North Geelong Warriors

Beginnings

North Geelong Croatia Soccer Club was formed in December 1967 by newly arrived Croatian migrants Mirko Hrkač, Ivan Sesar, Vinko Radojević and Aldo Siketa. North Geelong's first season saw it compete in Division 2 of the Ballarat, Geelong and Districts Soccer Association (BGDSA) in 1968, finishing in fourth place of the ten team division. The following year, North competed in Division 1 and a reserve side was formed. In 1970, the club fielded its first junior side, which competed under the name North United.

The 1970s

In 1972, the Club competed in the Victorian Provisional League for the first time in its history. The season was marred by an incident involving an altercation with a referee in North Geelong's Round 6 match against Werribee which saw the club immediately expelled from the Victorian Provisional League. The VSF disallowed the club from competing in any further matches that year.

North Geelong was accepted back into the BGDSA competition in 1973, where it was, for the majority of seasons, the dominant force in the league. Croatia won the BDGSA league five times in six years between 1973 and 1978.

Return to State competition

In 1979, North Geelong re-joined the Victorian Provisional League, run by the VSF, and was placed into Division Three. North finished in a very respectable third place. Two years earlier, North Geelong Croatia bought a block of land in Lara where its current Elcho park home base on Gibbons Road now stands. The land cost a sum of $12,000.

Rise Through the Ranks

Croatia then won back-to-back premierships in 1980, and 1981. In 1982, following its Provisional League Division Two title, North Geelong skipped promotion to Provisional League Division One, thanks to a league restructure, and entered the Victorian Metropolitan League Division Four, at the time the fifth tier of Victorian soccer, the highest rung the club had reached in its short history.

North Geelong made the move to Elcho Park in 1986, hosting the Geelong Pre-Season Cup in pre-season, winning the competition. The first competitive league game at the venue was a 3–3 draw between North Geelong and Essendon City on 29 March 1986.

After four consecutive top four finishes in Division Two, North Geelong finally achieved promotion when it took out the league championship in 1989. North Geelong Croatia endured a difficult start to life in Division One in 1990. After a shaky start, Branko Culina was able to lead the club to a respectable seventh-place finish.

Victorian Premier League Era

In 1991, with the club run by a new committee headed by Steve Horvat Senior and the first team managed by Čulina, North Geelong Croatia won the Division 1 title, finishing a point ahead of Knox City. and hence promotion to the Victorian Premier League (VPL), reaching the pinnacle of Victorian soccer for the first time in the club's history.

In its inaugural season in the VPL, the club surprised everyone finishing first and collecting the Minor Premiership. The club went on to make the Grand Final. They faced former National Soccer League champions Brunswick Juventus at Middle Park. North Geelong's George Karkaletsis opened the scoring on the 22nd minute. Brunswick equalized 4 minutes later. The match remained 1–1 at full-time, taking it into extra time. North Geelong ripped Brunswick apart scoring three unanswered goals from Adrian Cervinski, Robert Markovac and Robert Cosic. It was an unprecedented event, the only time a newly promoted side had won the title in their first season, a record that still stands to this day. Players in this championship side included Steve Horvat, Adrian Cervinski and David Cervinski. All three players would become successful players in the National Soccer League. All three were a part of the Melbourne Croatia NSL championship side of the mid 90s.

1993 was another successful season. The club finished third in the regular season, making the finals for a second year in a row. But this time their finals campaign did not prove to rewarding as in the previous season. The club lost both its finals matches, including a heartbreaking loss in extra time to Sunshine George Cross. The next three seasons saw the club miss out on finals action, finishing mid table. But some joy came with the club producing club legend Richard O'Sullivian and future star player and future socceroo in Josip Skoko.

In 1994, North Geelong Croatia Soccer Club became North Geelong Warriors Soccer Club when the Victorian Soccer Federation banned ethnic names.

In 1997, North Geelong's six-year stint in the top-flight came to an end as it endured relegation from the Premier League.

Regression, Rebuild

In 1999, the club was relegated once more, to the Victorian State League Two North-West. The Club remained in Division 2 for the next six season, with mixed results.

Throughout the early 2000s, North Geelong battled away in the Victorian State League Division 2 North-West, finishing in mid-table each year for the period.

2004 marked the beginning of players returning home to North Geelong having left the club in the 90s for NSL and VPL opportunities. The Cervinski brothers, Mijo Trupković, Ante Deak and Greg Šarić were all players that returned to the club from 2004 onwards.

In 2005, with the introduction of new coach Robert Krajačić, North Geelong blazed its way to the State League Division Two North-West title, losing only 4 matches. North Geelong were subject to relegation in 2007, returning to State League 2 N/W.

In 2009, Vinko Buljubašić led the club back to State League 1, winning State League 2 North-West.

After an inconsistent 2010 season, the club finished in 8th spot in the Victorian State League Division One, well clear of relegation, but also lower than expectations. In the summer of 2011, Vinko Buljubasic was relieved of his duties as manager and replaced by Ante Skoko with his brother, a recently retired professional soccer player, Josip Skoko, as his assistant. North Geelong finished in 6th place in State League One in 2011.

At the end of the 2012 season, with the club just missing out on promotion, the Skoko brothers stepped down from their joint post as managers of the club.