Billy Vojtek

Last updated

Billy Vojtek
Personal information
Full name William Vojtek
Date of birth (1943-09-29) 29 September 1943 (age 79)
Place of birth Independent State of Croatia
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Essendon
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1962–1972 Melbourne Croatia
1973–1974 Sydney Croatia
1974–1976 Brunswick Juventus
1977–1978 Essendon Croatia
1979–1980 Green Gully
1981–1982 Western Suburbs
1983–1984 St Albans Saints
1984–1986 Essendon Royals
International career‡
1967–1973 Australia 44 (13)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 Aug 07
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 Aug 07

William Vojtek (born 29 September 1943) is a retired Australian footballer. He migrated to Australia with his family as a child in 1956 and started playing for Essendon Juniors before representing Victoria from the under 13s to under 18s. [1] Vojtek played the majority of his career with Croatia (Melbourne) and is now the coach of the Melbourne Knights U/16 squad located in Sunshine Melbourne. In 2010 Vojtek was presented with recognition of 50 years of service to the Melbourne Knights. [2] Vojtek was selected in the Melbourne Knights Team of the Century as the number 9, the team's other striker was Mark Viduka. [3]

Contents

Playing career

In 1962 he changed clubs to Croatia (Melbourne) who were playing in Division One North at that time, and he was the club's top scorer and won the best and fairest award. In 1966 he represented Victoria, and played a total of 34 games and scored 12 goals for them. In 1972 Croatia (Melbourne) was expelled from the Victoria State Federation, and Vojtek moved to Sydney Croatia for the 1973 season before returning to Melbourne with (Brunswick) Juventus in June 1974. [1] In 1975, he won the Bill Fleming Medal. [4] In 1977, he moved to the Essendon Lions, who became known as Essendon Croatia shortly after he joined. He again changed teams to Green Gully in 1979. His career was interrupted by an Achilles tendon injury and he had spells at Western Suburbs, St Albans Dinamo and Essendon Triestina to finish his playing career. [1] [5] In 1983 Vojtek and Branko Culina led St Albans to their first title, the Victorian State League Division 2. Vojtek was the league's top scorer that season with 16 goals. [6]

International career

Vojtek first represented Australia in 1967 as part of the squad that undertook an Asian tour. Between 1976 and 1971 Vojtek only missed one game for the national team. [1] He was the only Croatian in the Australian team at the time. [2]

He also represented Australia on 44 occasions. [7] He was included in the preliminary 40 man squad for the 1974 World Cup but was omitted from the final 22 man squad with suggestions it was because of differences with the coach Rale Rasic. Vojtek said that "Rasic told me I would definitely be in the World Cup squad. I had nightmares for days, you dream about it all your life. I was so close, yet so far away".

He is only recognised as playing 29 FIFA matches for Australia and scoring 6 goals. [5]

Related Research Articles

The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league system, serving jointly as the second tier within the overall Australian pyramid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Knights FC</span> Australian semi-professional soccer club

Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league system under the A-League. It is one of the most successful soccer clubs in Australia, being a two-time championship and four-time premiership winner in the now defunct National Soccer League (NSL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Albans Saints SC</span> Football club

St Albans Saints Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in St Albans, Victoria. Established by local Croatian Australians as Dinamo, the club is a regular participant in the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament. The club is well known for having produced many great players over the years, including many that have gone on to play for its sister club the Melbourne Knights. Dinamo won promotion to the National Premier League (NPL) Victoria for the 2017 season but, after finishing second last, was relegated to the NPL 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Pondeljak</span> Australian soccer player

Tomislav "Tom" Pondeljak is a retired Australian football (soccer) player who last played for Victorian Premier League side St Albans Saints SC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Allsopp</span> Australian soccer player

Daniel Lee Allsopp is an Australian former soccer player who played as a striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Springs George Cross FC</span> Australian football club

Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in State League Division 1, the fourth tier of football in Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Geelong Warriors FC</span> Football club

North Geelong Warriors Football Club, formerly known as North Geelong Croatia, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club from the regional Victorian city of Geelong. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, Australia's second division in the country's league system and top division in Victoria. The club was founded in 1967 by a large contingent of ethnic Croatians in the city of Geelong. The Warriors' home base is Elcho Park in the northern Geelong suburb of Lara.

James Rooney is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger. Born in Scotland, he represented the Australia national team at international level and was member of the squad at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

Footscray Jugoslav United Soccer Team, commonly referred to as Footscray JUST or simply JUST, was an association football club from Melbourne, Australia. The club was established by Yugoslav migrants in 1950, and was a founding member of the National Soccer League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Davidson (Australian soccer)</span> Australian soccer player

Alan Edward Davidson is an Australian former association football player. His father is Australian and his mother is Japanese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branko Culina</span>

Branko Culina is a association football coach and former player. He previously managed Sydney FC and the Newcastle Jets in the A-League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dandenong City SC</span> Football club

Dandenong City Soccer Club, formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian soccer club based in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria. The club's home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the suburb of Endeavour Hills. They compete in the NPL Victoria, which is the top tier of football in Victoria, having been promoted for the first time for the 2019 season.

Melbourne Knights FC is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine North. It was founded in 1953, and has had extensive success in its history, with the club's peak coming in the mid-1990s when it was crowned Australian champions, winning back-to-back National Soccer League titles. .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Zahra</span>

Adrian Zahra is an Australian professional footballer who plays for National Premier League club Heidelberg United.

The 2011 Victorian Premier League was the ninety-ninth season of the Victorian Premier League since the first season in 1909. The home and away season began 15 February 2011 and concluded 7 August 2011. Green Gully were the defending champions.

Christopher Cristaldo Zambrini is a Paraguayan-born Australian footballer who currently plays as a forward for Moreland City.

Dave Walsh was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Gordon Fode is a former Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Stretch</span> Australian rules footballer

Billy Stretch is a former professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, Stretch plays predominantly on the wing. Stretch was recognised as a talented footballer from a young age when he represented and captained South Australia at under 14 level, and continued to represent the state until under 18 level. His accolades as a junior include six best and fairest awards, a league best player award, national representation and All-Australian selection. His father, Steven Stretch, is a former player for the Melbourne Football Club and Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist, which saw Billy recruited by the Melbourne Football Club under the father–son rule in the 2014 AFL draft and he made his AFL debut during the 2015 season.

Daniel Visevic is an Australian footballer who plays as a midfielder.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Billy Vojtek - Football Victoria Hall of Fame Nomination" (PDF). Football Federation Victoria. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Billy Vojtek – an icon of Melbourne Croatia celebrates 50 years - Melbourne Knights FC". Melbourne Knights FC. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Team of the Century - Melbourne Knights FC". Melbourne Knights FC. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Media Panels Victorian Premier League Player of the Year". www.ozfootball.net. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  5. 1 2 Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Billy Vojtek". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "About us". St Albans Saints. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  7. ↑ OzFootball
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.