The Croatian community of Australia has played an important part in the history of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

. Countless clubs have been formed over the years in every state and territory, except for the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. At present there are 31 active Croatian soccer clubs operating in Australia. The first Croatian soccer/sporting club founded in Australia was HSNK Zora (no longer in existence), which was founded in 1931. Currently the oldest surviving Croatian club in Australia is the Adelaide Raiders, founded in 1952 as Adelaide Croatia. The most successful and largest Croatian clubs in Australia are the

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

and

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 ...

, both clubs played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

for 21 seasons. The Croatian community holds the

Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament The Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament is a tournament run by the Croatian Soccer Federation of Australia and New Zealand, an organisation founded in 1974. The inspiration for the tournament came from the successful Croatian-North American So ...

which has been held annually since 1974. It is the largest 'ethnic' based soccer cup competition in Australia as well as the oldest national soccer competition in Australia, with clubs from all over the country and even New Zealand competing.

Active Clubs by state

Note: clubs in

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state-based ...

in bold text Australian Capital Territory *

Canberra Croatia FC 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. Founded in 1958 the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Ca ...

* HNK O'Connor Knights New South Wales *

Sydney United 58 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 ...

* South Coast United *

Hurstville ZFC Hurstville ZFC ''(also known as Hurstville Zagreb FC and Hurstville FC)'' is a soccer club based in the suburban district of St George, New South Wales, Australia. The club currently competes in the along with the NPL Juniors and on an Associ ...

* Newcastle Croatia *Werrington Croatia FC *HNK Edensor Park *NK Kralj Tomislav *HNK Dalmacija Sydney Queensland *

Gold Coast Knights Gold Coast Knights Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Carrara, Queensland, Australia. The Croatian Australian backed club play in the National Premier Leagues Queensland, the top flight of the Football Queensland administrativ ...

Brisbane Knights FC Brisbane Knights Football Club is an Australian soccer club from Rocklea, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club currently plays in the Brisbane Premier League, the first tier of senior football in Brisbane (third tier in Q ...

*Sunnyside Croatia *NK Adriatic Gold Coast *Stratford Dolphins FC South Australia * Adelaide Croatia Raiders *Whyalla Croatia *Adelaide Croatia Vukovi Tasmania *

Glenorchy Knights Glenorchy Knights Football Club is an Australian association football club based in Glenorchy, Tasmania. Founded in 1957, the club competes in Australia's second-tier National Premier League, with matches played at KGV Park. History The club ...

Victoria *

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 ...

North Geelong Warriors North Geelong Warriors Football Club, formerly known as North Geelong Croatia, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club from the regional Victorian city of Geelong. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, Aust ...

Dandenong City Dandenong City Soccer Club, formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian soccer club based in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria. The club's home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the suburb of Endeavour Hills. They compete ...

*FC Strathmore Split *St Albans Vukovar *Gospic Bears *NK Bunker *Wednesday Knights FC *

Irymple Knights {{Use Australian English, date=July 2016 Irymple Knights Soccer Club is an Australian association football, soccer club from Mildura, Victoria. The club was founded by Mildura's Croatian Australian community as Zagreb Mildura SC in 1978. The c ...

Western Australia *

Western Knights Western Knights Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club currently playing in the Football West State League Division 1 in Perth, Western Australia. Its home ground is Nash Field, in the Town of Mosman Park. Since 2018, the club expanded it ...

Gwelup Croatia Gwelup Croatia is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Gwelup in Perth, Western Australia, founded in 1988. Gwelup Croatia currently competes in the Football West State League 1, with matches played at the Croatian Sporting C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Croatian Football Clubs In Australia * Croatian-Australian culture

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

* Croatian Croatian Soccer clubs

Active Clubs by state

See also

References