Pascoe Vale Football Club (formerly Pascoe Vale Soccer Club) is a football club from
Pascoe Vale
Pascoe Vale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek local government area. Pascoe Vale recorded a population of 18,171 at the 2021 census.
History
Pa ...
, a north-western 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
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 ...
.
The club was established in 1966, and the Rams currently compete in the
Victorian NPL2 competition, which is the third tier in the
Australian soccer league system
The Australian soccer league system is the league structure for soccer clubs in Australia. The league system in Australia since 1977 has involved one top divisional league controlled by Football Australia and many leagues run within each state ...
.
History
The first known Pascoe Vale Soccer Club was formed in 1932 by British migrants.
In 1966, immigrants from
Macedonia of
Aromanian descent reformed the club. The new immigrants renamed the club to
Pascoe Vale Pelister, after the mountain where their home village of
Nižepole
Nižepole ( mk, Нижеполе, rup, Nijopolea, ) is a village in the municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia and is an alpine settlement 7.85 kilometers from Bitola.
History
The population of Nižepole was made up of older inhabitants of A ...
is located.
Victorian State Leagues
The club made a surge through the Provisional Leagues in the early 1980s, achieving three successive promotions between 1982 and 1984, taking Pascoe Vale from Victorian Provisional League Division 4 to Provisional League 1. The club was again promoted in 1986, competing in the State Leagues for the first time in 1987. The club remained in Victorian State League Division 4 for the next six years until they were promoted to State League 3 in 1992, where the club spent the next nine years. In 2001, the club achieved promotion to State League Division 2 for the first time in its history.
Despite coming close in 2003, losing to
Langwarrin SC
Langwarrin Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club based in Langwarrin South, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1964, the club competes in National Premier Leagues Victoria 2.
History
Langwarrin Soccer Club was formed by ...
on penalties, and in 2004, losing to
Kingston City FC
Kingston City Football Club is an Australian, professional soccer club from Clayton South, Victoria (within the local government area of Kingston), whose home ground is The Grange Reserve. Kingston club is competing in 2020 in the National P ...
again on penalties in the promotion playoff match, the club didn’t achieve promotion to State League 1 until 2008, when it won the State League 2 championship under the guidance of
Luciano Trani
Luciano Trani (born 10 August 1966 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian former soccer player who currently serves as the assistant manager of A-League Men club Brisbane Roar FC.
Coaching career
Trani began coaching at the Victorian Premier ...
. In 2011, Vitale Ferrante took over as senior head coach, taking over from George Karkaletsis after seven rounds.
Pascoe Vale were promoted to the
Victorian Premier League
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 ...
in 2012, finishing top of State League One, five points ahead of
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 ...
. This was marked as the greatest achievement of the club, marking the next big step from a small family club to competing with some of the biggest clubs Australia has to offer. In 2013,
Tomi Milardovic
Tomi Milardovic (born 6 August 1982 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian footballer who plays for Pascoe Vale. He was signed by Adelaide United in 2007 on a short-term contract as injury cover for Angelo Costanzo
Angelo Francesco Ant ...
and Davey Van't Schip joined the club.
National Premier Leagues Victoria (2014–present)
In the newly formed
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 new top tier of football in Victoria, Pascoe Vale finished 11th in a 14 team competition in 2014.
Despite being tipped by some as relegation candidates at the start of the year, Pascoe Vale finished in 6th place in 2015, qualifying for the finals series. Pascoe Vale came up against
Heidelberg United
Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...
in the elimination final and progressed on penalties. Facing
South Melbourne
South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...
at
Lakeside Stadium
Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park, Victoria, Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association ...
, Pascoe Vale conceded two late goals in extra time to go down 3–2. This semi-final finish was the furthest Pascoe Vale had ever reached in a top flight season. The 2015 season also marked the first season Pascoe Vale played out of their new home ground at
CB Smith Reserve
CB Smith Reserve is a football facility based in Fawkner, Victoria, a suburb 12 km north of the centre of Melbourne. The venue is home to the Pascoe Vale Soccer Club and Brunswick Juventus who compete in the National Premier Leagues Vic ...
, a newly built $6.3m facility.
Prior to the
2016 season, Pascoe Vale announced they would adopt a new name and logo, proceeding onward as the Pascoe Vale Football Club. Their new logo was inspired by that of
FK Pelister
FK Pelister ( mk, ФК Пелистер) is a Macedonian football club based in the city of Bitola, North Macedonia. They are currently competing in the Macedonian Second League.
History
FK Pelister, was formed in 1945. In 1946 they won the Bitol ...
, tying back to their original namesake and humble origins. Pascoe Vale finished the 2016 season in 7th place, with Van't Schip scored 9 goals and taking out the club's Golden Boot award.
In 2017, Pascoe Vale formed its inaugural senior women's team. Pascoe Vale's female participation doubled in 2017 to five female teams in total. The men's team finished the season in 7th place, just outside the finals series. Davey Van't Schip scored 17 goals to take out the club's Golden Boot award yet again and was only second in the league to Heidelberg's
Kenny Athiu
Kenjok "Kenny" Athiu (born 5 August 1992) is a South Sudanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cambodian Premier League club Visakha and the South Sudan national football team.
Club career Youth
Athiu joined South Springvale SC ...
, who scored 21 times.
Tomi Milardovic
Tomi Milardovic (born 6 August 1982 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian footballer who plays for Pascoe Vale. He was signed by Adelaide United in 2007 on a short-term contract as injury cover for Angelo Costanzo
Angelo Francesco Ant ...
retired at the end of the season, after five seasons at the club.
In 2018, Pascoe Vale finished the season in 4th place, qualifying for the finals series where it lost 2–1 to
Oakleigh Cannons
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 ...
in the elimination final. Van't Schip was the top scorer for the third season running, this time with 15 goals, the fourth highest tally in the league.
From January 2019, Pascoe Vale player
Hakeem al-Araibi, a political
dissident
A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...
from Bahrain,
was being held in Thailand pending deportation to Bahrain.This attracted much media attention and a campaign for his quick and safe return was spearheaded by the club, with support from
Craig Foster
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. He was released in February of the same year after the government of Bahrain withdrew their extradition request, and arrived at Melbourne Airport on 12 February to much publicity.
In June 2019, long-serving head coach Vitale Ferrante resigned after eight years in charge. His player and brother
Michael Ferrante
Michael Ferrante (born 28 April 1981) is an Australian former footballer. He is currently the senior men's head coach of Essendon Royals SC.
Biography
He attended St. Joseph's College Melbourne from years 1992–1997 being a star week in week ...
, along with Luca Santili and Davey van't Schip also departed the club. David Chick was named as the new head coach. In August 2019, Pascoe Vale were relegated from 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 ...
, finishing in bottom place.
Honours
Men
*Victorian Provisional League Division 4 Runners-Up 1982
*Victorian Provisional League Division 3 Runners-Up 1983
*Victorian Provisional League Division 2 Champions 1984
*Victorian Provisional League Division 1 Third 1986
*Victorian State League Division 4 Champions 1992
*Victorian State League Division 3 Nth-West Runners-Up 2001
*Victorian State League Division 2 Nth-West Champions 2008
*Victorian State League Division 1 Champions 2012
*National Premier Leagues Victoria Finalists 2015, 2018
Women
*Victorian State League Division 4 Third (promoted)
References
External links
*
{{AUS fb state Vic
Association football clubs established in 1966
National Premier Leagues clubs
Soccer clubs in Melbourne
Victorian State League teams
1966 establishments in Australia
Sport in the City of Merri-bek
Macedonian sports clubs in Australia