Con Boutsianis

South Melbourne FC

Boutsianis was a boyhood South Melbourne Hellas fan and began playing at the club from age 10. After impressive performances for the South Melbourne youth side, the legendary Hungarian coach Ferenc Puskas placed his faith in the young winger and called him up to the senior team. Boutsianis began his senior career with South Melbourne in the National Soccer League in 1989, becoming known as a goalscoring midfielder. Boutsianis would be a part of the 1991 Championship winning side under Puskas. He quickly established himself as one of Australia's best talents, renowned for his free-kick and corner abilities. After six years and 40 goals, he left South at the end of 1994/95 to join Heidelberg United for the 1996 Victorian Premier League season, before joining Collingwood Warriors for their one and only season in the NSL. Following the club's demise at the end of the 1996/97 campaign, he had a short stint in the VPL with Bentleigh Greens, before rejoining South for the 1997/98 NSL season. Boutsianis took the league by storm and flourished under manager Ange Postecoglou. He played a crucial role in the Grand Final against Carlton, scoring the controversial winning goal in the last minute after coming on as a substitute, ending a seven-year championship wait for Hellas. Paul Trimboli sent a long ball forward, finding Boutsianis in pursuit behind Carlton defender Sean Douglas. Boutsianis seemed to push Douglas to the ground before collecting the ball…

Boutsianis won four international caps for Australia. His debut came in the 2002 World Cup qualification match against Tonga, which Australia won 22–0, breaking the world record for the biggest victory margin in an international game. Boutsianis came on as a substitute and scored. In the next match, against American Samoa, Boutsianis was named as a starter. He scored a hat-trick as Australia broke their own record by winning 31–0. His first goal came directly from a corner. Boutsianis played two more games for the Socceroos, the last in August 2001 against Japan. He finished his international career with a record of four goals from four appearances.

South Melbourne FC NSL Championship: 1990/91, 1997/98

NSL Premiership: 2000/01 NSL Cup: 1989/90 Dockerty Cup: 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 Australia

AFC–OFC Challenge Cup: runner-up 2001