Winners galore at NPL Gala Dinner
The 2015 PS4 National Premier Leagues Gala Dinner took centre stage at Rosehill Gardens on Friday 11th 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 PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1, Men’s 2, Women’s 1 and Women’s 2 seasons.
It was a fantastic season for both males and females as they got together in a monumental evening for the code in NSW which was proudly presented by well-known sports presenter Stephanie Brantz.
There were a number of special guests which included SONY National Manager Michael Ephraim, Westfield FFA Cup & PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues General Manager Mal Impiombato, Western Sydney Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas, along with the Football NSW Board.
The first major award that kicked off the evening was the announcement of the 2015 Charles Valentine Medal which was taken out by Charles Abdilla from the Mounties Wanderers.
Charles began his love affair with football as a boy and youth player in Malta. Arriving in Australia at the age of 18 in 1973, a keen fan of West United SC and after ten years of developing his own business, became its chief sponsor.
Some thirty years ago he joined that club as a board member and treasurer and upon being elected President, filled those positions until 2009.
From the outset, Charles spent endless hours working tirelessly and continuously for the game and the Football Club he loved. He’s worked ever so hard for his beloved Mounties Wanderers having attended training sessions and matches alike as well as being involved in a myriad of jobs for the current PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 club.
Charles’ commitment to football was also evident more so when he assisted other clubs in utilising grounds such as Hajduk Stadium and Cook Park free of charge.
On a more public level, he has contributed to the game throughout his involvement in a number of advisory bodies. Apart from being Treasurer and President of his club, he has served on the Football NSW General Purpose Tribunal and was Chairman of the State League 1 and Super League Standing Committees.
One of the highest awards that can be bestowed upon a person involved in representative football, Charles lives and breathes the round ball game.
Following on from the Charles Valentine Medal, referees were next honoured with Katie-Louise Patterson being awarded the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 Referee of the Year award for her outstanding season which saw her appointed in this year’s Westfield W-League as well as having taken charge of a Westfield FFA Cup match recently. In the men’s category, referee Kurt Ams took out the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 Referee of the Year for a fantastic season as voted by his fellow peers.
The Media award was next up and the Blacktown Advocate were rewarded for its outstanding services to the men’s game with Sports Writer Nick Houghton grabbing the plaudits for his continual promotion of the round ball game in Sydney’s West.
Goalkeepers were next on the awards block and it was Marconi Stallions’ Renee Krstanovski who took out the NPL NSW Women’s 2 award. PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 shot stopper David Lowery had a fantastic year under the sticks and grabbed the award while Macarthur Rams’ talented young gun Jada Mathyssen-Whyman took out the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 category. Blacktown City FC’s number one keeper Nenad Vekic grabbed all the glory for the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 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, NPL NSW Women’s 2, Sydney Olympic’s sharpshooter Danielle Calvi took out the award with 20 goals while in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 category, Fraser Park’s Hussein Akill won the award up after notching up 13 goals for the year.
The ‘Debbie Tait’ Award for the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 Golden Boot was awarded to Illawarra Stingrays’ Michelle Carney for the third successive season who scored 19 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 Men’s 1 category, it was APIA Leichhardt Tigers’ Blake Powell who scored an amazing 21 goals, even though he missed the latter part of the season, where he won himself a contract with the Wellington Phoenix.
The Coach of the Year category was next and in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 category, Sutherland Shire Football’s Michael McGovern clinched this award for his services this year.
Hakoah’s Mark Robertson bagged himself the big one in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 for steering his club to the Premiership while the Emerging Jets’ Jason Harrison grabbed the plaudits for being the number one coach in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 competition. Blacktown City FC’s Mark Crittenden claimed the award for the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 competition for the second year in a row.
It’s been a good year for Blacktown City where he won the Premiership as well as steering his side to this season’s Grand Final and earning a round of 32 spot in the Westfield FFA Cup.
It was onto the IGA NPL NSW Men’s 1 ‘Goal of the Year’ award as voted by an expert panel made up of Football NSW personnel as well as our head sponsor of this competition IGA after 22 rounds. In what was a stunning year for goals it was APIA Leichhardt Tigers’ Blake Powell that won the award with his cracking drive against the Marconi Stallions. Blake also received a cool $500 thanks to IGA who have been fantastic supporters of the competition. Although not available on the evening, Powell, from Wellington, had a special message beamed on the big screens at Rosehill as he thanked the club for a big season, the players as well as promoting the competition as it was his window of opportunity which saw him earn a Hyundai A-League contract.
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.
Sutherland Shire Football’s Marissa Saverino picked up the NPL NSW Women’s 2 Reserve Grade player of the year in what was a fantastic year for the promising female football star while Southern Branch’s Danni Wise scored herself the main prize in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 competition.
Northern Tigers’ Harry McAllister was awarded the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 Grade 20s player of the year while NWS Kolas’ Natalie Penman was rewarded for her efforts in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 season picking up the Reserve Grade Player of the Year.
Jonathan Grozdanovski grabbed the headlines for the Grade 20s player of the Year in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 Grade 20s category having had a sterling season with Blacktown City. It was a double scoop for the young gun who will certainly be a name to remember for the new season in 2016.
The PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 Player of the Year award was up next and Spirit FC’s Gosue Sama grabbed the big award as selected by all the clubs in the competition. The star attacker had a tremendous season for Spirit FC and has no doubt won himself the eyes of the Men’s 1 clubs in potentially recruiting him for the new year.
Blacktown Spartans’ Tara Pender was the talk of the evening, taking out the plaudits for the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 category as voted by her fellow peers.
The stage was set for the final award of the evening and that was the prestigious PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 award for 2015.
After 22 rounds the award was presented to APIA Leichhardt Tigers’ enterprising midfielder Franco Parisi, who turned back the clock in putting out an amazing season for his side.
Parisi beat the likes of Blacktown Spartans’ Shu Sasaki and Manly United’s Brendan Cholakian for the big prize and was humbled to have won such an accolade.
“It was a good season for everyone involved but I was happy for the players as well as the club.
“Even though we wanted silverware and wanted to be part of that big match happening on Sunday, we will be focusing on doing one better in 2016.
“I want to thank the club and the players as well as Football NSW and Media Manager Mark Stavroulakis as his team did their bit in aiding the promotion of our competition and I know all the boys and teams really appreciated this.”
To view the images of the evening click here
2015 Premier Leagues Award Winners
Club Championship
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 – 18s – 1st Blacktown City FC
PS4 NSW Women’s 1 – 17s – 1st Manly United FC
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – 18s – 1st Hakoah Sydney City East
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – 17s – 1st Marconi Stallions
Charles Valentine Medal
Charles Abdilla – Mounties Wanderers
Referee of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 – Katie-Louise Patterson
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Kurt Ams
Media Award
Football NSW Media Award – Nick Houghton
Goalkeeper of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – Renee Krstanovska – Marconi Stallions 12 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – David Lowery – Spirit FC 14 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 – Jada Mathyssen-Whyman – Macarthur Rams 24 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Nenad Vekic – Blacktown City 15 Votes
Golden Boot Awards
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 Reserves – Sarah Mandile – Inter Lions SC 17 Goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 20’s – Garang Awac – Mt Druitt Town Rangers SC 15 Goals
PS4 NSW Women’s 1 Reserves – Amelia Vitek – North Shore Mariners 19 Goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 20’s – Jonathan Grozdanovski – Blacktown City FC 26 Goals
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 – Michelle Carney – Illawarra Stingrays 19 Goals
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – Danielle Calvi – Sydney Olympic FC 20 Goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Hussein Akil – Fraser Park FC 13 Goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Blake Powell APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC 21 Goals
Coach of the Year
PS4 NSW Women’s 2 – Michael McGovern – Sutherland Shire Football 14 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Mark Robertson – Hakoah SCE 24 Votes
PS4 NSW Women’s 1 – Jason Harrison – Emerging Jets 15 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Mark Crittenden – Blacktown City 16 Votes
IGA Goal of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Blake Powell – APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC
Player of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 Reserves – Marissa Saverino – Sutherland Shire Football 9 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 20’s – Harry McAllister – Northern Tigers 18 Votes
PS4 NPL Women’s 1 Reserves – Natalie Penman – NWS Koalas 10 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 20’s – Jonathan Grozdanovski – Blacktown City 12 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – Danni Wise – Southern Branch 12 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 1 – Tara Pender – Blacktown Spartans 9 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Gosue Sama – Sprit FC 12 Votes
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 – Franco Parisi – APIA Leichhardt Tigers 13 Votes
-Football NSW Media Release
