Altona City wins State League 1 premiership, steps up to Premier Leagues for first time

Altona City will step into the NPL Victoria system for the first time in club history next season after a near flawless campaign saw it secure the State League 1 premiership.

Altona City celebrates a goal. Picture: Kane @sportlaxoz

An almost faultless season has earned Altona City a place in the National Premier League system for the first time in club history.

City wrapped up the State League 1 North-West premiership with two games remaining last week to secure promotion to NPL3 in 2024.

The club lost just one game in the first 20 matches, winning 10 of the opening 11 matches, and didn’t drop another until Saturday’s Round 21 3-2 loss to Brimbank Stallions.

Making the achievement even more remarkable, renovations at City’s Kim Reserve has seen the club play its final nine matches on the road, including Saturday’ finale at Westgate.

Altona City coach Michael Calandrella said it was a huge achievement.

Adam Oddo in action for Altona City. Picture: Kane @sportlaxoz

“It’s an exciting time for the club, to be promoted out of State 1 into the NPL is huge for the club,” he said.

“Our facilities are being redone at the same time, so we’ll have a new facility and new pitch and being promoted to the NPL at the same time, it’s very exciting.

“It’s where the club wants to be but we probably got there a bit earlier than we thought we would.

“Winning it with two games to spare, it’s a good bunch of boys that work hard, within our four walls we always thought we could win the league and get promoted.

“It’s a tough league but we knew if we put the work in we’d be in with a shot and in the end ran away with it.”

It’s an impressive rise for a club that finished sixth last season with just eight wins.

The 58-year-old club, which played in the then top-flight Victorian State League from 1977 to 1981, returns to the third tier for the first time since 2012.

City fell to Division 3 North-West, the fifth tier of state football, in 2014 but has jumped back up the pyramid, winning a drought-breaking State League 2 title in 2017.

Calandrella arrived in 2022 in a bid to rebuild the club.

It’s taken him just two seasons to achieve the club’s goal of NPL football.

“We started a rebuild last season, we kept a core group and added about seven or so additions this year to the squad,” he said.

“The boys gelled, the core and new boys, from day one.

“I don’t usually take much from pre-season friendlies but we were having some good results and playing some good football, so we knew we’d got the team right.

“We went about our business fairly quietly and got it done, it’s an amazing feeling, the club and committee have been excellent.”

Calandrella is keeping expectations in check for next season.

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“We want to consolidate, we don’t want to go up to NPL3 and be in a fight down the bottom of the table,” he said.

“We definitely don’t want to come back down to State League so we’re going to work to consolidate and establish ourselves as a NPL club, that’s the focus for the first season.”

Altona City hopes the Kim Reserve redevelopment will be complete early next season.

It will step up alongside State League 1 South-East champion Melbourne Serbia, replacing Ballarat City and Geelong.