The Wanderers today announced their next pre-season fixture today against Canberra FC on Tuesday 25 August at Deakin Stadium so we’ve compiled this guide.
History
In 1958, the local Croatian community in Australia’s capital established Canberra FC, which at the time was known as the Croatian Soccer Club.
A year after the creation of the club, they entered the ACT Soccer Federation and were placed into the second division. By the end of the season, they were promoted to the first division.
The end of 1960 saw changes in state football regulations that forced clubs to change their national names to reflect something more neutral. Croatia Soccer Club was reborn under the name of HOPE.
The name didn’t stick for long with a change to Deakin in 1966. Three years later in November, the club opened their own premises, which was the first in the Capital.
Since the clubs inception, they have consistently dominated the Premier League and a variety of national tournaments including the Ampol Cup, Robertson Cup, National Youth League, Australian-Croatian Tournament and the Argentine Cup.
The club has also developed many of the recognisable faces we see today in Australian football including Ned Zelic, Ivan Zelic, Brad Maloney, Ante Juric, former Wanderers assistant coach Ante Milicic and our club captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley.
League
Canberra FC play in the highest tier of state football in the region, participating in the NPL’s Capital Football competition.
Coach
The current head coach of Canberra is Zoran Glavinic, who stepped up following the departure of former Socceroo and Canberra FC coach Andy Bernal.
Glavinic has strong links with the club having previously coached the under-20s in 2014 and the first-grade team in the 90s.
Recent form
Canberra FC recently finished the PS4 NPL Capital Football season ranked third on the ladder.
Their final regular game of the season saw them defeat Woden Weston 2-1.
Previous match ups
This is not the first time the Wanderers have played against Canberra FC in the Hyundai A-League pre-season.
Before the 2014/15 season, the Red & Black headed to Canberra in the hopes of getting some match fitness ahead of their two-legged Champions League match against Guangzhou Evergrande.
That game saw the Wanderers defeat Canberra FC 1-0, courtesy of a 22nd minute goal by Jaushua Sotirio.
