The Croatian community of Australia has played an important part in the history of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

. Countless clubs have been formed over the years in every state and territory, except for the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. At present there are 34 active Croatian football clubs operating in Australia.

The first Croatian football/sporting club founded in Australia was HSNK Zora (no longer in existence), which was founded in 1931. Currently the oldest surviving Croatian club in Australia is the Adelaide Raiders

Adelaide Raiders

Raiders is a football club in Adelaide, South Australia, that plays in the South Australian Super League. Its home ground is the Croatian Sports Centre in Gepps Cross, a northern suburb of Adelaide. It is a Croatian Australian-backed club and is also known by the name "Adelaide Croatia"...

, founded in 1952 as Adelaide Croatia. The most successful and largest Croatian clubs in Australia are the Melbourne Knights

Melbourne Knights

Melbourne Knights Football Club is a football club representing Melbourne, Australia in the Victorian Premier League . The club is one of the most successful football clubs in Australia, being a two-time championship and four-time premiership winner in the now defunct National Soccer League...

 and Sydney United

Sydney United

Sydney United Football Club are an Australian football club from Sydney, Australia, established in 1957 by Croatian Australians in the area...

, both clubs played in the National Soccer League

National Soccer League

The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...

 for 21 seasons.

The Croatian community holds the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament

Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament

The Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament is a tournament run by the Croatian Soccer Federation of Australia and New Zealand, an organisation founded in 1974. The inspiration for the tournament came from the successful Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament founded in 1964...

, which has been held annually since 1974. It is the largest 'ethnic' based football cup competition in Australia as well as the oldest soccer competitiion in Australia, with clubs from all over the country and even New Zealand competing.

Clubs by state (top flight clubs in italics)

Australian Capital Territory

• Canberra FC
  Canberra FC
  Canberra Football Club is an Australian football club from the city of Canberra that competes in the ACT competitions including the ACT Premier League. The club was founded in 1958 as Canberra Croatia by local Croatian Australians, later taking the names HOPE, Croatia Deakin, Canberra Metro and...
  
  
• HNK O'Connor Knights

News South Wales

• Sydney United
  Sydney United
  Sydney United Football Club are an Australian football club from Sydney, Australia, established in 1957 by Croatian Australians in the area...
  
  
• Hurstville ZSC
  Hurstville ZSC
  Hurstville Zagreb Football Club is an Australian association football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club was founded by Croatian Australians.-History:...
  
  
• Luddenham United
• South Coast United
  South Coast United
  South Coast United Soccer Club is an Australian football from the city of Wollongong.The club was founded in 1984 by Wollongong's Croatian Australian community...
  
  
• HNK Edensor Park
• Dalmacija Sydney
• King Tomilslav
• HNK Vares Bobovac
• Werrington Croatia FC
• Ljubuski FC (disbanded)
• Newcastle Croatia
  Newcastle Croatia
  The Newcastle Croatia Soccer Club is a now defunct Australian football from Newcastle, New South Wales. The club was formed by the city's Croatian Australian community as Newcastle Croatia in 1984 and debuted that year in the 5th Division of the Newcastle League...
  
   (disbanded)
• Hajduk Sydney (disbanded)

Queensland

• Rocklea United FC
  Rocklea United FC
  Rocklea United Football Club are an Australian football club from Rocklea, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club currently plays in the Brisbane Premier League Division 1. The club was initially formed in 1952 under the name HNK Croatia Brisbane but struggled to sustain a full...
  
  
• Gold Coast Knights
  Gold Coast Knights
  Gold Coast Knights Soccer Club is an Australian football club from the city of Gold Coast, Queensland. It is a Croatian Australian backed club which was founded in 1978. The club's home ground is the Croatian Sports Centre in the suburb of Carrara. The club competes in the Gold Coast Premier...
  
  
• Gold Coast Adriatic

South Australia

• Adelaide Raiders
  Adelaide Raiders
  Raiders is a football club in Adelaide, South Australia, that plays in the South Australian Super League. Its home ground is the Croatian Sports Centre in Gepps Cross, a northern suburb of Adelaide. It is a Croatian Australian-backed club and is also known by the name "Adelaide Croatia"...
  
  
• Whyalla Croatia
  Whyalla Croatia
  Whyalla Croatia is an Australian football club from the regional city of Whyalla, South Australia. The club was founded by Whyalla's Croatian Australian community. The club is part of the Whyalla Soccer Association and plays in the citys top league. The clubs biggest honour came in 1977 when they...
  
  
• Adelaide Croatia Vukovi
• Adelaide Croatia Old Boys
• Mount Gambier Croatia (disbanded)

Tasmania

• Glenorchy Knights
  Glenorchy Knights
  Glenorchy Knights Football Club is a football club which represents Glenorchy in the Tasmanian Southern Premier League.The club also fields teams in all junior divisions, as well as women's teams....
  
  
• Prospect Knights FC
  Prospect Knights FC
  Prospect Knights FC, is an Australian football club from Prospect, Tasmania formed from the merger of Western Suburbs and Launceston Croatia Soccer Clubs, which represents Prospect Vale and the wider Launceston community in the Northern Premier League. The club also fields a women’s team, Under...
  
  

Victoria

• Melbourne Knights
  Melbourne Knights
  Melbourne Knights Football Club is a football club representing Melbourne, Australia in the Victorian Premier League . The club is one of the most successful football clubs in Australia, being a two-time championship and four-time premiership winner in the now defunct National Soccer League...
  
  
• St Albans Saints
• North Geelong Warriors
  North Geelong Warriors
  The North Geelong Warriors Football Club, , is a Croatian backed football club from the regional Victorian city of Geelong. The club continues to have strong links to and support from the city’s large Croatian community. The club is a regular participant in the Australian-Croatian Soccer...
  
  
• Chelsea Hajduk
  Chelsea Hajduk
  Dandenong City Soccer Club, formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian association football club from Melbourne, Victoria. The clubs home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the suburb of Endeavor Hills...
  
  
• Strathmore Split
• Melbourne Tornado
• Irymple Knights
  Irymple Knights
  Irymple Knights Soccer Club is an Australian association football club from Mildura, Victoria. The club was founded by Mildura's Croatian Australian community as Zagreb Mildura SC in 1978...
  
  
• Gospic Bears
• St Albans Vukovar
• Wendesday Knights
• Mostar Saints (disbanded)
• HASK Melbourne
• HNK Tottenham Zagreb (disbanded)
• Morwell Dinamo (disbanded)
• Wodonga Croatia (disbanded)

Western Australia

• Western Knights
  Western Knights
  Western Knights Soccer Club is an Australian football club currently playing in the Football West State League Premier Division in Perth, Western Australia.-History:...
  
  
• Fremantle Croatia
  Fremantle Croatia
  Fremantle Croatia H.N.K. Soccer Club is an Australian football club from the city of Fremantle, Western Australia. It is a Croatian backed club. It recently took out the Western Australian Amateur League Division 2 title and will compete in Division 1 when the 2009 season starts.The club is a...
  
  
• Gwelup Croatia
  Gwelup Croatia
  Gwelup Croatia is an Australian football club from the suburb of Gwelup in Perth, Western Australia. It is a Croatian backed club founded in 1988. The club's home ground is at the Croatian Sporting Complex in Gwelup. The club currently competes in the Western Australian amateur leagues...
  
  
• Gwelup Garda
• Port Hedland Croatia (disbanded)