Melbourne Knights FC Official Website It’s not just Melbourne Knights vs South Melbourne. It’s Croatia vs Hellas. A rivalry born in the heart of multicultural Australia, shaped by decades of battles both on and off the pitch. The two clubs will find themselves battling simply to stay afloat in Victoria’s topflight at 7:30pm on Friday, 23rd May, as the battle kicks off at Tompsett Stadium.
Both sides enter the clash in desperate need of a turning point. South Melbourne sit just above the drop zone, while the Knights trail close behind. For two clubs who once dominated the national scene, their current positions are sobering. Derbies, however, don’t stand the test of time because of form, but because of generations of lineage. In Round 15 of the 2025 Victorian NPL season, the Original Melbourne Derby will serve to offer more than just three points.
It’s a pivotal moment in both South and Knights’ journeys: a chance not only to turn their seasons around and stay afloat, but to also prove themselves worthy of the weight carried in the very names they wear. These aren’t just clubs. They are institutions – forged by immigrant hands and elevated by generations of successful players and fans who have lived and breathed for their colours. To pull on the Knights or South jersey is to carry a story far bigger than any one season. This week, for both clubs, that story holds the power to turn a new chapter.
Melbourne Knights have officially welcomed back a club great in John Markovski, now head coach, who steps into the dugout with both fire and familiarity. A veteran of this fierce rivalry, Markovski brings with him not just experience within the league, but a spark of belief.
“I know the road ahead won’t be easy,” he said, “but I want to return the Club to where it belongs – and that starts this week against Hellas.”
With him comes Assistant Sean Vah, who comes to the Knights from an Assistant position at Western United.
“Our training sessions were harder than the games” admits Markovski when reflecting on his playing time at the Club, something he is keen to instil in his time now as head coach, with the side increasing their training and contact hours at the Club under his leadership.
With the recent appointment, anticipation remains high – and nowhere more than with Jonesy, who’s ready for his official welcome home to Somers Street. Importantly for the Club, Leo Mazis and Tom Woerndl inch closer and closer to full match fitness, with both likely to make an impact from the bench. The goal scoring statistics however seem to lie in the Knights favour, with the Knights scoring nine goals in their last 11, compared to South scoring just three goals in their last 11. However, the Knights has conceded five more goals than South Melbourne.
To those thinking this derby and these clubs have ceased to be relevant, these clubs didn’t disappear with the NSL, in a system that once tried to erase their names, their culture and their legacies. They rebuilt. They adapted. They survived. And today, the Knights continues to serve as a cultural stronghold, keeping community, language, and football alive – generation after generation.
In an age where clubs are too often built from the top down, the Knights stands as a reminder of what can be built from the bottom up. Regardless of Round 15’s outcome, the Original Melbourne Derby is not a relic, but rather a reminder of the longest living heartbeat there is in Australian Football.
