Whittlesea Zebras FC

Whittlesea Zebras is an Australian association football (soccer) club based in Epping, Melbourne. The Zebras play in the Victorian Premier League.

The Zebras have been represented by many Socceroos over the years, including the likes of Mark Bresciano, Danny Tiatto, Paul Wade, Mike Petersen, Mehmet Durakovic and Fausto De Amicis.

Club history

Whittlesea Zebras FC was formed in 2007 after a series of mergers firstly in 1997 between several clubs based in the Italian Australian community, namely Brunswick Juventus, Box Hill Inter and Bulleen Lions. In 2007 the club known as the Bulleen Zebras merged with the Whittlesea Stallions FC to be known as the Whittlesea Zebras FC.

The club was formed in 1948 as 'Juventus' by Italian migrants from an amalgamation of several smaller clubs. Brunswick Juventus became the dominant side of Victorian football in the 1950s, winning six titles, including five consecutive titles from 1952–1956, and were arguably the club which ushered in the European migrant dominance of Victorian football, which remains to this day. In the 1960s while the club remained more than competitive, the rise of other migrant clubs, principally South Melbourne, saw this dominance ended, and the club would have to wait until 1970 to add to its trophy collection.

The club largely struggled in the league during the 1970s after their 1970 championship, though there were also four Dockerty Cup wins during this time. The club was not a foundation member of the NSL in 1977. In 1980 the club changed its name from Juventus to Brunswick United Juventus. When the NSL created the conference system in 1984, Brunswick finally joined the national league ranks, and after reaching the finals in their debut season, followed it up with their greatest achievement, the 1985 NSL title, defeating Heidelberg, South Melbourne and Preston in the southern conference play-offs before eventually defeating Sydney City over two legs in the Grand Final.

1986 saw Brunswick finish first on the southern conference table, but consecutive losses to Adelaide City and Footscray JUST in the finals ended their season, and the last in which they were to be a force at national league level. An eighth place finish in 1987 was followed by a 13th place finish in 1988 and relegation to the state leagues where decent performances saw them win their eighth Victorian title in 1991. Rejoining the NSL for the 1993/94 season as Brunswick Pumas and later Melbourne Zebras, the club struggled for two seasons before in 1996 entering into the merger which would become the Bullen Zebras and then later would again become known as the Whittlesea Zebras.

Stadium

The Whittlesea Zebras home ground is at Epping Stadium, on Harvest Home Road in Epping and Thomastown East Reserve, on Leslie Street in Thomastown. They have played at Epping Stadium since 2007. It has a capacity of 10,000 and has hosted A league and some women international games.

Current squad

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

Staff

Management

• Chairman: Chris Dzanovski
• Operations Manager: Joseph Sala

Sports

• Head Coach: DOMENIC BARBA
• Assistant Coach: Glen Clarke
• Goalkeeper Coach: Glen Clarke

Medical

• Physio:

See also

Brunswick Juventus

References

• http://www.tribalfootball.com/vpl-preview-2009-%E2%80%93-whittlesea-zebras-229578

• http://www.whittleseazebras.com

• http://whittlesea-leader.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/new-look-zebras-ready-to-rumble/

External links

• Official Site