Oakleigh Cannons well-placed to build on its competitive foundations

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The Oakleigh Cannons are a club who are a staple of the top tier of Victorian football.

The Cannons have competed in the Victorian National Premier League consecutively for the past 17 years, gaining promotion when they lifted the State League One Championship in 2003.

Since then, the senior men’s team have won one minor premiership in 2006, however have fallen to three grand final defeats in 2011, 2012 and 2016.

After eight games this season, the club currently sits in fifth place in NPL Victoria and are well placed to once again be up there at season’s end.

General Manager at Oakleigh, Aki Ionnas, believes the club can finally break their grand final hoodoo this year.

“I do believe that we can win it,” he told Soccerscene.

“Chris Taylor has put a very good squad together; all the boys are fantastic. We’re confident these boys can take us all the way.”

If it eventuates it will be a great reward for the club, based on the events of the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Like any other club, it was obviously hard,” Ionnas said.

“For players, kids, juniors, the committee…it was a hard season with no football.

“Kids are used to going to training and playing soccer, your supporters, your sponsors, your members are used to going down to the club, and before you know it, you’re at home in a lockdown.

“So, it was very hard mentally for a lot of people.”

The club was established in 1972 and currently plays its home games at Jack Edwards Reserve, a facility which seems like a perfect setup for a club who plays in the top level in Victoria.

The venue has a capacity of 4,000-5,000 people with upgrades over the years continuing to lift the overall standard of the facility.

“About six years ago our facilities got upgraded with a brand-new synthetic ground as well as a junior pavilion. That was done all through hard work from our chairman Kon Kavalakis, who was responsible in liaising with council and other key parties to get these facilities.

“We’ve recently had a state-of-the art scoreboard that’s gone up last year and started using it this year.

“There’s always work going into the improvement of facilities. Even though the synthetic ground was done six years, we’ve resurfaced it again only a year and a half ago to reach top FIFA standards.”

Ionnas revealed that the club was in the progress of talking to council in regards to further developing the ground, something that the AAFC partner club sees as a priority in the future.

Oakleigh’s General Manager is relatively confident that the club is ready to take the next step and enter a national second division when it eventuates.

“Look, it all depends once we see the final model that it’s financially viable,” he said.

“If it’s financially viable, then yes.

“It all depends on what the model is going to look like and what it’s going to cost. Speaking to a lot of clubs, that’s what they are all waiting for.

“We are an ambitious club, we would always like to compete at the highest level, we’ve got very good sponsors, very good backers, a very strong board who are all business minded and great infrastructure which we will eventually develop further.”

According to Ionnas, the strong affiliation the club has with the local Greek community has positively impacted the fortunes and finances of the club over their history.

“We’ve got very strong support obviously in the Greek community,” he said.

“We’ve had strong support for a long, long time. We’ve had a major supporter in Delphi Bank who has been our sponsor for 15 years I believe. It’s a massive thing for that to happen continuously.”

Ionnas hopes the club continues to be consistently competitive in the near future, across all aspects of the sport.

“Obviously, we want the club to be a strong club irrespective where it is playing, we want to be up there both on and off the park.

“Our chairman and president Stan Papayianneris have done enormous work, each in their own way, to get the club to where it is now. Oakleigh should remain a strong club because it’s got enormous support away from the field.

“We can’t thank everyone enough for supporting the club.”

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Football South Australia renews partnership with Datacord as Community Football Commitment Deepens

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Image Credit: Football SA

Football South Australia has announced the renewal of its partnership with Datacord, continuing a relationship that has grown steadily since the South Australian print and document solutions provider first entered the football community as naming rights sponsor of the Collegiate Soccer League Division 1.

That initial agreement, which saw Datacord align with one of Adelaide’s most historic amateur competitions, marked the beginning of what has since developed into a broader commitment to South Australian football at every level. The renewed partnership extends Datacord’s involvement beyond the CSL and into the wider Football SA ecosystem, with clubs across the state now able to access exclusive offers and preferred pricing on photocopying, managed print services and tailored business solutions.

The practical value of that access should not be understated. Community football clubs operate on tight margins, relying heavily on volunteer administrators managing everything from registration paperwork to grant applications. Cost-effective print and document solutions reduce the operational burden on those volunteers, a small but meaningful contribution to the sustainability of clubs that form the backbone of the game in South Australia.

“George is a great supporter of sport in South Australia and we are delighted to have Datacord as a supporter of football,” said Football SA CEO Michael Carter. “Service is second to none and we highly recommend their services to the business community within the Football Family.”

For Datacord Managing Director George Koutsoubis, the renewal reflects a genuine investment in the community rather than a transactional commercial arrangement. “It is important to support the local community, and Football South Australia is the perfect place to start spreading the word about Datacord and what we do for the South Australian community,” he said. “We are locally owned and operated, and I think it is a great partnership to be part of.”

Beyond the Pitch: Miyuki Kobayashi on the Real Challenges Facing Japan’s Women’s Game

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Image credit: JEF United

Last week, Soccerscene spoke to pioneer of women’s football in Japan, Miyuki Kobayashi, about the game’s development in Japan and the intersection between sporting and social change in the country.

 

Talent, quality and recent silverware

After Japan’s recent AFC Women’s Asian Cup victory in the final against Australia, the women’s national team solidified its standing as the No.1 team in Asia.

Throughout the last 15 years, Japan’s women’s national team has grown into a formidable opponent, boasting a World Cup trophy, an Olympic silver medal, as well as three AFC Women’s Asian Cups.

The talent is undeniable. The quality is unwavering. And the team shows no signs of slowing down.

But these victories and trophies on the world stage wouldn’t be possible without the leaders behind the scenes – none more so than Miyuki Kobayashi, former WE League Board Member and current JEF United Ladies Scout and Academy Chief.

 

Laying the foundations

Kobayashi has led the charge for women’s football in Japan, promoting not only a sport which values success, but one which empowers female footballers across the nation.

“At university, not many girls were playing and we didn’t have an official team. I went to the US and the environment was so different,” Kobayashi explained.

“That opened my eyes – women can play. That’s how I started the women’s soccer league when I came back: to make an environment for girls to play.”

Thus, accessibility and opportunity became driving factors behind Kobayashi’s work, not only for those on the pitch, but for those in the dugout.

“I got involved at the JFA (Japanese Football Association) to promote women’s football. We wanted to create the opportunity for women to be coaches.”

“They are coached by men all the time, so even when the top players leave the football world, they never think to be involved.”

Furthermore, as a former coach of JEF United Ladies Youth and General Manager, Kobayashi was intent on employing as many female coaches as possible. It was not merely a personel change, but a challenge to widespread social attitudes.

“When I started to employ female coaches, the girls’ parents asked why the coach wasn’t a man. But gradually, we started to make it equal – they didn’t talk about the gender, but about the quality of the coach.”

 

The mission to empower

In 2011, the same year Japan’s women won the World Cup, the domestic league was yet to become professional. Known as the Nadeshiko League, players would work during the day and train in the evenings.

The transition from an amateur to the current professional league required time, resilience and a change in perspective.

“The sports world in Japan is more traditional – it is dominated by men,” said Kobayashi.

“If you want to make the environment even, or (want) more women to come into the (football) world, you can change the mind of the players.”

Since 2021, the WE League has embodied a sense of growth and positive change for the women’s game. In name and nature, it looks to empower players, coaches and all involved in the industry.

“I was in charge of mission achievement for women’s empowerment. We wanted to educate the players, to inspire girls and women who watch the game.”

However, the drive to empower women in football was not without backlash and challenges.

“Some people don’t like that word: ’empowerment’. It’s too strong for them. Some women really appreciate it, but it’s not easy to change the mind of society through football,” Kobayashi admitted.

 

Growing and attracting talent

Although WE League clubs are accelerating youth development and expanding pathways across U15, U18 and first team football, Kobayashi acknowledged that the overall product must improve to bring foreign players to Japan and entice homegrown talent to stay.

“Most of the national team players go to Europe or North America. I don’t say it’s a problem, but from a young age, girls who can play in the WE League want to go abroad,” Kobayashi outlined.

Indeed, when looking at the starting XI in last month’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup final, only one player – Hana Takahashi – plays in the WE League.

But the key to attracting domestic and international players to the WE League, is aligning financial investment and industry attitudes.

“The reason why women’s football has developed in European countries is the social thinking – you have to be equal and have the same opportunities as men in football. The Japanese way of thinking, especially in the football world, is not that at all,” Kobayashi continued.

“When I speak to people at Spanish clubs, women’s football is not a charity, but an investment.”

“We have assets. We have good, young players, but we’re exporting them, so we need to import too.”

Indeed, Spain is a perfect example of what can happen when investment becomes intentional, not optional. Back-to-back UEFA Women’s Nations League titles, 90% television viewership increase since 2016, and record-breaking crowd numbers reflect what can happen when the industry aligns in vision and commitment.

Japan has the players to compete against any nation in the world. Purposeful investment, combined with its overall quality of players and style, could transform the WE League into a true, global powerhouse.

 

The vision for the future

Moving forward, Kobayashi hopes that girls progressing through JEF United’s academies develop confidence and resilience, whether as players or people.

“We want to make the girls – even if they aren’t in JEF United – continue playing football and continue to be leaders,” Kobayashi said.

“Some of them have a dream to be a coach or a leader off the field too, so that’s one of the attributes we want to develop.”

This resilience, reflected by the club’s ‘never give up’ philosophy, is testament to the vision of empowerment championed by Kobayashi across the women’s game.

Even in the face of social obstacles and a lack of financial investment, perseverance and hard work is at the bedrock of women’s football in Japan. It is not just that these values exist, but that they are consistently manifested on and off the pitch, which can show future generations that football is a sport for all – men and women alike.

 

Final thoughts

There is no limit to what the WE League and the national team can achieve if given the resources it deserves. All the ingredients are there: individual quality, a distinct playing style, football philosophy and ambitions to grow.

By following the example of industry leaders like Kobayashi, women’s football in Japan can hopefully continue to make waves of impact – in the sporting landscape and society as a whole.

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