Goulburn Valley Suns are a semi-professional

association football 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 ...

club based in

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

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 ...

. The club was established in 2013 and currently competes in the

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 ...

. The Suns' home ground is John McEwen Reserve.

History

2014: For the club's first season of competition, the Suns signed a number of high-profile players, including

Simon Colosimo Simon Colosimo (born 8 January 1979) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a centre back and defensive midfielder. He spent two years playing in Europe with spells in the Premier League with Manchester City and in the Belgian Fir ...

Naum Sekulovski Naum Sekulovski (born 14 May 1982 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays for Preston Lions Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a soccer club from Presto ...

Kristian Sarkies Kristian Ronald Sarkies (born 25 October 1986 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian Football (soccer), footballer who plays for Beaumaris SC in the Victorian State League Division 1, Victorian State League 1. He grew up in Dingley Village, ...

and

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

youth trio

Ersin Kaya Ersin Kaya (born 5 July 1993) is an Australian footballer who lasted played as a right winger or right back for National Premier Leagues Victoria club Hume City. Club career After being a part of the Australian Institute of Sport set-up in ...

, Hernan Espindola and Stipo Andrijasevic. Goulburn Valley Suns lost its first official match, going down 1–0 to

Oakleigh Cannons FC Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The ...

at John McEwen Reserve. The Suns would also lose their next five leagues games, before managing their first points and first win in 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 ...

, when they defeated

Werribee City Werribee City Football Club is an Australia semi-professional association football, soccer club based in Werribee, Melbourne, currently playing in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 competition. The club plays its home games at Galvin Park ...

2–1. GV Suns would finish the season in bottom place, managing 10 points in 26 games. 2015: As a result of the club's 14th place in 2014, they were relegated to

National Premier Leagues Victoria 1 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 Vi ...

, which, for 2015, was separated into an Eastern and Western conference with GVS competing in the Eastern conference. The Suns lost a number of key players, including Colosimo, Sarkies and Ben Clarke. Inconsistent form resulted in the Suns finishing the season in 5th place in the 10-team league. Prolific striker Craig Carley won the NPL Victoria 2 golden boot, scoring 34 goals. 2016: On 2 May 2016, striker Carley left the club to join

Hume City The City of Hume is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It includes the outer north-western suburbs and a number of rural localities between 13 and 40 kilometres from the Melbourne c ...

. Carley had been the Suns' top goalscorer, with six goals at the time of his departure. The Suns moved quickly to replace Carley, announcing the signing of former

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

player

Daniel Heffernan Daniel Heffernan (born 25 May 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a striker. He has previously played in England, Australia and Indonesia. In 2019, Heffernan returned to England and signed with Whalley Range FC Career Born in Manchester ...

on 21 May 2016. GVS finished the season in 8th place. 2017: The 2017 season saw improved results for Goulburn Valley, who finished in 4th place. 2018: In 2018, the Suns finished in 5th place with teenager Alou Kuol winning the NPL2 Golden Boot scoring 22 goals in 26 games.

Home ground

The home ground of Goulburn Valley Suns FC is John McEwen Reserve, also known as Shepparton Sports Precinct. It is a $21 million multi-sport facility with four full-size soccer pitches.

Current Squad

References

External links

Official website
Soccer clubs in Victoria (Australia) National Premier Leagues clubs Association football clubs established in 2013 2013 establishments in Australia Shepparton {{Australia-footyclub-stub