History
On the field, the club had early success in the National Soccer League, reaching the finals in its first attempt, but the next two seasons were not nearly as successful, the club finishing 13th in both of them. The club recovered somewhat to finish mid-table in its last 3 seasons, but only managed to make the finals once more, in 2002/03.
During Northern Spirit's first season, then Crystal Palace owner Mark Goldberg bought a 31 per cent stake in the club and secured an option for a further 35 per cent. Beset by Palace's financial problems, he relinquished his option to a group of players and coaches including Graham Arnold, Robbie Slater and Ian Crook. The club was later owned by Rangers FC for a small period of time. Rangers temporarily changed the club's home colours to their own royal blue.
Northern Spirit's home games were played at North Sydney Oval and their first league home game (against Sydney Olympic FC) attracted a then Australian club football record crowd (for a non finals match) of 18,985 a record which stood until 2005 when it was broken by Queensland Roar crowd of 20,725 (a record subsequently broken by other games). In the club's final season, Chairman Antonio Gelonesi decided to move the club to Pittwater Park, on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The decision was motivated mainly by money, with North Sydney Oval not drawing enough people to make a profit.
After enduring financial problems for much of its existence, the club folded after the 2003/2004 NSL season.
Read more about this topic: Northern Spirit FC
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