Canberra Croatia Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Deakin in the south of Canberra,

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

. Founded in 1958 the club currently competes in the

National Premier Leagues Capital Football The National Premier Leagues Capital Football 1 (also known as NPL ACT 1 or simply NPL1) is a soccer competition contested by clubs affiliated to Capital Football. The league is the highest level (level 1) competition in the Australian Capital Te ...

. Since 1960, Canberra Croatia has always competed in the top level of ACT soccer either side of a brief stint in the top level of NSW soccer between 1988 and 1994. They are the most successful soccer club in ACT history with 23 league premierships and 18 finals championships and ACT Federation Cups collected.

History

Establishment and early years

Canberra FC was established in 1958 by the local Canberran Croatian community as Croatia Soccer Club but was simply known as Croatia. The club commenced competitive play and entered the ACT second division in 1959. After spending one season in the second division, Croatia SC was promoted to the first division. In 1960 the newly formed ACT Soccer Association, working under the title of Soccer Canberra, introduced new club naming regulations that prohibited names with ethnic ties. Croatia SC changed its name to Soccer Club HOPE in accordance to the new regulations. The name however was chosen to reflect the acronym of the

Croatian Liberation Movement The Croatian Liberation Movement ( hr, Hrvatski oslobodilački pokret, HOP) is a minor far-right political party founded in 1956 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by Ante Pavelić, poglavnik of the Independent State of Croatia and its ruling party Ustas ...

, who are known as HOP. SC HOPE won its first title in 1962, beating Kosciusko to the league Premiership crown. HOPE backed up this first title up with success in the finals series as the club added the Championship title to its honours list with a 7–3 victory over Kosciusko in the grand final. HOPE additionally added the 1962 ACT Federations Cup and NSW Robertson Cup to complete a quadruple title haul. The club added a further two premierships and a championship to its cabinet between 1963 and 1966 as HOPE and Juventus battled it out in the league and finals for titles. In 1967 the club changed its name back to Croatia with a slightly different full name of Croatia Deakin Soccer Club to reflect the suburb the club is from and based. Croatia finished the 1967 season as league runner-up to Juventus but claimed a 2–1 victory in the grand final over Cooma United. 17 August 1969, Croatia Deakin claimed its fourth league title of its first full decade in ACT soccer and twelfth title overall (4 Premierships & Championships, 2 Federation Cups, 1 ACT Ampol Cup and 1 NSW Robertson Cup). Then on 11 November 1969, to complete the decade, Croatia Deakin opened its clubrooms, restaurants and bars on Grose St Deakin, across the road from the soccer ground. This new clubhouse and soccer facilities was the first of its kind in Canberra.

70s and 80s

The 1970s and 80s saw the club continue accomplishment on the field with more premiership and trophy successes. The highlight of these successes was the three consecutive undefeated seasons between 1986 and 1988 when Deakin registered a total 42 wins, 6 draws, 0 losses, 174 goals for and 27 goals against. In 1975, Croatia Deakin competed in the inaugural full Croatian Australian Tournament (Croatian Cup). The tournament was established to provide Australian and New Zealand soccer clubs with Croatian heritage a cup competition to compete for following Melbourne Croatia's expulsion from the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1974. Sydney Croatia hosted the tournament with Croatia Deakin defeating the hosts 3–1 in the tournament final. In 1989, Croatia Deakin changed its name to Canberra Croatia and replaced Canberra City Griffins in the NSW Division One (highest league in NSW). Canberra Croatia finished its first season in NSW as runner-up to Melita Eagles and lost the grand final 2–0 to the same opposition.

90s and 2000s

Canberra Croatia competed in the top division of NSW until 1995 with the club qualifying for finals five out of six seasons. Croatia finished league runner-up in 1990 and lost the grand final in 1990 and 91 to Wollongong Macedonia and

Blacktown City Blacktown City Council is a local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1906 as the Blackt ...

respectively. The club also changed its official name twice during this period to Canberra Metro (91–92) and Canberra Deakin in 1993. In 1995 the club returned to ACT soccer and re-joined the ACT top division, by now renamed the ACT Premier League. Deakin marked its return to ACT soccer by winning the ACT Premier League with a fourteen-point advantage over second placed Shamrock Rovers and by defeating Juventus 3–2 in the grand final. In 2006, Canberra Deakin changed its name to Canberra FC before the start of the 2006 ACT Premier League season. 24 June 2007 – 30 June 2007, Canberra FC participated in the inaugural ‘

Croatian World Club Championship The Croatian World Club Championship is a FIFA sanctioned international Association football, football tournament for Croatian diaspora football clubs. Founded in 2007, the tournament is organised by the Croatian Football Federation on behalf of t ...

’ for

Croatian diaspora The Croatian diaspora consists of communities of ethnic Croats and/or Croatian citizens living outside Croatia. Estimates on its size are only approximate because of incomplete statistical records and naturalization, but (highest) estimates sugges ...

Zagreb, Croatia Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

alongside other teams of Croatian heritage from around the world including Canada, USA, Germany, France and Austria. Canberra FC was a late entrant into the tournament after

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

had to pull out for financial and organisational reasons. The tournament was broken into two groups with the top teams playing off in the final and the second placed teams playing off for bronze. CFC topped Group B after a 5–1 victory over French club AS Croatia Villefranche, a 2–2 draw with SD Croatia Berlin and a 3–1 victory over HNK Zrinski Chicago. Canberra FC played

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

in the tournament final and took a first half lead before a second half comeback by the Canadian club saw Canberra FC succumb to a final 1–3 defeat and claim silver in the tournament. Canberra FC returned to compete in the Croatian World Club Championship in 2011 and 2015. Canberra FC finished with the silver, again, in 2011 with a 0–5 loss, again, to Toronto Croatia in the final. In 2015 Canberra FC finished fourth in the tournament with the side defeated 0–3 once more by Toronto Croatia in the bronze play-off.

NPL era

Canberra FC was a founding member of the NPL ACT in 2013 following

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

’s national re-structure of soccer leagues in Australia. Canberra FC finished its first NPL season as league premiers, seven points ahead of second placed Belconnen United. Deakin won the major semi-final against the same opposition 4–0 before succumbing 0–2 in extra time to

Canberra Olympic 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 Premi ...

at McKellar Park in the grand final. During the first four seasons of the NPL, Canberra FC won two league titles in 2013 and 2015 and lost four grand finals in a row between 2013 and 2016. 23 March 2017, it was reported that Canberra FC had joined the recently formed Australian Association of Football Clubs. This Association was set-up to represent National Premier League clubs interests at local, state and national levels. In 2018, Canberra FC won the ACT treble by claiming the League premiership, finals championship and the Federation Cup titles. The head coach, Paul Macor, stood down from his position after just one season, being replaced by Luka Udjur as head coach for the 2019 season.

Club identity

Colours and badge

The club colours are red, white and blue reflecting the club's Croatian heritage. The badge depicts the flagpole of Parliament House, a symbol of Canberra, over red and white check reflecting the

Coat of arms of Croatia The coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Grb Republike Hrvatske) consists of one main shield and five smaller shields which form a crown over the main shield. The main coat of arms is a checkerboard (chequy) that consists of 13 red an ...

Club name changes

The club was founded in 1958 as ''Croatia Soccer Club'' by local

Croatian Australians Croatian Australians are Australian citizens of Croatian ancestry. Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2021, 200,000 persons resident in Australia (0.6%) identified themselves as having ...

, later being renamed ''HOPE'', ''Croatia Deakin'', ''Canberra Croatia'', ''Canberra Metro'', ''Canberra Deakin'', ''Canberra FC'' before returning to the name ''Canberra Croatia'' after the abolition of the National Club Identity Policy allowing teams to return to ethnic names.

Home ground and facilities

Deakin Stadium Deakin Stadium is an association football ground located in the south-central Canberra suburb of Deakin, ACT. It is the home ground of Canberra Croatia FC in the NPL ACT. Primary Use Canberra FC are the primary tenants of Deakin Stadium. C ...

(formerly ''Deakin Football Centre'') is the home stadium of Canberra Croatia. It is owned by Croatia Deakin Football Club, who also own Canberra Croatia. The suburban ground went through a major reconstruction between 2005 and 2008 and was officially re-opened in 2008. The ground's official capacity is 1,500 but its record attendance is 2,782 (2016 NPL Grand Final between Canberra Croatia and Canberra Olympic).

Players

Current squad

Notable former players

Below is a list of players who have represented Canberra FC at senior or junior level and who have at least one senior or junior international cap for a FIFA sanctioned national team or at least one club cap for a top division national league.

Honours

ACT * ACT League Premiers and Finals Champions :Premiers (23): 1962, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1973, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, 2015,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

:Champions (17): 1962, 1966, 1967, 1978, 1979, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

* Capital Football Federation Cup :Winners (18): 1962, 1964, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,

*ACT Ampol Cup :Winners (5): 1963, 1972, 1973, 1987, 1988 *ACT Club Championship :Winners (12): 1977, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 NSW * NSW Division One : League Runner-up (2): 1989, 1990 : Grand Final Runner-up (3): 1989, 1990, 1991 *

Waratah Cup The Waratah Cup is a knockout cup competition in New South Wales, run by the governing body of football in NSW, Football NSW. Teams competing in the Waratah Cup come from the National Premier Leagues NSW, National Premier Leagues NSW 2, Natio ...

:Winners (1): 1990 :Runner-up (1): 1992 *

Robertson Cup The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

:Champions (1): 1962 Other * Croatian Cup (Australia & New Zealand) :Champions (6): 1975, 1986, 1992, 1994, 2001, 2005 *Argentina Cup :Champions (1): 1983/84 *

:Runner-up (2): 2007, 2011

Head-to-head records

NPL Teams

*Includes NPL Matches, FED Cup Matches, Charity Shield, ACT Ampol Cup, and Capital Football Federation Cup finals matches from 1962-2012

Non NPL Teams