Altona Magic SC
Victoria | |||
Capacity | 5,000 | ||
---|---|---|---|
President | Jim Ilievski | ||
Manager | Goran Lozanovski | ||
League | NPL Victoria | ||
2023 | 6th of 14 | ||
Website | Club website | ||
|
Altona Magic Soccer Club (Commonly known as Altona Vardar SC) is a
History
Altona Magic Soccer Club located in the west of Melbourne has been playing in the state elite competition the Victorian Premier League since 1989. The club has won 5 championships and produced many Australian internationals. The club colours of red and black signify the famous Macedonian Football Club, FK Vardar Skopje. Since the formation of the football club the Macedonian Community and Macedonian media continue to call the club the Vardar Football Club.
In 1967 a group of Macedonian immigrants passionate about football initiated a meeting in Yarraville with the idea of forming a football team and by 1968 the team was registered as the Kingsville Soccer Club. The team played at Wembley Park, Yarraville (1968 to 1974) in the Victorian lower amateur leagues.
In 1975 the Kingsville Soccer Club committee successfully acquired debt riddled German backed club Central Altona, with the successful acquisition the club shifted to Gray Reserve, Williamstown and played in the Victorian Provisional League Division 1 (1975 to 1979).
In 1979 the club's desire to compete in the higher divisions of Victoria arrived with the amalgamation of first division strugglers Keilor City (German backed). The amalgamation brought the club to Division One and with a large membership base the club successfully negotiating with the Altona City Council to tenant the Paisley Park Soccer Complex, a master facility of its time and the current home of the club.
The club renamed itself to Altona Gate Soccer Club in 1980 and for next 8 years competed in the Victorian Division 1 League. In 1988 the first success was achieved, the club won promotion to the State League (VPL) by finishing League Runners-Up.
By 1996 the club incorporated the name Altona Magic Soccer Club, this was at time when Soccer Australia (now Football Federation Australia) encouraged all clubs to remove all ethnic affiliated names and logos from all clubs across Australia.
The most successful period in the club's history was in the 1990s, Altona won 3 consecutive VPL championships in 1995, 96 and 97. The club added two more championship trophies in 2008 and 2009, this confirmed the club's position as one of the most successful clubs in Victorian Football.
In 2010, after a horrific season in the
Magic spent seasons 2011–2013 in the Victorian State League Division 1 finishing mid-table each time, which was the second tier at the time. In 2014, following the introduction of the National Premier Leagues Victoria, which Vardar was not accepted in to, the club then competed in the regionalised Victorian State League Division 1 North-West, the new third tier of football in Victoria. In 2014 and 2015, the club again finished mid-table on both occasions.
Led by the likes of Jon Mcshane, Adamson Ajayi and Jason Hayne, Altona Magic took out the State League 1 North-West title in 2016, topping the table all year long.[1] Magic then took out the overall State League 1 championship, defeating State League 1 South-East title holders Mornington SC.
After the 2016 title-winning season, Altona Magic confirmed its ambition to join the
In the off-season, Magic signed Bentleigh Greens championship winning duo Troy Ruthven and Ben Litfin, Green Gully's Rani Dowisha, Pascoe Vale's Mark Pistininzi and Heidelberg United's Jordan Wilkes. The signings, all of whom played in Victoria's top tier the season prior, signalled Magic's intent for the 2018 season. On 11 August 2018, in the club's 50th year of existence, Altona won the NPL2 West championship with three games to spare, following a 2–0 win over Brunswick City SC. Magic led the competition for the large majority of the season and finished 11 points clear at the top of the table.[3]
In 2019, after a positive start to the season, long-term injuries to Michiel Hemmen, Jon McShane and Ross Archibald stretched the squad and ultimately fell away from finals contention, picking up just 1 point in its last 7 games[4] and finished in 11th position in its first season back in the Victorian top flight.[5]
In 2020,due to the COVID-19 situation,
Senior Head Coach
In the 2021 season, following a poor run or results, Savvas Patikkis was named as the clubs Senior Head Coach for the remainder of the season and then confirmed for the 2022 season.
In 2023,
John Markovski resigned from his role as head coach in October 2023. Scott Miller was initially appointed as his replacement, but also resigned a few days later, citing family reasons. On November 2 2023, Goran Lozanovski was announced as the new head coach for the 2024 season.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Honours
- Victorian Premier League/NPL VictoriaChampions 1995, 1996, 1997, 2008, 2009
- Victorian Premier League/NPL VictoriaRunners Up 2004, 2006
- Victorian Premier League/NPL VictoriaFinalists 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2023
- NPL2 VictoriaChampions 2018
- Victorian State League Division 1 Champions 2016, 2017
- Victorian State League Division 1 Runners Up 1988
- Dockerty Cup Runners Up 1989
Notable former coaches
Individual honours
VPL Player of the Year
- 1997 – George Jolevski
- 2001 – Zoran Todorovski
- 2004 – Doug Mladenovic
- 2006 – Sash Becvinovski
Bill Fleming Medal
- 1997 – George Jolevski
VPL Coach of the Year
- 1995 – Ian Dobson
- 1996 – Gary Cole
VPL Top Goalscorer Award/NPL Victoria Golden Boot
- 1998 – Sash Becvinovski
- 2006 – Sash Becvinovski
- 2023 – Jonas Markovski
VPL Goalkeeper of the Year
- 1997 – Darren McGrath
Jimmy Rooney Medal
- 1995 – Chris Emsovski
- 1996 – Darren McGrath
- 1997 – Savva Rusmir
- 2004 – Levent Osman
- 2009 – Kliment Taseski
References
- ^ "Star Weekly". Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ Lim, Jordan. "Lozanovski to coach Altona, another NPL player signs". The Corner Flag. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
- ^ "Star Weekly | Top-flight bound Altona Magic wrap up title with three games to spare - Star Weekly". www.starweekly.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Altona Magic SC Season Fixture in FFV - NPL". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "Ladder for NPL VIC Men". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 September 2019.