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Western Eagles FC is an Australian football (
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 based in the western suburbs 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 ...
. The club's foundation meeting was held on 13 August 1950, at 93 Brighton Road, St. Kilda Victoria. The meeting decided that the club would be known as "Polonia Soccer Club". KS Polonia was one of the powerhouses of Victorian and Australian soccer in the 1950s and 1960s, before making a brief revival in the 1980s. The club has since fallen to the lower reaches of the Victorian system, and currently participates in the Victorian State League Division 3 North – West.


Club history


Foundation

With the conclusion of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
were unable to, or did not want to return to their homeland for various reasons and as such made the decision to
emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to
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 ...
and begin a new life for themselves and their families. They were ex-servicemen and women, displaced persons, etc. As Poles have done for countless generations, they began to form various organisations to uphold their old traditions and their identities, to alleviate their homesickness, finding solace with their own kind in a strange and at times inhospitable new land.
Sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
has always been a major enjoyment to Poles and as such a Polish Soccer Club was inevitable. The foundation meeting was held on 13 August 1950 at 93 Brighton Road St Kilda. The Meeting was an initiative of Zdzislaw Zabuski, Boleslaw Mlewski, Jacek Wyszogrodzki and the Polish Association in Victoria. The first committee was elected on 27 August 1950 and consisted of Wladyslaw Kowalik – President, Wiktor Kwiatkowski – Hon. Secretary, Franek Skowronski – Treasurer, Kazimierz Zielinski – Team Manager, Boleslaw Mlewski – Coach, Mieczyslaw Terlikowski – Team Manager. The meeting decided that the club would be named Polonia Sports Club.


The early years

"Polonia" being
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and the colours of white and red adopted. Polonia played its first game in September 1950, against
JUST Just or JUST may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Just (surname) * Just (given name) Arts and entertainment * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead * "Just", a song from the album ''Lost and Found'' by Mudvayne ...
(Division 3 Champions and holders of the Australian World Cup) and defeated them 4:3. The club's first official league game took place at Williamstown Racecourse, on 7 April 1951 defeating Geelong United 3:1. It was the beginning of a meteoric climb and the beginning of the golden fifties and sixties for the club. Polonia became 4th Division Champions in their first season of existence in 1951, and 3rd Division Champions in 1952 winning the league without dropping a single point ! In 1953 Polonia finished Division 2 Runners-up winning promotion to Division 1, and becoming World Cup Champions. Players, who starred in these early days and will be remembered by many were Stefan Czauderna and Boleslaw Zablocki, pivot for the Victorian team that played the touring
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
team in 1951 at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
. Stasek Galecki was the best left wing in the
State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
of
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 ...
at the time, and Augus Dziura, a fine goal scoring center forward. By 1954 Polonia had climbed into the First Division, losing just one league game in 3 years. It had taken only four years to get from the bottom to the top of the Victorian soccer pyramid structure. The club reached the Dockerty Cup final for the first time in their history in 1955. The final played on 22 October, at Ascot Vale ended with a 1:1 draw to Hakoah, with the opening goal from Polonia's Peter Schipperheyn in the 51-minute. The side lost the Cup final replay 2:0 on 5 November. During its early years the club was fortunate to secure services of Zdzislaw Zabuski, an engineer and businessman, and the club's most loyal supporter, who provided employment for many of the Polonia players. His knowledge of local conditions proved extremely useful. Mr Zabuski was elected club President in 1951. Julian Chrzanowski was one of the club's first committee members and players. Mr Chrzanowski was a member of the Polish Resistance in World War II, before he was captured and send to
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
. He barely survived and was offered the chance to migrate to Australia or the United States. He arrived to Australia in 1949. He became the foundation member of Polonia. He played in the club's first game, and was a member of the championship teams of 1951 and 1952. W.R.Thomas, President of Victorian Soccer Football Association was Polonia's most influential and noteworthy supporters. He recalls in 1951, prior of taking the Victoria State team on tour of New Zealand, arranging with Polonia club President Zdzislaw Zabuski, to play a trail game against the newly formed Polonia Soccer Club. He was shocked when the lowly and newly formed fourth Division team soundly beat his Touring team 7:1. He then became one of the club's great followers, even with his son, Brian, was a playing member of Polonia first team, representing the club in the 1954 season, debuting in Division One. In 1956, the year of the
Melbourne Olympic Games The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...
, Polonia officials took the opportunity to approach visiting membersof the Polish Olympic Committee who agreed to allow some of Poland's best players to come to Melbourne. Polonia was fortunate to have amongst its ranks, the dynamic figure of Ted Lezon, a person gifted with explosive energy and controversial temperament which gave the Club plenty of drive and lift and who to this day is still an influence to the present. In 1956, Ted Lezon was entertaining officials of the Polish Olympic Teams and jokingly said "What about Polonia getting some top class players from Poland", that remark set the ball rolling, Dr Charles Walker, who was Club president at the time, had influential connections in Poland and the joke became reality. Dr. Charles Walker was a Polish doctor born in
Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
, Poland. Dr Walker arrived in Australia just before the Second World War, and as a doctor was part of the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
Force that combat against the Japanese in Papua New Guinea. Dr Walker began his work with the club in 1950 as a medical volunteer. By 1952 he was elected club President, role he fulfilled in the following years ; 1953, 1955–1956, 1958–1963. On 13 June 1959, the first five of a long line of Polish stars arrived in
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 ...
. They were Roch Dronia, Ryszard Szczepanski, Kaz Szygalski, Marian Gasior and Wieslaw Janczyk. The highlight era in the club's history, were the early 1960s. In the season of 1960 and 1961 Polonia won back to back
State League The Hallyburton Johnstone Shield is the premier domestic women's one-day cricket competition in New Zealand. The tournament began in 1935–36, as a first-class competition, but is now played as a 50-over competition, with six provincial teams ...
Championship, and becoming 1961
Dockerty Cup The Dockerty Cup is an annual association football knock-out competition open to all Victorian clubs across the Victorian football league system. The tournament is named after the former president of Football Federation Victoria Harry Dockerty. ...
Winners beating
George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...
4:2 in the Final on 7 October, at Olympic Park with goals from Zygmund Gross, Zdzislaw Maruszkiewicz and a brace from Mieczyslaw Jurecki. This most successful side in the club's history also won the prestige "World Cup" tournament. Some of the most influential players of that time were; Mieczyslaw Jurecki, Wieslaw Janczyk, Wieslaw Gamaj, Zdzislaw Maruszkiewicz, Jerzy Dudon, Charlie Morks, Marian Gasior, Remo Guardiani, Ryszard Szczepanski, Roch Dronia, Kazimierz Szygalski, Zygmunt Gross, Henryk Gronowski, Ference Voros. President of Polonia SC at that time was Dr. Charles Walker. Our club also had representatives at international level. Players that had the honor to represent the Australian national team were George Pittoni,
Lolly Vella Emmanuel "Lolly" Vella (7 August 1933 – 29 September 2012) was an Australian former association footballer. Club career Vella played for Footscray JUST, Sunshine George Cross and Maribyrnong-PoloniaJohn Punshon "http://www.ozfootball.net/ar ...
and
Robert Wemyss Robert Wemyss (born 1 July 1928) is an Australian former soccer player. Playing career Club career Wemyss played for Polonia SC in the Victorian State League from 1956 to 1959. Wemyss was a joint winner of the Argus Medal in 1956, the Victori ...
. Mieczyslaw Jurecki and Kazimierz Kowalec had the opportunity to play in the Australian "B" team. There was a number of players that were Poland's national team representatives ; Wieslaw Janczyk, Edward Jankowski, Zygmunt Gadecki, Norbert Gajda, Henryk and Robert Gronowski, Mieczyslaw Jurecki, Edmund Zientara. In 1963 Polonia finished Runners-up in three competitions. In the Victorian State League, two points behind
JUST Just or JUST may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Just (surname) * Just (given name) Arts and entertainment * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead * "Just", a song from the album ''Lost and Found'' by Mudvayne ...
, taking just 3 points in their final four games. The State League Leading Goalscorer that season was Edward Jankowski with 21 goals. Same year Polonia lost in the Final of the Dockerty Cup to ... JUST, losing 2:4 at Olympic Park. The team also lost in the Final of Australia Cup, which was the first national club tournament in the country initiated in 1962. The 1963 final was contested by two Melbourne clubs, with Slavia Melbourne beating Polonia 3:2 in a replay, after a scoreless draw in the first game. In the final replay, Des Palmer scored a hat-trick for the winners. On its way to the final Polonia faced Adelaide Juventus, George Cross, Brisbane Azzuri, and
Sydney Prague The Sydney Football Club Prague, commonly known as ''Sydney Prague'' or just ''Prague'', was a former association football club formed in 1951 by predominantly Czech Australians, which participated in the NSW State League from its foundation in ...
in the semi-final, winning 3:1. Polonia did manage to win the 1963 Ampol Cup, pre-season competition, beating
South Melbourne Hellas South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. ...
in the Final. In 1981, 20 years after winning their last league title, Polonia finally topped the Victorian Metropolitan League Division 1, clinching a place back into the State League after a 4-year absence. The outstanding players of that team were Leszek Dzielakowski, Richard Lipiarski, Marian Jaworski, John Wallace, Greg Gamanski, Brendon Lakic, Tadeusz Krysinski, Peter Chapnik, Richard Sekulski, Stan Klain, Michael Pichner and Alex Marshall. In charge of the team was Kaz Kowalec, a former great player himself. Stefan Mila was awarded the 1983 Victorian State League Gold Medal – Player of the Year Award. The 1984 season Polonia finished Runners-up in the State League ending the season three points behind
Morwell Falcons Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne. Morwell has a population of 14,389 people at the . It is both the seat of local governme ...
, and reaching the Dockerty Cup Final, losing to
Fawkner Fawkner is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Fawkner recorded a population of 14,274 at the 2021 census. The ma ...
3:2 after extra time. Same year Janusz Przybyla was the State League's top Goalscorer netting 23 goals, despite been out injured for five games. In 1987 Maribyrnong Polonia won its third Victorian State Championship. The team finished on top of the league with 42 points, three-point ahead of
Green Gully 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 ...
. The club's woes began the following season. Due to poor management of the club's finances and by overpaying most of its players, the club had no choice but to start selling its best players. From 1989 to 1992 Polonia suffered successive relegations. Polonia has been gifted with having some of the most influential people in Polish circles amongst its ranks, the likes of Ted Lezon, who has served in every capacity within the club and is accredited with single-handedly saving the club from extinction, soon after its glorious 1987 State League Championship Win. He has been a mentor to many of the present committee and still casts his long shadow today. The late Tomasz Ostrowski, gifted writer, journalist, philosopher extraordinary and Champion of Polish causes. Polonia secured approval to play its matches at Maribyrnong at the old Tracy Speedway venue and in an effort to assimilate with the local community renamed themselves "Polonia Maribyrnong Soccer Club". They remained at this venue until 1991, at which time they moved to the Polish Sports and Recreation Centre, Albion where facilities were created for their permanent stay. Polonia has always been a force to contend with in Victorian Soccer circles and has won countless titles. Polonia won the Victorian Championship on three occasions, in the seasons of 1960, 1961 and 1987.


1998–2019

Since 1998 Polonia is known as Western Eagles Football Club, changing club name from Sunshine Heights, which the club has been known as from 1991, after the move to the club's new home at
Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
, a privately own venue based in the western suburbs of Melbourne. The "Polonia" being dropped as a requirement of the Victorian Soccer Federation to shed their ethnic appeal in 1992. One of the darkest chapters in the club's history was the disastrous merger venture with Melbourne City. For reasons not known or understood to this day by many supporters, the club's committee made a decision to merge with and compete as Melbourne City in the Victorian State League Division 1 in the 1999 season. In the 2000 season due to the legacy of that merger Western Eagles found themselves in the Victorian Provisional League Division 3. With new club President Darren Bednarski, who embed new life to the club and with the appointment of Leszek Dzielakowski as head coach, the club started a brief revival with three promotions in five years, rising from Provisional League Division 3 to Victorian State League Division 3, where the club finished in 8th position in the 2005 season, coached by Milorad Gelic. In this period the Club won its first league Championship in 16 years, topping the Victorian Provisional League Division 2 in 2003 on 46 points – 5 points ahead of
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
. This was the first year the club was in charge by the new Club President – Tadeusz Ziegler. Players who were most involved in that period were ; Darren Bednarski, Ivan Devcic, Paul Dzielakowski, Wojciech Galon, Kamil Gamanski, Andrew Gurman, Konrad Leski, Lukasz Lewinski, Adam Mostowski, Alex Samayoa, Marek Szczepanski and Slawomir Zientara. The 2006 season was disastrous. The club was hit by crisis after crisis, coaching changes and a player walkout, which saw the club relegated back to Provisional League. Wojciech Laskowski was elected Club President in 2010, the year the club was celebrating its 60th year of existence. The team coached by Sinisa Opacic became Provisional League 2 champions, topping the league table with 44 points. On 6 August 2011 the club organised a 60th Anniversary Gala where the Eagles had over 200 supporters gather, with former greats and the current team members at the Polish Sport and Recreation Centre. They spoke about legends of years past, relived the glory years and discuss the current club situation. The club's head coach for the 2013 and 2014 season was Srecko Baresic-Nikic, a former professional player himself in Europe. He, together with the club committee and players, planned to bring Western Eagles back on the Victorian football map. The 2013 season Eagles finished 5th on the table with 32 points, and still manage to win promotion to Division 3 due to the new competition format for state level football in Victoria, ending the season with a 3:1 win over league champions Corio. The team also had a solid run in the 2013 edition of the FFV State Knockout Cup were the club reached Round 5, going down to
Preston Lions Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a association football, soccer club from Preston, Victoria, Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The club was established in ...
1:2, after an entertaining game at Albion. The team played throughout the 2013 season facing many injury problems, giving a chance to play many of the club's youth players, one of them being
Thomas Deng Thomas Jok Deng (born 20 March 1997) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Japanese club Albirex Niigata. Born a South Sudanese refugee in Kenya, he has represented the Australia national team. Personal ...
, who in 2014 signed with the
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
Club
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...
and made his first international appearance for Australia Under-20 side. Deng made his senior football debut for Western Eagles against Williamstown. Kacper Hubiak became the club's top goalscorer for the fourth consecutive season, with 15 goals, first player to do so in the club's 63-year history. Despite a solid start to the 2014 season where Eagles were sitting in second position in the table after Round 8 with 16 points, the team had a disappointing end to the year losing the last 4 games, including a crushing 8:1 defeat in round 20 to the league champions
Essendon Royals Essendon Royals Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club based in the North-Western Melbourne Local government areas of Victoria, local government area of City of Moonee Valley, Moonee Valley. The club's s ...
. It was the third biggest league defeat in the club's history. Since the 2000 season, the club is fortunate to have a dynamic, hardworking and controversial figure amongst its ranks, a former player himself, Mark Szpakolski, who gives the club plenty of drive and passion. The likes of Joe Gorczynski, Janusz Przybyla, Leszek Dzielakowski and Wladyslaw Pejko, who are supporting the club by providing constructive and positive influence to others involved. Also, the supportive role of Steve Janus, who was one of the club's major sponsors for more than 15 years. At the beginning of the 2016 season the club committee and its junior players, was presented with a cheque from Hyundai Australia as part of the "Goals For Grassroots" program. The presentation took place at
Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...
before the A-League fixture between Melbourne Victory and
Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...
. A dismal run of form saw the team slip to the bottom of the league table with only 6 points from its opening 10 games of the 2016 season. The Eagles rally in the second half of the season to finished in 10th place with 23 points. The side's relegation was confirmed by a lost in the relegation playoff to FC Strathmore 1:0, by a way of a penalty kick in the first half, on 24 September, at Paisley Park. On 15 July 2017 the club's 1500th league game celebration took place at Albion. On this historic occasion the team under Daniel Krasic responded and made the club proud with a 2:1 win over Altona North, courtesy of a Matthew Lodkowski and Jack Karyakos goals. On the day the club's oldest player Stefan Czauderna (90) who walked out with our youngest junior player, lead the senior team out to the pitch. Members of local government and Brimbank Council, Honorable Consul for the Republic of Poland – Dr George J. Luk, Secretary of the SPK Victoria – Bogdan Platek, club members, former players and coaches, sponsors and supporters, all gathered to celebrate the club's achievement. Polonia finished the season in 8th place. The club appointed Patrick Mangion as the new coach during the 2018 pre-season, who replaced Danny Krasic in mid March. After a 1:1 draw against Altona North in round 4, Eagles won nine games in a row. During this time they secured first position and held it for the remainder of the season. Western Eagles managed to secure the State League 4 Championship of the 2018 season after only 18 rounds. Eagles claimed the title in front of their home fans on 4 August, beating Truganina Hornets 2:1, having come from being 1:0 down: Matthew Lodkowski equalized in the 69th minute of the game and Stefan Dimeski scored the winner three minutes before full-time. Matthew Lodkowski became the leading goalscorer in State League Division 4 with 32 goals for the season, surpassing Janusz Przybyla tally of 23 (State League), and making him Western Eagles highest goalscorer in a single season. Western Eagles won the 2018 Division 4 season with a nine-point margin.


2020–

In October 2019, the club announced Steve Iosifidis. as the new senior coach for the 2020 season. Iosifidis a former professional player, back-to-back NSL titles winner with South Melbourne under
Ange Postecoglou Angelos Postecoglou ( el, Άγγελος Ποστέκογλου, ; born 27 August 1965) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Born in Greece, he moved ...
. All Victorian football competitions in 2020 were cancelled due to the impacts from the
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...
. The 2021 season is being disrupted due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, with the season being suspended from August 2021 from government-imposed lockdowns, with promotion and relegation suspended.


Club name changes


Honours


League

*
Victorian State 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 ...
: Champions (3): 1960, 1961, 1987 : Runners-Up (4) : 1955, 1963, 1968, 1984 * Victorian State League Division 1 : Champions (1) : 1981 : Runners-Up (1) : 1979 * Victorian State League Division 2 : Runners-Up (1) : 1953 * Victorian State League Division 3 : Champions (1) : 1952 * Victorian State League Division 4 : Champions (2) : 1951, 2018 * Victorian Provisional League 2 (North-West) : Champions (2) : 2003, 2010 * Victorian Provisional League 3 (North-West) : Runners-Up (1) : 2000


Cup

National * Australia Cup : Runners-up (1) : 1963 State *
Dockerty Cup The Dockerty Cup is an annual association football knock-out competition open to all Victorian clubs across the Victorian football league system. The tournament is named after the former president of Football Federation Victoria Harry Dockerty. ...
: Winners (1) : 1961 : Runners-Up (4) : 1955, 1963, 1976, 1984 *State League Cup : Winners (1) : 1960 * Ampol Cup : Winners (2) : 1963, 1964 * Buffalo Cup : Winners (1) : 1984 * Laidlaw World Cup : Winners (2) : 1953, 1961 * Armstrong Cup : Winners (3) : 1957, 1959, 1973


Women

*Victorian Women's State League Division 2 :Champions (1) : 2012 :Runners-up (1) : 2011 *Victorian Women's State League Division 3 : Champions (1) : 2008 *Victorian Women's State League Division 5 :Runners-Up (1) : 2022 *Victorian Women's Metropolitan League (North-West) : Runners-up (1) : 2007


Individual honours

Victorian State League Gold Medal – Player of the Year *1983 – Stefan Mila Bill Fleming Medal *1956 – Robert Wemyss *1960 – Wieslaw Janczyk Sporting Globe Medal *1960 – Wieslaw Janczyk *1961 – Mieczyslaw Jurecki *1962 - Stanislaw Szklarek Victorian Provisional League 2 Best & Fairest *2002 - Alex Samayoa Victorian State League Leading Goal Scorer *1961 – Mieczyslaw Jurecki 17 goals *1963 – Edward Jankowski 21 goals *1984 – Janusz Przybyla 23 goals Victorian State League Division 1 Leading Goal Scorer *1981 - Tadeusz Krysinski 14 goals Victorian State League Division 3 Leading Goal Scorer *1952 - Julian Chrzanowski Victorian State League Division 4 Leading Goal Scorer *1951 - Julian Chrzanowski *2018 - Matthew Lodkowski 32 goals


International Representatives

*
Thomas Deng Thomas Jok Deng (born 20 March 1997) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Japanese club Albirex Niigata. Born a South Sudanese refugee in Kenya, he has represented the Australia national team. Personal ...
* George Pittoni *
Danny Tiatto Daniele Amadeo Tiatto (born 22 May 1973) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a winger and left back, He notably played for Manchester City joining the club in 1998 whilst the club were playing in the third level of English foo ...
*
Lolly Vella Emmanuel "Lolly" Vella (7 August 1933 – 29 September 2012) was an Australian former association footballer. Club career Vella played for Footscray JUST, Sunshine George Cross and Maribyrnong-PoloniaJohn Punshon "http://www.ozfootball.net/ar ...
*
Robert Wemyss Robert Wemyss (born 1 July 1928) is an Australian former soccer player. Playing career Club career Wemyss played for Polonia SC in the Victorian State League from 1956 to 1959. Wemyss was a joint winner of the Argus Medal in 1956, the Victori ...
* Janusz Baran * Zygmunt Gadecki *
Norbert Gajda Norbert Gajda (1 April 1934 – 16 September 1980) was a Polish footballer. He played in seven matches for the Poland national football team The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented ...
* Henryk Gronowski * Robert Gronowski * Wiesław Jańczyk *
Edward Jankowski Edward Karol Jankowski (9 January 1930 — 19 March 1987) was a Polish footballer who played as a forward. Born in Bogucice, he played for clubs including Gwardia Warsaw, Legia Warsaw, Górnik Radlin, Górnik Zabrze, Maribymong Polonia and RO ...
* Zdzislaw Kostrzewa * Eugeniusz Lerch *
Edmund Zientara Edmund Jan Zientara (25 January 1929 – 3 August 2010) was a Polish footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Warsaw, Zientara played for Polonia Warsaw, Kolejarz Warszawa, CWKS Warszawa, OWKS Lublin, Gwardia Warsaw, Legia Warsa ...


Notable Former Coaches

*Wieslaw Janczyk 1960–61, 1965–66 *Edmund Zientara 1964 *
Kazimierz Kowalec Kazimierz (; la, Casimiria; yi, קוזמיר, Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the C ...
1968–1972, 1980–82 * Eugeniusz Lerch 1975–76 * Edward Widera 1978, 2009 * Leszek Dzielakowski 1983, 1989, 2000–01, 2016 *
Miron Bleiberg Miron Bleiberg ( he, מירון בלייברג) is an Israeli-Australian football (soccer) manager. Biography Bleiberg was educated at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, Israel. A former captain in the Israeli Navy, Bleiberg commanded patrol bo ...
1986–87 * Janusz Przybyla 1988–1990, 1998, 2002 * Milorad Gelic 2005, 2014 *Srecko Baresic – Nikic 2013–14 * Steve Iosifidis 2020–2022


Club Presidents


Western Eagles Divisional history

* Total games played 1585 – W 665 – D 351 – L 569 GF 2655 GA 2217 in 70 seasons *Divisional History source from OzFootball.net (1951–2010)


All-time table

*
Australian football (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 ...


Records

*Best Result in the
Victorian State 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 ...
: 8–0 vs Brighton at Maribyrnong Reserve 29 March 1958, 8–0 vs
South Melbourne Hellas South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. ...
at Middle Park Soccer Stadium 21 May 1983 *Worst Result in the
Victorian State 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 ...
: 0–9 vs
Green Gully 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 ...
at Green Gully Reserve 27 August 1989 *Best Crowd in League Competition
Victorian State 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 ...
: 20,000 vs
South Melbourne Hellas South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. ...
at Olympic Park 21 July 1963 *Best Result in the FFV State Knockout Cup/Dockerty Cup : 12–2 vs Pucka Rovers 30 August 1952 *Worst Result in the FFV State Knockout Cup/Dockerty Cup : 0–7 vs Frankston Pines at Polish Sports Centre Albion 12 February 1995 *Most Points in a Season : 53 points in 2018 *Most Wins in a Season : 18 wins in 1952 and 1987 *Most Goals in a Seasons : 89 goals in 1952 *Biggest Winning Streak : 28 games – from Round 7 1951 to Round 2 1953 *Biggest Losing Streak : 8 games – from Round 7 1986 to Round 14 1986 *Biggest Unbeaten Streak : 40 games – from Round 1 1951 to Round 8 1953


Western Eagles – Polonia – Championship Teams

File:Polonia 1960 Victorian Champions.png, 1960


Cup Competition


Dockerty Cup Finals


Top Goal Scorers

*1951 Julian Chrzanowski *1952 Julian Chrzanowski *1953 Harry Capobus/Stan Plekan *1954 unknown *1955 Peter Schipperheyn 14 *1956 George Pittoni 18 *1957 N. von Nagy 8 *1958 unknown *1959 Enzo Bottari/Roch Dronia 5 *1960 Mieczyslaw Jurecki 12 *1961 Mieczyslaw Jurecki 17 *1962 Robert Gronowski 6 *1963
Edward Jankowski Edward Karol Jankowski (9 January 1930 — 19 March 1987) was a Polish footballer who played as a forward. Born in Bogucice, he played for clubs including Gwardia Warsaw, Legia Warsaw, Górnik Radlin, Górnik Zabrze, Maribymong Polonia and RO ...
21 *1964
Kazimierz Kowalec Kazimierz (; la, Casimiria; yi, קוזמיר, Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the C ...
13 *1965 Kazimierz Kowalec/Czeslaw Plaskota 4 *1966 Stefan Katolik 7 *1967 Bernard Przybylski 9 *1968 Zygmunt Gadecki/Jerzy Swoboda 7 *1969 Henryk Siwka 9 *1970 Edward Widera 7 *1971 Czeslaw Plaskota/Henryk Siwka 6 *1972 Czeslaw Plaskota/Edward Widera 5 *1973 Ron Horfiniak 5 *1974 Andrew Czapnik/Marian Jaworski 5 *1975 Eugeniusz Lerch 5 *1976 Hugh Humphreys 5 *1977 Tomasz Koter 4 *1978 Ralph Esposito 5 *1979 Richard Sekulski 14 *1980 Tadeusz Krysinski 13 *1981 Tadeusz Krysinski 14 *1982 Alex Marshall 12 *1983 Alex Marshall 12 *1984 Janusz Przybyla 23 *1985 Greg Warszawski 11 *1986 Janusz Przybyla/Alex Marshall 3 *1987 Kees Storm 11 *1988 Greg Warszawski 11 *1989 Bogdan Bonk 8 *1990 Bogdan Bonk/Danny Ward 8 *1991 Hussein Latif 5 *1992 Hussein Latif 7 *1993 Hussein Latif 11 *1994 Zlate Bogoevski 9 *1995 Kamil Gamanski 9 *1996 David Beattie 12 *1997 Michael Calandrella 14 *1998 Kamil Gamanski 8 *1999 *2000 Paul Dzielakowski 16 *2001 Paul Dzielakowski 11 *2002 Ivan Devcic 12 *2003 Ivan Devcic 13 *2004 Konrad Leski 7 *2005 Dominic Murdaca 13 *2006 Wojciech Galon 3 *2007 Konrad Leski 14 *2008 Marcin Goralczyk/Mark Grixti 8 *2009 John Strycharski 7 *2010 Kacper Hubiak 10 *2011 Kacper Hubiak 13 *2012 Kacper Hubiak/Robert Chelchowski 9 *2013 Kacper Hubiak 15 *2014 Robert Chelchowski 9 *2015 Robert Chelchowski 8 *2016 Robert Chelchowski 12 *2017 Matthew Lodkowski 10 *2018 Matthew Lodkowski 32 *2019 Matthew Lodkowski 12 *2020 *2021 Alister Smart 9 *2022 Jason Hayne 11


Longest Serving Players (First Team Appearances)


17 seasons

*Peter Czapnik (1975–1991) *Lukasz Lewinski (1998, 2000–2008, 2010–2011, 2013–2014, 2016–2018) *Mateusz Kowalski (2003–2016, 2018–2019, 2021)


16 seasons

*Andrew Czapnik (1969–1977, 1980–1986)


14 seasons

*Richard Lipiarski (1975–1977, 1979–1989) *Maciej Slodyczka (2005–2010, 2012–2019)


13 seasons

*Edward Marmur (1965–1977)


12 seasons

*Michael Olinowski (1964–1975) *Wojciech Galon (2001–2006, 2010, 2012–2016) *Charles Mizzi (2008–2019)


11 seasons

*Ron Horfiniak (1971–1980, 1983) *Brendon Lakic (1978–1983, 1987–1989, 1994–1995) *Kamil Gamanski (1993–1998, 2001–2005) *Robert Chelchowski (2009–2016, 2018–2019, 2021)


10 seasons

*Henryk Jakubowski (1951–1960) *Czeslaw Plaskota (1964–1973) *Zbigniew Szalinski (1968, 1970–1978) *Marian Jaworski (1971–1977, 1981–1983) * Leszek Dzielakowski (1978–1983, 1985–1986, 1988–1989)


9 seasons

*Wieslaw Janczyk (1959–1961, 1963–1968) *Kazimierz Kowalec (1964–1972) *Czeslaw Plaskota (1964–1972)


References


External links


Western Eagles FC official website

Western Eagles Facebook Page



Football Federation Victoria
{{Authority control Association football clubs established in 1950 Soccer clubs in Melbourne 1950 establishments in Australia Polish sports clubs in Australia Polish association football clubs outside Poland Sport in the City of Brimbank