Geelong SC

Geelong Soccer Club
Full name Geelong Soccer and Sports Club
Nickname(s) Geelong, Makedonia, Lions
Founded 1958
Ground Stead Park, Corio
Chairman Mick Nikolovski
Coach Dom Barba
League NPL 2
2018 1st
Website Club website

Geelong Soccer Club is a semi-professional sports club in Geelong, Australia founded in 1958. It currently competes in the Victorian State League Division 1 North-West, the third tier of football in Victoria, Australia. Geelong SC plays out of Stead Park in Corio, Victoria and is backed by the local Macedonian Australian community.

History

Early history

The Geelong Soccer and Sports Club was established in 1958 as a way of playing soccer and socialising.

Not long after the club was established, it began competing in the local Geelong and Ballarat Soccer League where it experienced much success. In the early seventies the club was promoted to the Victorian Provisional League and later gained promotion to the Victorian State League.

The most recent significance in the club’s history was achieved in 1994 when the club merged with the East Geelong Soccer and Sports Club.

Since season 1968 the club has won 8 premierships. The premierships were won in the following seasons: 1968 – 1969 – 1970 – 1976 – 1980 – 1988 – 1996 – 1998.

Recent years

Geelong had a strong second half of the season in 2015, but the poor first couple of months meant that the ambitious outfit had to settle for 6th place in State League 2 North-West.[1] In the 2015 FFA Cup preliminary rounds, Geelong beat Waverley Wanderers 5–0, Hoppers Crossing 3–1 and Westgate FC 3–1 to progress to the fifth qualifying round. There, they met National Premier Leagues Victoria powerhouse Hume City FC, going down 4–0 at John Ilhan Memorial Reserve.

Geelong went on a heavy recruiting spree to aid its push for promotion in season 2016. Players signed included former A-League player İsyan Erdogan, Victorian top-flight experienced Ross Harvey, Brodie Paterson, Craig Sweeney, Kingston City FC 2015 top goalscorer Sean McIlroy and former Chile youth goalkeeper Carlos Espinoza.[2][3] Later in the season, Geelong also signed former A-League player Nick Kalmar.[4] With the star-studded squad, Geelong won the State 2 North-West title and subsequent promotion to State League 1 North-West for 2017.[5] After the conclusion of the 2016 season, Steve Laurie left his position as head coach of the club.[6]

Geelong appointed former Avondale FC coach Fabrizio Soncin as the club's new senior head coach,[7] but the association ended after just one round of the 2017 season, with Soncin resigning "by mutual agreement with the board".[8] The newly-promoted side started the season with four consecutive wins, including a win over sister-club and Victorian football heavyweight Preston Lions in Round 1. The highlight of the season was undoubtedly the 4-0 Round 18 win over eventual league champions Altona Magic.[9] Geelong finished their first ever season in State League One in second place, eight points short of Magic and three clear of North Sunshine Eagles .[10] Star recruit Kuczynski was the side's top goalscorer with 18 goals.[11]

In 2018 Geelong achieved promotion to National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 by taking out the State League 1 championship.[12] At the conclusion of the season, championship-winning head coach Domenic Barba resigned from his position.

Current squad

First-team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Australia GK Daniel Collison
Australia GK Dylan Nikolovski
England DF Andrew Fitzgerald
Italy DF Kevin Martin
England DF Matthew Townley
New Zealand DF Aaron Spain
Spain MF Gonzalo Agüero
Australia MF İsyan Erdogan
England MF Scott Robson
England MF Matthew Thorne
No. Position Player
Australia MF Alex Stojanovski
Australia MF Alessandro Stefano
New Zealand MF Zane Sole
New Zealand MF Samuel Mason-Smith
Papua New Guinea FW Raymond Gunemba
England FW Daniel Hattersley
Australia FW Josh Talev
Australia FW Vedran Stojanovic
Papua New Guinea FW Harry Hillary-Jenkins
Japan FW Takanori Nishimoto

Divisional history

[13]

Affiliated clubs

Geelong SC has a sister-club relationship with Preston Lions FC.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://websites.sportstg.com/comp_info.cgi?a=LADDER&compID=340150&c=1-8746-0-0-0
  2. ↑ Reynolds, Ryan. "Key signings have Geelong soccer coach in buoyant mood". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Reynolds, Ryan. "Geelong lures former Adelaide United defender Izzy Erdogan to Stead Park". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "NPL miss out on former City man Kalmar". The Corner Flag. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  5. ↑ http://websites.sportstg.com/comp_info.cgi?a=LADDER&c=1-8746-125441-394742-16773685&pool=0
  6. ↑ "Parting Ways". Geelong SC. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  7. ↑ Reynolds, Ryan. "Geelong eyes NPL after snaring highly credentialed coach Fabrizio Soncin". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  8. ↑ http://geelongsc.com/soncin-departs-ways/
  9. ↑ http://websites.sportstg.com/round_info.cgi?action=MATCH&fixture=68731949&c=1-8746-125441-438245-16773685&pool=0
  10. ↑ http://websites.sportstg.com/comp_info.cgi?c=1-8746-0-438245-0&a=LADDER
  11. ↑ http://websites.sportstg.com/team_info.cgi?c=1-8746-125441-438245-16773685&a=STATS
  12. ↑ "GEELONG SC CHAMPIONS 2018 North/West State League 1". SBS Your Language (in Macedonian). Retrieved 2018-09-02.
  13. ↑ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Clubs/G/GeelongDH.html
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