Westgate FC


Westgate Sindjelic Football Club or Srpski sportski klub Sindjelić, commonly known as Westgate or Sindjelić, is a Serbian Australian association football club located in Ardeer, Melbourne. The club competes in the four tier Victorian State League 1 North-West.
Founded on 18 February 1985 as Royal Richmond, with its home ground based at Burnley Oval in the suburb of Richmond. In 1986, the club changed its home venue to Yarraville Oval and officially converted the club named to Westgate FC by 1987. The club won its first trophy in 1987 after winning the Victorian State League Division 2.
Westgate FC have twice been crowned champions of the Victorian State League Cup and have won the Men's Karadjordje Cup five times and the Women's Karadjordje Cup four consecutive times and are the undefeated reigning champions.

History

1985 – Inaugural season

Upon the club's foundation, they would compete in the Victorian State League Division 2 under the name Royal Richmond. Their home matches were played at Burnley Oval in the suburb of Richmond. The club's first ever goal scorer in an official league match was Tony Marchett, who scored in the 50th minute of Royal Richmond's Round 1 fixture against Waverley City on 23 March. The club eventually went on to be defeated 2–1, having been winning 1–0. Marchett would score again in the next fixture, which was a 2–0 away victory against Keilor Austria on 30 March. Dragan Vasic would get his name on the score sheet for the next three fixtures, himself and Tony Marchett would play a major part in scoring for the club throughout the duration of the season. After a series of many defeats, including a 4–0 home victory against South Oakleigh on 8 June, the club gained an important 3 points when defeating Dandenong City 2–0 away on 15 June, with goals coming from Dragan Vasic and Jim Kondarios. In Round 15, Royal Richmond gained another crucial 3 points to avoid relegation when they defeated Keilor Austria 2–0 at home on 29 June. From this match onwards, Royal Richmond went on to avoid defeat for the next seven matches, with Dragan Vasic netting six times out of the six fixtures, including an important 3–2 home victory against Coburg on 21 September. Having been un beaten for a total of eight consecutive weeks, the club suffered a 3–0 home defeat against Eltham on 17 August. After draws with South Melbourne, Sandringham and South Oakleigh, a win was needed to avoid relegation in their last round. In Round 26, Royal Richmond defeated Dandenong City 3–2 at home on 14 September, with a double from Dragan Vasic. The club finished their inaugural season 8th position with 22 points, 3 points from relegation, having won 8 matches, drawn 6 times and lost 12.

1986

In 1986, the club continued in the Victorian State League Division 2, the 1986 season being the last one in which they participated under the club name 'Royal Richmond'. In the 1986 season, the club used Yarraville Oval as their venue for home matches. Royal Richmond drew their first two fixtures before defeating Keilor Park 4–0 at home in round 3 on 5 April, with Dragan Vasic with three goals in the three fixtures and Tony Marchett with two. Vasic went on a goal-scoring stint from Round 5 to Round 12, netting 14 goals in 8 consecutive matches. In Round 17, Tony Marchett scored a hat-trick, becoming the first player to ever do so for the club, in a 4–0 home victory against Moreland Park Rangers on 12 July. The club finished the last round of the season with a 1–0 away victory against Bulleen on 13 September, with a goal from Dragan Vasic. The club finished in 5th position of the table with 30 points. Vasic concluded the 1986 season with 22 as the leading goal scorer of the Victorian State League Division 2.

1987 – First league title

Under the name 'Westgate FC', the club began the 1987 Victorian State League Division 2 season with a 3–0 home victory against North Geelong Warriors on 28 March, Pedro Gasco scored a double. In the following fixtures, Westgate were thrashed 5–1 away against Prahran City on 4 April, with Pedro Gasco again scoring. By Round 5, Westgate had obtained three consecutive wins with Pedro Gasco netting in each match, totalling to six goals in five matches. In Round 10, Westgate recorded their biggest ever win, a 7–1 home victory against Eltham on 30 May, Tony Marchett scored a double and Pedro Gasco also got his name on the score sheet. Two fixtures later, Westgate demolished Doveton 4–0 at home on 13 June, with two goals from Pedro Gasco. Gasco again scored another double in the following fixture, which saw Westgate defeat Morington 5–3 away on 20 June. After suffering two defeats throughout a handful of matches, Westgate continued their winning ways with a 5–1 home victory against Hamlyn Rangers on 18 July. In the following fixture, Westgate would snare off a challenge from Dandenong City in a 1–0 away victory on 25 July, the goal coming from former National Soccer League and Australian national team player Joe Picioane. In Round 26, Westgate defeated Mornington 7–2 at home on 19 September, with Tony Marchett recording a total of 6 goals in the match. A Round 20 fixture against Altona City was rescheduled to be played at the end of the season. Prior to the fixture, Westgate were standing in third position of the Victorian State League Division 2 table, needing just 1 point in order to gain promotion to the Victorian State League Division 1. A win would see them crowned champions of the entire league, topping both Mooroolbark and Sandringham City, who both sat equal on top with 37 points. The match was played at Altona City's home, as they took an early lead in the match. Westgate eventually finished the game winning 3–1, ending the 1987 season in first place of the Victorian State League Division 2 with 38 points, 1 point ahead of joint second placed Mooroolbark and Sandringhan City and 3 points ahead of North Geelong Warriors. After just three years of experience in Victoria's stage leagues, Westgate FC gained promotion to the Victorian State League Division 1 for the 1988 season, a league in which they would serve for the next 15 seasons. Pedro Gasco netted a total of 18 league goals for the club and was the leading goal scorer of the entire league. Joe Picioane was also awarded with the Best and Fairest award of the entire league.

1988 – Division 1 and first cup title

Westgate's season concluded in 7th position of the 1988 Victorian State League Division 1 table with a total of 28 points. Westgate's 1988 season kicked off with a 1–0 away victory against Nunawading on 2 April, with Tony Marchett scoring. The season would consist of regular wins and losses, before Westgate went on an undefeated streak from Round 11 to Round 14, notably beating Nunawading City 4–0 at home on 2 July, with Chris Andriotis scoring a double. In Round 18, Westgate would thrash Richmond 6–0 at home on 30 July, with Tony Marchett scoring a double. Westgate also claimed their first State League Cup title, after former South Melbourne striker Chris Andriotis netted in a 1–0 victory against Mooroolbark in the final.

1989

Westgate's 1989 season commenced with two straight losses and one draw. The club earned their first 3 points in Round 4 in a 1–0 home victory against Albion on 22 April, with a goal from Milorad Gelic. Number of draws and losses continued, including a 4–0 defeat away against Sandringham City on 27 May in Round 9. In the following round, Westgate earned just their second league win of the season in a 1–0 home victory against Broadmeadows City on 3 June, with a goal from Milan Vlatokovic. Vlatkovic again scored in the following fixture, a 1–0 away victory against Essendon on 10 June. In Round 16, Westgate earned a crucial 3 points in a 2–1 home victory against Mooroolbark on 15 July. As of Round 19, Westgate then went undefeated until Round 23, recording an important 5–0 away victory against Mordialloc on 20 August and conceding just one goal within the 4 rounds. Westgate went on to lose their last two matches of the season and concluded the competition in 8th position, with 25 points, just 3 points from being relegated.

1990s

From 1988 to 2002 they competed in Victorian State League Division 1. In 2002 Wesgate finished 10th, and had to go into a play-off to remain in the division. The club also made an appearance in the final of the Harry Armstrong Cup in 1993. The game was played as a curtain raiser to the Dockerty Cup final between Heidelberg United and South Melbourne at Olympic Park.

2000s

The 2000 Victorian State League Division 1 season saw Westgate defeated 5–3 away to Westvale in Round 1, before defeating Springvale White Eagles 1–0 at home in Round 2. Westgate went on to suffer 8 consecutive defeats, including a 4–0 home defeat against Frankston Pines in Round 8 and a 5–0 away defeat against Essendon in Round 10. They ended their losing streak with a 4–3 home victory against Doncaster Rovers in Round 11, and the following week, Darryl Spiteri netted a hat-trick at home in a 3–1 victory against Westvale in Round 12. In the following fixture, Tony Lingurovski netted a double and Darryl Spiteri also found his name on the scoresheet as Westgate defeated Springvale White Eagles 3–1 away in Round 13. Westgate continued their winning ways when Darryl Spiteri again scored in a 1–0 home victory against Richmond in the following fixture in Round 14. The goal was Spiteri's 5th in three consecutive games and Westgate had gone four weeks without losing. They then suffered two losses and two draws before being defeated 4–2 away against Frankston Pines in Round 19. Westgate went on to lose the next two matches, the second being a 7–0 thrashing at home against Essendon in Round 21, one of the biggest defeats in Westgate's history. Westgate won their last match of the season, a 4–1 away victory against Doncaster Rovers in Round 22, with a hat-trick from Darryl Spiteri and a goal from Robert Georgieski, the win was enough to avoid relegation. Westgate finished the season towards the bottom half of the table, just 3 points from relegation. Darryl Spiteri had also concluded the season with 12 goals, finishing as the league's 5th leading goal scorer.
The 2001 Victorian State League Division 1 began with a 4–2 home defeat against Westvale. Another two losses would follow until Round 4, when Westgate defeated Springvale White Eagles 5–0 away, with Tony Lingurovski scoring a hat-trick. In the following fixture, Westgate again earned 3 points with another 5–0 victory away against Frankston Pines. Westgate would then go on to achieve a 2–0 and a 1–0 victory, keeping a clean sheet for four weeks straight. Unbeaten since Round 3, Westgates undefeated streak was ended in Round 13 in a 1–0 home defeat against Western Suburs. Another two losses followed, followed by a series of two draws and another loss, Westgate did not win another fixture until Round 19 in a 3–0 away victory against Sunshine George Cross, with Tony Lingurovski scoring a hat-trick. Westgate concluded the last 3 fixtures of the season with two draws and a 5–0 home victory against Frankston Strikers on 9 September. Westgate concluded the season in 7th position with 31 points. Tony Lingurovski had scored a total of 14 league goals and finished the season as the league's 3rd leading goal scorer.