Canberra Croatia FC

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Canberra Croatia FC
Canberra FC.png
Full nameCanberra Croatia Football Club
Nickname(s)Croatia, Deakin
Founded1958;66 years ago (1958)
Ground Deakin Stadium
Capacity1,500
Coordinates 35°18′50″S149°06′20″E / 35.31389°S 149.10556°E / -35.31389; 149.10556
ChairmanTony Pratezina
ManagerDean Ugrinic
League NPL Capital Football
2023 4th of 8
(Champions)
Website Club website
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Canberra Croatia Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Deakin in the south of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded in 1958. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Capital Football.

Contents

Since 1960, Canberra Croatia has always competed in the top level of ACT soccer either side of a brief stint in the top level of NSW soccer between 1988 and 1994. They are the most successful soccer club in ACT history with 23 league premierships and 18 finals championships and ACT Federation Cups collected.

History

Establishment and early years

Canberra FC was established in 1958 by the local Canberran Croatian community as Croatia Soccer Club but was simply known as Croatia. The club commenced competitive play and entered the ACT second division in 1959. After spending one season in the second division, Croatia SC was promoted to the first division. [1]

In 1960 the newly formed ACT Soccer Association, working under the title of Soccer Canberra, introduced new club naming regulations that prohibited names with ethnic ties. Croatia SC changed its name to Soccer Club HOPE in accordance to the new regulations. The name however was chosen to reflect the acronym of the Croatian Liberation Movement, who are known as HOP. [2]

SC HOPE won its first title in 1962, beating Kosciusko to the league Premiership crown. HOPE backed up this first title up with success in the finals series as the club added the Championship title to its honours list with a 7–3 victory over Kosciusko in the grand final. [3] HOPE additionally added the 1962 ACT Federations Cup and NSW Robertson Cup to complete a quadruple title haul. The club added a further two premierships and a championship to its cabinet between 1963 and 1966 as HOPE and Juventus battled it out in the league and finals for titles.

In 1967 the club changed its name back to Croatia with a slightly different full name of Croatia Deakin Soccer Club to reflect the suburb the club is from and based. Croatia finished the 1967 season as league runner-up to Juventus but claimed a 2–1 victory in the grand final over Cooma United. [4]

17 August 1969, Croatia Deakin claimed its fourth league title of its first full decade in ACT soccer and twelfth title overall (4 Premierships & Championships, 2 Federation Cups, 1 ACT Ampol Cup and 1 NSW Robertson Cup). Then on 11 November 1969, to complete the decade, Croatia Deakin opened its clubrooms, restaurants and bars on Grose St Deakin, across the road from the soccer ground. This new clubhouse and soccer facilities was the first of its kind in Canberra. [5]

70s and 80s

The 1970s and 80s saw the club continue accomplishment on the field with more premiership and trophy successes. The highlight of these successes was the three consecutive undefeated seasons between 1986 and 1988 when Deakin registered a total 42 wins, 6 draws, 0 losses, 174 goals for and 27 goals against. [6] [7] [8]

In 1975, Croatia Deakin competed in the inaugural full Croatian Australian Tournament (Croatian Cup). The tournament was established to provide Australian and New Zealand soccer clubs with Croatian heritage a cup competition to compete for following Melbourne Croatia's expulsion from the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1974. Sydney Croatia hosted the tournament with Croatia Deakin defeating the hosts 3–1 in the tournament final. [9]

In 1989, Croatia Deakin changed its name to Canberra Croatia and replaced Canberra City Griffins in the NSW Division One (highest league in NSW). Canberra Croatia finished its first season in NSW as runner-up to Melita Eagles [10] and lost the grand final 2–0 to the same opposition.

90s and 2000s

Canberra Croatia competed in the top division of NSW until 1995 with the club qualifying for finals five out of six seasons. Croatia finished league runner-up in 1990 and lost the grand final in 1990 and 91 to Wollongong Macedonia and Blacktown City respectively. The club also changed its official name twice during this period to Canberra Metro (91–92) and Canberra Deakin in 1993. [11] [12]

In 1995 the club returned to ACT soccer and re-joined the ACT top division, by now renamed the ACT Premier League. Deakin marked its return to ACT soccer by winning the ACT Premier League with a fourteen-point advantage over second placed Shamrock Rovers and by defeating Juventus 3–2 in the grand final. [13]

In 2006, Canberra Deakin changed its name to Canberra FC before the start of the 2006 ACT Premier League season. [14]

24 June 2007 – 30 June 2007, Canberra FC participated in the inaugural ‘Croatian World Club Championship’ for Croatian diaspora in Zagreb, Croatia alongside other teams of Croatian heritage from around the world including Canada, USA, Germany, France and Austria. Canberra FC was a late entrant into the tournament after Sydney United had to pull out for financial and organisational reasons. The tournament was broken into two groups with the top teams playing off in the final and the second placed teams playing off for bronze. CFC topped Group B after a 5–1 victory over French club AS Croatia Villefranche, a 2–2 draw with SD Croatia Berlin and a 3–1 victory over HNK Zrinski Chicago. Canberra FC played Toronto Croatia in the tournament final and took a first half lead before a second half comeback by the Canadian club saw Canberra FC succumb to a final 1–3 defeat and claim silver in the tournament.

Canberra FC returned to compete in the Croatian World Club Championship in 2011 and 2015. Canberra FC finished with the silver, again, in 2011 with a 0–5 loss, again, to Toronto Croatia in the final. In 2015 Canberra FC finished fourth in the tournament with the side defeated 0–3 once more by Toronto Croatia in the bronze play-off. [15] [16] [17]

NPL era until 2023

Canberra FC was a founding member of the NPL ACT in 2013 following Football Federation Australia’s national re-structure of soccer leagues in Australia. [18] Canberra FC finished its first NPL season as league premiers, seven points ahead of second placed Belconnen United. Deakin won the major semi-final against the same opposition 4–0 before succumbing 0–2 in extra time to Canberra Olympic at McKellar Park in the grand final. [19]

During the first four seasons of the NPL, Canberra FC won two league titles in 2013 and 2015 and lost four grand finals in a row between 2013 and 2016. [20] [21]

23 March 2017, it was reported that Canberra FC had joined the recently formed Australian Association of Football Clubs. [22] This Association was set-up to represent National Premier League clubs interests at local, state and national levels. [23]

In 2018, Canberra FC won the ACT treble by claiming the League premiership, finals championship and the Federation Cup titles. The head coach, Paul Macor, stood down from his position after just one season, being replaced by Luka Udjur as head coach for the 2019 season. [24]

Club identity

Colours and badge

The club colours are red, white and blue reflecting the club's Croatian heritage. The badge depicts the flagpole of Parliament House, a symbol of Canberra, over red and white check reflecting the Coat of arms of Croatia.

Club name changes

The club was founded in 1958 as Croatia Soccer Club by local Croatian Australians, later being renamed HOPE, Croatia Deakin, Canberra Croatia, Canberra Metro, Canberra Deakin, Canberra FC before returning to the name Canberra Croatia after the abolition of the National Club Identity Policy allowing teams to return to ethnic names. [25]

Club Name Changes
NameDates
Croatia Soccer Club1958–1959
HOPE1960–1966
Croatia Deakin1967–1988
Canberra Croatia1989–1990
Canberra Metro1991–1992
Canberra Deakin1993–2005
Canberra FC2006–2019
Canberra Croatia2020–present

Home ground and facilities

Deakin Stadium (formerly Deakin Football Centre) is the home stadium of Canberra Croatia. It is owned by Croatia Deakin Football Club, who also own Canberra Croatia. The suburban ground went through a major reconstruction between 2005 and 2008 and was officially re-opened in 2008. The ground's official capacity is 1,500 [26] but its record attendance is 2,782 (2016 NPL Grand Final between Canberra Croatia and Canberra Olympic). [27]

Players

Current squad

As of 9 June 2024 [28]

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Sam Brown
2 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Marko Vrkic
4 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Mathew Grbesa
6 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ryan Keir
7 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS David Seseljia
21 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Michael Piccolo
9 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jason Ugrinic
14 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Daniel Subasic
3 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Parris Francois
11Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Atiya Waraga
8 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Daniel Colbertaldo
22 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Daniel Barac
10 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Nicholas Pratežina

Notable former players

Below is a list of players who have represented Canberra FC at senior or junior level and who have at least one senior or junior international cap for a FIFA sanctioned national team or at least one club cap for a top division national league.

Canberra FC Notable Former Players
NameNational/Club TeamInt Caps (G)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Buljan Australia national under-23 football team
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Andrew Barisic Gold Coast United (A-League)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kofi Danning Australia national under-23 football team5 (1)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stan Dukic Canberra Cosmos (NSL)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ivan Gruicic Canberra City (NSL)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Velimir Kupresak Sydney United (NSL)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ante Juric Australian national football team 4 (1)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steven Lustica Australia national under-20 football team 21 (3)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brad Maloney Australian national football team6 (2)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ante Milicic Australian national football team6 (5)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Andy Rakic Sydney United (NSL)
Flag of Scotland.svg Tom Sermanni Marconi Stallions (NSL)
Flag of Croatia.svg Josip Simunic Croatia national football team 105 (3)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Zeljko Susa Australia national under-23 football team
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Goran Talevski Hajduk Split (Croatian First Football League)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nikolai Topor-Stanley Australian national football team4 (0)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Walter Valeri APIA Leichhardt Tigers (NSL)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ivan Zelic Australia national under-23 football team
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ned Zelic Australian national football team34 (3)

Honours

As of 9 December 2017 [29]

ACT

NSW

Others

Head-to-head records

NPL Teams

OpponentPlayedWonDrawnLostWin %
Belconnen United12683133065.9
Canberra Olympic FC14562325142.8
Gungahlin United11646284239.7
Monaro Panthers7645121959.2
O'Connor Knights650183.3
Tigers FC5632101457.1
Tuggeranong United7954141168.4
West Canberra Wanderers844863057.1

Non NPL Teams

OpponentPlayedWonDrawnLostWin %
ANU FC36324094.1
Canberra City FC725251674.8
Riverina Rhinos651090.9

Season-by-season results

The below table is updated with the statistics and final results for Canberra FC following the conclusion of each National Premier League Capital Football season.

ChampionsRunners-upThird Place
Canberra FC Season-by-Season Results
Season National Premier League ACT NPL
Finals
Fed
Cup
FFA
Cup
Top scorer
GPWDLGFGAGDPTSLeagueFinalsNameGoals
1988141220356+2926PremiersChampions
20041812333916+2939PremiersChampionsW
20051815216217+4747PremiersChampionsQF
2006167634130+11273rdSemi-finalW
20071612314216+2639PremiersChampionsW
20081615015010+4045PremiersRunner-upRU
20091614206010+5044PremiersChampionsW
20101812515715+4241PremiersChampionsW
20111614027720+5742PremiersChampionsW
20122110655232+20363rdPreliminary FinalW
2013 2318058622+6454PremiersRunner-upQFSFAlex Oloriegbe21
2014 168175128+23254thRunner-upRUAlex Oloriegbe14
2015 1611325327+2636PremiersRunner-upQF2RThomas James19
2016 1810264431+13324thRunner-upQFThomas James18
2017 189454521+24315thSemi-finalQFSFNikolaos Kalfas7
2018 1612224613+3338PremiersChampionsQFWR32Thomas James19
2019 168263927+12264thSemi-finalRUDaniel Barac11
2020 7520179+817PremiersChampionsRUKista Aimilio4
2021 1711063722+15332ndSFDaniel Barac9

See also

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