the club

The early years

Adelaide Villa Soccer Club was founded in 1974 when it was first formed under the direction of the Altavilla Sports and Social Club known as Metropolitan.

In its first year, Adelaide Villa S.C. played mainly against factory-based teams as Philips, MTT and Glenside Hospital. It was the drive of people such as Giuliano Vello, Pap Covino, Pasquale Rossi and Peter Varricchio that got the show on the road. Playing in what was the equivalent of Division 8, the club was promoted to Division 7 in 1974 as runner-up.

In the early years the club played its home games at the Murray Park College of Advanced Education Oval at Magill.

The first coach was Tony Villani and a number of Juventus and Azzurri old boys played in the team during the 1970s such as Enzo Artone, Peter Varricchio, Lelio Bibbo, Mario and Charlie Varricchio.

Charlie Villani and Pat De Vita are two old boys who played youth soccer with Adelaide Villa and went on to play in the former National Soccer League with Adelaide City (Charlie even went on to represent Australia at full international level)- so the club has had its own share of top players over the years.

The club lost its Division 4 status in 1977 and played the next 4 years in Division 5 with little success. Prominent players during this time were W Krezos, P Varricchio, M Parente, T Nikolettos, G Troupsidis, M Persichini, I Di Stefano, P Covino and L Solomone.

The club takes shape

The club adopted its current name Adelaide Villa in 1981 when it broke away from the control of the Altavilla Club with Carmen Nigro as President. In 1985 the club moved grounds to the South Parklands and the change brought an influx of new players. This did not enable the club to lift itself immediately out of Division 5, where for the next 3 years it narrowly missed out on promotion. In 1987 P Iuliano was voted the Best and Fairest for Division 5. Other names prominent during the previous 6 season were M Parente, P Covino, G Carmerlengo, G Vello, J Carbone, F Vinci, L Petrelli.

A 2nd placing in 1988 had the club promoted to Division 4. With players like R Ditroia, M Villani, A Iasiello, F Ceccarelli, H Rossi and L Perone leading the way the club consolidated its position. In 1991, H Rossi won the Division 4 Best and Fairest and the following year he came third. In 1992 the club player depth increased significantly allowing it to field C teams for the first time (one in division 10 and one in division 11) and C team player P Paradiso was voted the Division 10 Best and Fairest.

Finishing 3rd was again enough to find the club promoted and 1993 the club was playing in Division 3. The club had an excellent year with all 4 teams finishing in the top four, but more importantly the 1 st team finished 2nd and the club was promoted for the second year in succession. In Division 3, H Rossi was voted Best and Fairest while in Division 11, T Signorillo (23 goals) was the top scorer.

The club faired well in their first season in Division 2 and H Rossi back playing 1st team was voted the Division 2 Best and Fairest and A Di Troia equal runner-up. The C team playing in Division 7 had P Paradiso voted 2nd Best and Fairest and also take out the top goal scoring award (18 goals).

Over the past 8 years the club as managed to maintain its position in Division 2 with 4th position finishes in 1996 and 1997 being the clubs highest position in the Amateur League to date. Players who served the club well over this last period were P Bria, A Di Troia, V Dama, A Papa, N Scalzi, U Coscia, R Caporaso, D Rottelini, Sodano and G Piantedosi. However during this time player numbers dropped and by 1997 the club no longer fielded any C teams. In 1998 the club moved its home ground from the South Parklands to Devitt Avenue Oval at Payneham.

Villa as we know it

In 2000 the club played in Division 2 but was unfortunately relegated to Division 3 in 2001. Although the team looked extremely talented on paper, they were unable to perform together to avoid the drop. The club remained in Division 3 until 2003 when it won promotion to Division 2 - a year which saw both the 'A' and 'B' teams finish top. 2003 saw Lucio Signore take control at the helm and a host of new players including Tony Lonardo, Paul Simmons, Rick De Rosa, Angelo Di Troia (captain), Tony Vello, David Scalzi and Scott Adams.

2004 saw the club win promotion to Division 1 for the first time in its history by finishing top of Division 2. It is a promotion all the followers feel is well deserved and long overdue. 2004 saw the timely acquisition of stopper Mick Danzer and Frank Rapuana.

Division 1 Champions for the first time

Season 2005 saw the club under the guidance player/coach Rick Cerracchio, a former NSL player. Our charge into the first division was bolstered by the aquisition of a number of new players: Tony Scalzi, George Haralabakis, Andy Harper, Mark Sanger and exciting youngsters Mark Paparella, and David Tassone.

Villa dominated Division 1, losing only one game. Villa went on to win the Division 1 title for the first time in the club's history, and also won the Champions of Champions Cup by defeating Bosa 5 - 4 on penalties after a tight 1 - 1 scoreline at the end of extra time.

In winning the Division 1 title, Villa ended three extremely successful years by winning Division 3 (2003), winning Division 2 (2004) and of course Division 1 (2005). Quite a rare feat indeed.

Tony Scalzi was rewarded for his excellent form by not only winning the club's Best and Fairest Award, but also won the Bailetti Award as the best player in Division 1.

2006

In 2006, Adelaide Villa Football Club had a brief chanfe of identity as it changed its name to Adelaide Villa Metro Stars as it moved home grounds to take up residence with Metro Stars at T.K. Shutter Reserve.

Adelaide Villa won the Charity Shield in that year, but was not able to achieve the back-to-back championship they were seeking and settled for a mid table position - after the loss of many key players who attended the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany. With only half a season on the park, T Scalzi was voted Runner-Up Division 1 Best & Fairest Player.

2007

In 2007, with a shift to the Saturday Division and the coaching reigns handed to Mick Dancer, the Club moved on to the Fitzroy Community Centre. Adelaide Villa again tasted success winning both the A and B Championships convincingly. The A's went undefeated all season and many new players like Michael DeSciscio, Michael Musolino, Brenton Ellul, Jose Rodrigues and Marcel Corbo helped Adelaide Villa achieve yet another milestone. The Reserve team also went on to win their respective division.

So bring on Season 2008!

A special thanks to all our sponsors, followers, volunteers and dedicated pioneers who have made Adelaide Villa Soccer Club a SUCCESSFUL one!