Canberra Croatia
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| Full name | Canberra Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | HOPE, Croatia, Deakin |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Ground | Deakin Stadium |
| Capacity | 1,500 |
| League | NPL ACT |
| 2013 | 1st |
| Website | Club home page |
Canberra Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Canberra, Australia. The club competes in the ACT competitions including the National Premier Leagues Capital Football.
The club was founded in 1958 as Canberra Croatia by local Croatian Australians, later taking the names HOPE, Croatia Deakin, Canberra Metro and Canberra Deakin, before becoming Canberra FC.
The club has competed in the top level ACT league every year since 1960, and also had a successful stint in NSW State League from 1988–1994.
The local Croatian community in Canberra established the Croatia Soccer Club in 1958. Croatia Soccer Club entered the ACT Soccer Federation Second Division in 1959 and was promoted to the first division immediately the following year.
The end of 1960 saw ACT teams directed by the Executive to change national names to neutral names. Soccer Club HOPE was registered, but great thought had been put into the name by the passionate Croatian community and in order to keep ties with their heritage, the name was an acronym for the Croatian Liberation Movement.
It did not take Croatia (HOPE) long to become a force in the ACT competition and in 1962 won its first Premiership. That year Croatia completed an extraordinary and unprecedented demolition of all of its opponents by also winning the Top Four competition, the Federation Cup and the Robertson Cup. The Club defended their premiership in great style in 1963 and in 1966 celebrated the return of the name Croatia (Deakin) by recording their third premiership in five years.
On 11 November 1969 the Croatia Deakin Soccer Club premises were officially opened-the first of its kind in Canberra. The Amoco Cup and the Federation Cup in 1972 were followed by another premiership in 1973. The label of Cup kings was confirmed in 1974 with another Federation Cup victory. In 1975 Croatia Deakin gained a historic 3–1 victory over Sydney Croatia in the Inaugural Final of the Croatian Australian Tournament held in Sydney. Both the Ampol Cup and Federation Cup were added in 1978 and to finish of the decade another Premiership and Ampol Cup in 1979 symbolized 20 years of domination of Soccer in Canberra.
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