OUR HISTORY

1969

The Club was formed in 1969 by a group of Macedonian Australians who gave the team the name “Ilinden” which has special meaning for all Macedonians throughout history. Formerly known as Rockdale City Suns Football Club, it has grown over the years considerably.

Well credentialed coaches at the Club over the years include: (1969) Nikola Nikolovski , Kaz Kulak, Archie Blue, Ilija Takac, Ati Abonyi, Ljubo Gojkovic, Geoff Hoggart, John Fleming, (1980s) Ljubo Jancev, Bill Pilovski, Manfred Schaefer, Risto Gojkovski, Rale Rasic, Doug Utjesenovic, Bill Temelkovski, Bill Boskovski, Gerry Gomez, (1990s) Mile Todoroski, Ivan Petkovic, Zlatko Nastevski, Michael Urakalo, Mike Grbevski.

On the field, highlights include Grand Final wins (of different Leagues) in 1984, 2000 and 2006. The 1984 NSW First Division grand final team was coached by Ilija Takac, winning 3–2 over Inter Monaro at Marconi Stadium.

2000S

Despite tasting success in the early 80’s, the most impressive achievement on the field came in 2002 when the Club, coached by Mile Todoroski won the Premiership/Championship double with only 1 loss in 24 games. In the Grand Final, the Club played Hajduk Wanderers in difficult conditions at the spiritual home of the Suns, the Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre. Captained by Spase Najdoski, the Club won 1-0 in front of 3000 screaming supporters. In 2006, the Club again achieved the ultimate success when it won the Grand Final over Penrith Nepean United 1-0 at Melita Stadium.

2006

In 2006, the Club again achieved the ultimate success when it won the Grand Final over Penrith Nepean United 1-0 at Melita Stadium.

2008 – 09

For the 2009 season the Club board secured Mile Todorovski, Mile in 2008 was awarded super league coach of the year, Many clubs tried to secure Todorovski for 2009, eventually Rockdale proved to have the right vision for Todorovski.

2013

The 2013 season saw the appointment of Branko Culina as head coach, along with Ivan Petkovic as his assistant. The 2013 season has been the most successful season since promotion into the NSW Premier League, with the Rockdale City Suns finishing 4th in the regular season, beating Marconi Stallions, Sutherland Sharks and Sydney United on the road to the Grand Final

2014

It was under the leadership of Branko Culina that in 2014 the Club made the grand final of the NSW NPL Men’s 1 competition where we narrowly lost 1-0 to Bonnyrigg.

During the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, The Club hosted the Italian Olympic Football team, Also the Iraqi World Cup Qualifying Team in 2008. In recent years, the Ilinden Sports Centre has hosted training camps for Chinese Super League teams and visiting teams from South America. Over the years, the Club has also played high profile matches against famous Macedonian Clubs including Vardar Skopje and Pobeda Prilep, former World Club Champions Red Star Belgrade, and the Australian train-on squad.

2015

In 2015, the Club went on a great run in the newly formed FFA Cup making it to the round of 16 where before over 5000 fans at OKI Jubilee, we went within a whisker of defeating the Australian Champions Melbourne Victory. We may have lost the game 3-2, but we had our visitors under the pump for the last 15 minutes of the game. We remained the only team to score against the Victory along the way.

2016

The club is also mindful of its origins and supports the growing Maso Cup. The Cup was born in Rockdale and the 2016 edition, played in Wollongong, featured teams from NSW, Queensland, the ACT and three Victorian teams. The 2017 edition was held on our field where we made it three in a row.

2017

In 2017, we defended our Maso Cup crown, retained the Leader Cup over local rivals Sutherland and finished third on the ladder missing out on the grand final following a narrow penalty shoot out loss to eventual champions Manly United.

The club has embarked on an ambitious project to have the playing surface converted to a synthetic surface which will secure our place for years to come by providing much needed additional training time on the field for our growing player base.

The field was completed end of 2017.

2018

In 2018, the Club will again compete in the NPL NSW Men’s competition under the leadership of player coach Paul Reid, assisted by Matthew Ribarovski.

Current

The Club could not have achieved its success over the years without the support of the many many volunteers and the local community.

In 2018 Rockdale Ilinden FC has been led by Club President Dennis Loether who looks forward to another season of growth and success.

The club has enjoyed tremendous success in recent years. In 2023, the club was crowned senior club champions.

In 2024, the Club was crowned first grade Premiers, for the first time in its history. The Club also went back to back in terms of senior club champions.

First grade also made the round of 32 for the Australia Cup before narrowly losing to A-League opponents, made the Waratah Cup grand final, and made the first grade grand final.

Our under 20’s won their grand final.

Honours

NSW Premier League Champions: 1984 (Division One)
NSW Super League Premiers: 1983, 2002, 2006, 2009
NSW Super League Champions: 2002, 2006
NSW Second Division Champions: 1983
NPL NSW MEN’S 1 Runners-up: 2014
NPL NSW MEN’S 1 Semi-finalists: 2016, 2017, 2024
Australia Cup Finalists:
2024
Waratah Cup Finalists:
2024
NPL NSW MEN’s 1 Minor Premiers
2024
NPL NSW U20s Champions
2024

Divisional History

1969 Amateurs
1980-1981 Second Division
1982 First Division
1983 Second Division
1984-1991 First Division
1992-1996 Super League
1997-2000 First Division
2000-2001 NSW Super League
2002/3-2004/5 NSW Premier League
2006-2009 NSW Super League
2010 NSW Premier League (Now NPL 1)

NSW Super League:

2006 8th W6-D2-L14 (Group A)
2007 10th W5-D10-L11
2008 5th W9-D4-L9
2009 1st W14-D4-L4

NSW Premier League

2002/03 6th W9-D7-L6
2003/04 6th W8-D6-L8
2004/05 6th W6-D5-L4
2010 7th W6-D12-L4

NSW NPL MENS
12015- 6th position
2016- 4th position
2017- 3rd position

NOTEABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

Alec Urosevski NPL NSW Player of the year and golden boot winner;
Brae Ovens Under 20 NPL NSW Player of the year;
Alec Urosevski, Brendan Cholakian and Isaac Danzo Team of the year;
Brayden Sorge Goal of the year.

Top Goalscorers:

2002/3 Spase Najdoski 13 goals
2003/4 Denis Alilovic 13 goals
2004/5 Nickolce Bosevski 12 goals
2006 Denis Alilovic 10 goals
2007 Denis Alilovic 7 goals
2008 Pece Apoleski 8 goals
2009 Sam Awad 11 goals
2010 Peter Apolevski 5 goals
2016 Dylan Macallister
2017 Jordan Figon