North Sunshine Eagles FC 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 ...

club from

St Albans, Victoria St Albans is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Brimbank local government area. St Albans recorded a population of 38,042 at the 2021 census. St Albans' ...

, a 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. It is an

Albanian Australian Albanian Australians ( sq, Shqiptarë Australian) are residents of Australia who have Albanian heritage or descent; many are from Albania and North Macedonia but some are from Kosovo, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, Bosnia and Italy. Albanian Austr ...

-backed club. In 2019 the Club competed in 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 ...

North-West division, after promotion in 2014. However, with a successful year, NSEFC will be promoted to NPL Victoria 3 in 2020; entering a new era of professional football.

History

Early years

The club was founded in 1975 as Klubi Futbollistik Shqiponja - Albanian Eagle Soccer Club by

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n migrants. In 1989 the club moved its home base from McIvor Reserve in

Yarraville Yarraville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Yarraville recorded a population of 15,636 at the . Yarraville i ...

to Keilor Downs. Just two years later in 1991, the club moved its home base once more to its current location at Larissa Reserve in the Western Melbournian suburb of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

. In 1993, the club changed its name from Albanian Eagle SC to North Sunshine Eagles Soccer Club. In 2000, NSEFC was promoted from Victorian Provisional League 1 to

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 ...

. Another promotion followed just two seasons later, but the club found itself back in Provisional League 1 after relegations in both 2005 and 2006.

Rise to State One

North Sunshine experienced a stellar rise between 2011 and 2014. The club won the Provisional League 1 championship in 2011, earning automatic promotion to State League Division 3. In 2013, the side managed a 3rd-place finish in State 3 and were promoted to the

Victorian State League Division 2 State League 2 is a semi-professional association football league in 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 overall Australian pyrami ...

North-West for the 2014 season due to a league re-structure following the introduction of 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 ...

. The Eagles achieved promotion in their first season in State League 2, winning the league championship. In its first season in the third tier of football in Victoria in 2015, the

North-West, the club finished in 5th place. In the 2015 season, there was a historic match played out between North Sunshine Eagles and local rivals

Sunshine George Cross FC Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in State League Division 1, the fourth tier of football in Victoria. George C ...

in the

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

. The nine man Eagles came from two-goals down in extra-time to draw 6–6 and then win 4–2 on penalties
FFA Cups 12 goal Sunshine derby spectacular
The club was then drawn against state league powerhouse

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional Association football, soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, Victoria, Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club currently competes in the National P ...

in the next round and lost 8–0. In preparation for the 2017 season, North Sunshine announced the homecoming of former junior and

Hume City FC Hume City Football Club is a semi-professional Australian football club based in Broadmeadows, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. Established by the local Turkish Australian community, the club competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. ...

captain Shane Rexhepi. On signing for the club, Rexhepi stated: "I will play NPL again and it will be with NSEFC”. The Eagles also added Reardo Luka from

North Geelong Warriors FC 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, Au ...

and Lewis Shannon from a brief stint with

Green Gully SC Green Gully Soccer Club is an Australian association football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Green Gully is one of the largest clubs in Melbourne, having participated in the now defunct National Soccer League between 1984–1986. The club c ...

. The club finished in 3rd place in the 2017 season, 11 points behind league champions Altona Magic, who were promoted, and three behind

Geelong SC Geelong Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club based in Geelong, Australia founded in 1958 by Geelong's Macedonian Australian community. In 2019, Geelong SC obtained National Premier Leagues Victoria status after being crowned 2018 champions ...

. Diellon Memishi finished the season with 19 goals, taking out the league golden boot. For the 2018 season, the Eagles brought in Zaim Zeneli from South Melbourne, Darren Lewis and Vito Cichello from

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, Au ...

and Robert Zadworny from

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 ...

. North Sunshine finished the season in 2nd place, two points behind Geelong, once more missing out on promotion to the NPL. The Eagles achieved promotion from State League 1 in 2019, with Nick Epifano scoring 15 goals in 14 games. Today the club is primarily backed and supported by Albanians and Albanian-Australians living in Melbourne. On 20 April 2021,an incident occurred in the football match between the North Sunshine Eagles and

Springvale White Eagles Springvale White Eagles Football Club is a semi-professional Australian association football, soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria currently playing in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 3, NPL Victoria 3. Founded by Serbian Australians, t ...

( Serbian-Australian team), in which Albanian fans attacked Serbian ones. On several occasions, Springvale White Eagles fans provoked the North Sunshine Eagle fans by chanting "

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

is Serbia", as well as various other slogans and insults. The results of the incident were a seriously injured young man among the fans of the Serbian club, several slightly injured and significant material damage to the cars in the car park.

Honours

Team

*2019– State League 1 North-West Promotion (2nd) *2018– State League 1 North-West (2nd) *2017– State League 1 North-West (3rd) *2016– State League 1 North-West (3rd) *2015– State League 1 North-West (5th) *2014– State League 2 North-West Champions *2013– State League 3 Promotion (3rd)

Individual

*State League 1 North-West Golden Boot :2017- Diellon Memishi :2016- Diellon Memish

External links

NSEFC FacebookNSEFC TwitterNSEFC Fixture/Results

References

{{National Premier Leagues Victoria stadiums Soccer clubs in Melbourne Diaspora sports clubs in Australia Association football clubs established in 1975 National Premier Leagues clubs Albanian diaspora Sport in the City of Brimbank