Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Alan Davidson doesn’t think he will ever be able to repay Melbourne’s Greek community for how they changed his life.
And he will never forget the words from the legendary Herb Elliott that changed the trajectory of his career.
When Greek-Australian former NSL powerhouse South Melbourne play Melbourne Victory in a historic Australia Cup final on Saturday night, there will be few men more conflicted than Davidson.
On the one hand, his son Jason will be wearing the captain’s armband for the Victory.
But Alan Davidson made a name for himself at Hellas, a proud Greek club and historic powerhouse of Australian football.
And that connection started years earlier, when a primary school-aged Davidson felt like “the only Asian kid in the western suburbs”. He was subjected to racist bullying and didn’t know where to turn.
Davidson’s father, Keith, was in the military and his mother, Kazuko, was a “war bride” from Hiroshima – one of the earliest to move to Australia.
Unfortunately for Davidson, it meant growing up in 1960s Melbourne was brutal.
“I was Japanese and all the kids that I went to school with were Australian. All these kids, their fathers were killed in the war, and I was Japanese, and it was tough,” Davidson tells AAP.
“The Greeks were the only ones … (who) would come to me and say, ‘you OK?’ Because I’d just been beaten up every day.
“That’s why I went to South Melbourne. They were the only ones that talked to me, so I stayed with them and then I followed them.
“They played soccer, and I didn’t know what soccer was, and I wasn’t any good.
“So I trained, and trained, and trained, and trained and trained just to stay close to the Greeks, then eventually I went on and played for South Melbourne.”
Davidson met some of his closest friends at South, built his football CV – to the point where he earned a Socceroos berth and moves overseas, and met his wife Effie, with whom he had sons Jason and Jamie.
“So I owe my life to the Greek community,” he says.
But were it not for a timely intervention from another powerhouse of Australian sport, Davidson might not have been a Socceroo at all.
When he received his first call-up, Davidson knocked it back – still hurting from the treatment he’d received in school.
“I said, ‘no, I’m not playing for Australians’. Because I hated them,” Davidson explains.
Then Davidson’s boss at Puma, Australian athletics great Elliott, called the footballer into his office.
“He goes: ‘I just had a phone call that you said no to playing for Australia’,” Davidson recalls.
“He goes: ‘your father’s Australian. You’re Australian. One day you’ll become a proud Australian. You trust me? I’m telling you now. You’re playing for Australia’.
“So that’s why I started playing for Australia. And then it was true. I became a proud Australian.”
Australian football has reaped the rewards ever since.
Davidson became a legend at South Melbourne and for the Socceroos, then set Jason on the path towards becoming a professional footballer.
That has included playing for the Socceroos at the 2014 World Cup, winning the 2015 Asian Cup and enjoying a club career across Australia, Asia, England and Europe.
But Jason, who has a picture of him on Alan’s shoulders – with both of them in South jerseys – tattooed on his chest, still looks back fondly on Alan’s later stints at the club in 1994 and 1995.
“You go through the photos and you see when I’m a youngster running around the pitch and watching him train,” Jason Davidson tells AAP with a smile.
“I actually recently went to Lakeside to watch the NPL final.
“I went with my son and he sees the pictures up on the wall and sees his grandfather there.”
Alan would love to see South’s longstanding bid for an A-League licence finally come to fruition.
“They’re a big name, but they’ve been a successful club and they’ve also earned the right,” Alan said.
Jason still can’t believe Australian football’s long-craved showdown is finally here.
“It was written in the stars to have a final like this,” he said.
Alan will be among the South Hall of Fame legends – along with the likes of Paul Trimboli and Michael Peterson – present at the “massive” game on Saturday night, the club’s biggest stage in years.
“It’s going to be a special night,” Jason added.
“He (dad Alan) holds very fond memories of his time at South.
“For me to have that opportunity to play, I’m sure he’ll be supporting both sides. He’ll just want a good game and for his son to win.”
Asked by South Melbourne’s presidents who he would be supporting, Alan Davidson struggled to find an answer.
“I support South Melbourne because I owe my life to the Greeks,” he said.
“But my son’s my son as well – and he’s the captain.
“Either way, there’s a winner for me.”
