St George FC, commonly called Saints or Budapest, is a semi-professional Australian soccer club based in the St George district in the south of Sydney. The club was founded by Hungarian immigrants in 1957 as Budapest Club and by 1965 was renamed to St. George-Budapest Club.
One of the top clubs of Australia from the 1960s to the 1980s, St George currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW. After playing its youth and senior fixtures at Ilinden Sports Centre between 2018 and 2024, in 2025 St George returned to their original location after St George Stadium was redeveloped into the Barton Park Sports Complex.[1]
Chart of yearly table positions for St George-Budapest in NSL
The club was formed shortly after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by Hungarian Immigrants and was originally known as Budapest. In the 1960s, led by pioneering soccer administrator Alex Pongrass, it became one of the first ethnic clubs in NSW to search for a district to call home and it chose the St George district. It later became known as St George-Budapest before shortening its name to St George some years later. They opened a licensed club, named Soccer House, in the suburb of Mortdale in 1968. In 1969 Frank Arok, the first full-time coach in Australia was appointed, serving two stints as coach, the last ending in 1983 when he left to coach the Socceroos. In between Arok's two stints as coach, Rale Rasic was coach, coaching the club at the same time as he was coaching the Socceroos. In 1971 the club was invited to an international club tournament in Tokyo, Japan. It won and remained the highest ever international achievement by an Australian club side, until South Melbourne FC won the 1999 Oceania Club Championship. However this was surpassed by Sydney FC (Oceania champions) when they finished 5th at the FIFA World Club Cup where, before them, South Melbourne had finished 8th and Western Sydney Wanderers (Asian champions) 6th.
Such was the dominance of St George in those days that up to 10 players on the national team would be St George players. Five of their players were in the Australian side that started against East Germany in the World Cup that year in West Germany, including the vice-captain of the side, the Australian soccer legend Johnny Warren. Another notable player (albeit at a lower level), was football commentator Les Murray. Together with Warren they would become known as "Mr and Mrs Soccer"[2] and would become the faces of soccer in Australia through their commentary work on SBS Television.
In 1975 at the urging of some former Hungarian soccer greats and youth coach Bob Szatmari, the meeting determined to establish the Australian National Soccer League took place at Soccer House with representatives from all founding clubs, including Hakoah Club (later known as Eastern Suburbs and Sydney City) president and Westfield Group founder and chairman Frank Lowy and Leslie Szatmari. The competition started in 1977 and St. George-Budapest won the competition in 1983. They played in the league until the 1990/91 season. Since then they have played in state competitions. In 2005 the side was controversially axed from the new look New South Wales Premier League and took legal action against the decision along with the Bonnyrigg White Eagles, but were unsuccessful.
Recent history
In 2012 St George competed in the New South Wales Super League, the second tier of state soccer, finishing seventh out of twelve clubs and missing out on the finals.[3] In 2013, St George were promoted from the NPL NSW Men's 2 after taking out the league championship, finishing seven points ahead of the second placed Macarthur Rams FC. The club also won the Grand Final, beating the Rams in the semi-final 2–1 and then beating Mounties Wanderers FC 3–1 in the final. The joy was not to last long, though, as in 2014, the club was immediately relegated back to the second tier of soccer in NSW. Managing just four wins and four draws in 22 games, St George finished dead last in the top tier. The Saints endured another tough season in 2015, finishing third last in the NPL NSW Men's 2.
In 2017 the club played most senior home fixtures out of Seymour Shaw Park, also playing one game at St George Stadium, Fraser Park and Blacktown Football Park. This didn't seem to deter St George as the side finished in 2nd place, losing the semi-final to Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 4–2.[4][5]
Due to the dilapidated state of St George Stadium, the club played senior fixtures out of Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, St George finished in 2nd place in the league and won the NPL NSW 2 grand final, but were not promoted due to the 'Club Championship' ranking which takes into consideration the performance of the U20 and U18 sides. In 2019, St George finished 10th in the 14-team NPL NSW 2 season.[6]
During the 2019 season, St George reached the FFA Cup round of 32 after beating clubs such as SD Raiders, APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Dulwich Hill, but lost to Sydney United 58 in a 5–3 thriller after two goals from Mushi Kokubo and a stoppage time equaliser.
In 2023, St George FC were promoted back into the NSW National Premier League 2024 by finishing 2nd place in League 1, then defeating Mt Druitt Town Rangers in a thrilling play-off series.[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Attila Abonyi (1946-2023), 1969 to 1976 with the club. Stalwart of the 1974 Australian World Cup side. Played 61 matches for Australia scoring 25 goals.
Harry Williams (b. 1951), 1970 to 1977 with the club. First aboriginal playing for Australia. Participant in the 1974 World Cup. Altogether six matches for Australia.
Chris Cahill (b. 1984), 2006 to 2012 with the club. Brother of Australia's all-time top goal scorer Tim Cahill was born in Sydney but played for Samoa 15 times and scoring 7 goals.
George Harris (b. 1949), 1968 to 1979 with the club. Played 28 matches for Australia.
Dez Marton (b. 1948), 1982 to 1985 with the club. Top-scorer of the club's golden 1980s era.
David Ratcliffe (b. 1957), 1982 to 1986 and 1989 with the club. Played 21 matches for Australia scoring 1 goal.
Manfred Schaefer (1943-2023), 1963 to 1975 with the club. Stalwart of the 1974 Australian World Cup side. The milkman played 49 matches for Australia scoring 1 goal.
Robbie Slater (b. 1964), 1982 to 1986 with the club. Played 44 matches for Australia scoring 1 goal.
Johnny WarrenMBEOAM (1943-2004), 1963 to 1974 with the club. Part of the 1974 Australian World Cup side. Played 42 matches for Australia scoring 7 goals.
Doug Utjesenovic (b. 1946), 1971 to 1980 with the club. Stalwart of the 1974 Australian World Cup side. Played 61 matches for Australia scoring 2 goals.
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