Archilles ‘Andy’ Tsaousidis, Founding Member of Yarraville Glory Football Club

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Resident of Spotswood

I was born just before the war ended in 1944. I grew up in a poor family in a town called Kozani, in the north of Greece. Like every child in the area, we worked with our parents and family at a farm.

In 1953, my eldest brother moved to Melbourne for work opportunities. He had a friend, who was very close to us in the village near my old house. He was the one who invited my eldest brother to Australia. The idea was to work in Australia for two to three years, make some money, before returning to Greece.

My eldest brother and his friend worked as factory workers. A few years after arriving, he called my second oldest brother to Melbourne as he wanted to be near family. He in turn, asked me to join him in 1964. I was about twenty years old. My eldest brother remained in Melbourne for about eight years before returning to Greece in 1962. My second oldest brother left for Greece in 1970.

The brothers had found a place along Queensville Street, and all the boys stayed in there. We stayed in Queensville Street for about 12 months, before moving to Severn Street for two years. After Severn Street, we relocated to a house along Somerville Road.

In 1969, I got married and bought a house in Bayview Road. That house has since been sold and I now live in Spotswood.

I’ve spent all my life around the Yarraville area. There were a lot of cafes back then, and we would meet and play cards, play billiard or have a kick of the soccer ball.

When we were still in Severn Street, my brother, myself and a friend of mine Con, just got very sick of going into the cafes. We were always there and we decided to do something new. In those days, Australia was still using the English pound. Con, my brother and I contributed a pound each and bought a soccer ball. We would head to the little park along Fehon Street (now called Beaton Reserve) and kick the ball around. It didn’t take too long before another person joined, followed by another person. Within a month, there were about 30 of us. We decided to play 11-a-side and started playing friendly games.

It wasn’t long before we started playing around Melbourne. We had a coach come around as well. He used to play for South Melbourne and Heidelberg. In 1965, we started playing in the RAAF Base in Point Cook as there was a team there as well. I remember we had to have a logo with a name so we can go in, otherwise we were not allowed to play.

A year later in 1966, the Soccer Federation of Victoria was set up. In the first year, they created a provisional league. We decided to join the league. If you ask me how Yarraville Glory Football Club came about and when it was founded, it’s actually the very first day we brought the soccer ball to Fehon Street. That day was 24 October 1964.

I still remember that day very well. It was a good day. We love the park and we love playing soccer. We play with no money involved. We used to pay our fares, take a bus and play against the next team. At half time, we would each have half an orange.

The name ‘Glory’ came about one day while we were sitting in a Greek café opposite the Sun Theatre. We have been talking about different names, and a man came up and suggested “Why don’t we call it doxa?” ‘Doxa’ is Greek for glory. The name stuck and we decided to call it Doxa Yarraville. When we first started playing in the provisional league, we played with the name ‘Yarraville’ only. It wasn’t only in 1968 when we called it Doxa Yarraville.

In the first year of the provisional league, there were 13 teams in the competition. Back then, there was no home or away format. We only played once. All 12 games were played in the same year. Yarraville Glory scored 73 goals that first year, and we conceded only 11 goals. Our biggest win was a 16-0 win over Mooroolbark Soccer Club. I’ve never scored a goal as I play full back. Some of the players Yarraville Glory had back then, they would walk and play in any team these days. They were excellent players.

I used to go up to a milk bar in Olympic Cables (now Nexan Olex) in Tottenham. That milk bar had a paper every Thursday, called ‘Soccer’. I didn’t read much English then, but I would pick up ‘Soccer’ and look at the standings of the provisional league. Yarraville was on top and we had scored so many goals. We were always on top.

Yarraville Glory Football Club used to move around a lot. We had our grounds in Roberts Street, past Geelong Toad. We then moved to Yarraville Gardens for awhile. We relocated to where the ground where Footscray Hockey Club currently occupies. Did you know, those houses facing the hockey club used to be Footscray High School?

I began to stop follow Yarraville Glory after I got married. I had to pay the mortgage and work 16 hours, or whatever came up. If there was overtime, I was always going “No worries! I will take overtime!”

It wasn’t until around 1976 before I began coming back again. The council relocated us to our current premises, and we built this stand ourselves. The work was done locally, with the funding coming from the Greek community and a loan taken from the council. We have since paid the loan off.

Around 2005 or 2006, I began to see people of other cultures coming in for soccer practice. Before then, it was just Greeks. There were Chinese, Australians, Maltese and Italians. The canteen was always occupied by the Greek community. We would sit inside and play cards and stay warm. During winter, we didn’t have any heating facilities outside so the parents were sitting outside the canteen. I kept telling them to come in to wait for their kids to finish. It was absolutely freezing but the parents didn’t want to come in, preferring to watch their kids from outside.

I began speaking to the people, and bought a huge heater. It was placed outside just for the parents. I love to see people and families, especially when the kids come around to train. All these kids are my kids. Over time, more and more communities began bringing their kids around and they started to know one another. Gradually, they began moving inside. Now, everybody comes in.

My wife Toula is now retired. Until recently she was making ropes in Kinnears rope factory in Footscray. We only have one daughter, Betty.

I am very friendly with animals. I have an Australian Terrier, Koukla or ‘doll’ in English. I christened her myself. I also I enjoy feeding the stray cats around Yarraville Glory. There are about five or six of them. There used to be about eight of them but some have disappeared. I would spend about $20 a week, buying them canned and dry food. Sometimes I would bring whatever leftover food there is from home, such as spaghetti or meat.

I haven’t been to Greece since 1996 but I have no intention of going back anymore. I have blocked arteries in my leg; the doctor has advised me not to travel. Besides, I have lost my big brother, and my parents, so going back won’t make me feel any good. Here, I have Toula, Betty and the Greek community. I also have my friends, who have become my family as we pass our time in Yarraville Glory.

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