The year 1959 saw the amalgamation of three strong Melbourne clubs - Hellenic, Yarra Park and South Melbourne United. Of these clubs it appears that South Melbourne United was the longest established, formed in the early 1930s.
In their first year of competition (1960) South Melbourne Hellas won the Victorian 1st division north championship - dropping only one competition point in the process, scoring 79 goals and conceding only 11. The club was not surprisingly promoted immediately to the Victorian state league first division, finishing fifth position in 1961. The following year Hellas won their first of seven Victorian state league titles between 1962 and 1976. Perhaps their most successful season in this period was 1966 when one of Greece's best ever players, Con Nestorides, joined Souths. 37 year old Nestorides' immediate impact upon joining the club was to double the crowds and secure the 1966 Victorian state league title.
In the year before formation of the national league Souths, as Victorian champions, defeated NSW champions St George over two legs (3-2) to take out the unofficial 1976 Australian club championship series.
Despite big expectations, South Melbourne had a very mixed start to the national league. A low point in Souths' twenty-one year national league experience was 1979. After a positive start to the season, the club had three competition points deducted after it was deemed that import player Tony Turner had not been properly registered with Souths. Three coaches, along with high profile Socceroo players Jack Reilly, Jimmy Mackay and Jim Armstrong all left the club that year, which saw Souths finish the season last.
Souths secured first position on the final league ladder (southern division) in 1984. But in this year, a restructure of the national league meant that, for the first time, the minor premier were not champions. Souths had to win the finals series to be declared true champions of 1984. The club powered through the southern division finals series, defeating arch-rivals Heidelberg in the southern division grand final before a 15,000 crowd. Souths then won out over Sydney Olympic 2-1 in both legs of the 1984 national grand final.
Souths finished all five seasons from their knock-out cup-winning year of 1990, until 1994, in the top three. In the midst of this extended halcyon period, a massive crowd of 23,318 gathered to watch probably the most enthralling national league grand final ever in May 1991. Here Souths defeated Melbourne Knights - albeit on penalties - after two hours of intensive on-field action resulted in a quite pulsating national league season climax.
A recent move to the impressive Bob Jane stadium has injected new life into the club, after the 'failure' - by Souths' high standards - of the last couple of years. One of only three clubs to have played in all twenty-one seasons of Australia's premier football league, Souths supporters are hungry for another championship soon.
| National league season | Final ladder position | National knock- out cup placing | Average home crowd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 11th (14 teams) | =8th (14 teams) | 5200 |
| 1978 | 3rd (14 teams) | =9th (32 teams) | 7300 |
| 1979 | 14th (14 teams) | =17th (32 teams) | 5900 |
| 1980 | 3rd (14 teams) | =9th (32 teams) | 4700 |
| 1981 | 2nd (16 teams) | =17th (36 teams) | 6300 |
| 1982 | 6th (16 teams) | =9th (16 teams) | 3800 |
| 1983 | 4th (16 teams) | =3rd (16 teams) | 4800 |
| 1984^ | 1st* (12 teams) | 9th (24 teams) | 5200 |
| 1985^ | 1st (12 teams) | =17th (32 teams) | 3500 |
| 1986^ | 7th (12 teams) | =9th (32 teams) | 3600 |
| 1987 | 6th (13 teams) | 2nd (13 teams) | 2600 |
| 1988 | 3rd (14 teams) | =3rd (24 teams) | 4600 |
| 1989 | 8th (14 teams) | =3rd (14 teams) | 4100 |
| 1989-90 | 2nd (14 teams) | 1st (14 teams) | 4400 |
| 1990-91 | 2nd* (14 teams) | =3rd (14 teams) | 5000 |
| 1991-92 | 3rd (14 teams) | =8th (14 teams) | 5300 |
| 1992-93 | 1st (14 teams) | =5th (14 teams) | 5700 |
| 1993-94 | 2nd (14 teams) | =3rd (14 teams) | 5400 |
| 1994-95 | 6th (13 teams) | =3rd (14 teams) | 5000 |
| 1995-96 | 8th (12 teams) | 1st (12 teams) | 6200 |