South came into the 2016 season after losing the 2015 Grand Final, so fans were hungry to see the club take the ultimate prize.

It was a three-horse race in 2016 with Bentleigh pulling away from Heidelberg and South to take the premiership, but of course there was still a finals series to play.

South had defeated Hume City 3-0 in the Elimination final, and then defeated Heidelberg 2-1 away in the Semi Final. South then faced Oakleigh in the Grand Final at Lakeside.

We were perhaps a little lucky that Oakleigh managed to knockout Bentleigh in their Semi-Final, but you can only play what’s in front of you and the boys played well, defeating Oakleigh 3-2 with goals from Minopoulos and a double from Schroen. South were Champions again and Lujic again won the golden boot with 27 goals.

The Grand Final crowd at Lakeside was so large it forced the opening of the second stand. The fans were in good voice too with Clarendon Corner and Lakeside Lads unfurling a tifo, bringing flags, banners and even ticker tape.

Hard to believe it’s been nearly 10 years since that last Championship.

Team	Pts
Bentleigh Greens	59
Heidelberg United	53
South Melbourne (C)	53
Oakleigh Cannons	47
Green Gully	44
Hume City	43
Pascoe Vale	37
Avondale	35
Melbourne Knights	31
Port Melbourne	26
Bulleen Lions	25
Richmond (R)	23
Northcote City (R)	20
Melb. Victory Youth (R)	4