By Ivan Dalla Costa

John Walker (Captain of the U15 Boys) and Lauchlan Kerr took centre stage on the big screen at the half time interval between the Socceroos and All Whites at the MCG last night.

Appropriately dressed with Solo Lucky Undies on their head and the latest Socceroos strip,  John and Lauchlan were picked out of the crowd of 55,000 to battle it out for a Harry Kewell signed and framed jersey.

Lined up against another 2 couples, the aim was to dribble a ball 25 meters down the middle of the MCG tied together with a large pair of undies.

After a slow start John and accomplice took the lead and won the race with excellent ball skills.

The crowd roared as the ecstatic boys embraced each other after the finishing line (with undies on head still intact)  and ran to the presenter to claim their prize.

John Walker seemed a natural with the microphone in front and his face on the big screen. With 2 thumbs in the air and smile from ear to ear, John took over proceedings with thanking everybody he can ( Unfortunately he forgot about Steve and me who gave him the skills to dribble the ball). He also thanked his parents for reminding him to wear clean undies!!!

John  and Lauchlan walked away with the Harry Kewell framed shirt and over 700 cans of Solo soft drink!

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

• The order form can be pre-completed
• All players to be in full strip and clean boots
• Please be punctual – be there about 10 minutes prior to your scheduled time and BE READY TO GO
• Payment method: Cash or cheque on the night (no credit card facilities)
• Team managers to organise their teams and please inform Janet Ovens via events@elthamredbacksfc.org.au once you have advised and organised your team

Team photo schedule

Brendan Mulcahy, striker for the Provisional 3 South-East League men’s team, has headed to the top of the goal scorer’s table with ten goals – one goal clear of Alex Sabau from the Rowville Eagles.

Mulcahy has won the Redbacks’ Golden Boot for the men’s first team four years running and has always been in close contention for the coveted FFV award for the league.

Here’s to hoping Brendan can keep kicking goals for the Redbacks starting with this week’s crucial away game versus Keysborough next Saturday week.

Meanwhile in the Women’s State League 3 North-West League our very own Kate Hodgson has scored an impressive four goals.

(Click image for PDF brochure)

(Click image for full invite PDF document)

Eltham Redbacks FC is officially the No. 1 football (soccer) club in the Diamond Valley/Nillumbik area. Eltham Redbacks FC has over 450 members and has entered 25 teams in FFV competitions. This year the club has entered 4 senior men’s teams, 2 senior women’s teams and 19 junior teams into competitions and this is in addition to the 80 plus U7 players in the Club’s Optus Small-sided Football program run on Saturday mornings.

Eltham Redbacks FC far exceeds it’s local rivals Watsonia Heights Soccer Club who have 15 teams, Diamond Valley United with 14 teams and trailing them is DOC United and Eltham Eagles with 12 teams apiece.

The Redbacks success can be put down to the changes that the club has made to its football program and the best training and playing facility in the area with the opening of the Club’s new FIFA 1 Star synthetic pitch and new outdoor futsal court.

To improve the quality of the football education provided by the Club, the Club has adopted the Football Federation of Australia’s (FFA) National Football Curriculum for the delivery of football at the club. Eltham Redbacks has developed and rolled out the Eltham Redbacks Football Curriculum based on the FFA National Curriculum and supported by NSW Football’s Global Football System which provides a graduated age related training program that guides the Club’s paid FFA qualified coaches to provide a better quality football training program to all junior players. The program is then quality controlled by the Club’s newly appointed Technical Director, Murray Ovens.

With these great improvements at the Eltham Redbacks the club still has a limited number of vacancies in the Girls U13/U14 team and the Boys U13 and Boys U14 teams.

The U13/14 Girls train on Mondays and Wednesday from 6pm to 7.30pm, the U13 Boys train Wednesdays from 6pm to 7.30pm and Fridays from 5pm to 6.30pm and the U14 Boys train Mondays 7.30pm to 9.00pm and Wednesdays from 6pm to 7.30pm.

All training is conducted at Eltham Redbacks FC home ground at Wattletree Road, Eltham.

If you are interested in joining the No. 1 Football Club in the Diamond Valley/Nillumbik area please contact the club or just come down to training.