Our Story.

The story of our people, their arrival to Port Lincoln and the alliance that lead to the start of the Croatian Sporting Club Port Lincoln Inc.

The first Croatians to come to Port Lincoln were displaced persons after WWII, others escaped from Yugoslavia and its regime. A number of others worked on merchant ships and once in Australia jumped ship and sought asylum. Most spent time in refugee camps before they came to Port Lincoln for work. They mainly worked for Cresco, The Railway and The Harbours Board.

They were young, strong, and their love of soccer was a unifying force and a way of socialising with others.

In the early 1950s soccer in Port Lincoln was in its infancy and welcomed these new recruits. Many changes took place in the team’s composition and these reflected in the team’s many name changes. ‘Lincoln City’ was the first team they were involved in followed by ‘Slavia’, a reflection of the various places in South Eastern Europe they came from.

In the early 1960s as more Croatians arrived, they became dominant and the club’s name changed to ‘Croatian Club Port Lincoln’. It was at this time that fishing became a major attraction for those from the Dalmatian Coast. As more arrived from around the city of Zadar, the club’s name changed to ‘Zadar Port Lincoln’.

Throughout the years the club had undergone several name changes eventually becoming ‘Croatian Sporting Club Port Lincoln Incorporated’.

For a long time, the club had no home base. Meetings were held at the Pier Hotel with only men involved who organised one or two functions a year for the whole community; usually a dinner dance held at the Wayback Football & Sporting Club. In the 1980s building a clubroom was priority and finally for this purpose some land was bought on Windsor Avenue.

By 1989 the women became involved on the committee and a special fundraising committee was organised. The whole community worked tirelessly to organise and run various functions to this end. Christmas BBQs at soccer grounds, Tunarama stall, major raffles, catering services for weddings, Tunarama ball, Australia Day breakfast, basically anything that would raise a profit. The biggest undertaking was the States Convention of the Rotary Club at the Port Lincoln Racecourse where catering was prepared for 700 people.

In 1990, for the first time ever thanks to Lovre Gobin (Lolo) we had a temporary home base. Lovre gave the use of his shed and helped build a bocce court. Every evening the men would gather for bocce and on weekends families would come together for BBQs or get togethers after soccer games.

In early 1991 work started on our club on St Andrews Terrace. Once again, the whole community came together; people donated time, goods and money- working bees became a regular occurrence. In 1993 we celebrated the club’s opening. Finally, the home base of the Croatian Sporting Club Port Lincoln Incorporated was born. Soccer was at its peak and attracted players from the wider community, even some well-known AFL players today.

Ever since and to this day the club has been the focal point for the Croatian community. Many weddings, christenings, birthdays, funeral wakes and not to mention club events have been celebrated in the club’s main hall.

The Croatian Sporting Club will continue to grow and fulfil the enjoyment of its members and the community by preserving the Croatian culture, language and traditions. Together we will create new memories!