All the delays in the world could not stop Altona Magic from securing a long-awaited promotion to the National Premier League.
The Magic’s quest to become an NPL club has hit plenty of snags over the past 12 months, but it finally became a reality after a 3-1 win over Western Suburbs in the penultimate round of the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 1 season at Ralph Reserve on Sunday.
“All the emotion came out today, which was expected because we’ve been planning this for 11 months,” Magic coach Goran Lozanovski said of the post-game reaction.
Last season, Altona Magic did its part, winning the state league 1 title. The Magic’s NPL bid was met with a dead end after the FFV decided to delay promotion between the state leagues and the NPL for another season.
It was a frustrating development for the Magic, who were ready to take their place in the NPL, only to have to re-load for another tilt in state league 1.
But Altona did not sit on its hands and continued to evolve, installing the well credentialled, but home grown, Lozanovski as coach, who took them to back-to-back titles.
Lozanovski dropped down two levels to coach the Magic. It was seen as a risky move for Lozanovski but it was also a labour of love.
“People keep asking me the question why I stepped down two levels to go and coach Altona Magic, but one half of the reason was that it was my boyhood club” he said.
“My father [Bill] had a big part of that, he was part of the journey that the club evolved.
“The other half was having an ambitious committee that wanted to get the club back in the limelight where they belong.”
It was a timely move for Lozanovski. The 43-year-old made a promise to his father that he would get the Magic promoted. Bill attended games early in the season, just like he did ever since the club’s foundation year in 1968. Sadly, Bill passed away mid-season, and did not get the chance to see his son fulfil his promise.
It was fitting that Lozanovski and the Magic locked away promotion on Father’s Day.
“I had a quiet chat with the players after the game, after the celebrations and thanked them because today was like the stars aligned, it was Father’s Day and it was my first one without my father and we achieved what we wanted to achieve,” Lozanovski said.
Altona appeared to be cruising towards the title at the halfway mark of the season, but the back end of the campaign was littered with inconsistent form. The Magic steadied with two wins and a draw from the past three games to lock away top spot.
Even the Western Suburbs game was uncomfortable. Coasting at half-time with a 2-0 lead, the Magic went down to 10 men when goalkeeper Sebastien Bechaud was red carded.
The Magic found a much-needed third goal when Adamson Ajayi cut the ball back to Marino Gasparis for the goal that would take the team to promotion.
“It was a little bit terrifying with having a keeper sent off and conceding a goal,” Lozanovski said.
“We were living on edge, but the third goal made life a bit easier in the last couple of minutes.”
Altona will host Essendon Royals in the last round at Paisley Park on Saturday, which will kick-start its promotion party.
