History
They were founded in 1979 by local Greek Australians under the name East Altona PAOK Soccer Club, taking their nickname and black and white stripes from the famous Greek Macedonian club of the same name. The PAOK name was changed to Altona East Phoenix Soccer Club in the 1990s in accordance with Australian soccer authorities attempts at mainstreaming soccer in Australia.
They spent most of their history up until 1992 in the amateur and provisional leagues, before steadily progressing up the league system and forming a close tight-knit squad that provided the results to eventually reach the Victorian Premier League in 1999. After a hard fought first inaugural season Altona East stayed up, which were followed by fantastic seasons in 2000 (3rd), 2001 (Semi-Finals) and 2002 (Elimination Finals). The club's reign as a title contender would end in 2003 as the club saw three different coaches unsuccessfully pull Phoenix out of relegation.
Following the club's first ever relegation, Altona East maintained a solid mid-table finish in the 2004 State League 1 Division. The 2005 season saw a hard-fought campaign to push back into the VPL, finishing third, just outside a promotion place. 2006 saw another woeful season and Phoenix were unfortunately relegated back into Division 2.
The 2007 season saw a new batch of youngsters as well as some key experienced players, guided under new coach and ex-VPL referee Dominic Barba, as Altona East attempted to begin a new and improved squad. After an opening day 4-0 victory, PAOK saw itself with one victory in its first 9 games. However, the team recruited well mid-season and finished the season off positively, smashing rivals Altona City and Williamstown 6-1 and 7-1 respectively along the way.
The 2008 season saw the club with the determination of promotion back to State League 1, containing a large and very strong squad. Being in the top two positions for most of the season, the Phoenix dropped crucial points and their fate was ultimately realised with a 2-1 away loss to eventual premiers Pascoe Vale, with the club finishing in 4th. However tragedy struck Paisley Park a day after the team's 2-1 home win against Cairnlea, with the news that then-current striker Nazir Ismail had died due to a car accident in the night. Nazir also scored in the match the day before, having a tally of 4 goals in his 7-game stint with the club.
Altona East began the 2009 season with less stronger list than the previous year, but started brightly winning 5 games out of their first 6. However, after a run of mixed results, coach Dominic Barba was dismissed and within the week the experienced Zoran Trajcevski was appointed to salvage the season. The team continued its mixed results, finishing 4th for the second year in succession, despite beating champions North Geelong on the last match day.
Altona East Phoenix was a very unknown team in the junior category, and in 2009, two junior teams, the U15 and U16 teams were competing in the highest junior division, with the U15 team champions of Superleague.
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