Western Knights SC

Football club in Perth, Western Australia

Football club

Western Knights

Full name| Western Knights Soccer Club
Nickname(s)| Croatia, Knights
Founded| 1968
Ground| Nash Field, Mosman Park
President| Dean Zlendic
Manager| Adam Kostrencic
League| State League 1
2023| 1st of 12, premiers (Promoted NPL WA)
Website| Club website

Home colours

Away colours

|

Western Knights Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club currently playing in the National Premier Leagues Western Australia in Perth, Western Australia. Its home ground is Nash Field, in the Town of Mosman Park. Since 2018, the club expanded its junior program to include Len Packham Reserve in the City of Cockburn as well as Nash Field.

## History[edit]

Nash Field

Western Knights was established by Croatian immigrants in the state of Western Australia under the name of Metropolitan in 1968, joining the semi-professional Second Division (third tier) the following year as Croatia. In 1970, under their new name of North Perth Croatia, they were promoted from the Second Division to the First Division. Throughout the years following, Croatia went up and down from First Division to the Premier Division.[1]

With the moving from division to division also came the moving from different home grounds over the years. Wellington Square in East Perth, Velodrome in Mount Hawthorn and Perry Lakes Stadium were all homes to North Perth Croatia over those years.

In 1994, the club was forced by the then sport governing bodies to remove all ethnic references from their name, so the club changed their name from North Perth Croatia to Western Knights and in 1995, the club returned to the state's premier league until the 2013 season.

1998 proved to be the most successful year in the club's history so far, the Knights take home the Premier League Minor Premiership, the Championship Final Series Grand Final for the first time in their history and the West Ham Cup.

The club claimed back to back minor premierships in 2009 and 2010 after finishing the home and away seasons on top of the league table.

The Western Knights has 3 Men's Senior Team which compete in the Football West State League Division 1. It also has Junior Boys and Girls teams from under 6 – 18. Through a joint arrangement with Perth AFC, the club encourages Senior Women, Men's Amateur and Social, and Futsal players to play for Perth AFC.

The Knights were a founding club in the Football West Equal Footingball competition (for those with competitive disadvantages),[2] with both a Junior and Senior male team in competition.

In 2017, the Western Knights became the first Western Australian club outside of the National Premier Leagues Western Australia to reach the Round of 32 of the 2017 FFA Cup,[3] also becoming the first team since 1991 to win the State Cup from outside of the Premier Division, when they defeated Sorrento.[4] It followed this success by also winning the Football West State League Division 1 league title, the first time the club has completed the league and State Cup double.

In 2023, the Western Knights finished as Champions of Football West State League Division 1 and were promoted to the NPL WA for the first time.[5]

## Notable former players[edit]

* Robbie Dunn. Played in the National Soccer League with West Adelaide, Preston Makedonia and Melbourne Croatia and has 25 international caps for the Australia national soccer team.[6][7]
* Australia women's national soccer team player Sam Kerr began her career at Western Knights.[8]
* Other players from the Western Knights who have continued their careers in the National Soccer League or A-League are Tommi Tomich, Craig Deans, Andrija Jukic, Anthony Skorich and David Micevski.

## Honours[edit]

* Western Australian Premier League Champions: 1998, 2004
* Western Australian Premier League Runner-Up: 1988, 2000, 2009, 2010
* Western Australian Premier League Minor Premiers: 1998, 2004, 2009, 2010
* Football West State Cup Winners: 2000, 2008, 2017
* D’Orsogna Cup Runner-Up: 1992
* Night Series Winners: 2003
* Night Series Runner-Up: 1996, 2002, 2004, 2010
* Charity Shield Winners: 2009
* West Ham Cup Winners: 1998
* Western Australian First Division (Second Division) Champions: 1971, 1975, 1995, 2017, 2023
* Western Australian First Division (Second Division) Runners up : 1973, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1987, 2019
* Western Australian First Division Night Series Winners: 2015, 2020
* Western Australian Third Division Champions: 1969
* Australian-Croatian Tournament Champions: 1980
* Western Australian First Division (Second Division) Reserves Champions: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986
* Western Australian Cup Reserves Winners: 1976, 1999, 2004, 2008
* Western Australian Premier League Under 18 Champions: 2007
* Western Australian Cup Under 18 Winners: 2007

## See also[edit]

* List of Croatian football clubs in Australia
* Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Club Directory: Western Knights". footballwa.net. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
2. ^ "Equal Footingball Division". Football West. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
3. ^ "Knights and Sorrento progress in the west". Football West. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
4. ^ "Knights win State Cup Final". Football West. 24 June 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
5. ^ https://www.footballwest.com.au/news/knights-snatch
6. ^ Schwab, Laurie (4 June 1985). "Socceroo Dunn has come a long way". The Age - via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ "Aussie Footballers - Robbie Dunn". OzFootball. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
8. ^ "WA girls leading Aussie World Cup charge". News.com.au. Retrieved 24 November 2017.

## External links[edit]

* Official Western Knights Website
* Official Western Knights Facebook Page

* v
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Soccer in Australia

Football Australia • Australian Professional Leagues

National teams|

| Men's|

* Senior
* B
* U-23
* U-20
* U-17
* Futsal
* Beach
* Paralympic

|

Women's|

* Senior
* U-23
* U-20
* U-17
* Futsal

League competitions|

| Men's|

| Level 1|

* A-League Men

|

Level 2|

* National Second Division
* National Premier Leagues
* ACT
* NSW
* Northern NSW
* Queensland
* South Australia
* Tasmania
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* Northern Territory
* NorZone Premier League
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Level 3–9|

* Capital Football
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* State League 1
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Women's|

| Level 1|

* A-League Women

|

Level 2|

* National Premier Leagues Women's
* ACT
* NSW
* Northern NSW
* Queensland
* South Australia
* Victoria
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Cup competitions|

| National|

* Australia Cup

|

State|

* Capital Football Federation Cup
* Waratah Cup
* NNSWF State Cup
* Football SA Federation Cup
* Milan Lakoseljac Cup
* Dockerty Cup
* Football West State Cup

Others|

* Youth soccer
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* History of soccer in Brisbane, Queensland

Lists|

* Appearances (300+)
* Clubs
* Honours won
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* Goals (100+)
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Soccer in Western Australia

Football West

National Premier Leagues Western Australia|

* Armadale SC
* Balcatta Etna
* Bayswater City
* Cockburn City
* Floreat Athena
* Inglewood United
* Olympic Kingsway
* Perth SC
* Perth Glory
* Perth RedStar
* Sorrento FC
* Stirling Macedonia

State League Division 1|

* Dianella White Eagles
* Forrestfield United
* Fremantle City
* Gosnells City
* Gwelup Croatia
* Joondalup United
* Mandurah City
* Murdoch University Melville
* Rockingham City
* Subiaco AFC
* UWA-Nedlands
* Western Knights

State League Division 2|

* Ashfield SC
* Balga SC
* Canning City
* Carramar Shamrock Rovers SC
* Curtin University
* Joondalup City
* Kingsley Westside FC
* Maddington White City
* Morley-Windmills
* Quinns FC
* Swan United
* Wanneroo City

Amateur League Premier Division|

* Hamersley Rovers
* Jaguar FC
* Joondalup United (Amateurs)
* Kelmscott Roos SC
* Kwinana United
* Leeming Strikers
* North Perth United
* Queens Park
* Quinns FC (Amateurs)
* South West Phoenix
* UWA-Nedlands (Amateurs)
* Wembley Downs SC

National Premier Leagues WA Women|

* Balcatta FC
* Curtin University
* Football West NTC U-19
* Fremantle City
* Murdoch University Melville
* Perth SC
* Perth RedStar
* Subiaco AFC

Other teams|

* WA state team
* Perth Kangaroos
* Bassendean Caledonian
* Cracovia SC
* Fremantle Croatia
* Football West NTC

League seasons|

* 2007
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* 2009
* 2010
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* 2012
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* 2014
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WA State Cup|

* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* ~~2020~~
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023

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