Whittlesea United caps premiership season with State League 1 championship

Whittlesea United is heading to the VPL for the first time in club history with a pair of trophies in its cabinet, adding the State League championship to a premiership season.

Whittlesea United celebrates its State League 1 championship. Picture: Whittlesea United

Whittlesea United is heading for the Victorian Premier League for the first time in history.

The club capped a State League 1 North-West premiership season with a State League 1 championship title on Saturday night.

A dominant 2-0 victory over South-East premier Eltham Redbacks at the Home of the Matildas putting the icing on a famous campaign.

The trophy-laden season continues the club’s stunning rise from State League 3 just six seasons ago.

Having won back-to-back titles in 2017-18 to jump from Division 3 to 1, Whittlesea avoided relegation in 2019 in a Football Victoria restructure.

The club finished 10th when competition resumed in 2022 and was sixth last season before rocketing to the top with a 11-9-2 record to win the premiership and promotion to VPL2.

United wrapped up the title with a 1-1 draw against second-placed Geelong on the final day of the season, finishing three points and plus-12 goal difference clear on top.

Double-winning coach Andrew Marth said it was a significant achievement for a community club.

“It’s a credit to the club, where they’ve came from, total commitment from the club, the board and the players was exceptional,” Marth said.

“It’s the first time, for a small community club to achieve it is a phenomenal effort.

“It’s thoroughly deserved, we should have wrapped the season up maybe six or seven weeks earlier to be perfectly honest.”

Whittlesea was undefeated through the first 10 games of the season and final seven games, although that included five draws.

Geelong finished second to earn promotion, making an immediate return to VPL2 after relegation in 2023, while Westgate finished third for a second straight season.

Marcus Day won the Golden Boot with 23 goals in 22 appearances and scored in the State League grand final.

Facundo Echeverria and Oliver Baldwin both added eight as United scored a league-leading 56 goals, while conceding the third fewest.

Marth said his squad had had plenty of important contributors throughout the season.

“I thought Taylan (Eraslan), our centre-half, had an exceptional year

“Breezey (Matthew Breeze) was exceptional until he did his ACL, I think against Brimbank with eight or nine weeks to go, he’d been pivotal in the middle of the park.

“Overall, there were two or three outstanding performances but everyone else was on a level playing field, which is a good thing – everyone put in every week.”

Day and Lewis Shannon scored in the championship win over Eltham Redbacks.

Whittlesea United will look to follow in Altona City’s footsteps after it won the State League double last season before surging to third place in VPL2 this year.

Marth, who took over the coaching job in Round 3 this season, has recommitted for 2025 and is looking forward to the challenge.

“We had a good result against Eltham Redbacks,” Marth said.

“I’m a firm believer that North-West is always stronger than South-East and that was proven on Saturday.

“We had six players out and they had one I think, so I thought it was a convincing 2-0 win and it could have been a bit more.

“We’re looking forward to the VPL next season, it’s going to be a tough league next year let me assure you.

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“We need to sign three or four players, which the club is doing as we speak, to be competitive because it is a big step from Div 1 to VPL.

“Half the battle is culture, I think I instilled that at the beginning of the season and hopefully it continues next year.

“It’s not an easy job inheriting a team but I got them to play the way I wanted and the boys did exceptionally well, the end result was fruitful.”

Elsewhere, Bayside Argonauts won the State League 2 championship with a 3-0 win over Keilor Park, while St Kilda edged Western Eagles 1-0 to win the State League 3 title.