THIS is a brilliant shot of former South Melbourne player John Bedford, who passed away in Woodonga this week at the age of 70.

Fleet-footed Bedford tries to skip past George Cross Eddie Sacco at Olympic Park on May 12, 1962.



The stadium is one that holds great memories for Victorian football fans and the official crowd figure for that day was 12,000.



Bedford was part of the South Melbourne Hellas team which won the first State League championship under the auspices of the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1962.



A goalscoring winger, he played 28 times for Victoria but never cracked the senior Australian team, managing a couple of games for the Australia B team.



The image was passed on to me by Roy Hay, who was this week named in FFA's inaugural Panel of Football Historians, along with Billy Murray and Ted Simmons.



Their opening brief is to provide historical background on Australia's admission as a full member of FIFA in 1963.



The appointments were made on the centenary of the establishment of the Commonwealth Football Association, regarded as the first national body of football in Australia.



On December 21, 1911, delegates representing every state concluded the Australasian Association Football Conference in Sydney by establishing the Commonwealth Football Association.



Why Melbourne Victory is getting better



MELBOURNE Victory's steady improvement in recent weeks is directly linked to the collective form of the V trio - Kewell, Thompson and Hernandez.



They absolutely destroyed Wellington with their movement and killer distribution and Phoenix defenders Andrew Durante, Tony Warner and Co could only watch.



For Heart to win next Friday's derby they must stop the ever-improving trio - and I believe they can.



Heart endured a disastrous start to the season ... impotent, haemorrhaging goals and shot for confidence.



Two important players have since returned at opposite ends, Clint Bolton and Eli Babalj.



The latter has provided a focal point and Heart has scored 11 times since he returned five-and-a-half games ago.



And since Bolton came back (his first game was the derby in Round 3), Heart has conceded just twice in nine games from open play.



This stat is pertinent when discussing whether Heart can stop the V trio.



Heart conceded six in the last six, three of those coming against Mariners, and they do remain susceptible at defensive set-pieces.



But when teams attack down the flanks or through the middle, Heart has held firm.



Simon Colosimo played an important part early on but their last five wins have come without him, with Adrian Madaschi growing with each game.



But midfielder Jonatan Germano has been instrumental, providing fantastic protection for the central defenders, particularly Heart's marauding full backs, and I expect him to be selected if he recovers from a hamstring strain.



Victory has a better team on paper but Heart's collective movement and organisation has been far superior this season, which is why they should be the bookies' favourites.



Victory's Wellington triumph was its first convincing win of the season and sets up for a mouth-watering derby at AAMI Park on Friday.



Enjoy the build up.



Goal of the week



WELLINGTON failed to properly clear Kewell's cross and Ferreira watched the ball ever so carefully before connecting with a textbook volley.



It's the sort of strike we don't see in the A-League enough and kudos to Ferreira for having a go because it could have ended up in Row Z.



VIDEO: Watch Ferreira's stunning goal here.



But the goal may just be the making of Ferreira, who has not let down coach Mehmet Durakovic when called on this season in a variety of positions.



NOW CLICK 'REPLAY' TO READ DAVID DAVUTOVIC'S REGULAR WEEKLY CHAT WITH SOCCER FANS.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=c8a491d43d" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Studs Up, December 19&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Originally published as A picture from our soccer past