Northern Spirit FC

Northern Spirit FC

Full name	Northern Spirit Football Club
Nickname(s)	Spirit
Founded	1997
Dissolved	2004
Ground	North Sydney Oval
League	National Soccer League

Northern Spirit Football Club was a football (soccer) club based in North Sydney, Australia. Northern Spirit entered the National Soccer League in the 1998-99 season. Its founding was inspired in part by the success Perth Glory 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.^{[citation needed]}

History

On the field, the club had early success in the National Soccer League, reaching the finals in its first attempt^[1], 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^[2].

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, Robbie Slater and Ian Crook.^[3] The club was later owned by Rangers FC^[4] 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^[5] and their first league home game (against Sydney Olympic FC) attracted a then Australian club football record crowd (for a non finals match) of 18,985^[6] a record which stood until 2005 when it was broken by Queensland Roar 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^[7], on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The decision was motivated mainly by money, with North Sydney Oval not drawing enough people to make a profit.

After enduring financial problems for much of its existence, the club folded after the 2003/2004 NSL season.

Notable former players

Australia Graham Arnold Matthew Bingley Luke Casserly Tony Faria Craig Foster Adam Griffiths Ryan Griffiths Paul Henderson John Hutchinson Adam Kwasnik Mark Milligan Matthew Osman Mark Rudan Jonti Richter Abbas Saad David Seal Brett Holman Robbie Slater Noel Spencer Alex Tobin Vuko Tomasevic Alex Wilkinson Clayton Zane Adam Foti

England Ian Crook (1998-00) Julian Watts Scotland Stephen Dobbie (2001-02) Ian Ferguson (2002-04) Stewart Petrie (2003-04) Ireland Ben Burgess (2000-01) Wayne O'Sullivan (2003-04) Italy Nicola Berti (1999)

Former Managers

• Lawrie McKinna
• Graham Arnold

References

1. ^ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Clubs/N/NorthernSpiritDH.html
2. ^ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Clubs/N/NorthernSpiritDH.html
3. ^ Hall, Matthew (2006). The Away Game. pp. 189. ISBN 9781740663458. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=BLNg_4jTzrwC&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=northern+spirit+goldberg&source=bl&ots=YVvAY0YPNy&sig=Y4Ihqy_ZkE_cf7SpmjD_JyEtqsw&hl=en&ei=NHzETrytDYyhiAe__fSODg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=northern%20spirit%20goldberg&f=false. 
4. ^ http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Rangers-buy-remaining-Northern-Spirit.2250559.jp
5. ^ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/9899/Round01.html
6. ^ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/9899/Round01.html
7. ^ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/20032004/Round01.html

External links

• Oz Football profile