Oh, the magic of the cup. South Melbourne went into the Australia Cup final as the underdogs, the second-tier club coming up against a professional top flight team in Melbourne Victory. It was never going to be easy for Hellas to win this competition, but they did it. They gritted their teeth, scored a crucial goal late in extra time to take the tie to penalties, and the events that unfolded were something from a Goal! movie. Harry Sawyer left South Melbourne in 2024 to take up a professional contract with Macarthur before signing for Victory this season; little did he know that the universe works in hilarious ways. 

After both sides scored their first penalties, Sawyer stepped up, but his penalty was saved. Just as Hellas fans were in raptures and Victory fans in agony, everyone realised the same thing. Javier Lopez had come off his line. The penalty had to be retaken. Relief for Victory. Sawyer, with a smile on his face, sends the second penalty the other way. Saved again. You could not pick a better way for the history books to be written.

South Melbourne and Victory went tit-for-tat for the rest of the shootout. Captain Jason Davidson knew that he needed to score as it came down to the fifth kick with Hellas 4-3 up. Davidson instead decided to give the North Terrace a souvenir, sending the ball over the bar and Hellas fans into ecstasy. 

That will go down as one of the most influential and incredible nights in Australian football history. As a City fan, I was pleading for South Melbourne to get one over Victory. But even as an Australian football fan, I was doing the exact same thing. If Victory had won, I would have been absolutely gutted. Gutted for myself and gutted for what could have been an unbelievable storyline. I love an underdog story. If I throw on a meaningless football match between teams I don’t care for – might be the Premier League, might be NPL NSW – I’ll always root for the club that is down. However, this meant a lot more to me. 

I’ve spent the past couple of days speaking to people who don’t know too much about the history of football in this country – colleagues, family and old friends. The same sentiment has resonated with everyone: A lower league club beating Melbourne Victory in the Australia Cup final is insane. We’ve had second-tier clubs in the final before, but for one to actually take that next step and win the whole thing in front of a packed AAMI Park makes you want to pinch yourself. 

With the amount of competitions that South Melbourne are taking part in, I believe they’ve shown that they have what it takes to step into the A-League and be competitive in the next few years. What they’ve done across the OFC Professional League, Australian Championship, NPL VIC, Dockerty Cup and now Australia Cup will bode well for their argument for an A-League license.

South Melbourne would be an exciting addition to the A-League, and the cup victory all but proves it. The Australia Cup win is a crucial step to being admitted back into the top flight of Australian football. This is a club who already have a cult following, they’re not starting from scratch in the middle of a Tarneit paddock. Additionally, the away days at Lakeside Stadium are wonderful, and the atmosphere that their fans bring to matchday is entertaining and would bring something special to the league. Pre-gaming on Clarendon Street, munching on gyros in the stands and watching City smack South Melbourne in the A-League sounds like a great night out.

They’ll be in the AFC Champions League Two next season. Then, potential admission to the A-League. The one thing they’ll need to prove is if they can afford the license for the long term. I’d love to see it.

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Want to hear Regan in a more candid format? Check out The City Loop podcast coming this A-League season!