Whittlesea Ranges FC

Whittlesea Ranges is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburbs of Epping and Lalor, Victoria, Australia. All home games are played at Epping Stadium.

Whittlesea Ranges
Full nameWhittlesea Ranges Football Club
Nickname(s)Ranges
Founded1971
GroundEpping Stadium
Capacity10,000
ChairmanSam Cuteri
ManagerGeorge Karkaletsis
LeagueNPL Victoria 3
WebsiteClub website

Formed in 1971, the club currently competes in the NPL Victoria 3 competition.[1]

Recent History

In 2011, coached by Dean Fak, Whittlesea Ranges were promoted from the State League Division Two North-West, beating Box Hill United and Langwarrin in the play-off fixtures after finishing runners up to Werribee City in the league.[2]

Ranges appointed Zoran Markovski as the coach for the 2012 State League One season. He was replaced by fellow former Melbourne Knights National Soccer League player Vinko Buljubasic after 13 rounds. Whittlesea were, however, unable to stave off relegation from the State League Division One competition, losing the playoff fixture against Box Hill. Whittlesea finished in 9th place in the 2013 State League Two North-West competition.

In the inaugural season of the National Premier Leagues, Ranges finished in 13th place in the 14 team National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 competition, utilising one of the youngest sides in the league.[3]

The next season, following the addition of another six teams, the competition was split into an East and West conference, each compromising of 10 teams. In the new format, Ranges finished in 7th place in NPL2 West.[4]

In 2016, Ranges added former Perth Glory defender Naum Sekulovski to the side.[5] The club finished the season in 4th place, despite striker Atilla Ofli winning the NPL2 West golden boot with 32 goals in 28 games. In 2017, Whittlesea finished the season in 5th place. After the season, head coach Vinko Buljubasic left his position.

For the 2018 NPL2 West season, Whittlesea appointed Gianfranco Impellizeri. Impellizeri had led Dandenong Thunder SC to promotion from NPL2 East in 2017. The club also signed former Socceroo Simon Colosimo.[6] In late May, Impellizeri departed Ranges, with the club sitting in second-bottom place and was replaced by former Sunshine George Cross FC manager Tony Ciantar. Colosimo also departed the club.[7] Ciantar brought with him a change in form a guided Ranges to a sixth-placed finish for 2018.

Ciantar was sacked as the club's senior head coach after eight rounds of the 2019 season, with Ranges sitting in bottom place with 2 points. George Karkaletsis was named as Whittlesea's new manager. Despite overseeing a significant turnaround in the second half of the season, Karkaletsis' Ranges were unable to avoid relegation, finishing in 8th place.[8]

References
  1. https://int.soccerway.com/teams/australia/whittlesea-ranges/27630/
  2. "2011 Victorian State League Division Two North-West - Final Table". www.ozfootball.net. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  3. http://www.foxsportspulse.com/comp_info.cgi?a=LADDER&compID=298171&c=1-10178-0-0-0
  4. http://www.foxsportspulse.com/comp_info.cgi?a=LADDER&compID=337121&c=1-10178-0-0-0
  5. Kulas, Damir. "Sekulovski headlines Whittlesea signings". The Corner Flag. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  6. Michell, Tim. "NPL2 West soccer: Experienced defender Simon Colosimo signs for Whittlesea Ranges in recruiting coup". Herald Sun.
  7. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/sport/npl-soccer-whittlesea-ranges-new-coach-tony-ciantar-concedes-club-faces-relegation-battle/news-story/f4608816aaa9e3849de2680152a956f0
  8. "Ladder for NPL2 West VIC Men". SportsTG. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
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