HISTORY

Founded in 1958, the Heidelberg United Football Club has been an integral part of the football landscape in Victoria and instrumental in the development of the game nationally as a founding member of the National Soccer League (NSL) in 1977.  The club rose from its humble beginnings in the Victorian Metropolitan Leagues in the late 1950’s to winning the 1980 NSL Top 4 competition, a precursor to the NSL Grand Final in the years that followed.

Along the way, it grew into a formidable force and was much loved and followed by thousands of loyal supporters. Our Club Charter encompasses the responsibility of developing footballers to become players of our National Teams in both the men’s and women’s game. To this extent, Heidelberg United is very proud of its “representative” pedigree where it has had no less than 15 players representing Australia at full internationals whilst playing for the club.

Heidelberg United has faced many challenges during its 57 year history. It has experienced both the highs and lows that our great game has to offer. It has shown great resilience and steely determination during some difficult times whilst it has excelled on many other occasions by winning Championships and other Titles.

The Club of today is determined to evolve into a modern football powerhouse. It was successful in its application to join the National Premier Leagues competition in 2013.

In 2016, the Club competed in its third year of the NPL competition as well as in the inaugural National Premier League Women’s competition as one of only eight clubs in Victoria to be granted a participation license.

In total, the Club fielded a total of 22 teams at all levels of competition during the 2016 season. This represents an overall total of 400 players. In addition, the Club currently has a membership base of 1,200 (2016 figures) resulting in an overall membership base of 1,620.

Heidelberg United has also been a leading advocate of the women’s game. Its first women’s team was established in 1978 when women’s football was a far cry from where it is today. This team played until 1982. It was re-established in 1991 and played in the Victorian Women’s Premier League competition until 2015.

In 2007, it won its first and only Championship to date whilst it has competed in every finals series from 2006 to 2015 and played in six Grand Finals. In 2016, our Junior NPL program continued to set new benchmarks and is considered by many to be one of the best programs in Victoria. This has been achieved primarily by employing the best coaches at all levels of the game, from “Miniroos” up to the Under 18 competition.

As preparation for the 2017 Season are well underway, we are confident that we can build on and further enhance our reputation as a football club that is moving forward.