West Adelaide Hellas
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| Full name | West Adelaide Soccer Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hellas, Westies |
| Founded | 1962 West Adelaide Hellas 2008 West Adelaide SC |
| Ground | Adelaide Shores Football Centre |
| Capacity | 2,000 |
| Chairman | Alex Alexandrou |
| Manager | Robbie Detroia |
| League | NPL South Australia |
| 2014 | NPL South Australia, 2nd |
| Website | www |
West Adelaide Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club from Adelaide, Australia currently playing in the National Premier Leagues South Australia. It participated in the National Soccer League from the 1977 season until the end of the 1998/99 season, except for the periods 1987–89 and 1990–91. It was also known as West Adelaide Hellas and Adelaide Sharks. They played in various blue and white strips, and played most of their NSL home games at Hindmarsh Stadium. The senior arm of the club re-formed in 2008 and is the FFSA National Premier League 2015 Premiers and 2015 Champions , coached by one of the former NSL players of the club, Paul Pezos.
The club was formed in 1962 as an amalgamation between West Adelaide Soccer Club (formed 1910) and Hellenic Athletic & Soccer Club (formed 1945 as Olympic Soccer Club) which had been banned by the state association due to spectator violence. Hellas was supported by the local Greek Australian community. The almalgamated club played under the name West Adelaide Hellas, and quickly became one of the dominant clubs in the South Australian 1st Division, winning six titles from 1966 to 1976. Joining the NSL as a foundation member in 1977, in 1978 the club became the only non-Sydney based team to win the NSL championship in the years 1977–1983, a late goal by Vic Bozanic earning a draw against local rival Adelaide City on the final day of the season, which was enough to win the title by a point from Sydney City.
From 1979 until 1986, however, the club struggled, especially in the early to mid-eighties, with poor presidency and committee management leading to the cutting of players' salaries and breaking of players' contracts. A failure to make the finals in the conference system years of 1984–86 made them a prime candidate as one of the clubs to be dumped back to the state leagues when the NSL reformed its conference system back to a single division. A three-season spell in the South Australian 1st Division followed, which saw two titles and a second-place finish. Re-instated to the NSL for the 1989/90 season, the club performed poorly, finishing 13th, and was bumped back to the state league for another two-year spell, where they won another two titles.
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