Altona City Soccer Club’s night of nights has been 50 years in the making and promises to live up to its billing as an event to remember.
City will mark its 50th anniversary at HC Kim Reserve on Saturday and the club is calling on fans to join in the celebration as it pays tribute to its glorious past and looks to a bright future
There will be a pre-game cutting of the cake and, post-game, a band will entertain fans, while a fireworks display will light up the night sky.
The onfield action should be something to savour, too, with City opening its Football Federation Victoria State League 3 north-west season in a big clash with Hoppers Crossing from 7pm.
City coach Sam Borg said it would be a “once- in-a-lifetime” event for the supporters.
City has massive expectations this season and is desperate to mark the occasion with the ultimate glory.
The players will need to maintain focus against a dangerous Hoppers team to get their premiership push off to a bright start.
Borg admits he won’t need to make too many rousing speeches about what this game means to the club.
Even the season on the whole, he expects his players to front up motivated week in, week out.
“The result this week is massively important to us, but every result is important to us this year,” Borg said.
“We’re pushing for promotion. That’s our only goal this year. I personally won’t be [making big speeches this week] because they’re going to be built up as it is. We’ve had a big pre-season, so we should be pumped and ready to go.”
Altona City put in a request to the FFV to play Hoppers Crossing on the historic occasion.
The wish was granted and it will continue a friendly rivalry the clubs have enjoyed over the years, with the winning side to be presented with the Lou Noordenne Cup.
“A lot of Altona City people and Hoppers Crossing people know each other, so we figured who better to share the night with,” Borg said. “It’s more of a friendly rivalry for our clubs rather than a grudge match.”
Ross Walliss has been appointed captain of Altona City, a popular choice among his teammates. “He’s a natural leader, the boys look up to him and he’s very boisterous out there,” Borg said.
“He was elected pretty much amongst his peers.”
City will roll out new recruits Aaron D’Antino, Justin Cutajar and Nick Lika in the season opener.
Altona East Phoenix and Altona Magic will open the State League 1 season with a local derby at Paisley Park on Saturday, while in State League 2, Yarraville Glory will be at home to Westvale.
