Serbian White Eagles FC

Serbian White Eagles Football Club (Serbian: Фудбалски клуб Српски бели орлови, Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi) is a Canadian soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League.

The team's home kit is red-blue-white commemorating the tricolour of the Serbian flag while the away colours are all white, commemorating the white double-headed eagle which appears on the Serbian flag. The Serbian White Eagles play their home games at Centennial Park Stadium in Etobicoke, the western portion of the city of Toronto.

The club also has teams in the Canadian Soccer League Reserve Division and the Ontario Soccer League.

History

The Serbian White Eagles were established in 1968 (although earlier believed to be in 1970) under the name of Serbia and the club was based in Hamilton, Ontario for some time. In these beginnings, the club was a semi-professional club in the National Soccer League, until 1980. In 1980, the Serbian White Eagles withdrew from the league, becoming an amateur club in the process. They remained such until February 2006, when they joined the CSL, becoming the most successful expansion club in the league's history. The legendary Dragoslav Šekularac was brought in as head coach along with Stevan Mojsilović as first assistant. The Serbian White Eagles were embraced by the Serbian Canadian community and have averaged the highest attendance of any team in the CSL.^[1] In the past, the club has had an organized supporters following. In 2009, the club introduced a red jersey.

In 2008, the Serbian White Eagles outlasted Trois-Rivières Attak over a rain-drenched 120 minutes and penalty kicks to win the Canadian Soccer League championship.

At the 2009 final game, playing a man short for most of the second half, Trois-Rivieres Attak took the game into overtime, then penalty kicks to win the CSL Championship at the BMO Field in Toronto on October 10, 2009. The Attak, playing with some of the best young players in Quebec in just their third season in the Canadian Soccer League, defeated Serbian White Eagles, a team with several former professionals from Europe with a history in Canadian soccer going back to 1968. The game was scoreless through 90 minutes, then 30 minutes of overtime before Trois-Rivieres outscored the Toronto-based Serbian Eagles 3-2 in the penalty kick decider. The game was a repeat of the 2008 final when these two teams met in a thriller won by Serbian White Eagles, also with penalty kicks. Serbian White Eagles won the International Division under coach Rafael Carbajal, changing to coach Dušan Prijić for the play-offs part of the season.

Academy

Serbian White Eagles FC is currently affiliated with the Toronto Falcons junior and midget level teams. The Serbian White Eagles FC academy is a professional training and development program for young elite Canadian soccer players.

Honours

• Canadian Soccer League #2: 1

2008

CSL Runner-up: 2006, 2007, 2009

• CSL International Division Champion: 3

2006, 2007, 2009

• NSL: 1

1974 (went on to compete in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1975)

Runner-up: 1972, 1973

Current squad

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

Retired numbers