Cheer, cheer the red, white and black. Santa comes to the Swannies' Christmas Party/B&F in Saigon on 3 Dec.

National Prez, Phil Johns wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Go you Swannies – especially at the upcoming cricket, golf and inaugural celebration soiree in Melbourne.

Dear Swannies, Sponsors and Supporters

Being Christmas Eve, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

2011 has been a monster year for this Club. On the field, it was our best to date. Off the field, we hosted plenty of great fun events. We also responded appropriately to several tragedies. Ross, Ah you’ve done it again, McRae, continued to weave his graphic magic on the canvas and designed our new club logo. Inevitably, there were lots of players during the year who made the decision to move on from Vietnam.

Following Mark “Willy” William’s departure in Hanoi, Dan Hopkins took over the Hanoi Presidency and is doing a magnificent job. In Saigon, we have just farewelled Dez Limbrick and there is a great sense of anticipation about his successor, Sam Conroy. Nominations for Sam’s 2012 Committee in Saigon close today and already some very high profile and high calibre candidates have raised their hands.

As the end of 2011 approaches, I would like to thank all of our sponsors again. I would also like to make special mention of Linfox Logistics. Unfortunately, due to a change in strategy, Linfox will not be renewing its Signature Sponsorship of the Swannies next year. Linfox has been a terrific sponsor of the Swannies since 2007 when we became a national Club. We have greatly valued Linfox’s generous support.

Linfox’s departure has, of course, created an opportunity. I am therefore delighted to announce that Pest Free will take over the title of Signature Sponsor of the Vietnam Swans in 2012. Pest Free has been an absolutely fantastic supporter of the Swannies. Pest Free has been a major sponsor since 2007 and provided additional support at critical times. In 2008, for example, we had an oval lined up for a match against the Royal Australian Navy in Saigon. Alas, we didn’t have any AFL goal posts – until Pest Free stepped in and saved the day with a set of international standard goal posts that we still use today.

Earlier this year, Pest Free played a key role in securing ex AFL star, Richard “Ossie” Osborne in coming out to our 2^nd Annual ANZAC Friendship Match.

Not surprisingly, expectations at the Club for 2012 are high. And, our season will start with a rush on 7 January in Saigon when the Swannies host a match against the Southern Dragons in the Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match. The Southern Dragons are based in Melbourne and comprise numerous players of Vietnamese origin.

But that’s 2012! Between now and then, we still have Christmas, the Swannies’ Annual Cricket and Golf Days in Melbourne (Willy, Dez and 19 others, so far, will be there) together with the Inaugural Swannies’ Celebration Soiree on 28 and 29 December. See attached poster for full details. If you would like to come to any of these events, please email me or call me on my Australian number, +61 (0) 415 820 683.

Thank you very much again to everyone who helped to make 2011 such a success for the Swannies. We really lifted it up a notch or two this year and had great fun doing it.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year – and Go you Swannies!!