Manly United FC

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Manly United
Manly United's crest.jpg
Full nameManly United Football Club
Nickname(s)Manly
Founded2004 [1]
Ground Cromer Park
Capacity5,000
ChairmanRay Fanning
Coach Patrick Zwaanswijk
League NPL NSW
2024 9th of 16
Website http://www.manlyunitedfc.com.au/

Manly United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW and their home ground is Cromer Park, in the suburb of Dee Why, approximately 15 minutes away from Manly.

Contents

Its main grandstand is named after former Socceroo captain Lucas Neill, who played for the club as a junior before playing overseas at Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United.

Manly United Football Club Ltd. was officially formed in 2004 by the Manly Warringah Soccer Association. [1] However, there have been many representative teams competing for the association prior to this date. Notably, the previous club was called Manly Warringah Dolphins, that formed from the merger of Manly-North Shore United and Warringah Freshwater at the close of the 1991 NSW Division 1 season for the start of the upcoming 1992 NSW Super League season. [2]

History

Neerlandia / Manly Warringah

A Dutch club called Neerlandia competed in the 1959 Sydney Federation Division Two, won the premiership and gained entry into the Sydney Federation Division One for 1960. [3]

The club changed its name to Manly Warringah from 1960. The side had spent 14 seasons throughout the New South Wales top flight in 1960, 1968, and from 1976 to 1987 before being relegated to Division Two. With the club struggling, it merged with North Shore United in 1991. [4] North Shore United itself was a merger of two clubs Ku-Ring-Gai and North Sydney-Artarmon (for the 1989 season). [5] The Manly-North Shore United merger dissolved after the 1991 NSW Division One season, with Manly merging with Warringah Freshwater. [2] North Shore United would continue to send representative teams to tournaments as Ku-Ring-Gai Districts.

Warringah Freshwater

Warringah Narrabeen (and from 1986 Warringah Freshwater) was a club that had competed throughout the early 1980s in NSW Division Two, even winning the title in 1983. [6] With promotion in 1984 to NSW Division One, the club maintained mid-lower half of the table across their eight-year sojourn in the top flight. Their highest place finish was 5th, achieved in 1991 before merging with Manly for the newly revamped "NSW Super League" in 1992.

Manly Warringah Dolphins

The merger of Manly-North Shore United and Warringah Freshwater created the Manly Warringah Dolphins at the close of the 1991 NSW Division 1 season for the start of the upcoming NSW Super League season. [2] The club had gained promotion into the NSW Premier League for the start of the 2004–05 season. At the time, the club was operating solely as a representative branch for the Manly Warringah Soccer Association (MWSA). However, it was a requirement from Soccer NSW that all Federation Clubs be a separate incorporated body and so Manly United Football Club Ltd. was formed. [1]

Manly United (2004–present)

Manly United have competed in the NSW Tier 1 since 2004–05 when they were elevated to the NSW Premier League after winning the Super League Division. Manly United is considered an important side in the NSWPL, as it is based on a geographical area, rather than founded by a single ethnic group like some other ex-NSL clubs.

The original Logo of the renamed Manly United Football Club in 2004 was a collective of an Osprey sea bird, a Football & a Dolphin joined as one, these three icons represent the local MWFA Association (Osprey), a Football & Manly Warringah Dolphins (Dolphin). The Club again changed its logo in 2016 to reflect the evolution of Manly United Football Club and its ownership and association with Manly Warringah Football Association. [7]

The club is closely associated with the Manly Warringah Football Association (MWFA), the largest community Football Association in Australia with more than 20,000 players.

Divisional History

Manly Warringah Dolphins

Lucas Neill Scholarship and Medal

Between 2006 and 2012 ex-Manly junior Lucas Neill helped provide opportunities for up and coming footballers from his junior club. [8] Each year the scholarship was awarded to a different young player from Manly to trial in Europe.

YearRecipient
2006 Chris Payne
2007Simon Beer
2008 Joey Gibbs
2009Leigh Egger
2010Tonu Liiband
2011Jack Green
2012Thomas Manos

Due to a number of factors including difficulty getting clubs in Europe to provide the opportunity for the players, the scheme was discontinued as Lucas and his advisors looked for a different way to reward the junior players from his junior club.

In 2014 the scholarship was re-branded the Lucas Neill Medal and was extended to include ALL junior members of the club, it was determined that there should be two medals awarded each year, in recognition of the advancements in ladies football. The medal is made from Sterling silver and is laser engraved on the front with a photograph of Lucas when he first became captain of Australia in 2007.

YearMale RecipientFemale Recipient
2014 Jake Hollman Remy Siemsen
2015Tom Fay Remy Siemsen
2016Ben KoopRuby Whitaker
2017 Harry McCarthy Holly Newman
2018Jordan Devries Kahli Johnson
2019Yannis Frerck Kahli Johnson
2020Eric SequeiraHailey Chappelow
2021Toby BakewellValentina Bradley
2022Jasper ChipmanAlice Thompson
2023Jasper SwadlingSienna Dale
2024Will McCreeryMacKenzie Jeffs

Current Men's squad

As of February 2025 [9]

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Levi Kaye
2 DF Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Aaron O'Driscoll
3 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Matthew O’Donoghue
4 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jesse Piriz
5 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Thomas Fay
6 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Bilal Belkadi
7 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Peter Kekeris
8 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Stefano Rosello
9 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ben Koop
10 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Harry McCarthy
12 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Rocco Pelle
No.Pos.NationPlayer
13 FW Flag of Japan.svg  JPN Taiga Kawano
14 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Maxwell Pengelly
15 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Max Martinello
16 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ryan Devine
17 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Farah Koko
18 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jay Coates
19 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Alen Aganovic
21 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Anthony Carreras
23 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Darcy Burgess
26 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Harry Van Der Saag

Men's Seasons

SeasonLeague Waratah Cup FFA Cup Top scorer
DivPldWDLGFGAPtsPosFinalsPlayer(s)Goals
2004–05 NSW Premier League 22778332928 11th 4R
2006 NSW Premier League 18846312428 5th 4R
2007 NSW Premier League 18846262128 4th PFRU
2008 NSW Premier League 221237422139 4th SF4R
2009 NSW Premier League 221075332237 5th SFRU
2010 NSW Premier League 227411243125 9th QF
2011 NSW Premier League 22877333731 6th W
2012 NSW Premier League 226511263323 10th 3R
2013 NPL NSW 22688343526 8th 4R
2014 NPL NSW 227312314624 10th RU R32
2015 NPL NSW 228311393827 8th 6R
2016 NPL NSW 221273582643 3rd SF RU R32
2017 NPL NSW 221336473642 4th W 4R
2018 NPL NSW 22778333228 8th 5R
2019 NPL NSW 227510253426 9th SF R16
2020 NPL NSW 11335141812 8th cancelled
  = Premiers (premiership positions) or Champions (finals series)
  = Runners-up (premiership or finals series)
PR = Preliminary Round
1R, 2R, 3R...7R = 1st Round, 2nd Round, 3rd Round...7th Round
R32 = Round of 32
R16 = Round of 16
QF = Quarter-final
SF = Semi-final
EF = Elimination Final
PF = Preliminary Final
PO = Playoff Final

Men's Honours

Men's Club Champions (1): 2016
Champions (1): 2017
Runners Up (1): 2022
Champions (1): 2011
Runners-up (4): 2007, 2009, 2014, 2016

Manly Warringah Dolphins (1992–2004)

Premiers (1): 1995
Runners-Up (1): 1992
Champions (1): 1995,
Runners-Up (0):
Premiers (1): 2004
Runners-Up (1): 2002
Champions (1): 2001
Runners-Up (2): 1994, 2004

References

  1. 1 2 3 Keith Pesler. MWFA Annual Report and Financial Statement 2005 (PDF) (Report). p. 26. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "1991 NSW Division 1 Fixtures". www.socceraust.co.uk.
  3. 1959 Federation Division Two
  4. 1991 NSW Div 1 Fixtures
  5. 1988 NSW Div 1 Fixtures
  6. 1983 Division 2 Fixtures
  7. "Manly United Unveil New Crest". 19 October 2016.
  8. "The Lucas Neill Scholarship | Lucas Neill". Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  9. "Manly United squad".