Dandenong City Soccer Club, commonly as Dandenong City Hajduk and formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in the South-East region of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The club's home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the suburb of

Endeavour Hills Endeavour Hills is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Endeavour Hills recorded a population of 24,455 at the . Endeavour Hill ...

. They compete in the

NPL Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league syste ...

, which is the top tier of football in Victoria, having been promoted for the first time for the 2019 season. The club was founded in 1981 as Parkmore Hajduk, then was renamed Chelsea Hajduk by the

Croatian Australian Croatian Australians (), Australian Croats (''Australski Hrvati'') or Croats in Australia (''Hrvati u Australiji'') are Australian citizens of Croats, Croatian ancestry. Croatia has been a source of Human migration, migrants to Australia, parti ...

community in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs. In 2008 Chelsea Hajduk merged with Dandenong City, keeping the latter's name.

History

In 2008, Dandenong City Soccer Club was approached by Chelsea Soccer Club about a possible merger of the two clubs. Chelsea was competing in Victorian State League 2 at the time. Chelsea SC, known colloquially as Hajduk, after the Croatian football club

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

, had around 250 juniors and 350 total players at the club, struggling to accommodate all of its sides. The amalgamation was finalised in December 2008. The newly combined club kept the name Dandenong City Soccer Club and continued to play out of the former's home ground of Frank Holohan Soccer Complex. Dandenong City finished in fourth place in the 2009 Victorian State League Division Two South-East its first season as a new club. In 2010, former

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

and

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

striker

Ante Milicic Ante Milicic ( ; ; (born 4 April 1974) is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player who currently is the head coach of the China women's national football team. Personal life The son of Croatian immigrants, Milicic grew up i ...

was signed by the club. In 2011, Dandy City won its first championship since the amalgamation, taking out State League Two South-East and earning promotion to State League One. City were relegated in 2012, finishing in 11th place in the 12 team league, with only rivals

Springvale White Eagles Springvale White Eagles Football Club is a semi-professional Australian association football, soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria currently playing in the Victorian Premier League, Victorian Premier League 2. Founded by Serbian Australians, ...

finishing lower. In 2013, Dandenong City finished in second place in the Victorian State League 2 Two South-East, but missed out on promotion to State League 1 after losing a playoff against

Avondale FC Avondale FC is an Australian semi-professional association football club, with the men's and women's teams based in Parkville and the junior sides based in Avondale Heights, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the National Pre ...

. This was not to matter, though, as through City's acceptance into the

National Premier Leagues Victoria 1 The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...

in 2014 meant that the club jumped from the old third to the new second tier of soccer in Victoria. In City's maiden campaign in NPL1, the side endured a largely challenging campaign, finishing 10th in the 14 team competition. Ivan Duzel led the side throughout 2014, but departed at season's end. The club found success in the promotion of young players in the senior squad, with Marko Stevanja, Nick Glavan and Damian Miskulin all impressing with the first team and going on to sign with National Youth League sides

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

(Stevanja) and

Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under North American professional sports leag ...

(Glavan and Miskulin). Dandenong City appointed Aaron Healey as the head coach for the upcoming 2015 season. Healey was previously the club's technical director. The NPL1 division split into an East and West conference in 2015, with both conferences compromising of 10 teams, playing each team in their own conference twice and the teams in the opposite conference once. Dandenong finished 3rd in the East conference, seven points off the second-placed

Melbourne Victory FC Youth Melbourne Victory Football Club Youth is the youth system of Melbourne Victory based in Melbourne, Victoria. The team plays in the National Premier Leagues, the second level of Australia's soccer pyramid in Australia. The club also competes in ...

. A highlight of the season came in a 5–0 win over promoted side Melbourne Victory at the Frank Holohan Soccer Complex. City experienced an inconsistent first half of the season in 2016, entering the mid-season transfer window in 4th place in NPL2 East, with 7 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses, 12 points off the promotion play-off second place. It finished the 2016 season in 3rd place, 21 points off second-placed neighbours

Dandenong Thunder Dandenong Thunder FC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. Thunder compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. In 2012, Danden ...

. Following the side's final round 3–2 loss to

Box Hill United Box Hill United Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football (soccer) club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill. The club currently competes in the Victoria Premier Leagues 2. United is based at Wembley Park in Box Hill Sou ...

, City announced the departure of senior coach Aaron Healey and his assistant Gerry McDonagh. For the 2017 NPL2 East season, City announced that

Stuart Munro Stuart David Munro (born 15 September 1962 in Falkirk) is a Scottish former professional football player, who is best known for his time with Rangers. Munro was signed from Alloa Athletic and made his top team debut for the Rangers against Dunde ...

had been appointed as the club's new senior head coach, with former

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

midfielder

Tom Pondeljak Tomislav "Tom" Pondeljak (born 8 January 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a retired Australian football (soccer) player who last played for Victorian Premier League side St Albans Saints SC. Club career Pondeljak started his career ...

named as his assistant. Dandy started its 2017 recruitment in sensational fashion, securing the services of

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

championship winning winger

Mate Dugandzic Mate Dugandzic (; born 22 October 1989) is a retired Australian football player, who is currently the head coach of Sydenham Park SC in the Victorian State League 1. Recently was an assistant coach of Western United NPL. He is known for being ...

. The club also signed former

players

Nick Kalmar Nicholas Kalmar (born 15 October 1987) is an Australian association football, soccer player who plays for Dandenong City SC, Dandenong City. Club career After his departure from Sunshine George Cross in 2007 he had a stint in Croatia before ret ...

and

Ljubo Milicevic Ljubo Milicevic (; born 13 February 1981) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a centre back or defensive midfielder. Club career Early career and overseas Milicevic attended secondary school at St James College i ...

. City finished the regular season in second place, 11 points off league champions Thunder. Shaun Filipović took out the golden boot with 19 goals. After defeating Moreland Zebras in the promotion playoff, Dandenong City faced

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

, with the winner taking a spot in the

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league syst ...

top flight for 2018. A Kym Harris hattrick saw Knights race out to a 3–0 lead. Two goals in the last five minutes gave City hope, but the match ultimately ended 3–2 and Knights kept its spot in the NPL. After three seasons of coming close, Dandenong City, under the management of Željko Kuzman, finally achieved promotion to the top flight in 2018, after taking out the NPL2 East league title. The 2019 season was the first time in the club's history competing in the state's top flight. For their debut season in the NPL Victoria top division, City signed former professional footballers Petar Franjic,

Diogo Ferreira Diogo Alexandre Alves Ferreira (born 5 October 1989) is an Australian soccer player who plays as a midfielder. Early career At the age of 16, Ferreira completed a successful trial with FC Porto and was signed to the club's youth academy. Whi ...

and

Mark Ochieng Mark Ochieng is a Kenyan-Australian professional footballer who plays as a right back for Hume City in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. Early life Ochieng's father played international football for Kenya. After growing up in Nairobi, the ...

. In April 2019, after a win, a draw and seven losses in the 2019 season, including a 4–3 loss to local rivals Thunder after leading the game 3–0, Kuzman and assistant coach Steve Bebić departed the club. The club appointed former

footballer

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as the new senior head coach, with former

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also joining the coaching staff. In the mid-season transfer window, City released Franjic, Ferreira and Ochieng, but bolstered the squad with three high-profile signings in

Adrian Leijer Adrian Leijer (born 25 March 1986) is an Australian footballer who plays as a centre back. Leijer played on one occasion for Australia and made over 100 appearances for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Club career Early years Leijer was born ...

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and

Brendon Santalab Brendon James Santalab (; born 9 September 1982) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Victorian State League Division 1 side FC Strathmore. Club career Santalab originally started out as an apprentice at Pa ...

. The new coaching staff and new players were able to turn the club's fortunes around, with Dandy finishing in 7th place. In the post-season, Dandenong City hosted the 45th

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for the first time and became champions also for the first time, with a 1–0 win over NPL Queensland champions Gold Coast Knights. In the post-season, head coach Moric took up a position with new A-League side

Western United FC Western United Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit, Victoria, Tarneit, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the wester ...

and Ognenovski was appointed as Dandenong City's coach for the 2020 season.

Current squad

As of February 2024

Senior coaching staff

*Technical Director of Football: Ljuban Palinić *First Team Coach: Nick Tolios

Honours

Champions: 2019 *

Runner-Up: 2005, 2012 *

National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional association football, soccer league in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level w ...

Champions: 2018, 2023 *Victorian State League Division 2 South-East Champions: 2011 *Victorian State League Division 3 South-East Champions: 2004 *Victorian Provisional League Division 1 South-East Champions: 2003 *Victorian Provisional League Division 1 Champions: 1987 *Victorian Amateur League Division 1 Champions: 1982 *Victorian Provisional Cup Winners: 2003

Bayside Football Association

*Division 1 Winner – Dandenong Thirds: 2010 *Division 2 Winner – Dandenong Thirds: 2009 *Bayside FA Cup Runner-Up – Dandenong Thirds: 2009 *Division 2 Runner-Up – Chelsea Old Boys: 2008 *Premier League Winner – Chelsea Young Boys: 2005 *Division 1 Winner – Chelsea Young Boys: 2004 *Division 2 Runner-Up – Chelsea Old Boys: 2004 *Division 2 Winner – Chelsea Young Boys: 2003 *Division 3 Winner – Chelsea Old Boys: 2003

Senior team finishing position

*1980 – District League Division Three (8th) *1981 – District League Division Three (6th) *1982 – Amateur League Division One (1st – promoted) *1983 – Provisional League Division Four (8th) Hajduk Parkmore merged with Chelsea *1984 – Provisional League Division One (5th) *1985 – Victorian Provisional League Division One (12th – relegated) *1986 – Victorian Provisional League Division Two (2nd – promoted) *1987 – Victorian Provisional League Division One (1st – promoted) *1988 –Victorian League Division Four (2nd – promoted) *1989 – Victorian League Division Three (2nd – promoted) *1990 – Victorian League Division Two (5th) *1991 – State League Division Two (?) *1992 – State League Division Two (7th) *1993 – State League Division Two (7th) *1994 – State League Division Two (8th) *1995 – State League Division Two (11th – relegated) *1996 – State League Division Three (13th) *1997 – State League Division Three (3rd) *1998 – State League Division Three (14th – relegated) *1999 – State League Division Four (13th) *2000 – State League Division Three South-East (3rd) *2001 – State League Division Three South-East (5th) *2002 – State League Division Three South-East (11th – relegated) *2003 – Provisional League Division One South-East (1st – promoted) *2004 – State League Division Three South-East (1st – promoted) *2005 – State League Division Two South-East (5th) *2006 – State League Division Two South-East (8th) *2007 – State League Division Two South-East (7th) *2008 – State League Division Two South-East (4th) Hajduk Chelsea merged with Dandenong City *2009 – State League Division Two South-East (4th) *2010 – State League Division Two South-East (7th) *2011 – State League Division Two South-East (1st – promoted) *2012 – State League Division One (11th – relegated) *2013 – State League Division Two South-East (2nd) *2014 –

(10th) *2015 –

(3rd East, 7th overall) *2016 –

(3rd East, 7th overall) *2017 –

(2nd East, 4th overall, lost promotion playoff) *2018 –

(1st – promoted) *2019 –

(7th overall – 1st year in NPL)

References

External links

Official Website of Dandenong City SC
{{AUS fb state Vic Croatian sports clubs in Australia Association football clubs established in 2008 National Premier Leagues Victoria Soccer clubs in Melbourne Dandenong, Victoria Sport in the City of Casey