Bankstown City FC

This article is about the men's football team. For the women's football team, see Bankstown City FC (women's club).

Bankstown City Lions

Full name	Bankstown City Lions Football Club
Nickname(s)	Lions, Sydney Makedonia
Founded	1975 [1] 1988 (as Bankstown City Sydney Macedonia SC)
Ground	Jensen Oval Sefton, New South Wales
Capacity	8,000 [2]
President	Robert Mileski [3]
Manager	Sash Tirovski [4]
League	NSW League One
2023	10th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Bankstown City Lions Football Club, commonly referred to as Bankstown City Lions or simply Bankstown City, is an Australian football club from Bankstown, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the NSW League One Men's, playing their home games at Jensen Oval. ^[5]

History

In the 1940s and 1950s the original Bankstown club played at Bankstown Oval and then in the 1960s and 1970s, they played out of a ground at Stacey Street and Gartmore Ave, Bankstown, then known as Bankstown Soccer Centre and now Ruse Park.

In 1975, Yagoona Macedonia was created by Macedonian immigrants in Yagoona and competed in their first domestic season and their first recorded game by the Bankstown Soccer Federation was against Padstow. As the years passed, so did the players and new faces began to emerge in the ever-growing Macedonian-Australian Sydney-based club.

By 1988, the original Bankstown club had become insolvent and there was no elite team in the local area for several years. A local consortium purchased Maccabi Hakoah's licence to participate in the New South Wales Division 2. Bankstown once again had a team in the NSW State League. The new club had strong support from the local Bankstown and wider Macedonian community in Sydney, and named itself "Sydney Macedonia". Sydney Macedonia finished 3rd in 1988. ^[6]

In 1989, the club was Champion of Division 2, losing only 3 games all season and received promotion to New South Wales Division 1. ^[7] They finished 6th in their first year in Division 1. ^[8]

In 1992, Sydney Macedonia played its first game in the top tier of NSW Football since the early 1970s. The following year, the club finished 2nd, ^[9] however they went on to win the grand final, scoring a goal in the final minute against perennial rival Blacktown City, and were Premiers of 1993. This was the first ever time that Bankstown had its team as champions of the NSW State League.

1994 was the most successful season in the club's history. The team lost only 1 game in the season, winning 16 games in total. They scored 52 goals and conceded 9, ^[10] and went on to win the grand final and finished as back-to-back Champions. In addition, Sydney Macedonia went on to play Sydney Olympic in the 1994 Waratah Cup Final at Marconi Stadium. Sydney Macedonia defeated Sydney Olympic, an NSL team, 2–1 at a sold out Marconi Stadium. The club had ensured the treble: Premiers, Back to Back Champions, Cup Winners. This still is the most successful accomplishment for football in Bankstown. After the 1994 season, the club reverted to its current name.

In 2001, Bankstown City won the NSW Winter Super League and were promoted to the NSW Premier League. ^[11] The club's members financed an upgrade to their home ground at Jensen Oval, which saw the installation of TV Standard lighting and covered seating.

In 2004, Bankstown City finished in the top four earning participation in the finals series. They went on to win the NSWPL Grand Final against Belconnen in front of 7500 fans at Marconi Stadium, bringing back the Championship to Bankstown for the first time in 10 years.

In 2005 local junior, former Socceroo and current player Sasho Petrovski re-joined Bankstown when the NSL was disbanded. Bankstown City started the season strongly, and finished the season in first place on the ladder despite losing Petrovski, and Chad Gibson to the A-League midway through the season. Peter Tsekenis took on the role of Player/Coach, and Bankstown City were for the second time in a decade back-to-back Champions, defeating Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3–1 in the Grand Final in front of 8000 fans at Parramatta Stadium. ^[12]

The 2007 season the first grade finished in second position on the ladder. In the finals, Bankstown City were defeated by Blacktown City in the grand final 3–1. While the youth finished in 3rd spot of the club championship, their highest achievement since coming into the competition.

Bankstown City defeated Sydney Olympic in the Final of the Waratah Cup for the second time in 2008 and prevailing 3–1 winners. ^{[13] [14]}

They were relegated to the NSW Super League (Tier 2) in 2011. In 2013 they competed in a revamped National Premier Leagues NSW 2 competition and suffered a further relegation to the NPL NSW 3 Men's competition in 2017.

In 2022, National Premier Leagues NSW 3 competition rename as NSW League Two and as end of season 2022, Bankstown City finish tops 8 and earning promotion back in NSW League One in 2023, ^[15] due to a restructuring of Football NSW competitions. ^[16]

Supporters

Bankstown City FC generally draws support from Macedonian Australians, especially from the south-western suburbs of Sydney such as Bankstown and Yagoona

"The Lions Pride", is the name given to the actively vocal supporters group of the soccer club.

Rivalries

Sydney Olympic FC

"Tensions always high between these two staunch rivals". ^[17] This is due to the rivalry steming from the Macedonia naming dispute, but also from the fact that the two clubs are some of Sydney's largest and most successful and have often contested each other for silverware such as the 1994 Waratah Cup final where Bankstown came out on top.

Rockdale Ilinden FC

Bankstown City and Rockdale Ilinden are the two biggest Macedonian Clubs New South Wales but Bankstown were the dominant force in this matchup until the late 2010s with Bankstown suffering relegation and Rockdale rising to the top of Football NSW and becoming premiers. This rivalry is a friendly rivalry with fans often following both clubs and hoping they both succeed.

Various other important rivalries over the years included matches against Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC, Sydney United 58 FC, Canterbury Bankstown FC, and Bankstown United.

Current squad

First team squad

As of 30 June 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   AUS Stevan Savicic 3 DF   JPN Shun Maeta 4 DF   AUS Nikola Djordjevic 5 MF   AUS Thomas Stefanovski 6 FW   AUS Chris Payne 7 DF   AUS Jeffrey Issa 9 FW   MKD Jonathan Grozdanovski 10 MF   AUS Devante Clut 11 FW   AUS Rhett De Silva 12 DF   AUS Daniel Bakrdanikoski

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 MF   AUS James Mckenzie 14 MF   SCO Jamie Masson 15 DF   AUS Brandon Talevski 16 MF   MRI Jacob Hewett 18 MF   AUS Dimitri Kostopoulos 19 DF   AUS Luke Okuda 20 GK   AUS Jackson Jarnet 40 FW   AUS Mabior Garang 47 MF   AUS Toby Dance — MF   AUS Andrea Agamemnonos

U20's

Players to have been featured in a first-team matchday squad for Bankstown City in a competitive match

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 GK   AUS Noah Elomar 32 DF   AUS Zak Kayal 33 MF   AUS Sebastian Gorgievski 39 FW   AUS Andrej Poljcic

No. Pos. Nation Player 41 FW   AUS Vlado Suput 45 MF   AUS Daniel Kovacs 51 GK   AUS Anthony Mylonas 59 FW   AUS Nathan Cakovski

Management

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Sash Tirovski
Assistant head coaches	Carlo Musumeci
	Robert Di Meglio
Goalkeeper coach	Mario Farias
Under-20s head coach	Ratko Lovric

Seasons

Season	League										Waratah Cup	Australia Cup	Other	Top scorer
	Div	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	Finals				Player(s)	Goals
1988	NSW State League Second Division	26	20	4	2	67	27	44	2nd	RU
1989	NSW State League Second Division	26	21	2	3	72	17	44	1st↑	–
1990	NSWSL	16	9	2	5	25	22	20	6th	–	RU
1991	NSWSL [lower-alpha 1]	22	7	5+1	9	29	30	32	9th	–
1992	NSWSL [lower-alpha 1]	22	11	0+4	7	39	30	37	6th	–				Scott Gilbert	16
1993	NSWSL [lower-alpha 1]	26	16	4+2	4	53	25	58	2nd	W
1994	NSWSL [lower-alpha 1]	22	16	2+3	1	52	9	55	1st	W	W			Scott Gilbert	16
1995	NSWSL [lower-alpha 1]	26	9	9+0	8	55	45	41	6th	–	6R			Nikolce Joseski	17
1996	NSWSL1	13	6	2	5	28	20	20	5th	–	5R			Nikolce Joseski	21
	NSWSL2	13	6	3	4	25	24	21	5th
1997	NSWSL	20	7	6	7	32	30	27	5th	EF	RU
1998	NSWSL	22	11	4	7	48	34	37	7th	–
1999	NSWSL	22	13	1	8	43	31	40	5th	PF
2000	NSWSL	26	9	8	9	39	38	35	7th
2001	NSWSL	22	14	5	3	39	14	47	1st↑	RU
2001–02	NSWPL	22	10	5	7	51	48	35	7th	–
2002–03	NSWPL	22	6	5	11	28	45	23	10th					Aleksander Asanovic	7
2003–04	NSWPL	22	12	2	8	40	33	24	3rd	W				Matthew Borg	19
2004–05	NSWPL	22	13	6	3	38	28	45	1st	W
2006	NSWPL	18	10	3	5	35	28	33	2nd	PF
2007	NSWPL	18	8	7	3	29	20	31	2nd	RU	3R			Tallan Martin	11
2008	NSWPL	22	7	6	9	27	27	27	7th	–	W		W [lower-alpha 2]	Robert Mileski	5
2009	NSWPL	22	11	5	6	39	31	38	4th	QF	QF			Hussein Salameh	11
2010	NSWPL	22	7	5	10	37	41	26	8th	–	4R			Robert Mileski	11
2011	NSWPL	22	6	3	13	30	47	21	11th↓	–	4R			F. Graham - A. Hadid - H.Salameh -	5
2012	NSW Super League	22	15	3	4	53	29	48	2nd	SF	QF		W [lower-alpha 3]	Gosue Sama	21 [18]
2013	NPL NSW 2	22	7	5	10	30	40	26	10th	—	3R			Sasho Petrovski [19]	10
2014	NPL NSW 2	22	6	10	6	36	37	28	7th	–	4R	DNQ		Bradley Boardman	5
2015	NPL NSW 2	22	10	6	6	56	20	36	5th	RU	6R	DNQ		Chris Gomez	12
2016	NPL NSW 2	22	14	3	9	53	41	45	3rd	EF	5R	DNQ		Chris Gomez	12
2017	NPL NSW 2	26	5	1	20	32	81	16	14th↓	–	4R	DNQ		Huseyin Jasli	13
2018	NPL NSW 3	26	14	4	8	63	41	46	5th	EF	4R	DNQ		Ante Tomic	22
2019	NPL NSW 3	26	17	3	6	82	47	54	3rd	SF	4R	DNQ		Nikola Todoroski	32
2020	NPL NSW 3	11	8	0	3	30	24	24	2nd	RU	Not Held	Not Held		Ante Tomic	8
2021	NPL NSW 3	16	9	5	2	39	28	32	season cancelled		5R	DNQ		Nikola Todoroski	10
2022	NSW League Two	22	12	1	9	44	38	37	6th↑	–	5R	DNQ		Nikola Todoroski	16
2023	NSW League One	30	9	8	13	40	42	35	10th	Not held	3R	DNQ		Jonathan Grozdanovski	9
2024	NSW League One	29	17	5	7	53	35	56		Not held	4R	DNQ	W [lower-alpha 3]	Chris Payne

Notable players

Adam Biddle Alen Stajcic Brett Studman Chris Payne Chris Triantis Daniel Severino Dean Heffernan Devante Clut Greg Owens Jason Naidovski John Filan Jordan Simpson Lawrence Thomas Marko Rudan

Michael Beauchamp Nick Bosevski Pablo Cardozo Peter Triantis Peter Tsekenis Robert Mileski Sasho Petrovski Shane Cansdell-Sherriff Shane Webb Stephen Eagleton Steven Bozinovski Tayfun Devrimol Zachary Cairncross Zeljko Babic

André Gumprecht Bilal El Najjarine Hussein Akil Jamie Masson

Honours

League

• NSW First Division Championship (level 2)
  • Champions (4): 1993, 1994, 2003/2004, 2004/2005
  • Runners-up: 2007
• NSW First Division Premiership (level 2)
  • Champions (2): 1994, 2004/2005
  • Runners-up: 1993, 2006, 2007
• NSW Second Division Championship (level 3)
  • Runners-up: 1988, 2001, 2015
• NSW Second Division Premiership (level 3)
  • Champions (2): 1989, 2001
  • Runners-up: 1988, 2012
• NSW Third Division Championship (level 4)
  • Runners-up: 2020
• NSW Third Division Premiership (level 4)
  • Runners-up: 2020
  • Promoted: 2022

Cups

• Waratah Cup
  • Winners (2): 1994, 2008
  • Runners-up: 1990, 1997
• Johnny Warren Cup
  • Winners (1): 2008
• Maso Cup
  • Winners (2): 2012, 2024

Bankstown City Women

Further information: Bankstown City FC Women

2013 was a milestone year for the club with the introduction of Women's teams. The senior team were competitive from the start and secured promotion from the third tier Women's State League to the National Premier League 2 in 2015.

In 2017, Bankstown City were crowned Champions of the NPL2 Women's, defeating Sydney Olympic in the Grand Final and earning promotion to the NPL1 Women's for the first time in 2018.

The 2018 NPL 1 Women's season saw Bankstown in a relegation battle against Sutherland for the duration of the season, with the Club winning their last match, and finishing 10th out of 12 teams.

Notes

1. Draws went to penalty shoot-outs during the 1991–1995 seasons (2 points for win, 1 point for loss).
2. Johnny Warren Cup
3. Maso Cup

References

1. Soccerway. "Australia – Bankstown City Lions FC". Football NSW. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
2. Worldfootball. "Bankstown City Lions Profile". WorldFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
3. Bankstown City Lions FC. "Meet Rob Mileski, the Bankstown City Lions FC president. A man who truly bleeds red and black". Facebook. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
4. Bankstown City Lions FC. "HEAD COACH, Meet our Head Coach, Sash Tirovski". Facebook. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
5. Bankstown City Lions FC. "Home". Bankstown City FC website. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
6. ozfootball.net. "1988 NSW State League Second Division First Grade Final Table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
7. ozfootball.net. "1989 NSW State League Second Division First Grade Final Table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
8. ozfootball.net. "1990 NSW Division One final table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
9. ozfootball.net. "1993 NSW Super League final table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
10. ozfootball.net. "1994 NSW Super League final table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
11. ozfootball.net. "2001 NSWSF Super League First Grade Final Table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
12. Bankstown City Lions FC. "History". Bankstown City FC website. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
13. "Bankstown City Lions clinch 2008 Tiger Turf Cup". Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
14. NSW, Football. "Bankstown City 'fire up' for late finals push". Football NSW. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
15. NSW, Football (27 September 2022). "2023 Football NSW Declaration of Leagues Document" (PDF). Football NSW. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
16. NSW, Football. "Football NSW NPL Men's Competition Structure 2022" (PDF). Football NSW. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
17. NSW, Football (20 June 2008). "Bankstown City 'fire up' for late finals push". Football NSW. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
18. "ROBBIE MILESKI AND JEFFEREY ISSA CROWNED SILVER MEDAL WINNERS". Football NSW. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
19. "Football NSW Stats – FNSW Competitions". Football NSW. Retrieved 20 January 2024.