Altona Magic Soccer Club (Commonly known as Altona Vardar SC) is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Altona North Altona North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Altona North recorded a population of 12,962 at the . Bordering sub ...

, a western suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. The Magic currently compete in the second tier of the

Australian soccer league system The Australian soccer league system is the league structure for soccer clubs in Australia. The league system in Australia since 1977 has involved one top divisional league controlled by Football Australia and many leagues run within each state ...

. Founded in 1968, Altona Magic plays out of

Paisley Park Soccer Complex Paisley Park Soccer Complex in Victoria, Australia provides the facilities for local soccer club Altona Magic, who play in National Premier Leagues Victoria and are supported by the Macedonian Australian community. The stadium has a capacity of ...

. The club has won the

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

on 5 occasions in seasons 1995,1996,1997,2008 and 2009. In 2019, Altona made a return to the

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

, following successive promotions in 2017 via the

Victorian State League Division 1 State League 1 is a semi-professional association football league in Victoria, Australia. Sitting at level 4 of the Victorian league system, below the three NPL Victoria divisions, it forms part of the fifth tier of the overall Australian league ...

and again in 2018 via

National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 The National Premier Leagues Victoria 2, commonly referred to as NPL Victoria 2, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is the second-highest in the Victorian league system, behind the National Premier Leagues Vict ...

(West), both seasons Magic were crowned champions.

History

Altona Magic Soccer Club located in the west of Melbourne has been playing in the state elite competition the Victorian Premier League since 1989. The club has won 5 championships and produced many Australian internationals. The club colours of red and black signify the famous Macedonian Football Club, FK Vardar Skopje. Since the formation of the football club the Macedonian Community and Macedonian media continue to call the club the Vardar Football Club. In 1967 a group of Macedonian immigrants passionate about football initiated a meeting in Yarraville with the idea of forming a football team and by 1968 the team was registered as the Kingsville Soccer Club. The team played at Wembley Park, Yarraville (1968 to 1974) in the Victorian lower amateur leagues. In 1975 the Kingsville Soccer Club committee successfully acquired debt riddled German backed club Central Altona, with the successful acquisition the club shifted to Gray Reserve, Williamstown and played in the Victorian Provisional League Division 1 (1975 to 1979). In 1979 the club's desire to compete in the higher divisions of Victoria arrived with the amalgamation of first division strugglers Keilor City (German backed). The amalgamation brought the club to Division One and with a large membership base the club successfully negotiating with the Altona City Council to tenant the Paisley Park Soccer Complex, a master facility of its time and the current home of the club. The club renamed itself to Altona Gate Soccer Club in 1980 and for next 8 years competed in the Victorian Division 1 League. In 1988 the first success was achieved, the club won promotion to the State League (VPL) by finishing League Runners-Up. By 1996 the club incorporated the name Altona Magic Soccer Club, this was at time when Soccer Australia (now Football Federation Australia) encouraged all clubs to remove all ethnic affiliated names and logo's from all clubs across Australia. The most successful period in the club's history was in the 1990s, Altona won 3 consecutive VPL championships in 1995, 96 and 97. The club added two more championship trophies in 2008 and 2009, this confirmed the club's position as one of the most successful clubs in Victorian Football. In 2010, after a horrific season in the

, Altona Magic were relegated to the

. The 2011 season became the first time since 1988 that Altona was to compete below the top tier of football in Victoria. Magic spent seasons 2011–2013 in the Victorian State League Division 1 finishing mid-table each time, which was the second tier at the time. In 2014, following the introduction of the

, which Vardar was not accepted in to, the club then competed in the regionalised Victorian State League Division 1 North-West, the new third tier of football in Victoria. In 2014 and 2015, the club again finished mid-table on both occasions. Led by the likes of Jon Mcshane, Adamson Ajayi and Jason Hayne, Altona Magic took out the State League 1 North-West title in 2016, topping the table all year long. Magic then took out the overall State League 1 championship, defeating State League 1 South-East title holders Mornington SC. After the 2016 title-winning season, Altona Magic confirmed its ambition to join the

. It appointed

Goran Lozanovski Goran Lozanovski (born 11 January 1974) is a former Australian football (soccer) player of Macedonian descent, and current manager holding the role of senior coach at Sydenham Park SC. Playing career Club Noted for his ability at taking se ...

as senior head coach, replacing the incumbent Vlado Tortevski, and signed the likes of Amadu Koroma from South Melbourne, Joey Franjić from Hume City, Greg Lombardo from Northcote City and Michael Stark from Port Melbourne. The club was successful in going back-to-back in 2017, winning the State League 1 title and gaining promotion into the NPL 2, the state's second tier domestic league. In the off-season, Magic signed Bentleigh Greens championship winning duo Troy Ruthven and Ben Litfin, Green Gully's Rani Dowisha,

Pascoe Vale Pascoe Vale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek local government area. Pascoe Vale recorded a population of 18,171 at the 2021 census. History Pa ...

's Mark Pistininzi and

Heidelberg United Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...

's Jordan Wilkes. The signings, all of whom played in Victoria's top tier the season prior, signalled Magic's intent for the 2018 season. On 11 August 2018, in the club's 50th year of existence, Altona won the NPL2 West championship with three games to spare, following a 2–0 win over

Brunswick City SC Brunswick City Soccer Club is a soccer club from Brunswick West, Victoria, Brunswick West, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The club was formed in 1970 by local Greek Australians as Thornbury Soccer Club and to ...

. Magic led the competition for the large majority of the season and finished 11 points clear at the top of the table. In 2019, after a positive start to the season, long-term injuries to

Michiel Hemmen Michiel Hemmen (born 28 June 1987) is a retired Dutch footballer who played as a forward. He formerly played for FC Volendam, AGOVV Apeldoorn, BV Veendam, Westerlo, SC Cambuur, BK Häcken, Excelsior and Altona Magic. Career Hemmen made his ...

, Jon McShane and Ross Archibald stretched the squad and ultimately fell away from finals contention, picking up just 1 point in its last 7 games and finished in 11th position in its first season back in the Victorian top flight. In 2020,due to the COVID-19 situation,

Football Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the name Anglo Australian F ...

decided to cancel the 2020 season and leaving Altona Magic in dead last, 14th after just 5 games played. It was decided by the board of

, that there will be no relegation or champion crowned for the 2020 season. Senior Head Coach

, who was appointed in 2016 and lead Altona Magic to two Championships in 2017 and 2018 in his four-year stint at the helm, also parted ways shortly after the cancellation of the 2020 season. On 26 September 2020,it was announced

John Markovski John Markovski (born 15 April 1970) is an Australian soccer coach and former player, former head coach of Fitzroy City SC. Markovski played in the National Soccer League (NSL) for Sunshine George Cross, Preston Lions (former Preston Makedonia) ...

, would be named his successor for the 2021 season. In the 2021 season, following a poor run or results, Savvas Patikkis was named as the clubs Senior Head Coach for the remainder of the season and then confirmed for the 2022 season.

Current squad

Current Women's Squad

Honours

*Victorian Premier League Champions 1995, 1996, 1997, 2008, 2009 *Victorian Premier League Runners Up 2004, 2006 *Victorian Premier League Finalists 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005 *

West Champions 2018 *Victorian State League Division 1 Champions 2016, 2017 *Victorian State League Division 1 Runners Up 1988 *Dockerty Cup Runners Up 1989

Notable former coaches

Individual honours

VPL Player of the Year *1997 – George Jolevski *2001 – Zoran Todorovski *2004 – Doug Mladenovic *2006 – Sash Becvinovski Bill Fleming Medal *1997 – George Jolevski VPL Coach of the Year *1995 – Ian Dobson *1996 – Gary Cole VPL Top Goalscorer Award *1998 – Sash Becvinovski *2006 – Sash Becvinovski VPL Goalkeeper of the Year *1997 – Darren McGrath Jimmy Rooney Medal *1995 – Chris Emsovski *1996 – Darren McGrath *1997 – Savva Rusmir *2004 –

Levent Osman Levent Osman (born 8 March 1977, in Melbourne) is an Australian former association football player of Turkish Cypriot descent. He played as a defender. He has previously played for Trabzonspor in Turkey, FCU Politehnica Timişoara in Romani ...

*2009 – Kliment Taseski

References

External links

Altona Magic (Official Website)Football Victoria (Official Website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altona Magic Sc Altona Magic SC Association football clubs established in 1968 Association football clubs established in 1975 Soccer clubs in Melbourne Victorian Premier League teams National Premier Leagues clubs Macedonian sports clubs in Australia Sport in the City of Hobsons Bay