Bankstown Berries FC

Bankstown Berries FC
Full name Bankstown Berries Football Club
Nickname(s) Berries
Founded 1958
Ground The Crest Reserve,
Bass Hill, New South Wales
Ground Capacity 15,000
Chairman Peter Mitrothanasis
League NPL NSW2

The Bankstown Berries are a soccer club based in Bankstown, New South Wales. They were one of the first clubs formed in Sydney and competed in the first ever New South Wales State League as Canterbury FC, the club has also been known as Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic and West Sydney Berries; the "Berry" part of the name derives from Canter-"bury." Since that time, the club has enjoyed some years of success and also painful years of premiership droughts and grand final losses. The club played in the 1986 season of the National Soccer League.[1]

The club currently plays in the NPL NSW2 after being relegated from the NSW Premier League in 2010. Bankstown Berries hosts matches at The Crest Reserve in Bass Hill, Sydney.

History

In the 1960s, a group of influential disgruntled Pan-Hellenic (Sydney Olympic) Greek members and supporters decided because of various disputes to leave and invest in a controlling stake in what was then known as Canterbury-Marrickville to form the basis of a 2nd big Greek soccer club in Sydney to be known as Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic Soccer Club.

In the mid-2000s the club had changed its name from Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic to West Sydney Berries to increase its appeal across South-western Sydney. It was the first time in the club's history club played without Canterbury in its name.

The club was chosen by Football NSW to be automatically promoted along with Macarthur Rams to the NSW Premier League for the 2008 NSWPL Season. The main reason for the club's inclusion was to strengthen football's presence in Western Sydney and also to have a starting post for a possible Western Sydney franchise in the A-League. The team had an unsuccessful return to the top-flight league in New South Wales. The team managed a lowly 10th place and narrowly escaped relegation from the NSW Premier League. In July 2008 the West Sydney Berries announced they had raised more than $ 32.000 for the Hospital at Westmead.[2]

After finishing last in the 2010 NSW Premier League season the club was relegated to the NSW Super League for the 2011 season, and for the 2012 NSW Super League season will be now known as Bankstown Berries FC.

Johnny Warren, after whom Australian football's greatest prize, the Johnny Warren Medal is named is the best known personality of the history of the club. Alongside John Watkiss he participated in the World Cup 1974 in Germany. Graham Arnold, Charlie Yankos, goalkeeper Ron Corry, Peter Katholos, John Watkiss and Zlatko Arambasic are also Australian internationals who originated in the ranks of the club. Austrian legend, the former SK Rapid Wien player Leo Baumgartner belonged to the team with the Warren brothers, Watkiss and Corry that defeated Sydney FC Prague in the NSW grand-final of 1960 5–2.[3]

Honours

References

  1. ↑ OzFootball 1986 NSL Table retrieved 17 August 2008
  2. ↑ Berries 4 Kids Berries 4 Kids raises $32,000 retrieved 19 September 2008
  3. ↑ Ron Hay: Leo Baumgartner – The Little Professor of Soccer Archived 22 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine., Goal Weekly, Vol.7 No.11, 2 May 2011.

External links

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