Para Hills Knights SC

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Para Hills Knights
Full namePara Hills Knights Soccer Club
Nickname(s)The Knights
Short namePara Hills
Founded24 March 1964; 60 years ago (1964-03-24)
GroundFeel Good Physio Co Stadium
ChairmanDale Ramsey
ManagerTheo Tsiounis[1]
LeagueNPL South Australia
2023SA State League 1, 2nd of 12 (promoted)

Para Hills Knights Soccer Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Para Hills West, a northern suburb of Adelaide. The club was founded on 24 March 1964, joining the Federation in 1966. The club currently plays in National Premier Leagues South Australia, winning promotion to the second tier of Australian soccer in 2023. Originally playing at Nelson Road Reserve in Para Hills, the club has been based out of their current home ground, The Paddocks (currently known as Feel Good Physio Co Stadium for sponsorship reasons), since 1986.

The club has won multiple second division titles, finished runners-up in the first division in 1980 and have reached the final of the Federation Cup on four occasions. Their last piece of silverware came in 2012, when they won the FFSA Premier League title, and were promoted to the first season of the National Premier Leagues. They have played in a national competition on one occasion, in the 1981 NSL Cup, losing 0–3 to NSL side West Adelaide Hellas in their only game.

History

Para Hills Knights' original logo, used from 1965 until 1993
Para Hills' 1966 squad[2]

The Para Hills Community Soccer Club was formed by Robert Eldridge, John Eldridge, Chick Harris, John West, Andy Balter and Malcolm Owen on 24 March 1964. The aim of the club being to foster and promote the game of soccer in the Northern Suburbs. The Eldridge brothers were Tottenham Hotspur supporters, so their kit early on was full white.[3] The club set the goal of playing first division soccer within 10 years. In 1965 the club entered a team in the Sunday Industrial League. On 4 April 1965 the club played its first competitive senior game losing 3–1 with Chris Pawley scoring the first goal for the club.

The following year the club entered the South Australian Soccer Federation and once again the first game resulted in a defeat, 2–1 with the first goal in the Federation being scored by Dave Barry. In 1967 the club won its first pieces of silverware, winning the third division, and the Rowely Cup.[4]

In 1976, one year later than the club originally aimed for, Para Hills won promotion to South Australia's first division. Before the start of the 1977 season, the club left its base at Nelson Road to move to new facilities at The Paddocks. The club's first game in the first division was a 4-3 victory against Campbelltown Budapest on the new pitch, the winning goal scored by Harry McDonald. By the third week, the club had achieved its only two wins of the league season, narrowly avoiding relegation.[5]

In Para Hill's fourth year in the top division, they finished one point behind Premiers Adelaide Croatia Raiders, missing out on top spot after a 1–1 draw with them in the final round. A month later, they won the Coca Cola Challenge Cup after a 3–0 win over Adelaide Croatia Raiders, which was their first major silverware in the club's 17 year history.[6][7]

Para Hills became Para Hills Knights for the 1994 season.[8]

Players

Current squad

Squad correct as of 9 September 2023.[9]

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS Caleb Robinson
2 DF Australia AUS Oliver Burkin
3 MF Australia AUS Jaxson Merritt
4 DF Australia AUS Kieran McNally
6 DF Australia AUS Lionnel Muhitira
7 Australia AUS Zach Baxter-Haughey
8 Australia AUS Stefan Gluscevic
9 FW Australia AUS Riley Stam
10 MF Brazil BRA Diego Santos de Oliveira
11 MF Afghanistan AFG Ali Rayez Muradi
12 MF Australia AUS Keshav Shrestha
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 Japan JPN Yanagi Rikuto
15 FW Australia AUS Lansana Smith
16 DF Australia AUS William Mitev
17 Australia AUS Sajad Haidar
18 MF Australia AUS Adam Savetta
19 MF Australia AUS Benson Nsegetse
20 Australia AUS Kyle Marley-McFall
22 MF Australia AUS Isaac Handley
23 DF Australia AUS Mark Ulaj
31 GK Australia AUS Lachlan Fusco

Notable former players

Honours

State

Runner-up (1): 1980
Runner-up (1): 2010
Winners (4): 1976, 1990, 2006, 2012
Runner-up (7): 1975, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2016, 2022, 2023
Winners (1): 1995
Runner-up (4): 2001, 2004, 2016, 2023
Winners (1): 1967
Runner-up (4): 1982, 1986, 1989, 2012
  • Second Division Cup[14]
Winners (1): 1976
  • Third Division Cup[14]
Winners (1): 1967
Winners (1): 1980
Runner-up (1): 1984
Winners (1): 2007

Seasons

Para Hills Knights' league performance since 1966
  Division One
  Division Two
  Division Three
Season League State Cup Divisional Cup Pre-season Cup
Division (Tier) Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos Finals
1965 SASIL (-) Record unknown
1966 Div 3 (3) 18 11 2 5 44 28 +16 24 4th Federation R1 Rowley ?
1967 Div 3 (3) 22 19 1 2 80 22 +58 39 1st Federation R3 Rowley W
1968 Div 2 (2) 18 8 4 6 32 25 +7 20 3rd Federation R3 Jaxen SF
1969 Div 2 (2) 18 8 4 6 20 25 –5 20 3rd Federation R3 Jaxen ?
1970 Div 2 (2) 18 8 1 9 32 32 0 17 6th Federation R2 Jaxen ?
1971 Div 2 (2) 18 7 5 6 39 30 +9 19 4th Federation ER John Martins QF
1972 Div 2 (2) 18 8 2 8 26 26 0 18 6th Federation R1 John Martins ?
1973 Div 2 (2) 18 4 5 9 26 32 –6 13 8th Willis R1 John Martins ?
1974 Div 2 (2) 18 5 7 6 28 34 –6 17 5th Willis R2 John Martins ?
1975 Div 2 (2) 18 10 4 4 30 18 +12 24 2nd Willis R2 John Martins ?
1976 Div 2 (2) 18 12 4 2 35 17 +18 28 1st Willis R2 John Martins W
1977 Div 1 (2) 18 2 6 10 19 39 –20 10 9th Willis QF
1978 Div 1 (2) 18 4 7 7 17 23 –6 15 8th Federation QF
1979 Div 1 (2) 18 5 6 4 27 23 +4 16 6th Federation R3
1980 Div 1 (2) 18 8 7 3 38 21 +17 23 2nd Federation R3 Coca-Cola W Ampol 8th
1981 Div 1 (2) 18 7 4 7 28 26 +2 18 5th Federation ? Ampol 6th
1982 Div 1 (2) 18 8 6 4 34 21 +10 22 4th Federation RU Coca-Cola SF Ampol 8th
1983 Div 1 (2) 18 8 6 4 29 19 +10 22 4th P.G.H. QF Coca-Cola SF Ampol 7th
1984 Div 1 (2) 22 11 4 7 33 25 +8 26 4th P.G.H. R2 Coca-Cola RU Ampol ?
1985 Div 1 (2) 22 8 4 10 35 38 –3 20 7th P.G.H. SF Ampol ?
1986 Div 1 (2) 22 8 5 9 31 33 –2 21 7th P.G.H. RU ?
1987 Div 1 (2) 22 9 4 9 32 23 +9 22 6th P.G.H. QF ?
1988 Div 1 (2) 22 6 8 8 23 30 –7 20 8th P.G.H. QF ?
1989 Div 1 (2) 22 3 7 12 18 34 –16 13 11th P.G.H. RU ?
1990 Div 2 (3) 18 11 4 3 28 10 +18 26 1st P.G.H. QF
1991 Div 1 (2) 22 11 4 7 38 31 +7 26 3rd P.G.H. QF Coca-Cola ? Ampol (Mar.) ?
1992 Div 1 (2) 18 4 9 5 13 20 –7 17 7th Federation R2 ?
1993 Div 1 (2) 18 5 5 8 20 29 –9 15 10th Federation QF ?
1994 State (3) 18 8 4 6 28 21 +7 20 5th PF Dairy Vale R2
1995 State (3) 20 15 2 3 42 21 +21 47 1st RU Dairy Vale ?
1996 State (3) 22 14 3 5 70 30 +40 45 4th PF Mutual Community ?
1997 State (3) 22 10 3 9 43 48 –5 33 6th Mutual Community QF
1998 State (3) 22 10 3 9 38 37 +1 33 6th RU Mutual Community R2
1999 Premier (2) 22 4 5 13 26 45 –19 17 11th West End R1
2000 State (3) 22 11 5 6 49 27 +22 38 4th EF West End R1
2001 State (3) 22 15 3 4 50 21 +29 48 2nd RU West End R1
2002 Premier (2) 22 6 6 10 26 53 –27 24 9th West End R1 Night Series 16th
2003 Premier (2) 22 5 3 14 31 47 –16 18 11th Federation R1
2004 State (3) 22 16 0 6 59 26 +33 48 2nd PF Federation R1
2005 State (2) 22 11 4 7 64 39 +25 37 4th EF Federation R2
2006 Premier (3) 18 14 3 1 56 19 +37 45 1st Federation R2 Errea 4th
2007 Super (2) 18 7 3 8 32 37 –5 24 6th Best Pavers R3 Errea QF
Fairmont Homes W
2008 Super (2) 18 8 4 6 28 25 +3 28 4th EF Best Pavers R2 Best Point W
Fairmont Homes 5th
2009 Super (2) 18 5 8 5 25 28 –3 23 7th Top Corner R2 Fairmont Homes 4th
2010 Super (2) 18 9 5 4 28 19 +9 32 2nd SF Federation QF Pre-season RU
2011 Super (2) 18 3 4 11 12 31 –19 13 9th Coca-Cola R1 Carlsberg 20th
2012 Premier (3) 18 10 4 4 33 19 +14 34 1st Coca-Cola RU Carlsberg 9th
2013 NPL (2) 26 10 5 11 47 45 +2 35 9th Coca-Cola QF
2014 NPL (2) 26 9 2 15 34 55 –21 29 9th Coca-Cola QF
2015 NPL (2) 26 3 5 18 30 56 –26 14 14th Federation QF
2016 SL1 (3) 22 13 4 5 33 27 +6 43 2nd RU Federation R1
2017 NPL (2) 22 11 0 11 28 36 –8 33 5th EF Federation QF
2018 NPL (2) 22 8 1 13 27 38 –11 25 8th Federation R1
2019 NPL (2) 22 7 7 8 31 34 –3 28 9th Federation R3
2020 NPL (2) 22 3 2 17 18 42 –24 11 12th
2021 SL1 (3) 22 9 8 5 21 17 +4 35 5th EF Federation R2
2022 SL1 (3) 22 12 4 6 35 28 +7 40 4th RU Federation R1
2023 SL1 (3) 22 13 1 8 53 42 +11 40 2nd RU Federation R1

References

  1. ^ Greenwood, Rob (17 September 2019). "Former Adelaide Comets NPL SA coach Theo Tsiounis unveiled as new Para Hills mentor". Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. ^ "South Australian Soccer Federation Yearbook 1966–67". 23 February 2023. p. 45. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  3. ^ "#HistoryMakers Episode 6 - Para Hills Knights". 5 April 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  4. ^ "South Australian Division Three 1966 – Schedule". Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  5. ^ "South Australian Division Two 1976 – Schedule". Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  6. ^ "South Australian Division One 1980 – Schedule". Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  7. ^ "History - Para Hills Knights". Gameday. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  8. ^ "South Australian Soccer Federation Yearbook 1994". 24 February 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  9. ^ "2023 Grand Finals" (PDF). Football South Australia.
  10. ^ a b "National Premier Leagues South Australia Champions". socceraust. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b "State League 1 South Australia Champions". socceraust. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023.
  12. ^ "State League 2 South Australia Champions". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Federation Cup Finals". socceraust. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Other Major Cup Winners". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Top Four Cup Winners". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Night Series Winners". socceraust. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.