Wollongong Wolves (Australia)

Wollongong Wolves FC

Ground: Collegians Sports Centre

Capacity: 5,000

Club Founded: 1980

League: Australian Championship - 2nd Tier (current level)

Twice national champions before the introduction of the A-League. Wollongong Wolves continue to be one of New South Wales' leading clubs.

Collegians Sports Centre
Image taken from an online source

The images in this article, unless labelled, are from my visit to WIN Stadium, the club's home ground at the time. 

Club History

Early Years of the Wolves

Wollongong Wolves FC has represented the Illawarra region of NSW since its formation in 1980, and as a member of the National Soccer League in 1981. Wolves moved into Wollongong Showgrounds, the pre-sponsorship name of WIN Stadium. They had a spell as Wollongong City around a relegation and subsequent promotion.

Back in the National Soccer League, the club finished top of the table in 1988 before losing to Marconi Fairfield in the Preliminary Final. As Wollongong Macedonia, the side spent another season in the lower-grade NSW Division 1.

Champions After Earlier Disappointments

Back to being called Wollongong City, the team went out to Adelaide City in the Elimination and Qualifying Finals, with their coach winning an award. The same opponents ended hopes of honours in the semifinals of the final stages in 1991-92. Marconi Fairfield proved too strong at the same stage after a name change back to Wollongong Wolves four years later.

However, success arrived in 1999-00. Despite losing to Perth Glory in the semi-finals, the system gave them a second bite of the cherry to set up a Grand Final with Glory, which attracted a gate of 43,242 to Subiaco Oval. Wolves won on penalties after earlier fighting back from being 3-0 down. Goalie Les Pogliacomi was the hero for Nick Theodorakopoulos's team.

More Titles, then a Slump

Pogliacomi would go on to enjoy a fine career in England, while one of the scorers, Scott Chipperfield, would star for FC Basel and the national team. Wolves won the 2001 Oceanic Club Championship after defeating Tafea of Vanuatu in Port Moresby. The domestic season also ended in glory.

Ron Corry managed Wolves to a grand final victory against South Melbourne at Parramatta Stadium with Sasho Petrovski and Stuart Young playing leading roles. Yet a couple of seasons later, the side finished bottom of the ladder in its final season before the A-League began.

Action at John Crehan Park
Image taken from an online source

State Champions

In 2007, the club was renamed Wollongong FC and played at John Crehan Park. A year later, star defender Danial Cummins was in the line-up that beat Sutherland Stallions 4-2 in the Grand Final. However, the title was tainted by revelations that the club had run up AUD$240,000 of debt chasing the dream. 

They reformed as Wollongong Community Football Club in 2008, but changed to South Coast Wolves the following year. Managers came and went before some matches returned to WIN Stadium. The team reached the playoffs in 2012, which was later repeated under the leadership of Jacob Timpano.

Recent Years

The club returned to their Wollongong Wolves title in 2016, playing matches at WIN Stadium and Albert Butler Memorial Park. Former international and club star Luke Wilkshire took over as head coach for the 2019 season, taking his side to the final series. David Carney had a spell in charge of the team before Wilkshire returned.

Wolves were accepted as a foundation club for the Australian Championship, a newly formed Australian national second-tier division, playing home games at Collegians Sports Centre

My visit

Wednesday 9th January 2007

I was in Australia for England’s 2006-07 Ashes tour, attending Test Matches in Melbourne and Sydney. I had a few days remaining before I returned to Blighty. On my previous tour down under, I was in NSW with my mate Crusher and was kindly looked after by his cousin Paul. 

Again, I returned, travelling down to Helensburgh station south of Sydney to spend a couple of days with them. The following day was to be my last in the country, and it was to be an all-boys do, watching Paul's son play cricket, so we set out for a drive down the lovely coastline. 

We passed the Scarborough Hotel, where we’d stopped off for lunch four years previously and continued down to Wollongong, travelling through the town to find the WIN Stadium. It was previously the Wollongong Showground and Steelers Stadium, with rugby league as its main activity since its inauguration in 1911.

The Illawarra Steelers, named after nearby Port Kembla steelworks, played at the ground from their inception in 1982. They merged to form St George Illawarra Dragons in 1999, playing half their home matches at the stadium. The other half were at the WIN Jubilee Oval in St George’s traditional heartland on the outskirts of Sydney in Kogarah.

The stadium was impressive. There were seated stands on three sides, with the final side backing onto Cliff Road, and then the seafront. I was sure it would be one of the better venues in the NSW Premier League.