The Azzurri Sports Club is home to the Adelaide Blue Eagles (ABE), a soccer club based at the

Marden Sports Complex Marden Sports Complex is a multi-use stadium in Marden, South Australia. It is mainly used for soccer and is the home ground for National Premier League side Adelaide Blue Eagles. It was also used for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup and the 2006 AFC W ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It has formerly been known as Napoli Sports Club, Eastern Districts, Eastern Districts Napoli Sports Club, and Eastern Districts Azzurri. Blue Eagles is a participant in the

National Premier Leagues South Australia The National Premier Leagues South Australia (often abbreviated to NPL South Australia or NPL SA) is a semi-professional football competition in the Australian state of South Australia. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National Pre ...

. ABE is a predominantly

Italian Australian Italian Australians ( it, Italiani Australiani) are Australians with Italian ancestry. Italian Australians constitute the sixth largest ancestry group in Australia, and one of the largest groups in the global Italian diaspora. At the 2021 c ...

-supported club.

History

*The club was founded in June 1958 as the Napoli Sports Club, owing to most of the inaugural members originating from the

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

region around

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in Italy. The name was changed to Eastern Districts due to the (then governing body) South Australian Soccer Football Association's ruling of only allowing one Italian named club in the local competition. The club was incorporated as Eastern Districts Napoli Sports Club, with the team known as Eastern Districts, as it represented a number of eastern suburbs of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. *The club entered a team in the Metropolitan League in 1959 and played its first game against Edinburgh, losing 11–1. At first all home games were played at the

Victoria Park Racecourse Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi, also known as Park 16, is a park located in the Southeastern Park Lands of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is bordered by Fullarton Road, Greenhill Road, East Terrace and Wakefield Road. It hosts a ...

, then in the South Parklands, followed by Adey Reserve in

Firle Firle (; Sussex dialect: ''Furrel'' ) is a village and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. Firle refers to an old-English/Anglo-Saxon word ''fierol'' meaning overgrown with oak. Although the original division of East ...

. The club moved to the new facilities at Marden in 2000. *In 1962 the club played under the name of Eastern Districts Napoli and in 1966 adopted the name Eastern Districts Azzurri. In 1968 the club amalgamated with Seacliff Austria, which enabled them to acquire a place in the 1st division. In 1993 the club changed its name to Adelaide Blue Eagles, with the intention of broadening its appeal. *Since its inception the club has been very successful particularly in the last decade. It has established itself as one of the leaders of local football both on and off the field, fielding many teams at all levels. *They currently run a side which competes in the Amateur League, called MSSC Blue Eagles. MSSC stands for Molinara Sports & Social Club.

Current squad

the main squad includes:

Club honours

1st Division Champions: 10 :1981, 1982, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2011 Federation Cup Winners: 6 :1984, 1986, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2010 1st Division Minor Premiers: 6 :1992, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2002 Coca-Cola Cup Winners: 3 :1981, 1982 & 1990

Former players

* Peter Deng, later in the

South Sudan national football team The South Sudan national football team represents South Sudan in international football and is controlled by the South Sudan Football Association, the governing body for football in South Sudan. History Zoran Đorđević was appointed on 25 M ...

* Thomas Deng, later in the

Australia national football team Australia national soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national soccer team ** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team ** Australia men' ...

References

External links

Official website
!---appears to be non-functional---> * {{AUS fb state SA National Premier Leagues clubs Soccer clubs in South Australia Association football clubs established in 1958 1958 establishments in Australia Italian-Australian backed sports clubs of South Australia