Cracovia Soccer Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team based in

Beechboro, Western Australia Beechboro is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Swan. History The name Beechboro reflects the history of the first European owner of land in the area. In 1892 Henry Brockman subdivided land in the area. The Brockm ...

, and is the footballing arm of the Cracovia Club, a

Polish Australian Polish Australians refers to Australians, Australian citizens or residents of full or partial Polish people, Polish ancestry. In 2021, 45,884 Australian residents declared that they were born in Poland. The Australian states with the largest P ...

community organisation.

History

The club was formed in 1950 at St Brigid's Parish Hall by members of the

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

community. The club was named Polish Sport Club Cracovia after the city of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is a name shared by Polish team

Cracovia Cracovia is the Latin name for the Polish city of Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesse ...

. The club was initially based in

before moving to premises in Barlee Street,

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

in 1972. The club was based in Highgate until 1990 when it moved to its current location in Beechboro.

Success

In 1965, after a number of seasons in the lower divisions of the

Western Australia State League The National Premier Leagues Western Australia (NPL WA) is a regional Australian semi-professional soccer league comprising teams from Western Australia. As a subdivision of the National Premier Leagues, the league is the highest level of the Wes ...

, Cracovia with the assistance of the Polish Olympic Committee recruited a number of seasoned Polish footballers including

Władysław Musiał Władysław Musiał (22 March 1931 – 20 December 2010) was a Polish former footballer. Musiał played for Lechia Gdańsk in the Polish Ekstraklasa. In 1965 Musiał transferred to Australian club Cracovia where he played four seasons. Musia ...

Paweł Sobek Paweł Szczepan Sobek (23 December 1929 – 14 September 2015) was a Polish footballer who played as a forward. Club career Sobek played for Szombierki Bytom and Górnik Radlin in the Ekstraklasa. In 1965, he moved to Australia to play for C ...

Zygmunt Pieda Zygmunt Pieda (born 23 April 1933) is a Polish former footballer. Playing career Poland Pieda played for Ruch Chorzów and Legia Warsaw in a twelve-year career in the Polish Ekstraklasa, captaining Legia to a cup and league double in 1955. Aus ...

and Henryk Lukoszek. Success was immediate with Cracovia winning the first division in 1965 and the State League in 1966.

Decline

After a decade near the top of the State League Cracovia were relegated in 1974. From that point the club's success was limited to brief spells in the top flight before leaving the semi-professional competition in the mid-90s to compete in the state amateur competition. During the early 1980s

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

played one match as a guest for Cracovia. Due to regulations of the state soccer federation the club was known as Beechboro White Eagles in the 1990s.

Current

As of 2025, the club plays in the Amateur League Division 1.

References

Soccer clubs in Perth, Western Australia Association football clubs established in 1955 1955 establishments in Australia Polish sports clubs in Australia Polish association football clubs outside Poland {{Australia-footyclub-stub