SOCCER
MOE UNITED
THIS Sunday (August 9) Moe United Soccer Club will hold its yearly past players reunion at Olympic Park (Vale Street, Moe).
Moe United Soccer Club will celebrate past league winning championship seasons and cup winning trophies from 1976, 1996, 2006 and 2016.
Starting in the golden era of the 1970’s moving onto 1976, the Moe United Soccer Club seniors and reserves won the Latrobe Valley Soccer League league champions title along with the Battle of Britain Cup and Shopwell Trophy.
In 1996, Moe United’s second division side won the grand final against Loy Yang Condors by four goals to one, then moving along to the next decade in 2006, Moe United reserves won the Shopwell Trophy when they defeated league champions Fortuna on a penalty shootout
In 2016, Moe United seniors went on to win the club’s eighth league champions title.
This year’s past players reunion day will feature a celebration of seniors, reserves and second division success starting with the senior 1976 side under the coaching of a life member, 11-time best and fairest winner and three time Moe United playing coach who led the club to three league champions titles, two time winners of the Battle of Britain Cup, a winner of the Charity Bowl and six-a-side winner in Les Stansbury, rated by many past players of Moe United and past opposition clubs and supporters as one of the best player ever to put on the boots in the game of football in the Latrobe Valley.
In 1976, Moe United won the league champions title by five points, losing only one game for the season which was the last game of the 1976 LVSL season against third placed Traralgon City 3-1.
Moe United scored 96 goals for the season, led by the league’s top goal scorer, Steve McGarrity with 36 goals, while fellow striker John Cardona ended the season with a tally of 32 goals.
Moe United defeated Pegasus 4-1 in the Battle of Britain Cup final. Cardona scored two goals and Joe Grixti and McGarrity one each. Best on the ground for the cup final was midfielder Ian Stansbury. Moe United won the charity bowl final 6-1.
McGarrity won the club’s senior best and fairest. Jimmy Henderson was runner-up.
That same season, Moe United reserves were also crowned league champions, as well as Shopwell Trophy winners and charity bowl winners.
In 1996, Moe United’s second division side did the impossible when they defeated the so called unbeatables in Loy Yang Condors, who were relegated the previous year from division one.
Moe United lost 3-1 in the second semi-final to the Condors, but bounced back the following week to defeat Traralgon City 3-1 in the preliminary final. In the grand final, Moe United turned the tables from a 3-1 second semi-final defeat under the coaching of John Cardona.
Moe United went on to defeat the league champions Loy Yang Condors 4-1 in the grand final at Ronald Reserve, Morwell.
On a side note, the Moe United side actually finished fifth in the final league standings, which was outside of the top four finals series, but were given a promotion into the top four after second-placed Newborough/Yallourn withdrew from the final series after they notified the league that they had already booked their players trip away on the weekend of the second semi-final.
On the historic day, the goal scorers in the grand final for Moe United were Sean Sommerville, Kayne Heusmann and Jake Heusmann.
The Moe United side also featured seven 16-year-old players in Jake Heusmann, Kayne Heusmann, Reg Poxon, Richard Cunningham, Steve Melynczenko, Danny Peter-Hughes and Dany Garratt.
In 2006, Moe United’s reserve side, under the coaching of John Cardona, finished the season as runner-up to what was a dominate Fortuna side in the league title battle. The orange lions won the league championship by a massive 10 points, but Moe United produced a great run of performances in the Shopwell Trophy cup rounds of the competition, going on to eventually advance to the Shopwell Trophy cup final at Burrage Reserve, Newborough.
In the cup final, after a closely fought game, the match ended up 1-all at full time. Fortuna took the lead in the first half, with Moe United’s match-equaling goal coming from a spectacular diving header from Reg Poxon.
The match ended up still level after 30 minutes of extra time, with the match then going onto a tense sudden death penalty shootout. Moe United eventually won the shootout 4-3 with Michael Elswyk strolling up and scoring the winning penalty. Other players who were involved in the shootout were Tim Stephens, Lyndon McKay and Frank Monacella, while goalkeeper Ben Jackson made two superb saves. The previous times that the Red Devils had won the Shopwell Trophy were in the dominate years of the 1976, 1977 league seasons, as well as the 1997 season under the coaching of long time player Danny Felici.
Moving onto another decade later, after a successful stint of coaching and playing by one of the most successful playing-coaches at Moe United second only to playing coach Les Stansbury, it was Lee Dastey who as a player coach led Moe United to a 2013 league title as well as two grand final wins in 2007 and 2014.
In 2016, Dastey handed over the coaching reigns to Kevin O’Farrell who took over the job appointment as a playing-coach.
The only addition to the squad was the signing of Owen Kelly. O’Farrell went on to coach the Moe United senior side to its eighth league championship victory, winning the champions title in a closely fought season from Falcons by margin of only two points.
Moe United also went onto make the 2016 LVSL Grand Final against league runner-up Falcons. The grand final never took place however after a Falcons player was severely injured and players across the league were left traumatised.
Moe United will hopefully strive to get another trophy victory a decade later at the end of the 2026 league season, and will be chasing its third Battle of Britain cup final win in four seasons under first year coach Lachie McKenzie.
It will be tough ask given the club’s current injury list, and preliminary first round draw against Olympians. Moe United however has a history of performing when it’s back are against the wall.
IF you were involved in any of these history-making successful years, Moe United Soccer Club is inviting every player that has been a part of the the 1976, 1996, 2006 and 2016 trophy winning seasons to come along this Sunday.
Kick-off is 11am, with the main game starting at 3pm.
There will be presentations and speeches after the senior match upstairs and food will be provided.
