Dandenong Thunder SC

Dandenong Thunder SC
Full name Dandenong Thunder Soccer Club
Nickname(s) Thunder
Ground George Andrews Reserve,
Dandenong, Victoria
Ground Capacity 5,000
Chairman Merson Azizi
Manager Huss Skenderovic
League National Premier Leagues Victoria 2
2015 14th (relegated)

Dandenong Thunder SC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. In 2016, Thunder will compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 East.

In 2012, Dandenong claimed the famous treble of the Victorian Premier League Minor Premiership, the FFV State Knockout Cup & the VPL Championship Final.

History

Early years

The club was founded in 1970 as South Dandenong by Albanian migrants. Even today the club is primarily backed and supported by Albanians and Albanian-Australians living in Melbourne. They started competing in the Victorian District League East Division, which was the eighth tier of football (soccer) in Victorian Football Pyramid. For decades they were playing in the lower divisions until the mid-1990s when they started to climb the entire Victorian pyramid. In 1994 they were playing in State League Division 3, and every year managed to get promotion to a higher level until they reached the Victorian Premier League in 1998.

1990s

After a successful 1997 season, when they became the champions of Victorian State League Division 1, South Dandenong played their first ever Victorian Premier League season in 1998. Being led by their player-coach Fadil Muriqi, the team managed to stay in the Victorian Premier League after finishing the season in 12th place. Same thing didn't happen in the following season and the team was relegated to Victorian State League Division 1.

2000–present

They came back in Victorian Premier League in 2001 but were relegated again as the season ended.

At the end of the 2001 season, South Dandenong underwent a name change, becoming Dandenong Thunder. They spent the following seven seasons in the Victorian State League Division 1. The Club began spending more on players in 2007, bringing in Veton Korcari from Richmond SC and Louis Brain, a former A-League player for Adelaide United and were promoted from State League 1 in 2008.

Thunder surprised everyone in their return to the top flight, clinching the 2009 Victorian Premier League Minor Premiership with a lead of 12 points. Thunder managed to go undefeated for the first 15 rounds of the season, taking their running total to 31 games undefeated, stretching back to Round 5 of the 2008 season. Individual player achievements included youngster Jack Hingert being selected to play for A-League side North Queensland Fury and Joey Di Iorio winning the golden boot. Despite their season long domination, Thunder eventually lost the Grand Final to Altona Magic SC on penalties.

In the 2012 season, Thunder managed a famous treble, the first in their history. They won the Victorian State Knockout Cup, beating Port Melbourne Sharks in the Grand Final on penalties, the Minor Premiership and the Championship, beating Oakleigh Cannons 2–1 in the Grand Final at AAMI Park. This was their first ever VPL Championship.

There was a big black mark on the game though, as Dandenong Thunder fans let off a number of flares, one of which burned two girls. The club copped a $40,000 ban, the biggest in Victorian football history, and were forced to play their next 10 games without fans.[1] Thunder placed seventh the following season.

National Premier Leagues Victoria

In late 2013, the club had their bid for a place in the National Premier Leagues Victoria accepted and competed in the top tier of the NPL Victoria in 2014. Thunder placed 9th in the 14 team league in 2014.

In 2015, the Club slashed its budget in an attempt to reduce club debt, and replaced many higher earners with young, inexperienced but talented players. Then manager Dean Hennessey also departed, joining Hume City FC as their technical director and the club brought in high profile Stuart Munro as the new head coach. The season didn't go to plan, though, with the team struggling to put together good performances. Relegation was confirmed in Round 25, when the side lost 3–0 to North Geelong Warriors FC.

In the off-season, Thunder named Huss Skenderovic as the coach for the 2016 NPL1 season,[2] and announced the signing of former Melbourne Victory FC player Kristian Sarkies.[3]

Shortly thereafter, former Scottish international and National Soccer League football star George Campbell was named the U20/Reserves Head Coach for the 2016 NPL season.

Supporters

Dandenong Thunder are known to have one of the most passionate supporters groups in Victoria, with support coming mainly from the Albanian community in the area as well as support from sister club North Sunshine Eagles.

The most recognised supporter group at the Thunder is the Bay 13 (B13 ROKDER), led by Ferman Zekiri and Zani Reshitovski.

Current Squad

As of 17 January 2016

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

No. Position Player
Australia GK Frazer Maclaren
Australia GK Jeremy Sandoval
Australia DF Antonio Barbaro
Australia DF Nick Modaffari
Australia DF Viktor Medini
Australia DF Dylan Facci
Australia DF Lewis Foster
Australia DF Fitim Ibrahimi
Afghanistan DF Faisal Sakhizada
No. Position Player
Australia MF Victor Mujedinovski
Australia MF Patrick Avice
Australia MF Andrew Duong
Australia MF Brendan Elmazovski
Australia MF Kristian Sarkies
Australia MF Chris Geils
Australia FW Archie Sweeney
Australia FW Daniel Bennett
Australia FW Amir Osmancevic
Australia FW Veton Kocari
Australia FW Yusuf Ahmed

Honours

Individual honours

Top goal-scorers

Club Champion Award

References

  1. ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/dandenong-thunder-soccer-club-fined-40000-after-two-girls-burned-by-flare/story-e6frf7kx-1226513377043
  2. ↑ http://www.cornerflag.com.au/promotion-the-aim-for-thunders-new-coach/
  3. ↑ http://www.cornerflag.com.au/thunder-signal-promotion-push-with-key-signings/

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.