Highlands Park F.C. (1990)

Last updated

Highlands Park F.C. (1990)
Full nameHighlands Park Football Club
Nickname(s)The Lions of the North
FoundedJanuary 1990
DissolvedDecember 1992
(bought by the Welkom Eagles)
GroundBalfour Park Stadium,
Highlands North, Johannesburg
Capacity13,500
League National Soccer League
1992 season18th

Highlands Park Football Club were a South African soccer club based in Highlands North, Johannesburg. The club was founded in 1990 as a successor to the original Highlands Park, founded in 1959, following the sale of the club's license to Jomo Sono and the formation of Jomo Cosmos. and They were promoted to play in the National Soccer League for the 1991 season. After the 1991 season, the club had played well enough to avoid relegation, and was then bought by the relegated NSL club Port Elizabeth Blackpool, as part of a merger deal, where the new team continued to play in Johannesburg and continued to compete with the name "Highlands Park FC". [1] When this merged club, once again had managed to avoid relegation after the 1992-season, this at the same time meant, that they ceased to exist. The professional side of the club and its NSL licence, were bought by the new club Welkom Eagles, with a relocation of the team for the 1993 season, now to play 267 km away from Highlands North, in the city known as Welkom. [2]

History

After the professional club had been sold, and ceased to exist in February 1983, the amateur side of the team and the "Balfour Park Juniors" continued to exist as independent teams, still playing at the Balfour Park Stadium. Some years later, the junior team merged with North City F.C., and the base of the club moved 4 km south from the previous Balfour Park Stadium, now to be located at Gemmel Park in Linksfield. The name of the merged junior club, however continued to be "Balfour Park juniors". [3] In 1990 a newly formed professional team with the name Highlands Park FC, was created at the top of the amateur club. This new phoenix club, straight away managed to get promoted to play in the 1991 National Soccer League, where the club finished at a respectable 9th place. Fellow National Soccer League team Port Elizabeth Blackpool then opted to purchase the franchise and perform a merger with the club, after their own relegation in the same season. [1] The name of the new merged club continued to be "Highlands Park FC", and the home matches of the club also continued to be played in Johannesburg. [4] After the club also in the next season, had managed to play well enough to avoid relegation, the team however ceased to exist, as the club's sponsor Sharp Electronics did not want to prolong their sponsorship. [5] Hence the club was forced to shut down, and sell their league licence to new owners. The new owners created a new club Welkom Eagles, to play in Welkom and replace "Highlands Park FC" in the National Soccer League 1993. [2] As the city Welkom is located 267 kilometres southwest of Highlands North in Johannesburg, the new owners only had interest to buy the club's league licence and professional players, while the junior teams and senior amateur teams were not a part of the deal, and remained to exist as an independent amateur club for the following years, with matches still to be played at the Balfour Park Stadium. A new phoenix club, again known as Highlands Park were formed in 2003. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Knights FC</span> Australian semi-professional soccer club

Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league system under the A-League. It is one of the most successful soccer clubs in Australia, being a two-time championship and four-time premiership winner in the now defunct National Soccer League (NSL).

Soccer in Tasmania describes the sport of soccer being played and watched by people in the state of Tasmania in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brisbane Strikers FC</span> Soccer club in Australia

Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season and was one of two clubs contending for an A-League licence during the establishment of the league in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jomo Cosmos F.C.</span> Football club

Jomo Cosmos are a South African professional association football club based in Johannesburg that plays in the ABC Motsepe League. The club is owned and coached by South African football legend Jomo Sono.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Lions FC</span> Football club

Preston Lions Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matches against other teams in the local community until 1959, and 12 years later, they joined the Victorian Soccer Federation, the club's first season in an officially sanctioned competition. The Lions currently compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 competition after being promoted in 2022, which is the third tier in the Australian soccer league system. The club won the Victorian Premier League in seasons 1980,1994, 2002 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Springs George Cross FC</span> Australian football club

Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2, the second tier of football in Victoria, and third in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidvest Wits F.C.</span> Football club

Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premier Soccer League the first-tier of South African league football system. It was nicknamed "The Clever Boys" or "The Students" because of the close affiliation with the University of the Witwatersrand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan Soccer League</span> Football league

Japan Soccer League, or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional Japanese Baseball League that was founded in 1936. JSL was the first-ever national league of an amateur team sport in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soccer in New South Wales</span>

Soccer in New South Wales is a popular participation and spectator sport. It is organised and managed on a state level by two separate governing bodies; Football NSW and Northern New South Wales Football which are affiliated at a national level to Football Federation Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soccer in the Australian Capital Territory</span>

Soccer in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is predominantly amateur with a local, interstate, national and international history. Football in the ACT is organised and administered by Capital Football and involves teams from within the ACT and surrounding NSW regions, Monaro, Southern Tablelands and Riverina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platinum Stars F.C.</span> Football club

Platinum Stars was a South African football club based in Phokeng near Rustenburg, North West Province that played in the Premier Soccer League. The club was nicknamed Dikwena, the Tswana name for Crocodiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highlands Park F.C.</span> Football club

Highlands Park Football Club are a South African professional soccer club who played in Modderfontein, Johannesburg. They were founded in 2003 as a phoenix club to the earlier Highlands Park F.C. (1959) and Highlands Park F.C. (1990) The club started out in the fourth tier of the South African Football league, known as SAFA Regional League, and got promoted in 2007 to compete in the third tier, known as Vodacom League.

The National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) was a South African association football league that existed between 1971 and 1995. During those years, the league, however, had three completely different organisations.

Giant Blackpool were a South African football club. The club were based in Mohlakeng, a township near Randfontein in Gauteng.

North Star FC is a football club based in Zillmere, Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premier Soccer League</span> Soccer league administrator South Africa

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the professional soccer leagues-and-cups administrator in South Africa based in Johannesburg and founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnants of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monaro Panthers FC</span> Football club

Monaro Panthers FC is an Australian association football club based in the city of Queanbeyan, New South Wales. The club was founded in 1967, and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Capital Football in the Australian Capital Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Stars F.C. (South Africa)</span> South African football club based in Brakpan

All Stars is a South African football club based in Johannesburg.

The National Premier League was the flagship competition of the Football Federation Papua New Guinea (FFPNG). It was a semi-professional league. It was founded in 2017 after several clubs broke away from the Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA), and ran alongside the National Soccer League as a rival competition. In October 2018, following the merge of the two rival governing bodies, the competition ceased to exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highlands Park F.C. (1959)</span> Football club

Highlands Park Football Club was a professional association football club in Johannesburg, South Africa, that existed from November 1959 to February 1983.

References

  1. 1 2 "South Africa 1991 NSL". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  2. 1 2 "South Africa 1993 NSL". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  3. "Highlands Park reborn". Highlands Park FC. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  4. "Highlands Park are born again -Blackpool adopt name of glamour club of the 60s". Highlands Park FC. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  5. 1 2 "The End of Highlands Park Football Club". Highlands Park F.C. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2009.