Preston Lions FC
Encyclopedia
The Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Macedonia Soccer Club) are an Australian football (soccer)
club from Preston
, a northern suburb of Melbourne
, Victoria
, Australia
. The club was formed in 1947 and currently play in the Victorian State League Division One, but did play in the Victorian Premier League up until 2009,of which they are champions of the 2002 and 2007 season.
) in 1959. Based in the suburb of Preston, Victoria, the Macedonian Soccer Club was originally created as a focal point for the newly immigrated Macedonian community to gather and socialise, and to provide the then youth with the opportunity to learn and play the ‘world game’ that was so popular back in their homeland of Macedonia
.
The club first experienced championship success at the state’s top level in 1975 and again in 1980. As Victorian champions, Preston competed in a play-off against other state champions and in 1981 they were promoted to the then National Soccer League
(NSL) competition.
During this significant period of growth the need for much larger facilities became apparent and the club consequently moved from its home base of T.A. Cochrane Reserve in Collier Street, Preston, to its current home ground at B.T. Connor Reserve in nearby Reservoir. The Preston Macedonian Social Club was also established around the same time and is located directly opposite the ground.
in a thrilling penalty shootout against arch rivals South Melbourne. However financial difficulties led to poor performances and in 1993 Preston played their last match in the NSL.
for Scotland, Graham Heys for England, Robbie Dunn, Phil Traianedes, George Jolevski, Andrew Zinni, Oscar Crino, Peter Ollerton, Gary Cole, John Markovski, Kris Trajanovski, Goran Lozanovski,John Sapazovski who captained the Victorian State Team on their tour to China in 2005 and Sasa Ognenovski
was crowned Asian player of the year in 2010.
As the club will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2009, the club is preparing a strategic plan to move the club forward in the future. Recently the Preston Lions Football Club has implemented a system of promoting its own junior and under 21 players into the senior squad. In 2008 seven players from the clubs juniors and under 21's structure were promoted into the senior lineup.
The club's women's team competes in the highest competition in the state, the Women's Premier League (WPL).
Bill Fleming Medal - Media voted VPL Player of the Year
Victorian Premier League Coach of the Year
Victorian Premier League Top Goalscorer
Victorian Premier League Goalkeeper of the Year
Victorian Premier League Under 21 Player of the Year
Jimmy Rooney Medal - VPL Grand Final Man of the Match
Weinstein Medal Junior Player of the Year
National Representatives - Youth Team
Victorian State Representatives - Senior Level
Note: These statistics include Victorian Premier League matches and finals played for Preston Lions between 1991 and 2005.
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...
club from Preston
Preston, Victoria
Preston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin. At the 2006 Census, Preston had a population of 27,892.-Settlement:...
, a northern suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, 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...
. The club was formed in 1947 and currently play in the Victorian State League Division One, but did play in the Victorian Premier League up until 2009,of which they are champions of the 2002 and 2007 season.
Foundation
The club was founded in 1947 and was affiliated with the Victorian Soccer Federation (now Football Federation VictoriaFootball Federation Victoria
Football Federation Victoria is the state governing body for football in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Federation Australia, the sport's national governing body....
) in 1959. Based in the suburb of Preston, Victoria, the Macedonian Soccer Club was originally created as a focal point for the newly immigrated Macedonian community to gather and socialise, and to provide the then youth with the opportunity to learn and play the ‘world game’ that was so popular back in their homeland of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
.
Transformation of the club and affiliation to VSF
In 1959 the club established itself from an amateur club to a semi-professional club, and a change of name to the Preston Macedonia Soccer Club with promotion to the Victorian Division Two (South Competition). Preston Macedonia moved forward in leaps and bounds to become champions of the Victorian Metropolitan League Division One in 1966, and as a result, was promoted to the state’s top competition, the Victorian State League in 1967.The club first experienced championship success at the state’s top level in 1975 and again in 1980. As Victorian champions, Preston competed in a play-off against other state champions and in 1981 they were promoted to the then 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...
(NSL) competition.
During this significant period of growth the need for much larger facilities became apparent and the club consequently moved from its home base of T.A. Cochrane Reserve in Collier Street, Preston, to its current home ground at B.T. Connor Reserve in nearby Reservoir. The Preston Macedonian Social Club was also established around the same time and is located directly opposite the ground.
National Soccer League
Preston continued to compete successfully in the NSL for the next 13 years, achieving their best finish in 1987 as runner-up in the Southern Division Championship. In 1992 Preston took out the prestigious Dockerty CupDockerty Cup
The Dockerty Cup is a football competition held between clubs in Victoria, Australia. It is named after Harry Dockerty, a former president of the Victorian Soccer Federation. It has been in recess since 1996, except for the year 2004...
in a thrilling penalty shootout against arch rivals South Melbourne. However financial difficulties led to poor performances and in 1993 Preston played their last match in the NSL.
Victorian Premier League
Relegated back to the Victorian Premier League, Preston were once again crowned Victorian champions in 1994. Around this time, Soccer Australia forced VPL clubs to abolish any ethnicity associated with their club names and the Preston Macedonia Soccer Club was renamed the Preston Lions Soccer Club, however maintained its heritage. The club has since adopted the title of the Preston Lions Football Club, following the lead set by the sports’ governing body and keeping in line with how the game is known in the UK and countries where people don't speak English–as “football”. Preston would once again become Victorian Premier League champions in both 2002 and 2007, adding to its already impressive collection of trophies.Players
Over the years, the Preston Lions FC have produced many champion players who have represented their countries at youth and senior level such as Warren Spink, George CampbellGeorge Campbell (footballer)
George Campbell is a former Scottish professional football player. He was born in the Highland town of Caol near Fort William in Scotland, and played for Aberdeen F.C. in the Scottish Premier League...
for Scotland, Graham Heys for England, Robbie Dunn, Phil Traianedes, George Jolevski, Andrew Zinni, Oscar Crino, Peter Ollerton, Gary Cole, John Markovski, Kris Trajanovski, Goran Lozanovski,John Sapazovski who captained the Victorian State Team on their tour to China in 2005 and Sasa Ognenovski
Sasa Ognenovski
Saša Ognenovski is an Australian football player who currently plays as a central defender for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and the Australia national team. Since moving to South Korea, Ognenovski's success has rapidly risen. In 2010, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year, won a position in the...
was crowned Asian player of the year in 2010.
The Club today and into the future
Today the club has over 240 players with teams in senior men's, senior women's and juniors, with a further 50 people involved in coaching, training and approximately 10 committee members who are responsible for the management and administration of the club at the strategic and operational level.As the club will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2009, the club is preparing a strategic plan to move the club forward in the future. Recently the Preston Lions Football Club has implemented a system of promoting its own junior and under 21 players into the senior squad. In 2008 seven players from the clubs juniors and under 21's structure were promoted into the senior lineup.
The club's women's team competes in the highest competition in the state, the Women's Premier League (WPL).
Honours
National
- National Soccer League Runner-Up: 1987
- National Soccer League (Southern Division) Runner-Up: 1985
- National Soccer League Third Place: 1983
- National Soccer League Cup Runner-Up: 1985, 1990/91
- National Soccer League Finalists: 1985, 1989
State
- Victorian Premier League Champions: 1980, 1994, 2002, 2007
- Victorian Premier League Minor Premiers: 1994, 2003, 2007
- Victorian Premier League Runners Up: 1978
- Victorian Premier League Finalists: 1994, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008
- Victorian Division One Champions: 1966, 1975
- Victorian Division One Runner-Up: 1964, 1965, 1996
- Victorian Division Two Champions: 1961, 1973
- Dockerty Cup Winners: 1992
- Dockerty Cup Runner-Up: 1985, 1986
- Victoria Cup: 1980
- Federation Cup Winners: 1973, 1975, 1996
- Federation Cup Runner-Up: 1963
Individual awards
Victorian Premier League Gold Medal - VPL Player of the Year- 2001–Chris Emsovski
- 2003–Chris Emsovski
- 2005–Anthony Magnacca
Bill Fleming Medal - Media voted VPL Player of the Year
- 1994–Adrian Pender
- 2006–Anthony Magnacca
- 2007–Tony Sterjovski
Victorian Premier League Coach of the Year
- 2007–Goran Lozanovski
Victorian Premier League Top Goalscorer
- 1979–Gary Ward
Victorian Premier League Goalkeeper of the Year
- 1999–Lou Acevski
Victorian Premier League Under 21 Player of the Year
- 2005–Serkan Oksuz
Jimmy Rooney Medal - VPL Grand Final Man of the Match
- 1994–Chris Sterjovski
- 2002–John Spazaovski
- 2007–Zoran Petrevski
Weinstein Medal Junior Player of the Year
- 1989–Robert Spasevski
Representative Football
Australian Representatives - Senior Level- Doug Brown
- Billy Celeski
- Gary Cole
- Oscar Crino
- Robbie Dunn
- David Jones
- John Little
- George Jolevski
- Goran Lozanovski
- John Markovski
- Zarko Odzakov
- Sasa OgnenovskiSasa OgnenovskiSaša Ognenovski is an Australian football player who currently plays as a central defender for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and the Australia national team. Since moving to South Korea, Ognenovski's success has rapidly risen. In 2010, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year, won a position in the...
- Peter Ollerton
- Con Opasinis
- George Slifkas
- Warren Spink
- Phil Traianedes
- Kris Trajanovski
- Andrew Zinni
National Representatives - Youth Team
- John Little (AUS)
- Warren Spink (AUS)
- John Markovski (AUS)
- Naum Sekulovski (AUS)
- Kris TrajanovskiKris TrajanovskiKris Trajanovski is an Australian association football player and coach.-Club career:After playing with Altona Magic in the Victorian State League Trajanovski attended the Australian Institute of Sport in 1989. In 1991 he joined National Soccer League team Preston Makedonia...
(AUS) - Goran Lozanovski (AUS)
- Vasco Trpcevski (AUS)
- Robert Spasevski (AUS)
- Daniel Miller (AUS)
- George CampbellGeorge Campbell (footballer)George Campbell is a former Scottish professional football player. He was born in the Highland town of Caol near Fort William in Scotland, and played for Aberdeen F.C. in the Scottish Premier League...
(SCO) - Graham Heys (ENG)
Victorian State Representatives - Senior Level
- George CampbellGeorge Campbell (footballer)George Campbell is a former Scottish professional football player. He was born in the Highland town of Caol near Fort William in Scotland, and played for Aberdeen F.C. in the Scottish Premier League...
- John Sapazovski
- Anthony Magnacca
- Pece Siveski
- Serkan Oksuz
- Jonathan Munoz
- Steve Jackson
Current squad
\Notable former players
| John Markovski John Markovski John Markovski is an Australian football coach and former player.Markovski played in the National Soccer League for Sunshine George Cross, Preston Lions , Morwell Falcons, Canberra Cosmos, Auckland Kingz, Carlton SC, Melbourne Knights and Perth Glory FC and was known Australia wide for his... Steve Jackson Steve Jackson Steve Jackson may refer to:* Steve Jackson , set theorist at University of North Texas* Steve Jackson , co-founder, with Ian Livingstone, of Games Workshop... Phil Traianedes Warren Spink Warren Spink Warren Spink is a former soccer player from Australia. He made 38 appearances for the Socceroos scoring 9 goals, and also represented Australia at under-20 and under-23 levels.... Andrew Zinni Andrew Zinni Andrew Zinni is an Australian former international association footballer who most notably played for Brunswick Juventus and Preston Makedonia in the National Soccer League.-Honours:With Australia:* Trans-Tasman Cup: 1986... Zarko Odzakov Žarko Odžakov Žarko Odžakov is a retired footballer who represented Australia 13 times in full international matches. Former Australia coach Ralé Rašić in 2006 picked Odžakov in his greatest Socceroo team.-FK Vardar:... Vlok Hed Robbie Dunn Robbie Dunn Robert "Robbie" Dunn is an Australian former football player. Dunn played as a defender in a career that spanned 15 years.-Club career:... George Jolevski George Jolevski George Jolevski is a former Australian international football player of Macedonian ancestry. He played as a defender/midfielder.-External links:*... George Todorovski Oscar Crino Oscar Crino ----Oscar Crino is a former Australian international footballer who played as a central midfielder.Crino played primarily in the National Soccer League with South Melbourne, Footscray JUST and Preston... Peter Ollerton Peter Ollerton Peter Ollerton is a former Australian football forward who represented Australia 55 times between 1974 and 1977 scoring 20 goals. He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany and also represented Victoria.He was recently named as Head Coach of Victorian Premier League... Goran Lozanovski Goran Lozanovski Goran Lozanovski is a former Australian football player of Macedonian descent. He won two National Soccer League titles with South Melbourne, taking out the Joe Marston Medal for best on ground in the 1999 Grand Final against Sydney United. He was also particularly noted for his ability at... |
Vasco Trpcevski Nick Cuculeski George Campbell George Campbell (footballer) George Campbell is a former Scottish professional football player. He was born in the Highland town of Caol near Fort William in Scotland, and played for Aberdeen F.C. in the Scottish Premier League... Ian Dobson Ian Dobson Ian Dobson is a former Australian football player who has won the Victorian Premier League Coach of the Year Award twice... (1984–87) Kris Trajanovski Kris Trajanovski Kris Trajanovski is an Australian association football player and coach.-Club career:After playing with Altona Magic in the Victorian State League Trajanovski attended the Australian Institute of Sport in 1989. In 1991 he joined National Soccer League team Preston Makedonia... Anthony Magnacca Chris Emsovski Naum Sekulovski Naum Sekulovski Naum Sekulovski is an Australian football player. He last played as a left winger for the A-League club Perth Glory.- A-League career statistics :... Sasa Ognenovski Sasa Ognenovski Saša Ognenovski is an Australian football player who currently plays as a central defender for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and the Australia national team. Since moving to South Korea, Ognenovski's success has rapidly risen. In 2010, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year, won a position in the... |
Isyan Erdogan Isyan Erdogan İsyan Erdogan is an Australian football player who plays for Hume City in the Victorian Premier League.-Club career:... Steven Pace Steven Pace Steven Pace is an Australian football player with Maltese heritage who currently plays for the Hume City FC. He was signed on 30 October 2007 as a replacement for long-term injury victim Daniel Piorkowski.-Club career:... Nick Lazarevski Zoran Petrevski Gary Cole Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...  Republic of Macedonia Robert Stambolziev |
Notable former coaches
| Andon Dončevski Andon Doncevski Andon Dončevski is a former football player for FK Vardar, in the Republic of Macedonia. In his career he represented the Yugoslavian national team, as well as scoring a record 217 goals for Vardar... Ernie Merrick Ernie Merrick Ernest 'Ernie' Merrick is the Scottish former head coach for the Australian A-League football team, Melbourne Victory.-Melbourne Victory:... Peter Ollerton Peter Ollerton Peter Ollerton is a former Australian football forward who represented Australia 55 times between 1974 and 1977 scoring 20 goals. He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany and also represented Victoria.He was recently named as Head Coach of Victorian Premier League... Goran Lozanovski Goran Lozanovski Goran Lozanovski is a former Australian football player of Macedonian descent. He won two National Soccer League titles with South Melbourne, taking out the Joe Marston Medal for best on ground in the 1999 Grand Final against Sydney United. He was also particularly noted for his ability at... |
Records
- Most Games: Chris Emsovski 158, John Sapazovski 123, Sasa OgnenovskiSasa OgnenovskiSaša Ognenovski is an Australian football player who currently plays as a central defender for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and the Australia national team. Since moving to South Korea, Ognenovski's success has rapidly risen. In 2010, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year, won a position in the...
110 - Most Finals Games: Chris Emsovski 8
- Most Career Goals: John Sapazovski 40
- Most Season Goals: Saso Markovski 19 (1998)
Note: These statistics include Victorian Premier League matches and finals played for Preston Lions between 1991 and 2005.