Check the scoreboard! All change at Olympic as ex-Socceroos duo take charge

Fittingly for a club with one of WA's best playing surfaces, Olympic Kingsway are determined not to let the grass grow under their feet. Football West gets up to speed on events in the north …

It’s Friday night under the lights for Olympic Kingsway and the chance to go back to the top of the New Balance NPL WA Men’s table.

The visit of Dianella White Eagles for this week's Round 12 clash is their first fixture at Madman Arena in just over a month. Since the 2-1 win over Western Knights on 25 April, a lot has happened in the world of the Green Machine.

First, Olympic decided to part ways with popular long-time head coach David Tough, the man who steered the club back to the top flight and led them to the Treble in 2024. 

They replaced the Scot with Richard Garcia, a one-time Kingsway junior and one of the finest footballers to come out of Western Australia. The 2010 World Cup finals player has taken over in an interim capacity and will be in charge until the end of the season.

Then on Tuesday this week, Kingsway announced the appointment of another former Socceroo, with Neil Kilkenny confirmed as Garcia’s assistant.

And at Friday’s game, Olympic will unveil their large new electronic scoreboard, while a brand-new permanent stand is not far behind.

Welcome to Mad Busy Arena …

Club President Steve Nelkovski said: “It’s all about growth. We want to continue to develop each year, adding something new to the club and providing something extra.

“This Friday night, we launch our new electronic scoreboard, and in the next few weeks we’ll see an additional 700 seats behind the northern goal.

“The scoreboard is a new feature of game day. It’s a very competitive environment on Saturdays across all sports, to bring people to the facility and to provide them with the best experience on game day. It adds to the experience and allows us to engage our members and our sponsors at a higher level.

“With the new stand, what we saw in the Australia Cup last year [when a temporary stand was installed] was first class. To be able to replicate that and to have more seats than we had last year puts us in a really good position for these big games.”

Olympic are one win away from a third appearance on the national stage of the Hahn Australia Cup, following successive runs to the Round of 16. Of course, next month's opponents Fremantle City will have other ideas.

Nelkovski added: “Winning a championship is always the first goal and it now comes with the added benefit of playing in the Australian Championship.

"And the Australia Cup, as we’ve seen in the last two years, has also provided enormous opportunity to grow the brand and elevate the team on a national stage.

“We want to push new boundaries and achieve greater results.

“The chance to bring Richie in as interim manager gives us a chance to achieve what we’d like to this season but also to plan for the next stage and see who the best fit for us is going forward. We are really excited by what Richie can do, and now he’ll be alongside Neil Kilkenny, which is fantastic.

“We can’t wait for the game. Dianella have been enormous for the NPL this season, we’ve seen the huge crowds they have brought in. We’re really excited to host them on Friday night.”

New man Garcia has been an assistant with the Young Socceroos, as well as working as Kingsway’s junior technical director. He is clear in his plans for the first team.

“Success for me is winning,” he said.

“There was already a fantastic platform that was built beforehand with some very, very good players, so it’s just about carrying on and just tweaking it a little bit.

“I’m just stepping in until the end of the season so they can target the guy they want. It’s a big club, and they want to take the time with the decision, so for me to help them out is the least that I could do.

“Dianella are a good physical team, well set up. Kingsway’s always a venue people want to come and win at, so the boys need to be resilient and make people realise that this is our home and there are not going to be points given up easily.

“I think the boys are relishing it, especially Friday night in front of our crowd.”