in 10th position. A tight 2-1 loss to BOSA in the opening round set the scene for the season, with the boys competitive every week, however not having the firepower to turn tight games into results. All but 1 of our 9 points came in the first half of the season with our first win coming in Round 2 thanks to a late 1-0 win over USC Lion and the second a thrilling 2-1 win over Sturt Marion. Unfortunately, the halfway point of the season coincided with the A Grade playing and coaching stocks being decimated through travel, injury and illness, which had a flow on effect for the C’s and B’s.

Despite the tough season, regulars Anthony Russo, Callum Davies, Charlie Chiem-Ho and Laurie Mattiazzo were consistent performers throughout the season.

A highlight of the season was the development of several new players to the club. By season end, Elijah Monda, Ryan Andijanto and Dave Russo were all established players in the B Grade, while several players made key contributions in higher grades such as John Caretti and Lucas Rinaldo.

With a very young squad, we are looking forward to the team continuing to develop in 2025 and get back challenging at the right end of the table!

Ahead of our Presentation Night on Saturday the 2nd of November, we will reviewing the season of each of our 4 teams, starting with the C2’s!

The boys were placed in Division 8 this season in a 6 team competition. Of that 6 team competition, USC Lion were the only other C2 side, with all other sides 1-team clubs, effectively meaning our fourth team was playing against other clubs first team, which made 2024 a big challenge!

It was a difficult start to the season, copping several heavy defeats in the opening 6 rounds with the only success coming with a 3-2 away win against USC. However, the boys responded well losing only 1 of their next 6 games, which included a 2-1 win away against eventual champions Aldinga, a huge turnaround after losing 8-1 in the opening round. A good finish to the year saw the boys pick up 8 points from their last 5 games, securing a top 4 finish, a massive achievement after the difficult start!

The big positive of the year was the number of former players returning to the club, joining the reliable old guard of Mark Reilly, Daniel Perotti, Adrian Romano, Carmine Esposito, Micky Barton and Phil Dello. The old heads helped with the development of the younger players with Ricky Bagarozza, Mo Jawadi and Yani Moshi becoming key players by seasons end. Also a big shout-out to first year player Julian Ruggeri, who incredible recruitment of Steve & George Kalinovic and ‘keeper Dylan Malin significantly strengthening the side for the second half of the season.

Gleeson FC would like to thank both John Mezzini and Andrew Witts who have both advised the club that they will be stepping down from their coaching positions in 2025.

John, who began his coaching career in 2016 as the reserves assistant coach spent 9 years with the reserve squad as an assistant, co-coach and head coach. In this time John helped the reserves win the Rudi Templin Shield and the Reserves Division 3 championship. John has had a fantastic impact on the club in this time, creating great relationships and showing unquestionable passion for his team and players. John will continue his playing and committee roles in 2025.

Andrew, who joined the club in 2020 as the A grade head coach came in at a difficult time, in the peak of covid and with the club just getting promoted back to div 2. Under his guidance the A grade went undefeated this season, winning the Rudi Templin shield and became a formidable force in Division 2 for years to come. In 2023, Andrew led the A grade to their second title, winning the Division 2 championship in a memorable season. After a challenging year in 2024 both on and off the field, Andrew made the difficulty decision to step down from his coaching role but he’s left us with 5 seasons we won’t forget.

Again, we would like to thank both John and Andrew for their amazing service and hard work over the years and we look forward to still seeing them around the club next year. Information about the 2025 coaching teams will be announced in the near future.

Sloppy Sunday 2024 ⛳️

Round 18 Results:
A Grade: Gleeson FC 2 Pitbulls 2
(Mara)

B Grade: Gleeson FC 1 Pitbulls 1
(Labbozzetta)

C Grade: Gleeson FC 1 Pitbulls 3
(Rezai)

Our 2024 season comes to an end after an entertaining day at home. Thank you to all our players, sponsors and fans for all your support throughout the year.

Congratulations to C grade vice captain Callum Davies who is set to make his 50th appearance for the club this weekend.

Throughout his 50 games at the club Callum has shown tremendous improvement, gradually becoming a very consistent performer for the C grade. Best known for taking his shirt off after scoring an equaliser we aren’t sure he made connection with against Pumas, Callum was awarded with the 2023 coaches award and named as part of the leadership team for this season.

Best of luck for the weekend Cal and thank you for your dedication to the club.

Last game of the season tomorrow as we host Pitbulls at home! The boys will be looking to finish the season on a high.

Round 17 Results:

A Grade: Gleeson FC 1 Sturt Marion 0
(Tamburrino)

B Grade: Gleeson FC 0 Sturt Marion 1

C Grade: Gleeson FC 0 Sturt Marion 2

C2 Grade: Gleeson FC 3 Barossa United 4
(Moshi, Rezai, Romano)

A long awaited win for the A grade and some tight losses in the other grades. Final game of the season next week!

A big day on the road tomorrow for all 4 teams. The C2’s finish off their season away to Barossa while the C’s, B’s and A’s all travel to Sturt for their second to last game of the year.

Congratulations to Adrian Romano who is set to play is 100th game for the club tonight.

First joining the club in 2007, Adrian began his first seven year stint, in this time Adrian won the B grade 2008 players player.

Adrian returned last year for his second stint at the club where he won the inaugural C2 Best Players and Players Player for 2023. He’s scored a total of 13 goals in his time at the club, he’s a quiet achiever who is allergic to training but rarely puts on a bad performance on game day.

Congratulations again Adrian and good luck for tonight!

Round 16 Results:

A Grade: Gleeson FC 2 OISC 4
(Monda, Van Diepen)

B Grade: Gleeson FC 3 OISC 2
(Esposito, L. Labbozzetta, J. Andijanto)

C Grade: Gleeson FC 3 OISC 4
(Annese 2, Caretti)

C2 Grade: Gleeson FC 3 USC Lion 2
(TOG, Perotti, Rezai)

2 wins and 2 losses yesterday in an entertaining day at home. The highlight came from the big milestone man Josh Andijanto scoring the winner in the B grade. Thank you to all the past players and sponsors who came out during the day.

Congratulations to Josh Andijanto who is set to make his 200th appearance for the club this weekend against Iggies. Despite being the least talented and most out of shape of the 4 Andijanto brothers, Josh has been a key contributor since joining the club in 2011 with the fowling achievements: 21 goals, 2011 Reserves Players Player, 2016 Reserves B&F, 2018 Seniors Players Player, 2021 Reserves B&F, 2021 Reserves Players Player and 2022 Reserves Players Player

Off the field, he has been a complete menace. Whether it be impersonating coaches and committee members on Team App, hi-jacking and rigging the Team of the Decade to force his inclusion ahead of more deserving players, or tripping people over during the cool-down. A true club-man who is always willing to set-up, pack-up, cook the BBQ or run the line, his antics on Sloppy Sunday and End of Season trips are sure to be entrenched in Gleeson FC folklore.

We thank Josh for all his years of service and more importantly all the laughs.

Congratulations to Julian Esposito who is set to make his 100th appearance for the club this weekend.

Best known for shooting every time he steps foot into his own half, Jules has notched up 76 goals for the club, placing him second on the all time scorers list. 47 of these goals came in the C grade when Jules refused to train, making him the highest C grade scorer the club has. In his time at the club Jules has taken out 4 individual awards including 2019 C grade B&F, 2019 C grade Players Player, 2019 C grade Top Goal Scorer and 2020 C grade Top Goal Scorer. Jules was also a member of last years A grade championship winning side.

We thank Jules for his contributions to the club over the years!

A big day on the Gleeson calendar this Saturday as we host Iggies and USC in 4 big games at home. Saturday will also be our past players/ sponsors day along with our poker night following after.

We look forward to seeing some familiar faces around Lindblom Park for a big day!

Ash Spartley played 172 games for the club, scoring 16 goals. A 2-time A Grade Best & Fairest winner, Ash captained the club for 4 seasons and was also key contributor off the field in several committee positions!

Past Players Day this Saturday the 24th of August!
Lindblom Park, Pooraka
A, B & C Grade against Old Ignatians, C2’s vs USC Lion.
Free drink for all past players between 2:30 and 3:30pm!

Jimmy Smith was a hard-nosed defender (until he played Pitbulls in the C2’s last year) who occasionally chipped in for a goal or 5. An A Grade Best & Fairest in 2012 and part of the B Grade championship team in 2019, Jimmy played 134 games for the club, and served as a committee member for 4 years.

Past Players Day this Saturday the 24th of August!
Lindblom Park, Pooraka
A, B & C Grade against Old Ignatians, C2’s vs USC Lion.
Free drink for all past players between 2:30 and 3:30pm!

One of the clubs most colourful characters, Matt King played 150 games for the club, scoring 9 goals. The clubs biggest social media supporter, Kingy is also a generous sponsor of the club through his highly successful planning consultancy URPS.

Past players day this Saturday!!

Round 15 Results:

A Grade: Gleeson FC 3 Titans 4
(Mignone, Tamburrino, Balsamo)

B Grade: Gleeson FC 0 Titans 1

C2 Grade: Gleeson FC 0 Zomi United 2

3 close games but ultimately heart break for our boys. We look to bounce back next week at our past players day.

Just the 3 games this week as our C2’s travel to Zomi while the reserves and first team face Titans! Head down and support the boys for another big day on the road.

The next player in the spotlight is the clubs inaugural coach, Chris Hyde. Hydey coached the A Grade for 5 seasons while also contributing on the field as a 4-time golden boot winner in the B's! Hydey also come out of retirement several times for the C Grade to help out with numbers!

Past Players Day
Saturday the 24th of August
Lindblom Park, Pooraka
A, B & C Grade against Old Ignatians, C2’s vs USC Lion.
Free drink for all past players between 2:30 and 3:30pm!