Winter 2026 Season - Awards Night
Rosso Nero FC Awards Night 2026
Firstly, thanks everyone for being here tonight. Players, families, sponsors and supporters. Seasons like this are about much more than football. They're about mateship, commitment, resilience and celebrating what we've achieved together.
When we kicked off back in April, it felt like a fresh chapter for Rosso Nero FC. We welcomed plenty of new faces throughout the season, including Mazen, Dino, Adem, Luke, Amir, Fati, Arnie, Christian, Drill and others who stepped in when injuries, work commitments and life got in the way. Every one of them played an important role in our season.
We also embraced a fresh look, proudly wearing our new dual sponsor-supported shirts featuring Northside Texture Coatings and Hanna Lending Services. We introduced new team gear including beanies, scarves and jackets, all in the classic Rosso Nero colours that have become such an important part of our identity.
What I'm most proud of, is that this season wasn't built on everything going our way.
We dealt with concussions, injuries, work commitments, last-minute withdrawals, forfeits and weeks where we barely had enough players to take the court. Some nights we turned up with five players. Some nights debutants were called in at the last minute. But every time this group found a way to respond.
The season also reminded us that football is bigger than the result. We wore black armbands in support of teammates and friends during difficult family losses and took time to recognise those important people around our club community. Those moments showed the true character of this team.
As the season progressed, so did our belief. Week after week, Rosso Nero found ways to win. We came back from deficits, defended when it mattered and built an unbeaten run that made us the benchmark team in the competition.
There were plenty of standout performances along the way. Christian produced some unforgettable attacking displays, Fati led from the front all season, Dan delivered his usual consistency, and Adem, Joel, Amir and many others all had important moments. The reality is that every player contributed to the success of this team.
This season, we also celebrated two significant individual milestones.
CJ's 100th appearance for Rosso Nero FC.
One hundred games is an extraordinary achievement. Reaching that milestone takes loyalty, commitment and consistency over many seasons. Few players ever reach triple figures for a club, and CJ's contribution to Rosso Nero FC will be remembered for a long time – Mainly for all the salami votes he has received. But also for the behind the scenes in sourcing our team gear, organising the awards every season, the many hours writing up our teams’ weekly posts and posting our highlights every week on Instagram and YouTube.
And, Dan's 50th appearance for the club.
Fifty games represents multiple seasons of commitment, countless Thursday nights, and a willingness to always put the team first. Dan's milestone is a testament to his dedication to Rosso Nero FC and the culture we've built together. Even playing his 52nd game in the Semi Final while sick and lacking the energy to stand, Dan still put in a man of the match performance. Across those 50 games, Dan has collected plenty of awards and I have no doubt there are many more still to come.
When we look back at the season as a whole, the achievement is remarkable.
We finished as league champions and secured the minor premiership after an outstanding regular season. Week after week, this team set the standard. We didn't just win games, we built momentum, belief and a culture that other teams noticed.
Of course, sport has a cruel side.
After everything this group achieved, our season ended one week earlier than we hoped in a tightly contested semi-final. It hurt. It should hurt. Because everyone in this room knows how much work went into getting there. But that result shouldn't define our season.
This season will be remembered for the fresh start, the new faces, the new shirts, the sponsors who backed us, the teammates who stepped up when we needed them most, the unbeaten run, the milestones, the comebacks, the laughs and the resilience.
Most importantly, it will be remembered for a group of mates who represented Rosso Nero FC with pride every single week.
To our players, thank you for your commitment.
To our families and supporters, thank you for your patience and encouragement.
To our sponsors, thank you for believing in this club.
And to every person who wore the Rosso Nero colours this season, thank you for helping make the Winter 2026 Season one of the most successful and memorable seasons in club history.
Congratulations everyone. Let's celebrate tonight, enjoy the awards, and next season let's go one step further
Onto the Awards…. But before we get to the main awards, we have a special one.
The Banana Award.
Banana Award
This isn't an award that's handed out every season. In fact, it's only been awarded once before. It goes to someone who has done something so memorable, so unique, or so completely random that it leaves a lasting impression on the club.
Our previous winner took out the award four seasons ago after requesting that our grand final be moved by 30 minutes just 24 hours before kick-off... only to ask for it not to be moved four hours later when he realised he'd mixed up his own dates. His own brother gave it to him, and the rest of the team made sure he never heard the end of it.
This year's winner has given us plenty of memorable moments.
From singing "I Like It, Ah Ah" in our YouTube highlights, to creating in-match player interviews for me to upload, to casually showing off his ball-balancing skills on the bench during our semi-final while the game was still going on... and yes, it was caught on camera and made it onto YouTube.
To be honest, any one of those moments could have won him this award.
They've all left a lasting impression, and I know I won't be forgetting them anytime soon.
So, the winner of the 2026 Rosso Nero FC Banana Award is... Amir
Salami
Let’s do the fun one first. The one where you don’t need to be the Man of the Match, heck you sometimes don’t even need to turn up. This awards makes this team special, as it can be something someone said during the week on our chat, it can be a funny comment in game which made everyone laugh, it can be an own goal, being nutz, missing a sitter in front of goals or even a moment in the week where we will never forget.
And boy did we have some of these moments this year. CJ in goals letting in more goals through his legs then ever before (need to close those legs Dad)… Joel and Adem both missing sitters throughout the year and Amir providing comedy in games.
Like always, voting was close by season end… We had a run away leading by round 5, polling 23 votes in 4 weeks and then the pack caught up over the rest of the season….
The votes are in….
Name Position Votes
Fatlind 10th 3
Dino 10th 3
Arnie 10th 3
Adem 9th 6
Daniel P 8th 7
Mazen 8th 7
David 7th 9
Drilon 6th 10
Christian 5th 12
Sean. 4th 14
Cj 3rd 16
The winner by 2 votes and holding out all challengers in his debut season Joel Donatelli with 29 Votes and Runner Up Amir Fetibegovic 27 (also on his debut season)
Champion
This award is always tight, and many players are always in the hunt for this. The quality of players we have is amazing and to standout and be the match winner is tough, as everyone here is a match winner. And it showed again this year… We had 5 different players throughout the season lead this award.
By round 17, The top 2 had pulled a pretty big gap to the rest and by season out the top 2 really pulled away. This count was never over even up to the last game, either player hand their hands on the award.
The votes:
Name Position Votes
Joel 10th 1
Luke 9th 4
Nic P 8th 5
Drilon 7th 6
Arnie 6th 7
Cj 5th 11
Amir 4th 14
Adem 3rd 16
Christian 3rd 16
The winner by 4 votes and holding out the raining Champion also on his debut season
Fatlind Ferati with 35 Votes and Runner-up Daniel Pereira with 31 Votes
MVP
This award is always interesting. It has provided surprising winners. Everyone thinks the Champion or Salami winner will just win this award, but that isn’t always the case.
This award is always tight, and this season was no different. We had 6 different players leading the award through out the season. With the top 3 all within 3 points of each other by season end. It’s also amazing to see everyone who played scored a vote this season. 15 Players, wore our team shirt this year and all 15 managed to score a vote along the way.
This award went down to the wire. Where the top 3 finally pulled away with the last 4 games. Up until then all 7 regular players were in the running.
The total Votes and Final Standing:
Name Position Votes
Dino 15th 3
Luke 14th 4
Nic P 13th 5
Mazen 12th 7
David 11th 9
Arnie 10th 10
Sean 9th 14
Drilon 8th 16
Adem 7th 22
Cj 6th 27
Christian 5th 28
Joel 4th 30
We stop at 4th…. As we had a tie within the last 3 players….
Drum Roll……………………
The winner by 3 votes, scoring 23 votes by round 6 and finishing on a total of 41 Points
Amir Fetibegovic on debut winning his first ever Rosso Nero FC MVP Award.
Tied runners up…. Both on 38 votes Daniel Pereira and Fatlind Ferati
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