West Sydney Berries Football Club
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| Full name | Bankstown Berries Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Berries |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Ground |
The Crest Reserve, Bass Hill, New South Wales |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Chairman | Peter Mitrothanasis |
| League | NPL NSW2 |
The Bankstown Berries are a soccer club based in Bankstown, New South Wales.
The club currently plays in the NPL NSW2 after being relegated from the NSW Premier League in 2010. Bankstown Berries hosts matches at The Crest Reserve in Bass Hill, Sydney.
They were one of the first football clubs formed in Sydney and competed in the first ever New South Wales State League as Canterbury FC, the club has also been known as Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic and West Sydney Berries; the "Berry" part of the name derives from Canter-"bury." Since that time, the club has enjoyed some years of success and also painful years of premiership droughts and grand final losses. The club played in the 1986 season of the National Soccer League.
In the 1960s, a group of influential disgruntled Pan-Hellenic Sydney Olympic members and supporters decided because of various disputes to leave and invest in a controlling stake in what was then known as Canterbury-Marrickville to form the basis of a 2nd big Greek soccer club in Sydney to be known as Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic Soccer Club.
In the mid-2000s the club had changed its name from Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic to West Sydney Berries to increase its appeal across South-western Sydney. It was the first time in the club's history club played without Canterbury in its name.
The club was chosen by Football NSW to be automatically promoted along with Macarthur Rams to the NSW Premier League for the 2008 NSWPL Season. The main reason for the club's inclusion was to strengthen football's presence in Western Sydney and also to have a starting post for a possible Western Sydney franchise in the A-League. The team had an unsuccessful return to the top-flight league in New South Wales. The team managed a lowly 10th place and narrowly escaped relegation from the NSW Premier League. In July 2008 the West Sydney Berries announced they had raised more than $ 32.000 for the Hospital at Westmead.
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