Adelaide Raiders
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| Full name | Adelaide Raiders Soccer Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Raiders, Adelaide Croatia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1952 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Croatian Sports Centre, Gepps Cross | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| League | FFSA Super League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Super League, 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Raiders are a football (soccer) club in Adelaide, South Australia. Raiders play in the new South Australian Super League. Their home ground is the Croatian Sports Centre in Gepps Cross, north of Adelaide. They are a Croatian-backed club and are also known by the name of Adelaide Croatia. Their rival club is the Serbian-supported White City Woodville.
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[edit] History
The Adelaide Croatia Soccer Club was founded in 1952 by a gorup of Croatian migrants who named the club after their homeland. The group included the late Fahrudin Ceric, the then President, Cvjetko Milanovic & Drago Pispek.
They club affiliated with the SASFA and played in the metropolitan division for five years. Their first game against a team from the Phillips Factory at Hendon. Its first home ground was at the South parklands on Greenhill Rd.
In 1954, Mr Branko Filipi, who was a significant leader in the club's early history, became the club president and remained so for the next 14 years. This was a record which still stands today. Along with his enthusiastic committee, Mr Filipi began securing the services of a number of promising recruits. In 1958 Adelaide Croatia entered into the second division and narrowly missed being promoted into the first division. That same year, the late Charles Perkins, now remembered as a leading Aboriginal activist, joined the team and later represented Australia. Charles Perkins was one of the most well known individuals to come out of Adelaide Croatia Soccer Club. In his autobiography he reflected with fondness on his friendships with Adelaide Croats and other immigrants he met through the club. Football is a truly multicultural sport and Adelaide Croatia reflected this.
In 1959 the club convincingly won the second division championship and secured a place in the first division for the first time. Once in the first division, Adelaide Croatia's fixtures and results were listed in the international football pools. This was historically significant as Adelaide Croatia was the only Croatian team from Australia in the pools and its progress was thus followed by Croats all over the world.
In 1960 the club also made a move to its new headquarters at Hanson Reserve. There it remained until the year 2000 when it moved to its magnificent sporting complex at Gepps Cross.
The club's first major milestone was in 1961 when Croatia downed Cumberland 4-nil to win the Ampol Cup. The Advertiser, in its report on the match, wrote that no team in the state could have beaten Croatia on that performance. The club then moved from strength to strength and became a force in local football. But it wasn't until 1980 that Croatia won the coveted first place in the first division. Since then Croatia has won the league on another four occasions: in 1984, 1988, 1997 and 2002.
[edit] Famous Players
[edit] Mislav 'Mimi' Saric
Saric completed a move to A-League club Perth Glory midway through the 2006 Season. He previously played for Adelaide City, Adelaide United and HNK Cibalia.
[edit] Robert Bajic
Bajic is the current goalkeeper for Adelaide United FC and is competing with Daniel Beltrame for the number 1 jersey. He is rapidly improving and is now in his third season of national league competition. He previously played for Enfield City Falcons, Rochedale Rovers FC and Rocklea United FC.
[edit] Club Honours
- Premier League/1st Division Champions: 1980, 1984, 1988, 1997 & 2002
- 2nd Division Champions: 1959
- Federation Cup Winners: 1960, 1962, 1977, 1988, 1990, 1991 & 1992
- U/23 League Champions: 2001
- Top Five Runner Up: 1992
- Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament winners: 1984, 1995, 1997, 2002
