Brunswick Juventus
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| Full name | Brunswick Zebras Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Zebras |
| Founded | 1948 as Brunswick Juventus |
| Ground | Sumner Park |
| League | Victorian State League Division 4 |
| Website | Club home page |
Brunswick Zebras Football Club is an Australian association football (soccer) club based in Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the Victorian State League Division 4 (North).
The Brunswick Zebras Junior Soccer Club, formed in 1996 when the senior team merged with Bulleen and Box Hill, still operates from the original Brunswick Juventus clubrooms at Sumner Park, East Brunswick. From 1984, the Brunswick Juventus club participated in the National Soccer League, in which they were champions in 1985, and the Victorian Premier League, in which they won eight titles. In 1996 the senior side merged with the Bulleen Lions and Box Hill Inter to form the Bulleen Inter Kings, who later changed their name to the Bulleen Zebras and are currently known as the Moreland Zebras.
The club was formed in 1948 as Brunswick Juventus by Italian migrants inspired in the Italian club from an amalgamation of several smaller clubs. Brunswick Juventus became the dominant side in Victoria in the 1950s, winning six titles, including five consecutive titles from 1952 to 1956, and were arguably the club which ushered in the European migrant dominance of Victorian football which remains to the present. In the 1960s, while the club remained more than competitive, the rise of other migrant clubs, principally South Melbourne, saw this dominance ended and the club waited until 1970 to add to its trophies.
The club largely struggled in the league during the 1970s after their 1970 championship, though there were also four Dockerty Cup wins during this time. The club was not a foundation member of the NSL in 1977. In 1980 the club changed its name from Juventus to Brunswick United Juventus. When the NSL created the conference system in 1984, Brunswick finally joined the national league ranks, and after reaching the finals in their debut season, followed it up with their greatest achievement, the 1985 NSL title, defeating Heidelberg, South Melbourne and Preston in the southern conference play-offs before eventually defeating Sydney City over two legs in the grand final.
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