Para Hills Knights SC

Para Hills Knights

Full name	Para Hills Knights Soccer Club
Nickname(s)	The Knights
Short name	Para Hills
Founded	24 March 1964;60 years ago (1964-03-24)
Ground	Feel Good Physio Co Stadium
Chairman	Dale Ramsey
Manager	Theo Tsiounis [1]
League	NPL South Australia
2024	10th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Para Hills Knights Soccer Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Para Hills West, a northern suburb of Adelaide. The club was founded on 24 March 1964, joining the Federation in 1966. The club currently plays in National Premier Leagues South Australia, winning promotion to the second tier of Australian soccer in 2023. Originally playing at Nelson Road Reserve in Para Hills, the club has been based out of their current home ground, The Paddocks (currently known as Feel Good Physio Co Stadium for sponsorship reasons), since 1986.

The club has won multiple second division titles, finished runners-up in the first division in 1980 and have reached the final of the Federation Cup on four occasions. Their last piece of silverware came in 2012, when they won the FFSA Premier League title, and were promoted to the first season of the National Premier Leagues. They have played in a national competition on one occasion, in the 1981 NSL Cup, losing 0–3 to NSL side West Adelaide Hellas in their only game.

History

Para Hills Knights' original logo, used until 1993

The Para Hills Community Soccer Club was formed by Robert Eldridge, John Eldridge, Chick Harris, John West, Andy Balter and Malcolm Owen on 24 March 1964. The aim of the club being to foster and promote the game of soccer in the Northern Suburbs. The Eldridge brothers were Tottenham Hotspur supporters, so their kit early on was full white. ^[2] The club set the goal of playing first division soccer within 10 years. In 1965 the club entered a team in the Sunday Industrial League. On 4 April 1965 the club played its first competitive senior game losing 3–1 with Chris Pawley scoring the first goal for the club.

The following year the club entered the South Australian Soccer Federation and once again the first game resulted in a defeat, 2–1 with the first goal in the Federation being scored by Dave Barry. In 1967 the club won its first pieces of silverware, winning the third division, and the Rowely Cup. ^[3]

In 1976, one year later than the club originally aimed for, Para Hills won promotion to South Australia's first division. Before the start of the 1977 season, the club left its base at Nelson Road to move to new facilities at The Paddocks. The club's first game in the first division was a 4-3 victory against Campbelltown Budapest on the new pitch, the winning goal scored by Harry McDonald. By the third week, the club had achieved its only two wins of the league season, narrowly avoiding relegation. ^[4]

In Para Hills' fourth year in the top division, they finished runners-up, one point behind Croatia, missing out on top spot after a 1–1 draw with them in the final round. A month later, they won the Coca Cola Challenge Cup after a 3–0 win over Croatia, which was their first major silverware in the club's 17 year history. ^{[5] [6]}

Para Hills adopted the Knights moniker for the 1994 season. ^[7]

Affiliated clubs

St Mirren F.C.

St Mirren and Para Hills announced a strategic partnership on 8 September 2020. The partnership allows for the exchange of players and coaching staff with a focus on development of young players and coaches. ^[8] The partnership also allowed the club to recover from financial turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by attracting sponsorship. ^[9]

In 2021, 18-year-old Lochlan Czapla joined St Mirren's youth setup after spending his teenage years with Para Hills. ^[10]

Para Hills United SC

Para Hills United was founded alongside the Para Hills Community Soccer Club as the Para Hills Junior Soccer Club, and have fielded teams in the Elizabeth & Districts Junior Soccer Association since their formation. The club became an incorperated body on 26 October 1977 and moved to The Paddocks. In 2011, the club was renamed to Para Hills United and fielded a senior side in the South Australian Amateur Soccer League for the first time in their history. ^[11]

Adelaide Brasfoot

Adelaide Brasfoot was founded in 2023 by members of Adelaide's Brazilian population with the support of Para Hills' board members. The club fields a senior and reserves side in the South Australian Amateur Soccer League and utilises Para Hills' home ground. ^[12]

Players

Para Hills' 1966 squad

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.Squad correct as of 1 March 2024.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   AUS Caleb Robinson 2 FW   AUS Marcus Grbevski 3 MF   AUS Jaxson Merritt 4 DF   AUS Mark Ulaj 5   Jack Mitsoulas 6 DF   AUS Lionnel Muhitira 7 DF   AUS Zack Baxter-Haughey 8 FW   AUS Abu Hussein 9 FW   AUS Vianne Kurikwimana 10 MF   BRA Diego Santos de Oliveira 11 MF   AFG Ali Rayez Muradi 12 MF   AUS Keshav Shrestha 14 DF   AUS Lawand Hussein

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 FW   AUS Lansana Smith 16 MF   AUS Kairo Felix 17 FW   AFG Omid Musawi 18 MF   AUS Adam Savetta 19 FW   AFG Sayeed Reza Hussaini 20 DF   AUS Kyle Marley-McFall 21 DF   AUS Habtamu Horne 22 FW   AUS Isaac Handley 23 FW   AUS Harry Conant 25 GK   AUS Declan Burchel 31 FW   AUS Alex Tsimopoulos 77 FW   AUS Logan Marley-McFall 99 GK   AUS Yanni Delengas

Notable former players

• Joel Allwright
• Louis Brain
• Lachlan Brook (junior)
• Martyn Crook
• Yaya Dukuly (junior)
• Aaron Goulding
• Jordan Elsey
• Sherwin Emmanuel
• Craig Goodwin (junior)
• Steven Hall (junior)
• Michael Marrone
• Dylan McGowan (junior)
• Ryan McGowan
• Jacob Melling
• Daniel Mullen
• Joe Mullen
• Bobby Petta
• Kristian Rees
• Jagajeet Shrestha
• Chris Sullivan
• Scott Tunbridge
• Charlie Villani
• Aaron Westervelt
• Thilo Wilke

Honours

State

• SA Division One Championship ^[14]

Runner-up (1): 1980

• SA Division One Premiership ^[14]

Runner-up (1): 2010

• SA Division Two Championship ^[15]

Winners (4): 1976, 1990, 2006, 2012

Runner-up (7): 1975, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2016, 2022, 2023

• SA Division Two Premiership ^[15]

Winners (1): 1995

Runner-up (4): 2001, 2004, 2016, 2023

• SA Division Three Championship ^[16]

Winners (1): 1967

• Federation Cup ^[17]

Runner-up (4): 1982, 1986, 1989, 2012

• Second Division Cup ^[18]

Winners (1): 1976

• Third Division Cup ^[18]

Winners (1): 1967

• Top Four Cup ^[19]

Winners (1): 1980

Runner-up (1): 1984

• Night Series ^[20]

Winners (1): 2007

Seasons

Key to league competitions: NPL: National Premier Leagues South Australia (since 2013) SL1: State League 1 South Australia (since 2016) Super: Super League (2006–2012) Premier: Premier League (first tier: 1994–2005, second tier: 2006–2012) State: State League (second tier: 1994–2005, third tier:2006–2012) Div 1: Division One (until 1993) Div 2: Division Two (until 1993) Div 3: Division Three (until 1993) SASIL: South Australian Sunday Industrial League

Key to league record: Pld: Matches played W: Matches won D: Matches drawn L: Matches lost GF: Goals scored GA: Goals against GD: Goal difference Pts: Points

Key to cup record: Em-dash (—): Did not participate/qualify or cup was not contested Question mark (?): Result unknown W: Winners RU: Runners-up SF: Semi-finals QF: Quarter-finals

Para Hills Knights' league performance from 1996 to 2022.
  Division One
  Division Two
  Division Three

Season	League											State Cup		Divisional Cup		Pre-season Cup
	Division (Tier)	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Pos	Finals
1965	SASIL (-)	Record unknown
1966	Div 3 (3)	18	11	2	5	44	28	+16	24	4th	—	Federation	R1	Rowley	?	—
1967	Div 3 (3)	22	19	1	2	80	22	+58	39	1st	Federation	R3	Rowley	W	—
1968	Div 2 (2)	18	8	4	6	32	25	+7	20	3rd	Federation	R3	Jaxen	SF	—
1969	Div 2 (2)	18	8	4	6	20	25	–5	20	3rd	Federation	R3	Jaxen	?	—
1970	Div 2 (2)	18	8	1	9	32	32	0	17	6th	Federation	R2	Jaxen	?	—
1971	Div 2 (2)	18	7	5	6	39	30	+9	19	4th	Federation	ER	John Martins	QF	—
1972	Div 2 (2)	18	8	2	8	26	26	0	18	6th	Federation	R1	John Martins	?	—
1973	Div 2 (2)	18	4	5	9	26	32	–6	13	8th	Willis	R1	John Martins	?	—
1974	Div 2 (2)	18	5	7	6	28	34	–6	17	5th	Willis	R2	John Martins	?	—
1975	Div 2 (2)	18	10	4	4	30	18	+12	24	2nd	Willis	R2	John Martins	?	—
1976	Div 2 (2)	18	12	4	2	35	17	+18	28	1st	Willis	R2	John Martins	W	—
1977	Div 1 (2)	18	2	6	10	19	39	–20	10	9th	Willis	QF	—		—
1978	Div 1 (2)	18	4	7	7	17	23	–6	15	8th	Federation	QF	—		—
1979	Div 1 (2)	18	5	6	4	27	23	+4	16	6th	Federation	R3	—		—
1980	Div 1 (2)	18	8	7	3	38	21	+17	23	2nd	Federation	R3	Coca-Cola	W	Ampol	8th
1981	Div 1 (2)	18	7	4	7	28	26	+2	18	5th	Federation	?	—		Ampol	6th
1982	Div 1 (2)	18	8	6	4	34	21	+10	22	4th	Federation	RU	Coca-Cola	SF	Ampol	8th
1983	Div 1 (2)	18	8	6	4	29	19	+10	22	4th	P.G.H.	QF	Coca-Cola	SF	Ampol	7th
1984	Div 1 (2)	22	11	4	7	33	25	+8	26	4th	P.G.H.	R2	Coca-Cola	RU	Ampol	?
1985	Div 1 (2)	22	8	4	10	35	38	–3	20	7th	P.G.H.	SF	—		Ampol	?
1986	Div 1 (2)	22	8	5	9	31	33	–2	21	7th	P.G.H.	RU	—		?
1987	Div 1 (2)	22	9	4	9	32	23	+9	22	6th	P.G.H.	QF	—		?
1988	Div 1 (2)	22	6	8	8	23	30	–7	20	8th	P.G.H.	QF	—		?
1989	Div 1 (2)	22	3	7	12	18	34	–16	13	11th	P.G.H.	RU	—		?
1990	Div 2 (3)	18	11	4	3	28	10	+18	26	1st	P.G.H.	QF	—		—
1991	Div 1 (2)	22	11	4	7	38	31	+7	26	3rd	P.G.H.	QF	Coca-Cola	?	Ampol (Mar.)	?
1992	Div 1 (2)	18	4	9	5	13	20	–7	17	7th	—	Federation	R2	—		?
1993	Div 1 (2)	18	5	5	8	20	29	–9	15	10th	—	Federation	QF	—		?
1994	State (3)	18	8	4	6	28	21	+7	20	5th	PF	Dairy Vale	R2	—		—
1995	State (3)	20	15	2	3	42	21	+21	47	1st	RU	Dairy Vale	?	—		—
1996	State (3)	22	14	3	5	70	30	+40	45	4th	PF	Mutual Community	?	—		—
1997	State (3)	22	10	3	9	43	48	–5	33	6th	—	Mutual Community	QF	—		—
1998	State (3)	22	10	3	9	38	37	+1	33	6th	RU	Mutual Community	R2	—		—
1999	Premier (2)	22	4	5	13	26	45	–19	17	11th	—	West End	R1	—		—
2000	State (3)	22	11	5	6	49	27	+22	38	4th	EF	West End	R1	—		—
2001	State (3)	22	15	3	4	50	21	+29	48	2nd	RU	West End	R1	—		—
2002	Premier (2)	22	6	6	10	26	53	–27	24	9th	—	West End	R1	—		Night Series	16th
2003	Premier (2)	22	5	3	14	31	47	–16	18	11th	—	Federation	R1	—		—
2004	State (3)	22	16	0	6	59	26	+33	48	2nd	PF	Federation	R1	—		—
2005	State (2)	22	11	4	7	64	39	+25	37	4th	EF	Federation	R2	—		—
2006	Premier (3)	18	14	3	1	56	19	+37	45	1st	—	Federation	R2	—		Errea	4th
2007	Super (2)	18	7	3	8	32	37	–5	24	6th	Best Pavers	R3	—		Errea	QF
															Fairmont Homes	W
2008	Super (2)	18	8	4	6	28	25	+3	28	4th	EF	Best Pavers	R2	—		Best Point	W
																Fairmont Homes	5th
2009	Super (2)	18	5	8	5	25	28	–3	23	7th	—	Top Corner	R2	—		Fairmont Homes	4th
2010	Super (2)	18	9	5	4	28	19	+9	32	2nd	SF	Federation	QF	—		Pre-season	RU
2011	Super (2)	18	3	4	11	12	31	–19	13	9th	—	Coca-Cola	R1	—		Carlsberg	20th
2012	Premier (3)	18	10	4	4	33	19	+14	34	1st	—	Coca-Cola	RU	—		Carlsberg	9th
2013	NPL (2)	26	10	5	11	47	45	+2	35	9th	—	Coca-Cola	QF	—		—
2014	NPL (2)	26	9	2	15	34	55	–21	29	9th	—	Coca-Cola	QF	—		—
2015	NPL (2)	26	3	5	18	30	56	–26	14	14th	—	Federation	QF	—		—
2016	SL1 (3)	22	13	4	5	33	27	+6	43	2nd	RU	Federation	R1	—		—
2017	NPL (2)	22	11	0	11	28	36	–8	33	5th	EF	Federation	QF	—		—
2018	NPL (2)	22	8	1	13	27	38	–11	25	8th	—	Federation	R1	—		—
2019	NPL (2)	22	7	7	8	31	34	–3	28	9th	—	Federation	R3	—		—
2020	NPL (2)	22	3	2	17	18	42	–24	11	12th	—	—		—		—
2021	SL1 (3)	22	9	8	5	21	17	+4	35	5th	EF	Federation	R2	—		—
2022	SL1 (3)	22	12	4	6	35	28	+7	40	4th	RU	Federation	R1	—		—
2023	SL1 (3)	22	13	1	8	53	42	+11	40	2nd	RU	Federation	R1	—		—
2024	NPL (2)	22	6	7	9	33	40	–7	25	10th	—	Federation	R2	—		—

References

1. Greenwood, Rob (17 September 2019). "Former Adelaide Comets NPL SA coach Theo Tsiounis unveiled as new Para Hills mentor" . Retrieved 31 October 2022.
2. "#HistoryMakers Episode 6 - Para Hills Knights". 5 April 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
3. "South Australian Division Three 1966 – Schedule" . Retrieved 24 October 2022.
4. "South Australian Division Two 1976 – Schedule" . Retrieved 24 October 2022.
5. "South Australian Division One 1980 – Schedule" . Retrieved 24 October 2022.
6. "History - Para Hills Knights". Gameday. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
7. "South Australian Soccer Federation Yearbook 1994". 24 February 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
8. "St Mirren Confirms a new strategic partnership with Australian side Para Hills Knights SC". St Mirren . 8 September 2020.
9. Migliaccio, Val (10 September 2020). "SA club joins forces with St Mirren". Front Page Football.
10. Marchetti, Christian (29 October 2021). "Lochlan Czapla: The Adelaide boy chasing his football dreams in Scotland". Front Page Football.
11. "History". Para Hills United.
12. "Brasfoot: The new club celebrating South Australia's Brazilian community".
13. "South Australian Soccer Federation Yearbook 1966–67". 23 February 2023. p. 45. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
14. "National Premier Leagues South Australia Champions". socceraust. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022.
15. "State League 1 South Australia Champions". socceraust. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023.
16. "State League 2 South Australia Champions". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.
17. "Federation Cup Finals". socceraust. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022.
18. "Other Major Cup Winners". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.
19. "Top Four Cup Winners". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.
20. "Night Series Winners". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.