By Takis Triadafillou
Inner West Hawks FC (formerly Stanmore Hawks FC) was founded in 1978 by the now-Cyprus Community of New South Wales.
The club was created by a group of young men who came to Australia to start a new life and sought friendship within the Cypriot community. Their aim was to play at the highest level possible and at the same time, provide the younger and future generations with hope, mentorship and ambition.
Since then, the football club has faced multiple competition restructures, as well as plenty of victories. Today, current President George Phillips talks to The Greek Herald about the club’s bright future.
George, how are things regarding the financial management of the club?
Well, the first year or two were very difficult financially, because I started as President with a massive debt for the club. Gradually, we managed to repay the debt over the past three years. The debt also affected player salaries. We couldn’t really pay the players what they truly deserved. But most of the loyal players stayed with us, and we appreciate that greatly. Our financial situation now is better, probably better than ever. We owe thanks to the support of the Cyprus Community of NSW, as we currently have no debts at all.
We had two debts. We had a private debt that has been repaid, and we had debts to many suppliers, all of which have now been repaid. So, essentially, we are starting the 2025 season with a clean slate and no debt, with a small profit expected for the 2024 season.
What about the selection of Jim Patikas as coach?
His experience is incredible, having played in the International Championship, even with Alex Ferguson, playing in Greece. But I was a bit cautious because my experience has shown me in the past that good players don’t necessarily make good coaches. So yes, I was very cautious and interviewed him several times, but I felt that his coaching experience, because he had done a bit of coaching at Sydney Olympic and other clubs, was positive. Yes, he’s a good guy. Aside from being a good player, he was also a good coach and good family man. I had a good feeling about him, so we decided to take him on. And I believe if you look at the league table we’re in, you’ll see we’ve done exceptionally well this year. Last year we finished last. I told Jim, if you can finish somewhere near the middle of the table, I’ll be very pleased. And here we are now, sitting in fourth place, which is much better than I would have dreamed earlier in the season.
How do you see the future for the club?
The future looks very good as long as we continue doing what we’re doing. We are very careful with expenses. We don’t waste money needlessly. We are very, very careful. And I think we can just balance income with expenses. It’s a very difficult business, the football business, because most clubs lose a lot of money and rely on sponsorships. And that’s true for us too. You know, we need sponsors to try to balance expenses and provide the necessary facilities and equipment for the players to train well.
Is it true there was a negotiation to merge the Inner West Hawks with Sydney Olympic?
It is not true at all. We had no discussion about merging. We had discussions with Sydney Olympic this year. I can also tell you I’ve had annual discussions with Sydney Olympic since I became President. I’m trying to build a relationship of trust with Sydney Olympic, as it is a Greek team set to be in the National Second Division. I thought some of our players could go there and some of their players could come here, and we could work together for the common good of the Greeks and football in Sydney. The discussions I had this year had nothing to do with merging. They were just two Greek clubs meeting to see what we can do together to help both clubs.
The club has partnered with Brydens Lawyers. How did that collaboration come about?
I saw Lee [Hagipantelis] on TV when he was involved with the West Tigers of Balmain. When I saw him, I didn’t know his last name, but I later saw that it was Hagipantelis. I said to myself, he must be Cypriot. Then I made two Inner West Hawks jerseys with the name Hagipantelis on the back and sent them to him, saying we would like to discuss a sponsorship agreement. To cut a long story short, he called me and said that putting his name on the back of the jerseys with the Cypriot flag on the sleeve was a way to open a dialogue. Within a few days, we had an online meeting, and he was very happy to support us and become one of our main sponsors for the 2024 season.
