Adelaide City (Juventus) -West Adelaide (Hellas) rivalry part of ethnic sway of soccer from the 1950s in South Australia
Charlie Di Bartolo, who came to Adelaide from Turin in 1950, became a loyal long-time player with Juventus. He represented South Australia and captained the team for seven years. He also played for Australia but had appearances restricted while in the 10-year wait for naturalisation. Di Bartolo is a South Australian member of the soccer hall of fame.
Image courtesy Adelaide City club
Adelaide Juventus (Italian) and West Adelaide Hellas (Greek) emerged as dominant clubs in South Australian soccer restructured by the European migrant influx between the late 1940s and early 1960s.
Other heavily ethnic clubs to energise that era included Polonia (Polish), Croatia and Beograd (Serbian). Juventus club was founded in 1946 in a back room of Mario Bailetti’s sports store in Hindley Street, Adelaide, with a small group of former members of Savoia club. Juventus began life in the second division soccer, and, after promotion in 1949, stayed at the highest level. Early star players included Italian migrant Fulvio Pagani, a fullback picked for the Australian team.
Between 1953 and 1959, the club won 106 of 127 games and six of seven championships. It added three titles in both the 1960s and 1970s.
Based originally at Kensington Oval, then called Olympic Sports Field. Adelaide Juventus showed its potential in the first Australia Cup in 1962, finishing third in the national knockout tournament.
West Adelaide club dates from 1936, when a few early Greek migrants formed Hellenic that played informally at Adelaide High School. In 1945, the club became official as Olympic but, within 15 years, the South Australian Soccer Federation suspended it due to crowd violence. The club reformed a year later and entered the state league again as the Hellenic Athletic and Soccer Club. In 1962, it merged with West Adelaide Soccer Club (1910).
The new West Adelaide Hellas quickly won promotion to the top tier of South Australian football. In its first 13 years, it largely competed with Adelaide Juventus for local supremacy. The clubs shared nine titles between them in 10 years and their matches became the major derby of the city.
The European migrant contribution to South Australian soccer is evident in names on its hall of fame roll of honour, including Charlie Horvath, Charlie Caruso, Alex Cichanowski, Frank Draper, John Lindquist, Basil Scarsella Bob Telfer, John Kosmina, Bohdan Nyskohus John Nyskohus, John Perin, Roger Romanowicz, Len Alagich Mario Bailetti, Shirley Brown, Donald Campbell, Alek Cmielewski, AlexKosmina, Noel Langley, Zoran Matic, Peter Nikolich, Ted Rowley, Jimmie Stewart, Frank Storr, Mike Wells, Billy Graham, Henry Kolecki, Jack Mather, Bert Walker, Alf White, Bob Bush, Joe Caputo, Jim Connell, John Evans, Tom Forde, Ann Gibbons, Rep Giordano, Joe Harvey, Norm Joynes, Edmund Kreft, Jim Lawrenson, Tom McKain, Freddie Pine, Billy Birch, Charlie DiBartolo, Malcolm Dunbar, Sergio Melta, Nick Pantelis and Dianne Alagich.
An ethnic flavour lingers in its premier league with its 2020 season clubs: Adelaide Blue Eagles, Adelaide City, Adelaide Comets, Adelaide Olympic, Adelaide Raiders, Adelaide United Youth, Campbelltown City, Croydon Kings, Cumberland United, Modbury Jets, North Eastern MetroStars and Para Hills Knights.
