Inaugural Premier Leagues Gala Dinner shines bright
The 2013 inaugural Premier Leagues Gala Dinner took centre stage at Rosehill Gardens on Friday 27th of September as players, coaches, officials as well as a number of high profile guests attended what was a fantastic evening acknowledging the achievements from the IGA National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1, SUPA IGA National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 2 and Womens Premier League seasons.
It was the first time all top tier competitions across both genders got together in what was a monumental evening for the code in NSW which was proudly presented by one of Australia’s leading sports reporters former Fox Sports and now Channel 10’s Melanie McLaughlin.
The first major award that kicked off the evening was the announcement of the 2013 Charles Valentine Medal which was taken out by Ross Gardner.
Ross’ dual contribution to both representative and association football over many years with St George FC and St George Football Association has been paramount since his involvement with the game.
One of the highest awards that can be bestowed upon a person involved in representative football, Ross has been instrumental in the development of football in the St George area and has lived and breathed the round ball game.
Following on from the Charles Valentine Medal, referees were next honoured with Katie-Louise Patterson being awarded the Women’s Premier League Referee of the Year award while Kurt Ams taking out the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Referee of the Year, both awards were presented by Kris Griffiths-Jones.
Goalkeepers were next on the awards block and it was Premiership and Championship winning side St George FC who had its shotstopper Dion Shaw claim the SUPA IGA Mens 2 plaudit while Illawarra Stingrays’ Sarah Gollop took out the Womens Premier League category. Marconi Stallions’ number one shotstopper James Chronopoulos grabbed all the glory for the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 category claiming the title of being the number one keeper in the competition.
Golden Boot awards were next on the agenda and in the senior competitions, St George FC’s tricky attacker Juan Chavez picked the award up after notching up 15 goals for the year in what was a memorable season for the Saints.
The ‘Debbie Tait’ Award for the Women’s Premier League Golden Boot was awarded to Illawarra Stingrays’ Michelle Carney who scored an amazing 43 goals for the year. This award is in honour of Debbie Tait who sadly lost her fight with leukaemia on December 17, 1997. She was aged just nineteen. During her short lifetime, Debbie touched the lives of many people with her easy going, bright and cheery personality. Debbie loved her football and was a player of great talent. She achieved so much in so little time.
Finally in the IGA NPL Mens 1 category, it was a three way tie between Rockdale City Suns’ Richie Cardozo, Sydney United 58 FC’s Luka Glavas and Sutherland Sharks’ Panny Nikas who all hit the back of the net 16 times in 2013.
It was onto the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 ‘Goal of the Year’ award as voted by fans through the Official IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Facebook Fan Page after round 22. In what was a stunning year for goals it was Bonnyrigg White Eagles’ Aaron Peterson that won the fans votes with his lovely acute strike against the Central Coast Mariners Academy that beat the likes of fellow nominees Cardozo as well as Marconi’s Milorad Simonovic. Aaron also received a cool $500 thanks to IGA who have been fantastic supporters of the competition.
The Coach of the Year category was next and St George FC yet again scooped up another award as Manny Spanoudakis was crowed the number one man in the SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2 competition while the Illawarra Stingrays’ Brett Wallin grabbed the plaudits for being the number one coach in the Women’s Premier League. Sydney United 58 FC’s Mark Rudan claimed the award for the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 in his debut year for the Reds where he claimed the Premiership as well as steering the club to the National Premier Leagues Finals Series.
The time had come for the Player of the Year awards in what was the crucial part of the evening as the suspense was at boiling point for all players involved.
Bankstown Berries’ Panayioti Gotsis picked up the SUPA IGA NSW Mens 2 Grade 20s player of the year while NWS Koalas’ Kimberley Davey was picked for the Women’s Premier League Reserve Grade Player of the Year. Rockdale City Suns’ Toufic Alameddine grabbed the headlines for the Grade 20s player of the Year in the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Grade 20s category having had a sterling season with his club which saw him rise to Branko Culina’s first team squad towards the tail end of the season.
The Silver Medal was up next and Parramatta FC’s Danny Choi grabbed the big award for Player of the Year in the SUPA IGA NSW Mens 2 competition. The speedy attacker had a tremendous season under Lee Sterrey and already a move to the top tier competition or abroad has been mentioned.
Michelle Carney, sister to Socceroos star David, grabbed her second award of the evening snaring the Women’s Premier League Player of the Year Award completing a magnificent year for the striker.
The stage was set for the final award of the evening and that was the prestigious Gold Medal for 2013.
After 22 rounds the Gold Medal was presented to Sutherland Sharks’ talismanic attacker, Panny Nikas.
The former Hyundai A-League star had a tremendous 2013 season not only being awarded the joint top scorer award but he also played a pivotal role in the Sharks’ attack providing not only quality services to his fellow attackers but scoring a number of important goals.
Although unable to collect his award as the Sharks is currently in England, his father Dimitris was very proud of his son’s achievements in 2013.
“Panny has worked really hard to where has gotten to today and as a father it was great to see him rewarded for his persistence.”
2013 Premier Leagues Award Winners
Club Championship
SUPA IGA NPL NSW Men’s 2 – St George FC
Women’s Premier League – Illawarra Stingrays
IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Marconi Stallions
Charles Valentine Medal
Ross Gardner – St George FC
Referee of the Year
Women’s Premier League – Katie-Louise Patterson
IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Kurt Ams
Goalkeeper of the Year
SUPA IGA NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Dion Shaw – St George FC
Women’s Premier League – Sarah Gollop – Illawarra Stingrays
IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 – James Chronopoulos – Marconi Stallions
Golden Boot Awards
SUPA IGA NPL NSW Men’s 2 Grade 20 – Stephen Grbevski – St George FC & Glen Kelshaw – Hills Brumbies
Women’s Premier League Reserve Grade – Demi Koulizakis – FNSW Institute
IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 Grade 20 – Josh Bingham – South Coast Wolves
SUPA IGA NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Juan Chavez – St George FC
(Debbie Tait Award) Women’s Premier League – Michelle Carney – Illawarra Stingrays
IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Richard Cardozo- Rockdale City Suns, Luka Glavas – Sydney United 58 FC, Panagiotis Nikas- Sutherland Sharks
IGA Goal of the Year
Aaron Peterson – Bonnyrigg White Eagles (Rd 14 Bonnyrigg White Eagles v Manly United)
Coach of the Year
SUPA IGA NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Manny Spanoudakis – St George FC
Women’s Premier League – Brett Wallin – Illawarra Stingrays
IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Mark Rudan – Sydney United 58 FC
Player of the Year
SUPA IGA NPL NSW Men’s 2 20’s – Panayioti Gotsis – Bankstown Berries
Women’s Premier League Reserve Grade – Kimberley Davey – NWS Koalas
IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 20’s – Toufic Alameddine – Rockdale City Suns
Silver Medal
SUPA IGA NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Danny Choi – Parramatta FC
Platinum Medal
Women’s Premier League – Michelle Carney – Illawarra Stingrays
Gold Medal IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1
Panagiotis Nikas – Sutherland Sharks
-Football NSW Media Release
