Melbourne Knights Football Club

Melbourne Knights FC was founded as Croatia in 1953 by a small group of Croatian immigrants in Melbourne's western suburbs. The club played its first match on 10 April 1953. The Knights became a member of the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1954, which saw the club join and compete in a league competition for the first time that same year in the newly created Victorian Provisional League. The club quickly moved up the state divisions and, by the mid-1960s, had become one of the strongest clubs in Victoria, winning the State League title in 1968, 1978 and 1979. In 1984, after a number of years of lobbying, the Knights finally joined Australia's elite soccer competition, the National Soccer League. By the 1990s, the club had become the premier soccer club in Australia as it made the NSL Grand Final in 5 out of 6 seasons, winning it twice, in 1994–95 and 1995–96. Following the disbanding of the NSL in 2004, the Knights dropped to the Victorian Premier League, making the Grand Final in 2008. The Knights won the Dockerty Cup in 2014, the club's first piece of major silverware in 18 years.

^Melbourne Knights stripped of the title for fielding an un-registered player

Johnny Warren Medal: NSL Player of the Year

1989–1990: Zeljko Adžić 1991–1992: Josip Biskic 1993–1994: Mark Viduka 1994–1995: Mark Viduka Coach of the Year

1993–1994: Mirko Bažić 1994–1995: Mirko Bažić NSL Top Goal Scorer

1993–1994: Mark Viduka 1994–1995: Mark Viduka Sam Papasavas Award: Under 21 NSL Player of the Year

1993–1994: Mark Viduka 1994–1995: Mark Viduka NSL Goalkeeper of the Year

1995–1996: Frank Juric Joe Marston Medal: NSL Grand Final Man of the Match

1990–1991: Josip Biskic 1994–1995: Steve Horvat 1995–1996: Andrew Marth Victorian Premier League Gold Medal: VPL Player of the Year

1978: Tommy Cumming 1979: Tommy Cumming 2013: Marijan Cvitkovic Bill Fleming Medal: Media voted VPL Player of the Year

1978: Tommy Cumming 1979: Tommy Cumming 2010: Kevin Townson Victorian Premier League Coach of the Year

2008: Chris Taylor 2023: Ben Cahn Jimmy Rooney Medal: VPL Grand Final Man of the Match

2008: Craig Elvin Victorian Premier League Goalkeeper of the Year

2015: Chris May Victorian Premier League Under 21 Player of the Year

2010: Adrian Zahra Weinstein Medal Junior Player of the Year

1996: Ljubo Miličević