História
Serbian White Eagles Football Club (Serbian: Фудбалски клуб Српски бели орлови, romanized: Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi) is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a non-FIFA sanctioned league.
The team's home kit is all white commemorating the white double-headed eagle which appears on the Serbian flag while the away colours are red-blue-white commemorating the tricolour of the Serbian flag. The colour white was also chosen as it symbolizes purity and innocence. The third set of jerseys is sky blue. The club also has teams in the Canadian Soccer League Reserve Division and the Ontario Soccer League.
The club was established in Hamilton, Ontario in 1968 under the name Serbia FC and joined the professional ranks by becoming a member in the National Soccer League after relocating to Toronto and becoming the Serbian White Eagles. The White Eagles had their first taste of success in 1974, and became the first Canadian soccer club to compete in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. In 1981, they withdrew from the NSL and became an amateur club in the process. After a 25-year hiatus from professional soccer, they returned in 2006 to compete in the Canadian Soccer League (the successor league to the NSL).
Their return was a success as they dominated the league in both performance and attendance. Within their first four seasons they became the second club in CSL history to reach the CSL Championship final in four consecutive seasons. During those four seasons they produced three division titles, and a championship. In regards to league attendance they averaged the highest number of spectators, which revived their derby match against their rivals Toronto Croatia.
Shortly after, the team's performance went into a decline but they still maintained their powerhouse status as they continued to consecutively qualify for the playoffs. In 2015, the White Eagles began rejuvenating their performance by claiming that year's regular season title, the championship in 2016, and the regular season title in 2022 and 2024.
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Early years (1968–1980)
The Serbian White Eagles were established in 1968 in Hamilton, Ontario as Serbia FC and operated under that name for a short time before relocating to Toronto and becoming the Serbian White Eagles. In these beginnings, the club participated in the National Soccer League.
Prior to the 1973 season, the team imported nine players from Yugoslavia. Tragedy struck the team on June 10, 1973, when 25-year-old forward Alexander Zivaljevic was killed in a car accident on the Queen Elizabeth Way in Toronto. The driver of the car, 24-year-old Niko Skrvic, was also killed when he lost control of the car. Injured in the crash were Eagles players Verko Mitrovic and Ljubo Dimic. 32-year-old Mitrovic suffered a crushed chest and was paralyzed from the waist down, while 26-year-old Dimic suffered a fractured skull and a kidney injury.
The team qualified for the 1975 CONCACAF Champions' Cup where they lost to Mexican team CF Monterrey in the first round after a brawl on the pitch of the Exhibition Stadium. The brawl began as a fight between Eagles player Dragi Denkovski and Monterrey player Gustavo Peña which then led to spectators rushing the field. The Serbian White Eagles subsequently received a suspension. In the 1976 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, the Serbian White Eagles advanced to the second round of the North American Zone on a bye where they were set to face León but withdrew.
In 1981, the Serbian White Eagles withdrew from the league, becoming an amateur club in the process.
Rebirth and instant success (2006)
They remained an amateur club until February 2006, when they joined the Canadian Soccer League, becoming one of the most successful expansion clubs in the league's history. Prior to the start of the 2006 Canadian Soccer League season, it was announced that the legendary Dragoslav Šekularac would become head coach of the expansion side with first assistant being Stevan Mojsilović. Other big names were brought in as well to help re-build the team. These included (among others): club legend Mike Bakic as president of the club, the director of player personnel was another club legend Mike Stojanovic, the general manager was Ken Stanojević who (along with Gojko Paić) was GM during the club's heyday in the 1970s while the director of football was Nenad Stojkov. This was Šekularac's second stint with the White Eagles having already played for and coached them in the past. With seasoned internationals being brought over from Serbia and the rest of Europe, the team was set.
The roster assembled by Šekularac consisted of players with European experience and CSL veterans. The players brought in were Saša Viciknez, Dušan Belić, Siniša Ninković, Dragan Radović, Niki Budalic, Božo Milić, Uroš Predić, Nenad Stojčić, Mirko Medić, Gabriel Pop, Alex Braletic, and Marc Jankovic. Šekularac's stint, though short-lived, was not without success. The club was a hit in its first season, finishing first in the International Conference with 55 points and first overall (tallying both conferences). In the regular season, Šekularac guided the club to 17 wins, 1 loss and 4 ties with a whopping goal differential of 66:13. The team finished with the best offensive and defensive record. A formidable striking partnership consisting of Pop and Viciknez was formed with Pop finishing as the league's top goalscorer followed by Viciknez as runner up. For their efforts Pop received the CSL Golden Boot, while Viciknez was named the CSL MVP.
The Eagles advanced to the knockout-stage, defeated Toronto Supra Portuguese in the quarterfinals with a score of 3–0 and defeated the Windsor Border Stars in the semifinal 6–1. Their season was brought to an end by the Italia Shooters in the CSL Championship final where Italia scored the lone goal to claim the championship. Though the White Eagles fell short they were embraced by the Serbian Canadian community and averaged the highest attendance of any team in the CSL.
League powerhouse and championship (2007–2008)
Some changes were made prior to the 2007 season with starting goalkeeper Dušan Belić promoted to player-coach while Dragan Bakoč (vice-president of the club in 2006) was made president. Serbian writer Prvoslav Vujčić wrote the lyrics for the club's anthem in 2007. Belić was player-coach for a few months until he took up a scouting position in Slovenia. Belić was replaced in net by CSL veteran Arthur Zaslavski and by former Canadian under-17 international George Radan. Radan came out of an 11-year-long retirement to help the Eagles with their keeper problems. Zaslavski and Radan rotated minutes but Radan got the notch when the playoffs started nearing. Then-assistant coach Siniša Ninković (another 2006 alumnus) took up the head-coaching position but was replaced prior to the playoffs by Toronto Falcons coach Branko Pavlović. Notable acquisitions were Uroš Stamatović, Osni Neto, Ricardo Munguía Pérez, Zoran Kokot and Milan Kojić which proved to be key additions.
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