| StMarks |
St Marks were one of the founding members of the then ELICOS Football Competition in 1994 and won the league in 1996 and 1997. However, at that time the college was called GEOS National English Academy (NEA). In 1998 NEA took part in the new English Language Schools Association Football Competition (ELSA) form and finished 4th. NEA didn’t take part in the ’99 season but rejoined ELSA in 2000 as St Marks College. Although the college only managed 7th position that season, the following year St Marks won the league and the 2001 ELSA Cup under the stewardship of Gary Adams.
Robin Sydney took over the coaching position from Gary in 2002 and for the next four years the lanky Londoner enforced a strict regime of blood curdling competitiveness and never-say-die-dom so clearly inherited by his protégé Nick Nolan. St Marks developed a reputation for impressive if erratic displays of talent punctuated by work-related non attendance and shocking defections. Still, they continued to be a team to be reckoned with in the competition with the full gamut of Asian, European and South American footballers, going all the way to a cup final in 2006 only to be pipped at the post by the wily old fox Bill Beare’s APC with a suspicious team list. When Robin moved north to Byron Bay to take up a full time position as a full blown hippie at the beginning of 2007, Nick, who began playing with the team in 2005, took over the reigns and brought a brutish chaos to the team management: a refreshing change from its former composure and élan. His enthusiasm and testosterone soaked aggression duly compensated for his overarching lack of football knowledge and renowned indecisive and unpredictable use of substitutes and, despite their usual slow start to the season, finished in the top four of the competition. The team went on to beat a GCA team, which had not only remained unbeaten all season but had also not even drawn a match, in the semi final of the cup. A fiery finale in the Cup saw St Marks narrowly losing to cross town rivals SELC only adding to the sense of white-knuckled frustration at firmly occupying the upper end of the table but no silverware to show. This year, still with Nick as coach and mentor, and with a group of players some of whom have played together for two years, St Marks continue in their belief the cup will return.
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