Kingston City Football Club is an Australian, professional

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 ...

club from

Clayton South, Victoria Clayton South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Clayton South recorded a population of 13,381 at the . The s ...

(within the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of Kingston), whose home ground is The Grange Reserve. Kingston club is competing in 2020 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 ...

History

The club was established in 1974 in the south-eastern

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 ...

suburb of Clarinda by members of the local

Greek Australian Greek Australians ( el, Ελληνοαυστραλοί, ) are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek an ...

community. Originally called Liverpool Soccer Club, the club was renamed Clarinda Soccer Club the following year (1975). Playing many of its home games on the grounds of Clayton Technical School in

Clayton, Victoria Clayton is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District,Clayton South, Victoria Clayton South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Clayton South recorded a population of 13,381 at the . The s ...

, and in 1998 was renamed Kingston City Soccer Club. The name change was made to reflect the amalgamation of local city councils and the restructuring of city borders, but also to broaden the club's appeal amongst the non-Greek population in the local area. Kingston City competed in the 2006 Victorian Premier League after back-to-back promotions in 2004 and 2005, winning the State League Division One title in the latter year. The club's stay in the top-flight was short-lived, though, suffering relegation in 2007. Financial struggles then blighted the club, with debt as high as six-figures hindering Kingston's operations. A second relegation followed in 2008 when City finished bottom of State League 1 and then a third consecutive relegation when it finished bottom of the 2009 State League Division Two South-East. After finishing his playing career at the end of the 2012 State League Division 2 South-East season, Nick Tolios took over as head coach of the club. In 2014, Kingston City was announced as one of the successful applicants for the newly introduced

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 ...

, joining the second division, the new second tier of football in Victoria. Kingston finished in 8th place in its first season in the 14-team league. The following season, six additional clubs were added to

, with the division splitting into East and West conferences of ten sides each. Kingston finished in 6th place in NPL2 East in 2015. On 3 September 2016, Kingston City achieved promotion from to

NPL Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional association football, soccer league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the high ...

in dramatic circumstances. Needing to avoid defeat on the final match-day of the regular season, Damian Iaconis scored a 94th-minute equaliser to achieve automatic promotion into the top flight. In the 2016 NPL2 Grand Final, Kingston City came back from 2–0 down to win 3–2 against

St Albans Saints St Albans Saints Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in St Albans, Victoria. Established by local Croatian Australians as Dinamo, the club is a regular participant in the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament. The c ...

, with Slaven Vranesevic scoring two near-identical free kicks, and Kingston were crowned NPL Victoria 2 Champions. Velibor Mitrovic was top goalscorer with 19 goals. Kingston finished in 10th place in its first season in the NPL in 2017, seven points clear of the relegation playoff spot. Iaconis top-scored with 12 goals. The following season, City finished just outside of the finals series, two points behind

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...

in sixth place. Iaconis once again top-scored with 11 goals. In 2019, after three seasons in the top flight in Victoria, Kingston City were relegated, finishing in second-bottom place, one point short of

Dandenong Thunder Dandenong Thunder SC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. Thunder compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. In 2012, Dandenon ...

in the relegation play-off spot. After relegation was confirmed, Tolios left the club to take up an opportunity at

Bentleigh Greens Bentleigh Greens Soccer Club is an Australian semi professional soccer club based in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1986, by the Greek Cypriot community and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues ...

after seven years as head coach of Kingston. Kingston then appointed Con Tangalakis as manager for the 2020 season.

Honours

* NPL2 Champions: 2016 * NPL2 Premiers: 2016 *

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 ...

Champions: 2005 *

Victorian State League Division 2 State League 2 is a semi-professional association football league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Sitting at level 5 of the Victorian league system, below the three NPL Victoria divisions, it forms part of the fifth tier of the over ...

Champions: 1994, 2002 *

Victorian State League Division 3 The Victorian State League Division 3 is the sixth tier soccer competition (behind the National Premier Leagues) in Victoria, Australia, and the seventh nationally, including the A-League. It is conducted by the Football Federation Victoria ...

Champions: 2011 Seniors & Reserves *

Victorian State League Division 4 Victorian State League Division 4 is the seventh level of soccer in Victoria, Australia, and the eighth nationally. The league is split into four geographic conferences – North, West, South and East. The league replaced Provisional Leagues 1 ...

Champions: 1986 *Victorian State League Provisional League 1 Champions: 1985 *

Hellenic Cup The Hellenic Cup ( el, Ελληνικό Κύπελλο, translit=Ellinikό Kypello) is an Australian football (soccer) tournament contested by Greek Australian clubs, mostly from Melbourne, Victoria . Starting in 1983, it was an attempt to formal ...

Winners: 1983, 1993–94

2019 Senior Men's National Premier Leagues Victoria Squad

as of February 2019

Competition Timeline

R relegated P promoted C champions F finals

References

External links

Kingston City FC Official website
{{AUS fb state Vic Association football clubs established in 1974 Soccer clubs in Melbourne Greek-Australian culture in Victoria (state) 1974 establishments in Australia Sport in the City of Kingston (Victoria)