North West Sydney Spirit FC 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 Macquarie Park,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It was the successor of the defunct Northern Spirit FC, a professional soccer club based in

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

. Northern Spirit entered the

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 ...

in the 1998–99 season. Its founding was inspired in part by the success

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

was enjoying as a mainstream club (as opposed to the league's mainstay European migrant founded clubs), as well as an opportunity to tap into the previously unrepresented northern suburbs of Sydney.

History

Northern Spirit

On the field, the club had early success in the

, reaching the finals in its first attempt, but the next two seasons were not nearly as successful, the club finishing 13th in both of them. The club recovered somewhat to finish mid-table in its last 3 seasons, but only managed to make the finals once more, in 2002/03. During Northern Spirit's first season, then Crystal Palace owner Mark Goldberg bought a 31 per cent stake in the club and secured an option for a further 35 per cent. Beset by Palace's financial problems, he relinquished his option to a group of players and coaches including

Graham Arnold Graham James Arnold (born 3 August 1963) is an Australian association football, professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Iraq national football team, Iraq national team. Arnold was first appointed ...

Robbie Slater Robert David Slater (born 22 November 1964) is an Australian former professional soccer player and sports commentator. He played as a midfielder from 1982 until 2001 notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he was amongst the t ...

and Ian Crook. The club was later owned by

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

for a small period of time. Rangers temporarily changed the club's home colours to their own royal blue. Northern Spirit's home games were played at

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval (Also known as “Bear Park” by North Sydney Bears fans) is a multi-use sporting facility in Miller Street, North Sydney, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is ...

and their first league home game (against

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states o ...

) attracted a then Australian club soccer record crowd (for a non finals match) of 18,985 a record which stood until 2005 when it was broken by

Queensland Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional Association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's Australian soccer league system ...

crowd of 20,725 (a record subsequently broken by other games). In the club's final season, Chairman Antonio Gelonesi decided to move the club to Pittwater Park, on Sydney's

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

. The decision was motivated mainly by money, with

not drawing enough people to make a profit. The 23,000 capacity

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the M ...

, a rectangular rugby league venue (home of the Manly-Warringah club) which is located roughly halfway between North Sydney Oval and Pittwater Park, was considered as a possibility for the new home but was eventually overlooked by the Spirit. After enduring financial problems for much of its existence, the club folded after the 2003/2004 NSL season.

Formation of North West Sydney Football Ltd (Gladesville-Hornsby Football Association)

The former youth teams of Northern Spirit were assembled into the new Gladesville-Hornsby Football Association, nicknamed Spirit FC, in 2004. In 2019 GHFA merged with North West Sydney Women's Football Association to form North West Sydney Football Ltd. NWSF has its homeground at Christie Park in

Macquarie Park, New South Wales Macquarie Park () is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde. Macq ...

. In 2007, won the

NSW State League Division 1 The Football NSW League is an Australian soccer league based in New South Wales that was founded in 2022 and administered by Football NSW. It consists of two divisions that were named after the Football NSW League's breakaway of the National Prem ...

premiership, but were not selected to be promoted. In 2008, they again won the State League Division 1 and this time were promoted to the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

for 2009. In 2013,

Football NSW Football NSW is the governing body for soccer in the Australian state of New South Wales, with the exception of the northern regions of NSW (the governing body for which is Northern New South Wales Football). Football NSW is a member of the nat ...

incorporated the

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a men's national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state- ...

structure to their competition. GHFA Spirit FC were selected along with 11 other teams to join the new second division of soccer in NSW. The 2015 season saw Spirit FC crowned premiers of the NPL NSW 2, however due to NSW's promotion criteria, were not eligible.

Current Men's squad

Honours

National Premier Leagues NSW 2 The Football NSW League is an Australian soccer league based in New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It b ...

**Premiership (1): 2015 *

NSW Super League The Football NSW League is an Australian soccer league based in New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It b ...

**Championship (1): 2009 *

Waratah Cup The Waratah Cup is a knockout cup competition in New South Wales, run by the governing body of football in NSW, Football NSW. Teams competing in the Waratah Cup come from the National Premier Leagues NSW, NSW League One, NSW League Two, and n ...

**Winners (1):

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

**Runners-up (1): 2010

Former managers

Lawrie McKinna Lawrie McKinna (born 8 July 1961) is a Scottish-Australian politician and former soccer player and coach. He is currently serving as Mayor for the Central Coast Council and is serving for the East Gosford Ward, heaving led "Team Central Coast" ...

References

External links

* NWS Spirit FC * North West Sydney Football
OZ Football club profile
{{AUS fb NSL Defunct soccer clubs in Australia Association football clubs established in 1997 Association football clubs disestablished in 2004 National Soccer League (Australia) clubs National Premier Leagues NSW Soccer clubs in Sydney National Premier Leagues clubs 1997 establishments in Australia 2004 disestablishments in Australia