Canberra Olympic FC

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Canberra Olympic FC
Canberra Olympic FC logo
Full nameCanberra Olympic Football Club
Nickname(s)Olympic
Founded1956
GroundO'Connor Enclosed
Capacity1,000
Coordinates35°15′39″S 149°7′25″E / 35.26083°S 149.12361°E / -35.26083; 149.12361Coordinates: 35°15′39″S 149°7′25″E / 35.26083°S 149.12361°E / -35.26083; 149.12361
PresidentJohn Efkarpidis
Head CoachRobbie Cattanach
LeagueNPL Capital Football
20207th of 8 (second stage)
(note 2021 season cancelled)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Canberra Olympic FC is an Australian semi-professional Association football club based in the suburb of O'Connor in the north of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The club was founded in 1956, and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Capital Football.

History[]

Olympic was founded in the early 1950s by the local Greek community of Canberra. Formally the name Olympic was decided in a General Meeting of players and committee members in 1956 with the alternative name AEK losing out in the vote.[1]

Olympic have won the ACT top division league (premiership) on seven occasions under the names Canberra Olympic, Olympic and Downer Olympic. The most recent title was the NPL Capital Football premiership in 2017.[2]

In addition to this, Olympic have won six grand finals (championship). The most recent being 2016 NPL Capital Football Grand Final, defeating Canberra FC 3-0 at Deakin Stadium in front of 2,782 people.[3]

In 1980, as Downer Olympic, the club won their closest premiership ahead of Croatia Deakin (now Canberra FC) by one goal. After 21 games both clubs finished on 32 points and had scored 53 goals with Olympic claiming the title on the back of their superior defence with the side conceding only 16 goals compared to Deakin's 17.[4]

Canberra Olympic have succeeded in winning the premiership and championship 'double' three times in the club's history in 1993 1994 and 2016. In 1993, Olympic won the premiership by three points ahead of Southern Cross while they beat the same opposition in the grand final on penalties 8-7.[5] In 1994, Olympic finished first in the league ahead of Tuggeranong United while they beat Tuggers in the grand final 3-1.[6]

In 2016, Canberra Olympic won the premiership by three points ahead of Cooma FC, while they beat Canberra FC 3-0 in the Grand Final.

On 18 June 2016, Canberra Olympic qualified for their first FFA Cup with a 3-1 victory over Cooma FC in the 2016 ACT Federation Cup final, played at Deakin Stadium.[7]

Canberra Olympic advanced to the 2016 FFA Cup semi finals as the last remaining NPL club in the cup that year, before being defeated by A-League side Sydney FC 3-0 at Viking Park in front of a ground record 5,581 crowd.[8][9] On the way to the semi finals Olympic advanced past Surfers Paradise Apollo SC 1-0 (round 32),[10] Redlands United FC 2-0 (round 16)[11] and Green Gully SC 1-0 (quarter finals) at Deakin Stadium.[12]

In 2017, Canberra Olympic won the premiership by 11 points ahead of the FFA Centre of Excellence, only losing one game during the regular season.

In 2017, Canberra Olympic qualified for their second successive FFA Cup with victory over Tuggeranong FC in the 2017 ACT Federation Cup final, played at Deakin Stadium.

Canberra Olympic lost their 2017 FFA Cup Round of 32 play off to Sorrento FC in Perth 1-0.[13]

Club identity[]

Colours and crest[]

Olympic's primary colours of blue and white reflect the club's Greek heritage as it shares the colours of the Greek national flag. Olympics alternative colours are red and white. The club's crest is a traditional shield of white with a blue trim encompassing the club's name, location and the Olympic torch and rings.

Club name[]

The club was founded as Olympic Soccer Club in 1956 by the local Greek community which settled in Canberra. in 1973 the club changed its name to Downer Olympic before changing it back to simply Olympic in 1991. Finally, in 1997 the club changed its name to Canberra Olympic, which it has retained as its name since that point.

Club Name Changes
# Name From To
1 Olympic 1956 1972
2 Downer Olympic 1973 1990
3 Olympic 1991 1996
4 Canberra Olympic 1997 Current

Current squad[]

As of 15 March 2020 [14][15]

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 Sebastian Usai
2 DF Australia AUS Nick Faust
3 FW Australia AUS Aisosa Ihegie
4 DF Australia AUS Adrian Macor
7 MF Australia AUS Max Mellick
9 FW Australia AUS David Carder
10 DF Australia AUS Nicholas Subasic
11 FW Australia AUS James Crawford
14 MF Australia AUS Tupaia Ringi
15 MF Australia AUS Luca Macor
16 DF Australia AUS Cale Brown
17 MF Australia AUS Bailey Sorenson
18 DF Australia AUS Nelson Curley
20 GK Australia AUS Angelo Konstantinou
21 DF Australia AUS Oliver Wiederkehr
23 DF Australia AUS Seamus Carr
24 DF Australia AUS Matthew Purcell
35 DF Australia AUS Daniel Linstead
40 FW Australia AUS Luca Florez
45 FW Australia AUS Elie Darwich
98 MF Australia AUS Simon Rohan Jones

Coaching staff[]

All the Canberra Olympic NPL men's and women's team staff for the 2019 season.

As of 3 February 2019 [16]
Men
Position Name
Head Coach Australia Robbie Cattanach
Assistant Coach Australia Alex Castro
Women
Position Name
Head Coach Australia Nicole Begg
Assistant Coach Australia Mick Begg

Honours[]

Premiers (7): 1975, 1980, 1993, 1994, 2006, 2016, 2017
Champions (6): 1958, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2013, 2015, 2016
Winners (6): 1979, 1981, 1983, 1997, 1999, 2016, 2017

Season-by-season results[]

Champions Runners-up Third Place
Canberra Olympic Season-by-Season Results
Season National Premier League ACT NPL
Finals 		Fed
Cup 		FFA
Cup 		Top scorer
GP W D L GF GA GD PTS League Finals Name Goals
2013 23 13 6 4 47 25 +22 45 3rd Champions - QF - Mark Shields 19
2014 16 8 3 5 41 28 +13 27 3rd Semi-final - SF - Mark Shields 15
2015 16 7 4 5 38 21 +17 25 5th Champions - QF - Philippe Bernabo-Madrid 10
2016 18 15 0 3 50 16 +34 45 Premiers Champions QF W SF Philippe Bernabo-Madrid 10
2017 18 15 2 1 66 22 +44 47 Premiers Runner-up QF W R32 Stephen Domenici 28
2018 16 11 0 5 40 21 +19 33 2nd Runner-up - QF - Michael John 12

References[]

  1. ^ "Our History". www.canberraolympic.com.au. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  2. ^ "A.C.T Champions". www.socceraust.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  3. ^ "PS4 NPL: Olympic win back-to-back Grand Finals". Capital Football. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  4. ^ "ACT Division One 1980". www.socceraust.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  5. ^ "ACT Division One 1993". www.socceraust.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  6. ^ "ACT Division One 1994". www.socceraust.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  7. ^ Hall, James (18 June 2016). "Canberra Olympic to play on national stage in FFA Cup". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Canberra Olympic v Sydney FC". Football Federation Australia. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. ^ "FFA Cup: Sydney FC beats Canberra Olympic 3-0 at Viking Park in first Cup semi-final". ABC News (Australia). 21 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  10. ^ Helmers, Caden (3 August 2016). "FFA Cup: Canberra Olympic move into the Round of 16 with win over Surfers Apollo". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  11. ^ Helmers, Caden (24 August 2016). "FFA Cup: Canberra Olympic through to the quarter-finals with defeat of Redlands". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  12. ^ Hall, James (28 September 2016). "FFA Cup: Canberra Olympic stun by reaching semi-final". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  13. ^ "Canberra Olympic's FFA Cup dream crushed in round of 32". The Daily Advertiser. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Canberra Olympic squad". www.sportstg.com. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  15. ^ "Premier League - Players". www.canberraolympic.com.au. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Men's Coaches". www.canberraolympic.com.au. Retrieved 13 February 2017.

External links[]

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