Adelaide Croatia Raiders SC

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Adelaide Croatia Raiders
Adelaidecroatiaraiders.jpg
Full nameAdelaide Croatia Raiders Soccer Club
Nickname(s)Raiders
Founded1952
GroundCroatian Sports Centre, Adelaide
PresidentIan Krivicic
ManagerTerry Westwood
LeagueNPL South Australia
202111th of 12 (relegated)

Adelaide Croatia Raiders Soccer Club is a soccer club in Adelaide, South Australia, that plays in the National Premier Leagues South Australia. It is a Croatian Australian-backed club and its home ground is the in Gepps Cross, a northern suburb of Adelaide.

History[]

The Adelaide Croatia Soccer Club was founded in 1952 by a group of Croatian migrants who named the club after their homeland. The group included Fahrudin Cerić, the then President, Cvjetko Milanović and Drago Pišpek.

The club affiliated with the SASFA and played in the metropolitan division for five years. Its first game was against a team from the (now closed) Philips factory at Hendon. Its first home ground was in the South Parklands on Greenhill Rd.

In 1954 Branko Filipi, a significant leader in the club's early history, became the club president and remained so for the next 14 years. Along with his enthusiastic committee, Filipi began securing the services of a number of promising recruits. In 1958 Adelaide Croatia entered into the fourth division and narrowly missed being promoted into the third division. That same year, the late Charles Perkins, more famous as an Aboriginal activist, joined the team. Perkins played as a captain/coach for two seasons. In his autobiography he reflected with fondness on his friendships with Adelaide Croats and other immigrants he met through the club.

In 1959 the club convincingly won the second division championship and secured a place in the first division for the first time. Once in the first division, Adelaide Croatia's fixtures and results were listed in the international football pools.

In 1960 the club moved to its new headquarters at Hanson Reserve. It remained there until 2000, when it moved to the sporting complex at Gepps Cross.

The club's first major milestone was in 1961 when Croatia defeated Cumberland 4-nil to win the Ampol Cup. The Advertiser, in its report on the match, wrote that no team in the state could have beaten Croatia. The 1960s proved to be a successful decade for the club in the South Australian State League, finishing in third place in 1961, 1962 and 1963, while finishing Runner-Up in 1965 and 1969. Despite these strong results it wasn't until 1980 that Croatia won the coveted first place in the South Australian State League. Since then Croatia has won the league on another four occasions: in 1984, 1988, 1997 and 2002.

In 1962 the club competed in the inaugural Australian Cup, the first nationwide club tournament held in Australia. Croatia Adelaide were one of 16 participants in the knock-out competition and were the first Croatian backed club to compete. The side lost its first round match, losing to Brunswick Juventus 3–1 at Melbourne's Olympic Park to see the club knocked out. The club would again compete in the Australian Cup twice more in 1963 and 1965.

The year 1977 saw the formation of the National Soccer League. Following the failure of Melbourne Croatia and Sydney Croatia in their applications for the league, Adelaide Croatia led a move backed by the Croatian Soccer Association of Australia which saw a proposal put forward for a Croatian 'super club' to enter the NSL; a club which would see the resources of all of Australia's Croatian clubs pooled together. Ultimately the submission failed.[1]

A major highlight in the club's history came in 1985; as the champions of South Australia, Adelaide Croatia was invited to take part in the National Soccer League Cup. Adelaide Croatia had a remarkable run defeating both of Adelaide's NSL sides, Adelaide City and West Adelaide, 1–0 in the opening two rounds. The club lost in the quarter-finals to another NSL side, Sunshine George Cross. It was a valiant display seeing Croatia go down 1–0 in a tightly fought match.

Midway through the 2010 season John Kosmina who managed Adelaide United and Sydney FC in the A-League was announced as the new coach for the Raiders.[2]

In 2013, the Raiders made the finals series of the FFSA Premier League following a fifth placed league finish.[3] The finals run came to a quick end after going down to Campbelltown City on penalties at the first hurdle.[4]

The Raiders narrowly avoided relegation in the 2015 season, finishing above relegated sides Port Adelaide Lion and Modbury Jets on goal difference alone, with all three sides finishing the season with 27 points.[5]

Prior to the start of the 2016 season, former international striker Joel Porter was announced as the new head coach, but they parted ways only nine rounds into the NPLSA season, with the club languishing in bottom place. Although Porter was replaced by former Raiders player Robert Matosevic,[6] they finished bottom of the league and were relegated to the 20217 State League 1.

In 2018 they earned promotion back in to the NPL by reaching the 2nd division play-off series final against the minor premiers Adelaide Blue Eagles.

In 2021 the club reintroduced "Croatia" back into its name, after the new policy released from Football Australia which allows clubs to revert to their traditional names and symbols.[7]

Current squad[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS Vincent Barbaro
2 DF Australia AUS Jackson Walls
5 DF Australia AUS Matthew Mullen
6 MF Australia AUS Omari Didero
7 DF Australia AUS Dylan Pickert
8 MF Nepal   NEP Jagajeet Shrestha
9 FW Australia AUS Massimo Falco
10 MF Australia AUS Dion Kirk
11 MF Australia AUS David Carosi
12 DF Australia AUS Jacob Williams
13 GK Australia AUS Nicholas Munro (C)
15 MF Australia AUS Lansana Smith
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF Australia AUS Jok Akuien
17 MF Australia AUS Harley Gepp
18 MF Australia AUS Julian Vella
19 DF Australia AUS Vianne Kurikwimana
20 MF Greece GRE Thanasis Lesi
21 FW Australia AUS James Temelkovski
22 MF Australia AUS Kelvin Kamburu
23 DF Australia AUS Mark Ulaj
24 DF Australia AUS Jai Esposito
26 DF Australia AUS Jaxson Bullen
28 DF Australia AUS Nathan Hancock

Honours[]

  • South Australian Champions: 1980, 1984, 1988, 1997, 2002
  • South Australian Runner-Up: 1965, 1969, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2005, 2007
  • South Australian Minor-Premiers: 1997
  • South Australian Regular Season Runner-Up: 1992, 1995, 2005
  • Federation Cup Winners: 1960, 1962, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2003
  • Federation Cup Runner-Up: 1959, 1998, 2005
  • Errea Cup: 2007
  • Coca-Cola (Top 4) Cup Winners: 1984
  • Ampol Cup Winners: 1961, 1989, 1990
  • South Australian Division One Champions: 1959, 1972, 1975, 2018
  • Australian Croatian Soccer Tournament: 1984, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2009

Individual Honours[]

Sergio Melta Medal – South Australian Player of the Year

  • 1965 – Billy Graham
  • 2004 – Richie Alagich
  • 2006 – Michael Cartwright
  • 2009 – Richie Alagich
  • 2010 – Richie Alagich
  • 2012 – Nicky Orr

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ 'Those Bloody Croatians' by Roy Hay
  2. ^ Kosmina, Aloisi now SA coaches
  3. ^ https://int.soccerway.com/national/australia/south-australian/2013/regular-season/r20281/
  4. ^ https://int.soccerway.com/national/australia/south-australian/2013/s7724/final-stages/
  5. ^ https://int.soccerway.com/national/australia/national-premier-league/2015/south-australia/r29897/
  6. ^ Cetta, Luca. "R10 Preview: Adelaide Blue Eagles v Raiders". FFSA. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Adelaide Croatia Raiders - Logo Update". Adelaide Croatia Raiders Soccer Club. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.

External links[]

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