The Dynasty Begins

Melbourne Croatia 1987 team photo with trophies

The communal beginnings of the Knights core supporter base started in 1953 and continued to grow throughout the remainder of the 1950’s, by the time 1959 had arrived, the small fledgling club and its supporters achieved their first milestone, with the team winning their maiden divisional championship in 1959.

The 1959 result had been a fitting tribute to a club that had started with nothing except for the passion of a handful of eager young men living in a small house in Footscray, and the determination of its growing supporter base over the years which rallied to support them, in many ways they were the cementing qualities each relied upon the other for.

During the 1960’s, the club achieved numerous accolades as it rose to greater heights, which were all perpetuated by the initial win in 1959 of the Victorian Soccer League Division 1 Championship.

In the following years, this was accomplished almost to a regimented schedule as shown in the following table of significant results:

YearHonour
1959 –Division 1 Champions
1961 –Division 1 Champions
1964 –Division 1 Champions
1966 –Armstrong Cup Champions
1968 –State League Champions
Ampol Cup Champions
Ansett Cup Champions
1969 –Dockerty Cup Champions
1971 –Ampol Cup Champions
State League Cup Champions
InterCity Cup Champions
1972 –Ampol Cup Champions
1977 –Armstrong Cup Champions
1978 –State League Champions
Armstrong Cup Champions
State League Cup Champions
1979 –State League Champions
Dockerty Cup Champions
State League Cup Champions
1980 –Ampol Cup Champions
Dockerty Cup Champions
State League Cup Champions
1981 –State League Cup Champions
1983 –State League Cup Champions
Dockerty Cup Champions
1985 –Dockerty Cup Champions
1986 –Ampol Cup Champions
1987 –Ampol Cup Champions
Ansett Cup Champions
1989 –Dockerty Cup Champions
1990/1991Australian Youth League Champions
NSL Minor Premiers
1991/1992NSL Minor Premiers
1993/1994NSL Minor Premiers
1994/1995NSL Minor Premiers
NSL Cup Champions
NSL Champions
1995/1996NSL Champions
2000/2001Australian Youth League Champions
2001 –Bronze Medallist 2001 LG Cup,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2014Dockerty Cup Champions

The number of successful cup campaigns achieved by the Knights is one of the most impressive of any soccer club in Australia to date, and is a tradition the club will strive to maintain in the future.