Acacia Ridge FC

Acacia Ridge FC is an Australian football (soccer) club from Acacia Ridge, a suburb of Brisbane. The club was formed in 1963. It is the only club in Football Queensland history to win promotion in four successive seasons to currently compete in Football Queensland Premier League 3 - Metro.

Acacia Ridge FC
Full nameAcacia Ridge Football Club
Founded1963
GroundRon Proud Field, Acacia Ridge
Capacity1000
LeagueFQPL 3 – Metro
202311th of 12
WebsiteClub website

History

Acacia Ridge FC was founded by Charlie Sorrell in 1963, commencing its first season with two junior teams participating in the Brisbane Junior Soccer Association, and soon after, the club adopted royal blue and white as its playing colours.[1] The club joined the senior ranks in 1968, entering a team in Division Six,[2] then progressively moved up the divisions over the next decade.

Acacia Ridge FC won Division Three in 1976 and was promoted to Division Two, then were further promoted to Division One in 1979 due to a reorganisation necessitated by the formation of the Queensland State League. In 1980 the club won the Division One premiership, the club's highest honour to date. The club finished runners-up in 1981, then 14th in 1982, but were still successful in being admitted to the initial season of the Brisbane Premier League in 1983.[3] The club remained in the top tier of the Brisbane football competition for three seasons before being relegated. After this the club was promoted a further two times and played four further season (1990–1991 and 1993–1994) in the Brisbane Premier League.[4]

Demographic changes in Acacia Ridge and surrounding suburbs contributed to a dropping off in the club’s fortunes from 2001[5] during which the club was relegated four times in eight seasons and fell to the lower divisions of the Metro League.[4]

A low point was reached in 2013 when Acacia Ridge FC failed to complete its Capital League 3 fixtures, had its results annulled, and was relegated to Capital League 4.[6]

Since 2014, Acacia Ridge FC has been coached by Zoran Simunovic who has led a revival in the club’s fortunes. Starting from the bottom of the Brisbane football pyramid, the club has achieved three successive promotions (four overall promotions), finishing premiers of Capital League 4 in 2014, Capital League 3 in 2015, then winning the second promotion spot in Capital League 2 in 2016. Football Brisbane had restructured the leagues in 2018 which therefore granted Acacia Ridge FC automatic promotion to the Brisbane Premier League.[7]

Recent seasons
Season League FFA Cup
Division (tier) Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position Finals Series
2008Metro 1 (6)221156503416383rd ↓Semi-FinalistNot yet founded
2009Metro 4 Silver (9)22102105364−11327th ↑DNQ
2010Metro 3 Silver (8)2254133876−38198th ↑DNQ
2011Metro 2 (7)2281134956−7257thDNQ
2012Metro 2 (7)21104737352344th ↑Semi-Finalist
2013 Capital League 3 (6)Withdrew with record: P16 W4 D4 L8 GF25 GA41 Pts16. Record expunged.12th ↓DNQ
2014 Capital League 4 (7)2117221062086531st ↑ChampionsQualifying round
2015 Capital League 3 (6)221723772354531st ↑FinalistPreliminary Round 2
2016 Capital League 2 (5)221534691851482nd ↑ChampionsPreliminary Round 5
2017 Capital League 1 (4)221111040337345thDNQPreliminary Round 3
2018 Brisbane Premier League (3)2271143446−122210thDNQPreliminary Round 2
2019 Brisbane Premier League (3)2262142741−14208thDNQPreliminary Round 3
2020 Brisbane Premier League (3) *COVID-19*167092636−10216thBPL Silver Plate ChampionsPreliminary Round 2
2021 Brisbane Premier League (4)2210394247-5336thDNQPreliminary Round 4
2022 Football Queensland Premier League 3 - Metro (4)00000000**Preliminary Round *

Source:[4]

Key: Premiers / Champions Promoted ↑ Relegated ↓

The tier is the level in the Australian soccer league system

Current squad
  • Roki Samardzija
  • Mitchell Collishaw
  • Filip Zirojevic
  • Marko Simunovic
  • Tu Nguyen
  • Simon Anthony
  • Ivan Simunovic
  • Miguel Nydam
  • Santiago Marin
  • Jairo Castillo
  • Nick Wilson
  • Adnan Jakupovic
  • Quan Nguyen
  • Johnathan Martinez
  • Jarryd Gore
  • Jeremy Stout
  • Robert Armstrong
  • Kurt O'Brien
  • Gustavo Perez
  • Juan Jaimes

Notable players

Honours
  • Brisbane Division 3 – Premiers 1976
  • Brisbane Division 1 – Premiers 1980
  • Brisbane Division 2 – Champions 1988
  • Brisbane Division 2 – Premiers 1989
  • Capital League 4 – Champions and Premiers 2014
  • Capital League 3 – Premiers 2015
  • Capital League 2 – Champions 2016
  • Pig 'N' Whistle Canale Cup – Runners up 2019
  • Brisbane Premier League Silver Plate (*COVID-19*) – Champions 2020

References
  1. "Club History". Acacia Ridge FC official website. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  2. "Queensland Soccer Federation, Season 1968 - Final Tables". Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  3. "Brisbane Premier League Tables 1983 to 2017". Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  4. "Acacia Ridge FC". Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  5. Bernie Pramberg (19 July 2015). "Love of the Game: Jimmy Spiers fighting to end with Acacia Ridge FC". The Courier-Mail.
  6. "Brisbane Capital League Division Three 2013". socceraust.co.uk website. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  7. Brayden Heslehurst (26 October 2016). "Acacia Ridge FC aiming to continue promotion trend in Capital League 1 next season". Quest Newspapers.
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