Bonnyrigg White Eagles celebrate 50 years

2018 is a special year for NPL NSW Men’s top tier side Bonnyrigg White Eagles, as the club celebrates its jubilee 50-year anniversary.
Founded by Serbian migrants in 1968, the club at the time was known as Avala Sports Club before changing to the Bonnyrigg White Eagles in 1992.
Festivities kicked off on Saturday night at a packed Bonnyrigg Sports Club as members, fans and football enthusiasts celebrated an incredible achievement for the club from South-West Sydney.
Football NSW Chairman Anter Isaac was in attendance along with director Louie Apostolovski.
The evening began with White Eagles director George Mandic welcoming the guests before introducing the three remaining players from the original 68’ squad.
Bozo Vrankovic, Jovo Popovic and Michael Slifkovic were well received by a raucous applause by all in attendance as they walked on stage.
The night continued with traditional Serbian music and dancing before an auction was held, auctioning off a signed Sydney FC jersey, a signed KRC Genk jersey of former White Eagle player Danny Vukovic and an original framed retro Bonnyrigg White Eagles jersey.
Fatefully, Slifkovic ensured the jersey would fall in no one’s hands but his own, fighting hard to win his beloved colours.
Saturday saw the White Eagles host their first home game of 2018 against the Marconi Stallions.
The prelude to the first-grade game saw ex-White Eagles/Avala legends take to the park against a team of Marconi legends.
Running back onto the pitch and seeing old faces was a joy to behold as former Bonnyrigg aces such as Mirko Radosavljevic, Tayfun Devrimol, Osvaldo El Ali, Colin Luff all walked back onto their stomping ground, wowing their adoring fans.
In typical fashion, one of the NPL NSW Men’s most lethal attacker sin the competition’s history, Robbie Younis, signed off the magnificent treat for fans by scoring a world class goal from half way, right under the watchful eye of former mentor Brian ‘Bomber’ Brown.
The home side won the fixture with a convincing 6-2 victory.
The first grade followed in difficult conditions in front of a packed stadium at Bonnyrigg Sports Ground, with the match finishing 1-1.
-By Nikola Pozder