Kingston City FC

History

Founded in 1974 in Clarinda, a south-eastern Melbourne suburb, Kingston City FC began life as Liverpool Soccer Club, set up by members of the local Greek Australian community. The very next year, in 1975, the club changed its name to Clarinda Soccer Club. For much of its early history, the team played its home matches at Clayton Technical School in Clayton and competed in the lower tiers of the Victorian District Leagues.

A move to its permanent home ground, The Grange in Clayton South, came in 1982. Then, in 1998, the club was renamed Kingston City Soccer Club. This change reflected the merging of local councils and the redrawing of municipal boundaries, but it was also intended to attract support from the broader, non-Greek community in the area.

Kingston City reached the Victorian Premier League in 2006 after earning back-to-back promotions in 2004 and 2005, including winning the State League Division One title in 2005. However, the club’s time in the top division was brief; it was relegated in 2007.

Financial troubles followed, with a six-figure debt hampering operations. A second relegation came in 2008, when City finished last in State League 1, and a third consecutive drop occurred in 2009, after finishing bottom of State League Division Two South-East. At the close of the 2012 State League Division 2 South-East season, Nick Tolios ended his playing career and took over as head coach.

In 2014, Kingston City was accepted into the newly formed National Premier Leagues Victoria, joining the second division—the new second tier of Victorian football. The club placed 8th in its debut season in the 14-team league. The following year, the division expanded by six clubs and split into East and West conferences of ten teams each; Kingston finished 6th in the NPL2 East. Promotion back to the top flight came on 3 September 2016 in dramatic fashion.

Needing to avoid defeat on the final day of the regular season, Damian Iaconis scored a 94th-minute equaliser to secure automatic promotion. In the 2016 NPL2 Grand Final, Kingston City rallied from 2–0 down to beat St Albans Saints 3–2, with Slaven Vranesevic netting two almost identical free kicks. The club was crowned NPL Victoria 2 Champions, and Velibor Mitrovic finished as top scorer with 19 goals.