43rd Australian & New Zealand Croatian Soccer Tournament Opens in Canberra

by croatiaweek
September 28, 2017
in Sport

43rd Australian & New Zealand Croatian Soccer Tournament opened in Canberra at Croatia Deakin Soccer Club

One of the highlights of the Croatian events calendar downunder has got underway today in the Australian capital.

The 43rd Australian & New Zealand Croatian Soccer Tournament opened in Canberra on Thursday with 48 teams from 22 clubs in Australia and New Zealand battling it out over the next 4 days for the title as the best Croatian soccer team downunder.

Croatia Deakin Soccer Club in Canberra

The Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament, which was founded in 1974, is a tournament run by the Croatian Soccer Federation of Australia and New Zealand.

Clubs from all over Australia and from Auckland in New Zealand taking part

The inspiration for the tournament came from the successful Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament founded in 1964. Six soccer clubs participated at Melbourne Croatia’s ground Montgomery Park in Essendon in the first tournament 43 years ago, growing to two men’s divisions, a women’s division, and a masters division.

Sydney United have the most number of titles to their name (10 titles), followed by St Albans Saints (8 titles), Canberra FC (6 titles), Melbourne Knights (6 titles), Adelaide Raiders (5 titles), and North Geelong Warriors, Whyalla Croatia, Western Knights, Ljubuski FC, Hajduk Sydney, O’Connor Knights, Auckland Croatia, and Brisbane Knights with 1 title.

Lots of Croatian food will be on hand during the tournament

This year’s tournament is being held at the Croatia Deakin Soccer Club in Canberra. Apart from the action on the field, there is plenty of entertainment lined up with parties and the traditional Miss Croatia pageant.