SSC Yugal (Sydney Soccer Club Yugal), also known as Yugal, Yugal Ryde, Ryde-Yugal, Yugal-Prague, Auburn Yugal, Liverpool Yugal, is a defunct soccer club from
Sydney, Australia. The club, formed by
Yugoslav immigrants in the mid-1950s, was originally known as Dalmatinac due to the
Dalmatian origins of most of its founders. It competed initially in the Granville District competition before joining the New South Wales Federation of Soccer Clubs' Second Division Competition in 1958, the same year as other former giants of soccer in
New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Pan-Hellenic, later known as
Sydney Olympic FC
Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigran ...
, and Polonia.
The club experienced fierce rivalries with
Sydney Croatia and
White Eagles (later Avala), due to these clubs' large Croatian and Serbian supporter bases and Yugal's
Yugoslav-orientated supporter base. Fierce rivalries of an underlying political nature were also experienced with the soccer clubs of Venezia-Giulia (now defunct) with its
Italo-Istrian supporter base and
Blacktown City
Blacktown City Council is a local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1906 as the Blackt ...
. Yugal merged with former Champion Club
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
to be known as Yugal-Prague from the 1973 season until late in the 1970s when they became known as Sydney Soccer Club Yugal. The Yugal-Prague licensed club was originally located in
Pagewood
Pagewood is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. It is part of the Bayside Council.
Pagewood has a mixture of residential and industrial areas.
H ...
, and later, as S.S.C. Yugal, the licensed club moved to
Haymarket Haymarket may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia
Germany
* Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market)
Russia
* Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...
.
The club won the inaugural
Australia Cup in 1962, and inspired local children through the 1960s, including the first
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
to become a
Australia women's national women's team, the Matildas,
Karen Menzies.
The club struggled to survive once the Former
Yugoslav States began to gain independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and unsuccessful mergers were attempted with Auburn and Liverpool before ultimately disbanding in 1992.
History
Yugal, formerly called Dalmatinac, came into being in 1956 when several young
Yugoslav immigrants, mainly coming from
Dalmatia, got together to kick a ball around a park in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. Martin (Marin) Batistic first thought of forming a club and as a player and an organiser he did much to help put the club on its feet. Martin died in 1959 and did not live to see the fulfilment of his ambitions for the club. Another tireless worker for the club was Ivan Pudarich, who was first a player, then became President in 1958.
The Club soon attracted the interest of some local compatriots. Anton Curac, George and Maurice (or Mark) Posa, Peter Pecotich, Frank Stanich and Morrie Kastelan were active committee members in the early days.
Dalmatinac entered the Granville District Junior competition in 1957 and won the Robinson Cup. The following year they were granted admission to the
NSW Federation of Soccer Clubs and won their way to Second Division where they met with moderate success.
During 1960, the club strengthened its committee, Mick Alagich was elected Secretary and Dr. Lintner was elected President and the club was successful in securing the use of
Concord Oval
Concord Oval (also Waratah Stadium), is a rugby football stadium in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Concord, Australia. The stadium is able to hold 5,000 people as of November 2022, down from 20,000 when the Concord Oval was opened in 1985. , it ...
. It was then decided to change the name of the club to Yugal, the aim to become representative of the whole
Yugoslav community in Sydney.
In 1960 Yugal added three top class players imports from
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
– Boris Krstulovich, captain-coach and centre-half, Sam Ivanisevich, a clever inside forward, and Tony Nincevich, a prolific goal-scoring centre-forward.
Other additions to the side in 1960 were Kurt Spiegel, goalkeeper and Frank Aranyi, wing-half, both from Hakoah, Johnny Mucillo, winger from Auburn, and Brian Robinson, winger from
Manly.
These seven players together with Jakov Fiajmenco, Luci Bogdanovich, Steve Lorik, Peter Grbavac, Mike Petkovich and Andy Novak, formed the squad that for most of the season kept Yugal on top of the second division competition.
A notable addition to this squad was Tihomir "Tiko" Jelisavcich (Yelisavcich), a brilliant inside-forward who played and toured the world with top Yugoslav club
Partizan Partizan may refer to:
Sport
* JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs:
**AK Partizan, athletics
** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling
** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo
**FK Partizan, association fo ...
and who was flown to Sydney just in time to help Yugal win the all-important game against
Balgownie and win promotion to the First Division.
Yugal's first match in the top flight took place at
Lambert Park against
APIA Leichhardt
APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed ...
on Saturday 7 April 1962, and recorded a 1–5 loss before a crowd of 2,400. The Club's first success in the First Division came at the expense of future long-time rivals
St. George Budapest (then known solely as Budapest), at Macarthur Park (now F.S. Garside Park), 4–3 before a crowd of 2,676. Yugal's goal scorers that day were T. Jelisavcich 3 and M. Stojanovich. Yugal's crowning success was winning the Australian Soccer Federation's
Australia Cup in its inaugural year by defeating
St. George Budapest by 8–1 at Wentworth Park before a crowd of 11,014 on 9 December 1962 (goalscorers: Tiko Jelisavcich (4), Eric Schwartz (2), Tony Nincevich and Slavko Pacanin).
Honours
*
Australia Cup Winners: 1962
1962 Australia Cup Results
/ref>
*NSW State League First Division Grand Final Winners: 1970
*NSW State League First Division Semi-Finalists: 1962, 1965, 1971
*NSW State League Second Division Champions: 1961, 1981
*NSW State League Third Division: Champions: 1986
*NSW Ampol Cup Winners: 1963
*NSW Ampol Cup Runners-Up: 1965
*NSW Ampol Cup Semi-Finalists: 1962, 1966, 1971, 1973
*NSW Federation Cup Semi-Finalists: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972
References
{{Reflist
Association football clubs disestablished in 1992
Association football clubs established in 1957
Defunct soccer clubs in Australia
Soccer clubs in Sydney
1957 establishments in Australia
1992 disestablishments in Australia
European-Australian culture
Diaspora sports clubs in Australia