Gippsland Falcons SC

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Gippsland Falcons
Gippsland falcons.jpg
Full nameGippsland Falcons
Soccer Club
Nickname(s)Falcons
Founded1961
Dissolved2001
Ground Mobil Park, Morwell
Capacity12,000
ChairmanPeter Quirk
Manager Jeff Hopkins
League National Soccer League
NSL 1994-19954th

Gippsland Falcons SC were an Australian soccer team based in Morwell, Australia. It was the sole rural Victorian entrant in the National Soccer League (NSL). Gippsland were formerly known as Morwell Falcons and latterly known for a short time as Eastern Pride.

Association football Team field sport

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Victoria (Australia) State in Australia

Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state and its second-most populous state overall, making it the most densely populated state overall. Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea, to the east, and South Australia to the west.

The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its demise in 2004, when it was succeeded by the A-League competition run by Football Federation Australia, the successor to the Australian Soccer Association.

Contents

History

The club was formed in 1961 by Italian migrants as the Italian Australian Social Club of Gippsland (IASCO), and initially played in the La Trobe soccer league. [1] In 1964, the club changed its name to Morwell Falcons as a result of a sponsorship arrangement with the Ford Motor Company. [2] Morwell joined the wider ranks of the Victorian leagues in 1974, and quickly rose up the divisions reaching the Victorian State League in 1982, and winning the title in 1984. This allowed them to apply for the NSL's Southern Conference, but the club declined the offer. [1] In 1989 Morwell won its second Victorian championship, but this time failed to progress to the top flight after losing 5–2 on aggregate in a two legged tie against South Australian champion West Adelaide. [1]

Ford Motor Company American automobile manufacturer

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker that has its main headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer Troller, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom and a 32% stake in Jiangling Motors. It also has joint-ventures in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Russia. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family; they have minority ownership but the majority of the voting power.

The club eventually joined the NSL's ranks in season 1992/93 as a replacement for Preston, [1] but their stay was quite unsuccessful, making the finals only once in season 1994/95 after finishing fourth. The club thereafter always found itself near the bottom of the table, and late in season 2000/01 the club folded. [3]

Eastern Pride emblem EasternPridelogo.png
Eastern Pride emblem

While the club officially disbanded in 2001, Falcons 2000 were created as an offshoot club, and currently compete in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League. [4]

The Victorian regional leagues are the eighth level of soccer in Victoria, Australia, and the ninth nationally. The league consists of eight separate regional senior leagues and is administered by the Football Federation Victoria.

Honours

The Dockerty Cup is an annual association football knock-out competition open to all Victorian clubs across the Victorian football league system. The tournament is named after the former president of Football Federation Victoria Harry Dockerty, and since 2014 is also a qualifying competition for the FFA Cup.

Former coaches

Ferenc "Frank" Arok is a retired Serbian/Australian association football player and coach of Hungarian descent.

Stuart David Munro is a Scottish former professional football player, who is best known for his time with Rangers.

Jeffrey Hopkins is a former Welsh international football defender and current Melbourne Victory Women head coach, who most notably played club football for Fulham and Reading in the Football League.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Howe, Andrew. "History of Gippsland Falcons". OzFootball. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  2. ↑ Hay, Roy (4 May 2009). "Pride of the Valley - The Rise And Fall Of Morwell Falcons" (PDF). Goal! Weekly. p. 11. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "NSL Clubs – Gippsland Falcons". OzFootball. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Hassett, Sebastian (1 December 2011). "When the Falcons took flight, a region soared with them - but crash was coming". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
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