Nerds FC

Nerds FC is an Australian television documentary featuring football. The first series of the show was aired as a lead in for the 2006 FIFA World Cup on the Special Broadcasting Service network that featured coverage of the Australian national soccer team. The show follows a football team of 14 nerds who were trained over 3 months, climaxing with a match against a professional team. Nerds FC is produced by SBS independent and Grundy Television (which has now merged with Crackerjack to become FremantleMedia Australia). Nerds FC's format, FC Nerds, is based on the Danish reality TV hit FC Zulu. The first series aired on Australian TV from 14 April 2006, encored from 8 June 2006, and encored again from 21 April 2007. The DVD for the first series was released on 6 June 2007. The second series aired from 9 June 2007.

The team was specifically selected to have little to no knowledge of football, and also little physical ability or aptitude for the game. To find such individuals, ads were placed in local university newspapers and internet chat rooms seeking 18 to 25 year old men, Could you be described as an intelligent geek? Do you bore your friends with technical, scientific or obsessional details? Grundy Television wants you! The aim of the program is to build a group of nerds into a side, able to play with reasonable ability against (semi) professional teams, give some nerds a physical challenge, and to make a TV program. Unlike other reality television series, the team was meant to bond and produce a cohesive group that was capable of excellent results. There is no 'voting off' or winner, or strategic plotting against fellow participants, the team participates as a whole.

Released shortly after each episode is aired the vodcasts include commentary and extra information from some of the nerds. They can be downloaded from the Australian iTunes Music Store.

NamePositionNerd Interest(s)Timothy WestonLeft winga 'performer', collects Warhammer Fantasy models Member of the Sutekh society at Sydney UniJoseph GentleRight wingcomputing, especially Artificial Intelligence and gaming (World of Warcraft)John TruongRight wingMechatronics Space engineer, physicist and mathematician; astronomy; Dragonball ZJack MackeyCentre midfieldKnows 'Things', Solipsist, scienceDavid SmithCentre midfield(Captain)Computers; restoring classic cars, notably a 1969 MG B; preparing a Mitsubishi Lancer for car rallying. Robin Chow ('Nature')Left backcomputer gaming (Warcraft III, Game Boy Advance, Diablo 2). Nick SifniotisLeft backArcane branches of mathematics, ability to do arithmetic in base 17. Accounting. Composing music. Marika DekuCentre backLinguistics (ancient languages and their forms of writing), music (plays flute and piccolo)Daniel JonesCentre backPolitics and Philosophy. Anti VSU activist, reporter for Honi SoitPhillip Massaad ('Mono')Right backA bookworm, especially about historical ships and just about anything that floats, floated or sank. Other interests include airships, aeroplanes, locomotives and architecture. Som GuanStrikercomputers (gaming), music (playing piano and guitar), theatre (performing), public speaking. Computer Systems Engineering student. Phillip LathourakisStrikerten pin bowling, playing the piano and GameCubeTim Kirk ('Captain')StrikerHistory, notably "the influence of nostalgia, historical kitsch, the theatre and pageantry of political expression and historical political satire and commentary"; Linguist; intern for The Cato Institute, 2004Trent AptedGoalkeeperComputer Science PhD student, mainly involving "a toolkit for learning and adapting personalised gestures for ubiquitous computing interfaces." Trent's academic home pageAndy HarperCoachSpawning SalmonMilan BlagojevicAssistant Coachnone disclosed (nor likely)

The Nerds FC Season 1 strip was Royal Blue with white piping at the sleeves and neck, with matching shorts and socks.

The Nerds FC training ground is Wentworth Playing Grounds between Glebe and Pyrmont in Sydney, New South Wales.

The first game played by Nerds FC was against the "Young Matildas", the Australia women's national football (soccer) team under 21s football team. The score was 11:0 to the Young Matildas. The fourth episode had the Nerds FC playing a game against a team of inmates in a prison. The score was 8:0. The seventh episode featured a rematch against the Young Matildas. The score was 5:0. The final 'professional' outing was against Melbourne Victory in front of 25,000 people as post match entertainment for the 2006 A League Semi Final between Adelaide United and Sydney FC. The score was 12:2.

NameNicknamePlayer NoPositionNerd Interest(s)Adam PembertonGoalie, Octopus, Silver Surfer, Thac01Goal keeperAD&D2, Soft drink can tab chainmail, Computer gamingDavid CollienFlash, Snake4Centre backBuilding robots, playing the ukuleleMatt ChenChi Qui2StrikerCulture of Asia, Film, Computer VisionPatrick NeumannPaddy, Goon Warrior, Gooner15DefenderAerospace engineering, The Society for Creative Anachronism and HistoryMatthew RochfordRochy (usually pronounced 'Rocky')14MidfielderCross dressing, social theory, Star Trek, text messaging, television static, poetry, installation artMichael Lake6Midfielder/substituteApple fanatic, 3D Puzzles, RoboCup (rUNSWift 2006)Ben SmithβΣπ $mith11Left back/substituteMemorised Pi to 486 decimal places, Aims to be a maths teacher, AnimeRahul PrasadPoodle9Right backCollects stamps, butterflies and coins, popular cultureGlenn LeongStrafe7StrikerPerforming in UNSW Revues, Gaming (particularly PC oriented) and Anime CosplayThomas CunninghamScout12MidfielderMUD, Scouting and he has a girlfriend, which he claims is an un nerdy thing to do. Gareth WhiteRuby8Central midfield or 'number ten'Rubik's Cube, mathematics, represented Australia at the 2002 International Mathematics OlympiadChris Anderson 13DefenderSoftware Development, Piano, Magic, Poker, Art, HypnotherapyFelix Lawrence3Centre backCoffee connoisseur, physicsRichard MerzianRichie10Holding midfielder (Captain)activism, environmentalismCraig FosterFozzieCoachSBS Chief Football Analyst, football expertFrancis AwaritefeAssistant CoachComputer programmer

The Nerds FC Season 2 strip was yellow with black shoulder and collar stripe, black shorts, socks and shoes. The goalie wore a grey shirt, grey shorts, socks and shoes. In a radio interview on station 2SSR however, Adam (the Goalie) commented that the grey shoes were due to his large feet, not the goalie strip; and that he would have been wearing those shoes regardless of the position he was given.

The training ground for season 2 is the Sydney Academy of Sport in Sydney, New South Wales.

The team song for series 2 is a rock version of the previous season's song. The song features Australian Idol finalist Chris Murphy playing guitar and singing some solos and an orchestral backing in the final section of the piece. In addition to this, the rap in the middle is changed to fit with the interests of the series 2 nerds.

In the first episode, the Nerds were taken to the Marconi Stallions ground to play the New South Wales Under 11's Elite Squad. The score was 6:0 to the Under 11's. In episode three the Nerds played the Nerds FC team from Season 1. The original Nerds team won 3:0. In episode four, the team was taken to Bluetongue Stadium to face a team of celebrities. The celebrities won 5:2. In the fifth episode, the Nerds faced off against a team of military servicemen. The score was 2:0 to the military.

The final match was played on 27 February 2007 with the nerds playing an "International All Star Team". The venue was Pittwater Park, Warriewood. The curtain raiser was a match between the Nerds FC Series 1 and the New South Wales Under 11's Elite Squad.