Altona East Phoenix SC

History

They were founded in 1979 by local Greek Australians under the name East Altona PAOK Soccer Club, taking their nickname and black and white stripes from the famous Greek club of the same name. The PAOK name was changed to Altona East Phoenix Soccer Club in the 1990s in accordance with Australian soccer authorities attempts at mainstreaming soccer in Australia.

They spent most of their history up until 1992 in the amateur and provisional leagues, before steadily progressing up the league system and forming a close tight-knit squad that provided the results to eventually reach the Victorian Premier League (VPL) in 1999. After a hard fought first inaugural season Altona East stayed up, which were followed by fantastic seasons in 2000 (3rd), 2001 (Semi-Finals) and 2002 (Elimination Finals). The club's reign as a title contender would end in 2003 as the club saw three different coaches unsuccessfully pull Phoenix out of relegation.

Following the club's first ever relegation, Altona East maintained a solid mid-table finish in the 2004 State League 1 Division. The 2005 season saw a hard-fought campaign to push back into the VPL, finishing third, just outside a promotion place. 2006 saw another woeful season and Phoenix were relegated back into Division 2.

The 2007 season saw a new batch of youngsters as well as some key experienced players, guided under new coach and ex-VPL referee Dominic Barba, as Altona East attempted to begin a new and improved squad. After an opening day 4–0 victory, PAOK saw itself with one victory in its first 9 games. However, the team recruited well mid-season and finished the season off positively, smashing rivals Altona City and Williamstown 6–1 and 7–1 respectively along the way.

The 2008 season saw the club with the determination of promotion back to State League 1, containing a large and very strong squad. Being in the top two positions for most of the season, the Phoenix dropped crucial points and their fate was ultimately realised with a 2–1 away loss to eventual premiers Pascoe Vale, with the club finishing in 4th. However tragedy struck Paisley Park a day after the team's 2–1 home win against Cairnlea, with the news that then-current striker Nazir Ismail had died due to a car accident in the night. Nazir also scored in the match the day before, having a tally of 4 goals in his 7-game stint with the club.

Altona East began the 2009 season with a weaker list than the previous year, but started brightly winning 5 games out of their first 6. However, after a run of mixed results, coach Dominic Barba was dismissed and within the week the experienced Zoran Trajcevski was appointed to salvage the season. The team continued its mixed results, finishing 4th for the second year in succession, despite beating champions North Geelong on the last match day. The following three seasons saw successive 6th-placed finishes, followed by an 8th-placed finish in 2013.

Following the implementation of the National Premier Leagues Victoria, PAOK were "promoted" to State League 1 North-West, essentially the same tier they had competed in the year prior as the Victorian Premier League had been split into two divisions. In 2014, the Phoenix finished in 11th place. The following season was better for the club as they finished in 7th place.

Honours

Victorian Premier League Finalists 2001, 2002

Victorian State League Division 1 Champions 1998

Victorian State League Division 2 Champions 1997

Victorian State League Division 3 Champions 1994

Victorian State League Division 4 Champions 1993, Reserve Champions 1993

Victorian Provisional League Division 1 Champions 1992

Victorian Provisional League Division 2 Champions 1989

Hellenic Cup Champions 1992, 2004, 2013

Individual honours

Victorian Premier League Coach of the Year

2000 – Peter Ollerton

Records

Best Result at Home: 14–0 vs Melton Reds at Paisley Park Soccer Complex 10/09/1998

Best Result Away: 11–0 vs Doveton at Warratah Reserve 16/04/1994

Worst Result at Home: 0–4 vs Lalor SC on 30/05/1992, 0–4 vs Fawkner Blues on 30/04/2000 and 1–5 vs Williamstown SC on 27/8/2011 at Paisley Park Soccer Complex

Worst Result Away: 0–7 vs Westvale at McKechnie Reserve 15/06/1996

Longest Winning Streak: 7 games – 18/07/1992 – 12/09/1992

Longest Losing Streak: 5 games – 05/04/2003 – 18/05/2003

Longest Unbeaten Streak: 23 games – 02/04/1994 – 17/09/1994

Top club goal-scorers

2013 – PJ Galea 6

2012 – PJ Galea 5

2011 – Bozidar Lojanica 12

2010 – Bozidar Lojanica and Benjamin Stafrace 6

2009 – Steven Iosifidis 6

2008 – Bozidar Lojanica 13

2007 – Marco Tolli 11

2006 – Taxiarhis Apostolikas 5

2005 – Taxiarhis Apostolikas 13

2004 – Danny Gnjidić 13

2003 – Nikolaos Papadopoulos and Steve Bartol 4

2002 – Daniel Genovesi 7

2001 – Nick Papadopoulos 7

2000 – Daniel Genovesi 8

1999 – George Angelos 11

1998 – Peter Kakos 26

1997 – George Angelos 14

1996 – Arthur Davis 12

1995 – Harry Timotheou 12

1994 – George Angelos 19

1993 – Nick Tsaltas 24

Best & Fairest Winners

2013 – PJ Galea

2012 – Jason Boznic

2011 – PJ Galea

Former coaches

1997–1998: Takis Svigos

1999–2000: Peter Ollerton

2001–2003: Chris Taylor

2003 (Rnd 9): Peter Ollerton

2003 (Rnd 18): Giovanni De Amicis

2004: Charlie Egan

2005–2006: Takis Svigos

2006 (Rnd 10): Giovanni De Amicis

2007–2009: Dominic Barba

2009 (Rnd 15)-2010: Zoran Trajcevski

2010 (Rnd 15)-2011: Paul Donnelly

Rivalries

Altona East's rivals Altona Magic, Altona City SC, Yarraville Glory, Williamstown and Preston Lions.

Head-to-Head: Altona Magic

Games: 10

Phoenix wins: 5

Magic wins: 4

Draws: 1

Phoenix goals: 11

Magic goals: 8

Head-to-Head: Preston Lions

Games: 13

Phoenix wins: 5

Preston wins: 8

Draws: 0

Phoenix goals: 14

Preston goals: 18

Head-to-Head: Altona City

Games: 17

Phoenix wins: 12

City wins: 3

Draws: 2

Phoenix goals: 37

City goals: 16

Head-to-Head: Yarraville Glory

Games: 6

Phoenix wins: 3

Glory wins: 2

Draws: 1

Phoenix goals: 5

Glory goals: 3

Head-to-Head: Williamstown SC

Games: 16

Phoenix wins: 8

Willi wins: 4

Draws: 4

Phoenix goals: 29

Willi goals: 17