Rockdale Ilinden Football Club
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| Full name | Rockdale Ilinden Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1969 |
| Ground |
Bicentennial Park South, Rockdale, Sydney |
| Capacity | 6,000 |
| Chairman | Dennis Loether |
| Coach | Paul Reid |
| League | NPL NSW |
| 2014 | 5th |
| Website | Club home page |
Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (commonly known as the Rockdale City Suns Football Club), founded in 1969, is an Australian soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale and competes in the highest men's competition in New South Wales, the NSW Premier League. The Club's home ground is Bicentennial Park South, located in the suburb of Rockdale, New South Wales.
The Rockdale Ilinden Soccer Club was formed in 1969 by a group of Macedonian Australians who gave the team the name "Ilinden" which has special meaning for all Macedonians throughout history. The club’s first President Simon Zipevski laid the foundations as did the late Vlade Temelkovski who was President in 1978.
On the field, the highlights would have to be the grand final wins (of different leagues) in 1984, 2002 and 2006. The 1984 NSW First Division grand final team was coached by Ilija Takac, winning 3–2 over Inter Monaro at Marconi Stadium and is firmly entrenched in the memories of the Rockdale Ilinden supporters.
It took 18 years for Rockdale Ilinden to rejoice another First Grade Grand Final victory. In 2002 the coaching team of Mile Todoroski and Bill Pilovski led the team to an amazing Premiership/Championship double with only 1 loss in 24 games. In the grand final, they would meet the Hajduk Wanderers (who Rockdale defeated 5 goals to 3 just two weeks earlier in the semi final) in very rainy and windy conditions at the Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre. The team was captained by Spase Najdoski who scored the only goal in the game which in turn was the winning goal in the grand final in front of a crowd of 3000 at Melita Stadium.
Four years later in 2006, Rockdale Ilinden would claim another grand final victory this time over Penrith Nepean United. Rockdale won 1–0 in front of a crowd of 2000 at Melita Stadium. Penrith Nepean United would gain promotion to the New South Wales Premier League as Rockdale's application would be denied by Football NSW due to the Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre not meeting specific stadium criteria for the Premier League.
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