Footscray JUST

Footscray J.U.S.T.
Full name	Footscray Jugoslav United Soccer Team
Nickname(s)	JUST, Plavi, Eagles
Gegründet	1950
Dissolved	1990
Ground	Schintler Reserve, Footscray
Home colours	Away colours

Footscray JUST (Jugoslav United Soccer Team) is a defunct association football club from Melbourne, Australia.

History

Established in 1950 by migrants from Yugoslavia,^[1] Footscray JUST played in the Victorian leagues with a fair amount of success, winning five Victorian State League titles,^[2] and three Dockerty Cup titles.

National Soccer League

In 1977 they became a foundation member of the National Soccer League, where they largely struggled, with the exception of 1986, where they lost to Adelaide City in the Southern Conference grand final.^[3] In that year Footscray recruited legendary Red Star Belgrade player and trainer Dragoslav Šekularac who also brought with him Vlada Stošić which immediately lifted the club from the bottom to the top of the league.

However poor performances returned and in their final season as members of the NSL in 1989, after the club changed their name to Melbourne City JUST to broaden their appeal and with Schintler Reserve having undergone significant renovations, the club were demoted to the Victoria State League along with fellow Melbourne club Heidelberg United FC after finishing second bottom, recording only five league wins.

Their last NSL match took place on 10 July 1989, when 1,830 turned up to Schintler Reserve to witness a 1-1 draw with Sydney Olympic.^[4]

Statistics by Season

Season	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Table Position
1977	26	9	6	11	36	39	24	8th of 14
1978	26	7	8	11	29	37	22	12th of 14
1979	26	8	3	15	29	43	20	11th of 14
1980	26	7	9	10	32	41	23	9th of 14
1981	30	9	7	14	32	48	25	13th of 16
1982	30	5	14	11	34	46	24	14th of 16
1983	30	9	9	12	25	42	36	12th of 16
1984	28	10	5	13	29	33	25	8th of 12 (Sth)
1985	22	5	2	15	25	41	12	12th of 12 (Sth)
1986	22	10	8	4	29	27	28	2nd of 12 (Sth)
1987	24	7	8	9	17	27	22	11th of 13
1988	26	7	9	10	34	32	23	10th of 14
1989	26	5	8	13	24	37	18	13th of 14

(Pld)=Games Played, (W)=Wins, (D)=Draws, (L)=Losses, (GF)=Goals For, (GA)=Goals Against, (Pts)=Points, (Sth)=Southern Conference

They struggled badly the following season in the State League and suffered another relegation to VSL Division One.^[5] The club were subsequently taken over by the Argentinian community which signalled the end of their historic Yugoslav connections and effectively the end of the original Footscray JUST. Schintler Reserve was vacated in 1994 and is now a container storage facility, with the clubrooms converted into offices.

The club carry on today in the Victorian State League 3 North-West as Melbourne City ^[6] (no connection to the A League franchise of that name ^[7]) playing at Edwards Reserve in Spotswood.

Honours

Victorian State League (VPL) Champions 1957, 1963, 1969, 1971, 1973
Victorian League 3 Division South Champions 1950
National Soccer League South Finalists 1986
Dockerty Cup Winners 1951, 1963, 1976,
Victorian Ampol Night Soccer Cup Winners 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1965, 1975

Individual Honours

Bill Fleming Medal

1956 – Pepe Cubero
1964 – Frank Micic
1967 – Frank Micic
1973 – Frank Micic

Victorian Premier League Top Goalscorer Award

1971 – Dan Zoraja

NSL U21 Player of the Year

1986 – Ernie Tapai

NSL Coach of the Year

1986 – Dragoslav Šekularac

International Players

References

[1] ttp://sesasport.com/?p=363

[2] ttp://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Clubs/F/FootscrayJUSTDH.html

[3] ttp://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/1986/Playoff.html

[4] ttp://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/1989/round26.htm

[5] ttp://www.socceraust.co.uk/VIC/Past%20Seasons/VIC90Tables.htm

[6] ttp://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Clubs/M/MelbourneCity.html

[7] ttp://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/legal-fight-over-8216melbourne-city8217-name-will-be-lost-expert-20140615-zs8ff.html

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