Cafe Salvo barista Laura Petersen says people will have a ball watching the World Cup live on the Noble Park cafe’s new plasma television. The television replaced one stolen two weeks ago.
By Shaun Inguanzo
NOBLE PARK’S soccer-mad Salvation Army minister almost had his World Cup dream destroyed by thieves who swiped his plasma television two weeks out from the big event.
Salvation Army captain and minister, Brendon Robertson, 37, said he was hurt by the theft, but an insurance claim had replaced the television just in time to allow his World Cup dream to continue.
The 2006 World Cup in Germany kicks off tomorrow (Friday 9 June) and Mr Robertson, a qualified barista, says he will keep Cafe Salvo, run by the Salvation Army, open all night when there are live matches shown on television.
“We’ll basically be open from 10pm to 7am daily while the World Cup is on,” he said.
“The matches in Germany tend to be shown at 10.30pm, 1.30am and 4.30am here.
“That’s 25 nights out of the month.”
Mr Robertson will be on hand to serve a variety of caffeinated beverages to help keep the crowd on its toes, but he hopes a majority of the buzz will come from the excitement of the World Cup.
“Sometimes I might be there by myself,” he laughed.
“I am a fan of sport and I love sport, so maybe I jumped on the World Cup bandwagon, but I have followed soccer for a little while now.
“I am a Liverpool (English Premier League) man.”
And residents who rock-up to the round-the-clock World Cup coverage at the Buckley Street cafe will be contributing to the local community with every coffee or cafe product purchased.
“The whole idea of the cafe is the money raised will support the local work done by the Salvation Army within the community,” Mr Robertson said.
The local Salvation Army captain can attest to not only being the local minister, but also a qualified barista after he and his shop colleague Laura Petersen completed a barista TAFE course before opening the cafe this January.
Mr Robertson said the cafe would eventually become a temporary Salvation Army church, too, when local membership increased, before it moved its church services to a larger facility in the future.
But for World Cup fans, the venue is expected to become a soccer haven, and Mr Robertson has issued an open invitation to the community for the late night soccer sessions.
If coffee is not to your liking, he said the cafe offered a wide selection of other treats.
“We do sandwiches, Turkish rolls, focaccias, cakes, hot chocolates, milkshakes and so forth, it is a very relaxed atmosphere.”
Cafe Salvo is located at 14 to 16 Buckley Street, Noble Park, next to the Paddy O’Donoghue Centre.
Call the cafe on 9547 8995 for more information.
