[7] Eager to repeat its success, the club recruited a number of Greek and local footballers, but they failed to make any impact.

[9] The club continued its successful run with the 1974 title,[7] second place in 1975,[10] and with star recruits Jimmy Mackay, Peter Ollerton and Duncan Cummings, capped off its final year in the Victorian State League by winning the 1976 championship.

[11] A mass exodus of its best players (Armstrong, Bourne, Mackay, Walker), saw the team slump to eleventh place in its inaugural year, but a recruiting drive by coach Dave Maclaren gave the club a respectable third in 1978.

[12] Some solid player signings such as (Oscar Crino, Doug Brown, Bobby Russell and John Yzendoorn) gave the club some respectability, but a combination of committee problems and a string of coaches, never allowed the team to settle and gain consistency.

The club powered past local rivals Heidelberg United in the Southern Division play-offs, and edged out Sydney Olympic in the Grand Final to win the 1984 national championship.

[4] After the departure of George Campbell to rivals Preston Makedonia in 1983/84, Branko Buljevic to Footscray Just in 1985 and others, South Melbourne could not repeat the success of the previous year.

[15] A major overhaul by coach Brian Garvey saw a number of new signings being made, including youngsters Paul Trimboli, David Healy, Kimon Taliadoros and Harry Micheil.

[4] The young team put in some memorable performances as the decade came to a close, finishing in the top half of the league table, but failed to win another championship.

[17] With Croatia dominating most of the proceedings, striker Joe Palatsides was put through on goal by Paul Trimboli who equalised with the last kick of the game.

[20][21] In 1993/94, the club finished second,[22] but failed yet again to progress to the Grand Final, courtesy of Melbourne Croatia and their nemesis, Adelaide City.

The club finished sixth on the ladder,[24] but was eliminated again in the Preliminary Final by the Melbourne Knights in a 3-2 thriller in the rain with a hattrick to Mark Viduka.

[27] Under new coach and former captain Ange Postecoglou, the club bounced back in season 1996/97, finishing third on the table[28] and eventually being eliminated by Sydney United in the Preliminary Final.

In the 1998 Grand Final, South Melbourne defeated league newcomer Carlton 2–1 with a controversial late chip by Boutsianis, sending the crowd into pandemonium.

[4] Grouped with Vasco Da Gama, Necaxa, and the treble-winning Manchester United in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship,[32] South Melbourne lost all three games.

They duly did so, with a 2–0 victory over Sydney Olympic, but put in a lacklustre performance in the Grand Final, with a late revival not being enough once more losing 2–1.

[9] Prior to the start of the 2001/2002 season, South Melbourne suffered a major blow as Petersen, along with several players including Boutsianis and Andy Vlahos left to join the Football Kingz.

A young squad under the management of Eddie Krncevic struggled, occupying the bottom rungs of the table halfway through the season, before the return in controversial circumstances of Boutsianis sparked a major revival, which saw the club finish fifth in the standings,[35] eventually being eliminated by eventual champions Olympic Sharks in the finals.

[37] Stuart Munro took over as coach for the 2003/04 season, with the club finishing fifth,[38] eventually being eliminated by a penalty deep into extra time against Adelaide United[39] in what turned out to be South's final game in the NSL.

With the combined factors of the demise of the NSL, and poor financial management, South Melbourne fell into voluntary administration and lost most of its squad.

The arrival of high-profile players including Carl Recchia, Peter Zois and Joe Keenan among others brought a renewed hope of on-field success to the supporters.

South Melbourne miraculously won its first-round match against Gombak United 2–1, and returned to Singapore in October for a two-legged playoff against Bangkok Glass at the Jalan Besar Stadium, but were knocked out by the eventual champions 6–4 on aggregate.

2012 saw the return of South Melbourne to their home ground, now known as Lakeside Stadium, with vastly improved amenities, a second grandstand and an international-standard athletics track, which was opened in December 2011 with a friendly against old foes Sydney Olympic.

In July 2013, Tsolakis resigned from his post after the board sacked five senior squad members without his consultation[43] and the club appointed former Sunshine George Cross, Melbourne Knights and Dandenong Thunder manager Chris Taylor on a two-year deal.

[48] On 30 March 2016, South Melbourne announced that it had secured a 40-year lease of Lakeside Stadium, with the club now "able to commence building its new administrational offices, museum, futsal court and bistro / social room in its exclusive areas.

[57] South Melbourne announcement officially play in National Second Division from October 2025 after submitting in Australian Professional League and club founder from eight teams on 20 November 2023.

In 1993, the Victorian Government made a successful bid to bring the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix to Melbourne with the agreement that the running track would be in Albert Park.

On October 23, 1994, the final match at Middle Park was played as South Melbourne hosted traditional rivals Heidelberg Alexander beating them 4–1 in front of a sold-out crowd.

South Melbourne played its final match under the old Lakeside Stadium's in April 2010, and construction work on the remodelled venue began in June 2010.

Under the remodelling, the old grandstand stand was refurbished to house the VIS and included a state of the art gym, swimming pool and clubrooms.

[64][65] Following this news, the club provisionally appointed Brazil and Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos as the team's head coach should they be granted an expansion slot.