Decorated coach Stuart Munro will lead Southern United in the inaugural season of the Women’s NPL Victoria, with former Matilda Theresa Deas confirming her presidency of the club.
The consortium encompassing existing WPL club Casey Comets, along with local clubs Mornington, Langwarrin, Seaford United and Peninsula Strikers, was amongst the eight accepted into the competition in September.
The signing is somewhat of a coup for the newly formed club, with Munro one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the state, who will take charge of his first women’s team after most recently leading Dandenong Thunder in the NPL.
“All my life I’ve been involved in men’s football but it’s something that I’ve thought about for a few years now. I’ve watched the development in Australia of women’s football and obviously the success of the Matildas is going to help it grow and grow,” Munro said of the move.
“I don’t know what it was but I was starting to get this feeling that I had done as much as I can in men’s football. Sometimes you just want to freshen things up and thats when I started thinking about getting involved in women’s football.
“Then when I found out that [the league] was trying to become more semi-professional [with the inception of the WNPL], I thought it was a good time to be involved.”
The Scotsman moved to Australia in 1997 after making his name as a defender for Glasgow Rangers, and after a short stint at Sydney United, moved into coaching.
His resume includes Gippsland Falcons, Carlton S.C., Parramatta Power and South Melbourne FC in the NSL between 1998 and 2004, Perth Glory as an assistant in the A-League from 2010 to 2013, and stints at Oakleigh Cannons and Dandenong Thunder in the VPL/NPL going back to 2005.
Munro has also held the role of Rowville Sports Academy head coach since 2008, unearthing some of the brightest Victorian talents.
Read More > My Football Journey: Stuart Munro
Deas has a long standing affiliation with Casey, having played with the club – then Cranbourne Comets – in the top division where they were considered one of the powerhouse clubs in the league.
“I spent more than 10 years here at the peak of my career when I was playing with the National Team and after that [after I had my children],” Deas said of her history with the club.
“It’s absolutely wonderful to firstly see the growth of women’s football overall, but predominantly the growth of women’s football in this area. The fact that we now have an opportunity to provide this elite pathway is just outstanding.
The FFA Hall of Famer – who’s held a number of different roles in football over a distinguished career – was excited to be taking up the presidency, a position she hasn’t held in the past.
“I’m over-awed to be back – even though I don’t live in the area anymore. I think it’s something I’ve never really done in my career, taking up this type of position at a club,” she said.
“It’s always been in other areas such as development, promotion or assisting with the game. So this is probably a step to do something that really excites me and will [bring a new] passion, by seeing something from the start grow with a group of people who are just extremely confident about taking the club forward.”
The club also took the opportunity to announce BLK as their major kit sponsor for the 2016 WNPL season.
“Thrilled to be involved. The club have some pretty strong ideas about their identity and their logo, and the apparel they’re looking for falls in line with that,” said BLK’s James Lewis (featured left in the photo).
“Across Australia, football is a growing sector for us; we’ve got the Newcastle Jets, locally we have South Melbourne and getting one of the new WNPL clubs was something we were looking to do.”