About Falcons 2000 Soccer Club
A club with a rich history........
The club is the most successful in the Gippsland region, being the only club to have been crowned Victorian state premiers, on two occasions, and to have been the only rural club in Victoria to have participated at a national level. Since its inception, the club has played under multiple names, consisting of Gippsland Falcons SC, Eastern Pride, and being latterly known as the Morwell Falcons. The club bears its present name after its financial re-establishment in 2000.
Our Journey to the State Leagues
The club was formed in 1961 by Italian migrants as the Italian Australian Social Club of Gippsland (IASCOG), and initially played in the La Trobe soccer league.
In 1964, the club changed its name to Morwell Falcons as a result of a sponsorship arrangement with the Ford Motor Company, Morwell joined the wider ranks of the Victorian leagues in 1974, and quickly rose up the divisions reaching the Victorian State League in 1982, and winning the title in 1984 under the tutelage of famed Irish coach and ex- Fulham icon, Jimmy Dunne.
This allowed them to apply for the NSL's Southern Conference, but the club declined the offer. It was that same year that Jim McLean was the named as the Victorian Premier League Player of the Year (known as the Rothmans Medal at the time).
Despite the triumph in 1984, heartbreak would follow in 1985 as the slow-starting Falcons finished the season with a sensational flourish to win seven of their last eight matches - including a 1-0 victory over eventual league champions Croydon City. Despite the barnstorming run, Croydon - now with Falcons' 1984 league champion Billy Whiteside in goal - held their nerve to claim the league title with a 5-1 away win over Maribyrnong Polonia on the final day of the season.
Dunne left the club in 1986 and the club moved on to Scottish coach Bobby McLachlan, who stayed for eight years.
In 1989, Morwell won its second Victorian championship, pipping Brunswick Juventus to the title by a solitary point. However, but this time the Falcons failed to progress to the top flight after losing 5–2 on aggregate in a two-legged tie against South Australian champion West Adelaide
National Soccer League, then full circle back to Latrobe Valley
The club eventually joined the NSL's ranks in season 1992/93 as a replacement for Preston, we made the finals only once in season 1994/95 after finishing fourth. The club thereafter always found itself the underdog, and late in season 2000/01 the club folded.
While the club officially disbanded in 2001, Falcons 2000 was created as an offshoot club, and currently compete in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League.