Bankstown City Lions
Full nameBankstown City Lions Football Club
Nickname(s)Lions, Sydney Makedonia
Founded1975[1]
1988 (as Bankstown City Sydney Macedonia SC)
GroundJensen Oval
Sefton, New South Wales
Capacity8,000[2]
PresidentRobert Mileski[3]
ManagerSash Tirovski[4]
LeagueNSW League One
202310th of 16
WebsiteClub website

Bankstown City Lions Football Club, commonly referred to as Bankstown City Lions or simply Bankstown City, is an Australian football club from Bankstown, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the NSW League One Men's, playing their home games at Jensen Oval.[5]

History

In the 1940s and 1950s the original Bankstown club played at Bankstown Oval and then in the 1960s and 1970s, they played out of a ground at Stacey Street and Gartmore Ave, Bankstown, then known as Bankstown Soccer Centre and now Ruse Park.

In 1975, Yagoona Macedonia was created by Macedonian immigrants in Yagoona and competed in their first domestic season and their first recorded game by the Bankstown Soccer Federation was against Padstow. As the years passed, so did the players and new faces began to emerge in the ever-growing Macedonian-Australian Sydney-based club.

By 1988, the original Bankstown club had become insolvent and there was no elite team in the local area for several years. A local businessman purchased Maccabi Hakoah's licence to participate in the New South Wales Division 2. Bankstown once again had a team in the NSW State League. The new club had strong support from the local Bankstown and wider Macedonian community in Sydney, and named itself "Sydney Macedonia". Sydney Macedonia finished 3rd in 1988.[6]

In 1989, the club was Champion of Division 2, losing only 3 games all season and received promotion to New South Wales Division 1.[7] They finished 6th in their first year in Division 1.[8]

In 1992, Sydney Macedonia played its first game in the top tier of NSW Football since the early 1970s. The following year, the club finished 2nd,[9] however they went on to win the grand final, scoring a goal in the final minute against perennial rival Blacktown City, and were Premiers of 1993. This was the first ever time that Bankstown had its team as champions of the NSW State League.

1994 was the most successful season in the club's history. The team lost only 1 game in the season, winning 16 games in total. They scored 52 goals and conceded 9,[10] and went on to win the grand final and finished as back-to-back Champions. In addition, Sydney Macedonia went on to play Sydney Olympic in the 1994 Waratah Cup Final at Marconi Stadium. Sydney Macedonia defeated Sydney Olympic, an NSL team, 2–1 at a sold out Marconi Stadium. The club had ensured the treble: Premiers, Back to Back Champions, Cup Winners. This still is the most successful accomplishment for football in Bankstown. After the 1994 season, the club reverted to its current name.

In 2001, Bankstown City won the NSW Winter Super League and were promoted to the NSW Premier League.[11] The club's members financed an upgrade to their home ground at Jensen Oval, which saw the installation of TV Standard lighting and covered seating.

In 2004, Bankstown City finished in the top four earning participation in the finals series. They went on to win the NSWPL Grand Final against Belconnen in front of 7500 fans at Marconi Stadium, bringing back the Championship to Bankstown for the first time in 10 years.

In 2005 local junior, former Socceroo and current player Sasho Petrovski re-joined Bankstown when the NSL was disbanded. Bankstown City started the season strongly, and finished the season in first place on the ladder despite losing Petrovski, and Chad Gibson to the A-League midway through the season. Peter Tsekenis took on the role of Player/Coach, and Bankstown City were for the second time in a decade back-to-back Champions, defeating Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3–1 in the Grand Final in front of 8000 fans at Parramatta Stadium.[12]

The 2007 season the first grade finished in second position on the ladder. In the finals, Bankstown City were defeated by Blacktown City in the grand final 3–1. While the youth finished in 3rd spot of the club championship, their highest achievement since coming into the competition.

Bankstown City defeated Sydney Olympic in the Final of the Waratah Cup for the second time in 2008.[13]

They were relegated to the NSW Super League (Tier 2) in 2011. In 2013 they competed in a revamped National Premier Leagues NSW 2 competition and suffered a further relegation to the NPL NSW 3 Men's competition in 2017.

In 2022, National Premier Leagues NSW 3 competition rename as NSW League Two and as end of season 2022, Bankstown City finish tops 8 and earning promotion back in NSW League One in 2023,[14] due to a restructuring of Football NSW competitions.[15]

Supporters

Bankstown City FC generally draws support from Macedonian Australians, especially from the south-western suburbs of Sydney such as Bankstown and Yagoona

"The Lions Pride", is the name given to the actively vocal supporters group of the soccer club.

Rivalries

Sydney Olympic FC

"Tensions always high between these two staunch rivals".[16] This is due to the rivalry steming from the Macedonia naming dispute, but also from the fact that the two clubs are some of Sydney's largest and most successful and have often contested each other for silverware such as the 1994 Waratah Cup final where Bankstown came out on top.

Rockdale Ilinden FC

Bankstown City and Rockdale Ilinden are the two biggest Macedonian Clubs New South Wales but Bankstown were the dominant force in this matchup until the late 2010s with Bankstown suffering relegation and Rockdale rising to the top of Football NSW and becoming premiers. This rivalry is a friendly rivalry with fans often following both clubs and hoping they both succeed.

Various other important rivalries over the years included matches against Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC, Sydney United 58 FC, Canterbury Bankstown FC, and Bankstown United.

Current squad

First team squad

As of 16 December 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF Japan JPN Shun Maeta
4 DF Australia AUS Nikola Djordjevic
5 MF Australia AUS Thomas Stefanovski
6 FW Australia AUS Chris Payne
7 DF Australia AUS Jeffrey Issa
10 MF Australia AUS Devante Clut
12 DF Australia AUS Daniel Bakrdanikoski
13 MF Australia AUS James Mckenzie
14 FW Australia AUS Jonathan Grozdanovski
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Australia AUS Brandon Talevski
16 MF Mauritius MRI Jacob Hewett
17 FW Australia AUS Jamie Bazevski
18 MF Australia AUS Dimitri Kostopoulos
19 MF Australia AUS Brian Sutomo
28 GK Australia AUS Stevan Savicic
46 FW Australia AUS Nathan Cakovski
— MF Australia AUS Andrea Agamemnonos

Notable players

Honours

  • NSW Premier League/NSW 1st Division Champions: 1993, 1994, 2003/2004, 2004/2005
  • NSW Premier League/NSW 1st Division Minor Premiers: 1994, 2004/2005
  • State Cup / Waratah Cup Winners: 1994, 2008
  • NSW Super League/NSW 2nd Division Champions: 1989
  • NSW Super League/NSW 2nd Division Minor Premiers: 2001

Bankstown City Women

2013 was a milestone year for the club with the introduction of Women's teams. The senior team were competitive from the start and secured promotion from the third tier Women's State League to the National Premier League 2 in 2015.

In 2017, Bankstown City were crowned Champions of the NPL2 Women's, defeating Sydney Olympic in the Grand Final and earning promotion to the NPL1 Women's for the first time in 2018.

The 2018 NPL 1 Women's season saw Bankstown in a relegation battle against Sutherland for the duration of the season, with the Club winning their last match, and finishing 10th out of 12 teams.

References

  1. ↑ Soccerway. "Australia – Bankstown City Lions FC". Football NSW. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  2. ↑ Worldfootball. "Bankstown City Lions Profile". WorldFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Bankstown City Lions FC. "Meet Rob Mileski, the Bankstown City Lions FC president. A man who truly bleeds red and black". Facebook. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Bankstown City Lions FC. "HEAD COACH, Meet our Head Coach, Sash Tirovski". Facebook. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  5. ↑ Bankstown City Lions FC. "Home". Bankstown City FC website. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  6. ↑ ozfootball.net. "1988 NSW State League Second Division First Grade Final Table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  7. ↑ ozfootball.net. "1989 NSW State League Second Division First Grade Final Table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  8. ↑ ozfootball.net. "1990 NSW Division One final table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  9. ↑ ozfootball.net. "1993 NSW Super League final table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  10. ↑ ozfootball.net. "1994 NSW Super League final table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  11. ↑ ozfootball.net. "2001 NSWSF Super League First Grade Final Table". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Bankstown City Lions FC. "History". Bankstown City FC website. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  13. ↑ NSW, Football (20 June 2008). "Bankstown City 'fire up' for late finals push". Football NSW. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  14. ↑ NSW, Football (27 September 2022). "2023 Football NSW Declaration of Leagues Document" (PDF). Football NSW. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  15. ↑ NSW, Football. "Football NSW NPL Men's Competition Structure 2022" (PDF). Football NSW. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  16. ↑ NSW, Football (20 June 2008). "Bankstown City 'fire up' for late finals push". Football NSW. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
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