Football Victoria congratulates Ange Cimera and Ted Smith on being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (General Division) in the King's Birthday 2026 Honours List.
Ange Cimera, who passed away in 2022, was a giant of the football community and legend of Melbourne Knights FC, his career spanning almost half-a-century.
Former Socceroo Ted Smith, now aged 90, was a member of Australia's historic 1956 Olympic Games squad which competed in its first ever International Football Tournament as Melbourne hosted the XVI Olympiad.
Their respective honours have been met with heartfelt gratitude from within the Melbourne sporting fraternity, particularly the Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne Football Clubs, where each served with distinction.
Andjelko 'Ange' Cimera (OAM)
For service to football administration
Starting his journey at the age of 22 as a member of Essendon Croatia in 1974, Ange Cimera volunteered in every area of the Club, most notably as a part of the 'working committee' which managed the gates, kitchens, bars, fundraisers, events and everything in between. Joining Essendon Croatia's committee in 1979 as a Board member, Cimera played a key role in fundraising and purchasing/developing land. This land eventually became the spiritual home of the Club, now known as Tompsett Stadium.
During his tenure with the Club, Cimera went on to hold a number of positions including general Board member, Treasurer and Vice President, until 1992 when he was appointed by its members as the Club President. He led the Club through the National Soccer League (NSL) era, during a period where the Knights produced a series of Club and National champions including Mark Viduka, Frank Juric and Andrew Marth. In this time the Knights were crowned National Minor Premiers four times and played in a number of NSL Grand Finals, capping off a period of sustained success when the Knights claimed a second successive Championship in 1995/96.
Cimera was instrumental in registering the Club for the Victorian Premier League upon the NSL's demise in 2004. He stepped back into the Presidency in 2010 and stepped down in 2014 as the longest serving Melbourne Knights President, with over 10 years of service in the role, 25 years of service as a committee member in various positions and over 45 years of service as a volunteer.
As well as being recognised as a Melbourne Knights 60 Year Honour Roll Inductee, Cimera was inducted into the Brimbank City Council Hall of Fame (2014) for service to the local community and the Croatian Soccer Association of Australia Hall of Fame in the same year.
Edward 'Ted' Smith (OAM)
For service to football
Born and bred in Melbourne, Ted Smith fell in love with football at a young age age and rose through the ranks of the schoolboy system to become one of Victoria's finest players, representing the former Preston club and the Victorian Colts, before establishing himself as a pivotal player at Moreland as a teenager. He was selected to represent Victoria against the Australian Olympic team in July 1956, impressing enough to earn selection for Australia at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne later that year, making two appearances in the tournament against Japan and India at Olympic Park.
A Dockerty Cup winner with Moreland in 1957, Smith joined South Melbourne Hellas in 1961, where he was a member of the club's maiden State League Championship team before moving to Hakoah where he won another Dockerty Cup before retiring and moving into the Head Coach role in 1969. He coached Hakoah and Moreland during the early 1970s, as well as serving as an Assistant Coach with South Melbourne's Metropolitan League team during the club's NSL era.
Smith joined the Football Australia Hall of Fame Committee in 1995, playing a pivotal role in its institution in 1999, and formed the Socceroo Club in 2005. Smith was honoured by Football Australia in 2022 with induction into the Hall of Fame. Along with Maggie Koumi, he was the only member of the Football Victoria Historical Committee that served throughout its duration, providing first-hand accounts of many of the individuals who were ultimately honoured with FV Life Membership and received Hall of Fame recognition.