South Coast United Soccer Club (formerly known as South Coast Croatia Soccer Club) is a semi-professional Australian soccer club from the city of

Wollongong, New South Wales Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

. The club was founded in 1984 by Wollongong's

Croatian Australian Croatian Australians are Australian citizens of Croatian ancestry. Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2021, 200,000 persons resident in Australia (0.6%) identified themselves as having ...

community. The club plays in the Illawarra Premier League.

History

Founded in 1984 by Croatian migrants as South Coast Croatia Soccer Club, the high point in the club's history came in 1987 when the club won its only Illawarra Premier League Championship. South Coast Croatia were forced to change their name to South Coast United for the 1994 season a very unpopular move by Soccer Australia. South Coast United were previously in the Illawarra Conference League, or Division 1 as it was previously known. In 2004, United were minor premiers of the Illawarra Conference League, and gained promotion to the Illawarra Premier League, but lost the Grand Final to Helensburgh 4–1. South Coast United known as (Wollongong Croatia) is a regular participant of 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 S ...

although never having won the tournament in Division 1 the club has won Division 2 and Masters Titles with the most recent examples being 2011 at Edensor Park and 2014 at Ian Mclennan Park, respectively. The club hosted the

in 1994 and 2014 South Coast United formed a junior club under their name and were brought into the FSC junior football competition in 2016. South Coast Croatia 1987 champions

Rivalries

Albion Park White Eagles

The club has maintained a heated rivalry with the predominantly Serbian backed Albion Park White Eagles/Wollongong Serbia the clubs rivalry dates back to 1985 when Wollongong Serbia were founded with the rivalry based around political tensions between the two nationalities, breakout of the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990's added more fuel to the flame for players and supporters alike.

Cringila Lions

South Coast United/Croatia have always had a friendly rivalry with the Macedonian backed

Cringila Lions FC Cringila Lions FC is an Australian soccer club based in Cringila, New South Wales. The team currently participates in the Illawarra Premier League The Illawarra Premier League is a regional Australian semi-professional association football le ...

as both clubs used to be powerhouses in the Illawarra Premier League over the years many players have swapped between the clubs including Zvonko Usljebrka and Brian & Tom Butkovic

Supporters

The club has a predominantly

fan base as the club was founded by Croatian migrants.

Achievements

Home ground

South Coast United have played out of Ian McLennan Park since their inception in 1984. For a majority of the 2018 season, United played out of Dandaloo Oval due to the redevelopment of Ian McLennan Park which included the laying of a synthetic pitch. South Coast United now have the best facilities in the Illawarra region with the only synthetic field in the area.

Notable former players

Cho Byung-Kuk Cho Byung-kuk (; born July 1, 1981) is a South Korean international football player current assistant coach of Indonesia. Career Cho began his professional career in 2002 with K-League club Suwon Samsung Bluewings. He moved to Chunnam Dragon ...

Mile Jedinak Michael John "Mile" Jedinak (; ; born 3 August 1984) is an Australian former professional footballer who served as the captain of the Australia national team. He is currently the Loan Player Development Coach at Aston Villa. Jedinak was born a ...

Brendon Santalab Brendon James Santalab ( hr, Šantalab; born 9 September 1982) is an Australian professional football player who plays as a striker for Victorian State League Division 1 side FC Strathmore. Club career Santalab originally started out as an ...

Divisional history

References

{{reflist http://socceraust.co.uk/ Croatian sports clubs in Australia Soccer clubs in Wollongong Illawarra Premier League 1984 establishments in Australia Association football clubs established in 1984 South Coast (New South Wales)