Kingborough Lions United FC
Semi-professional association football club in Tasmania
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Kingborough Lions United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Kingston, Tasmania. Founded in 1998, the club currently competes many leagues including in the NPL Tasmania and the Women's Super League. The club has a large playing group ranging and teams range from juniors, youth academy, and social teams through to high performance men and women's programs.
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| Full name | Kingborough Lions United Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Lions | |
| Founded | 1998 | |
| Ground | Lightwood Park | |
| Capacity | 3,000 | |
| Chairman | Brian Downes | |
| Manager | Jon Fenech | |
| League | NPL Tasmania | |
| 2026 | 3rd of 10 | |
| Website | http://klufc.org.au/ | |
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History
Kingborough Lions has a complicated history having been formed out of several mergers of former clubs in the Hobart region. The club in its current form was formed after a merger between Kingborough United and West Hobart Lions in 1998.[1]
Kingborough United were a long standing southern-based Premier League team and was the result of the previous mergers of Kingston Cannons and Rapid Hobart. The club's original home ground was the Sherburd Park Complex, which it shared with the Blackmans Bay District Cricket Club. In 1996, the club moved to the then Tasmanian Baseball Complex (Now known as the Lightwood Park Complex), taking up a long term tenancy and they shared the facilities with the Kingston Crows Cricket Club.
Caledonian Soccer Club (West Hobart Lions) was already a unified side formed out of a smaller West Hobart club, and the previously largely successful side of "Caledonians" who were a powerhouse club in the 1950s, but had since faded.[2] The side was relatively nomadic in existence with no permanent facilities, but training was generally undertaken at the West Hobart Oval. Caledonian Soccer Club was forced to change their name in 1994 after an edict from the newly formed Soccer Australia mandated clubs could not use ethnic connotations in club names.[3]
In 2010, the club began operating under the updated name of Kingborough Lions United Football Club, and in 2012 a new logo was designed and presented on all playing strips.
As a result, Kingborough Lions are the inheritors of the traditions of these four clubs, and have now become a large club based in the municipality of Kingborough. Although relatively unsuccessful in their senior programs since merging, the club has the foundations in place to be a successful club due to the large player catchment area, and is the only club in the Southern region of Hobart with a high performance Men and Women's program.
In 2026, the club won the statewide Lakoseljac Cup for the first time in their history, advancing to the Australia Cup Round of 32, where they drew Melbourne Victory.[4]
Players
Current Squad - Men
Note: Known players.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | GK | AUS | Nick O'Connell |
| 2. | MF | AUS | Eli Wright |
| 3. | DF | AUS | Ryan Cook |
| 4. | MF | AUS | Bagat Beyong |
| 5. | DF | FIJ | Peter Ravai |
| 6. | DF | AUS | Hugo Schwarz |
| 7. | FW | CAN | Joel Badger |
| 9. | FW | AUS | Noah Mies |
| 10. | DF | AUS | Eli Luttmer |
| 11. | FW | AUS | Solomon Tebeje |
| 14. | FW | AUS | Rowan Pitt |
| 15. | DF | AUS | Joe McShane |
| 16. | MF | COL | Esteban Miranda |
| 17. | DF | AUS | Owen Verdouw |
| 19. | FW | AUS | Tristen Galt |
| 20. | MF | AUS | Bradley Lakoseljac |
| 24. | MF | AUS | Greg Downes |
| 31. | GK | AUS | Lochie Schofield |
Coaching Staff - Men
Note: Known Staff.
| NPL Head Coach | NPL Assistant Coach | NPL Assistant Coach | NPL GK Coach | NPL S&C Coach | NPL U21 Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Fenech | Michael Simonyi | Nick Atwell | Alex Tatnell | Sam Rossetto | Diego Atterbury |
Recent Seasons - Men
| Season | League | Statewide Cup | FFA Cup | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name (national level) | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Position | Tasmanian Finals | NPL Finals | |||
| 2012 | Southern Premier League (2) | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 47 | 45 | 2 | 30 | 4th | Quarter-finals | Did not exist | Quarter-finals | N/A |
| 2013 | Victory League (2) | 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 40 | 55 | −15 | 23 | 6th | DNQ | DNQ | Round of 16 | |
| 2014 | Victory League (2) | 21 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 35 | 84 | −49 | 16 | 6th | DNQ | DNQ | Semi-finals | DNQ |
| 2015 | Victory League (2) | 21 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 37 | 60 | −23 | 23 | 6th | Quarter-finals | DNQ | Runners-up | DNQ |
| 2016 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 34 | 53 | −19 | 21 | 6th | Semi-finals | DNQ | Quarter-finals | DNQ |
| 2017 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 64 | −48 | 11 | 8th | DNQ | DNQ | Round of 16 | DNQ |
| 2018 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 35 | 54 | −19 | 15 | 7th | Not held | DNQ | Round of 16 | DNQ |
| 2019 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 43 | 50 | −7 | 30 | 6th | Not held | DNQ | Round of 16 | DNQ |
| 2020 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 34 | -8 | 21 | 4th | Not held | Cancelled | Quarter-finals | Cancelled |
| 2021 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 42 | 37 | 5 | 36 | 4th | Not held | Cancelled | Quarter-finals | DNQ |
| 2022 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 53 | 32 | 21 | 41 | 3rd | Not held | Not held | Semi-finals | DNQ |
| 2023 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 70 | 40 | 30 | 39 | 4th | Semi-finals | Not held | Quarter-finals | DNQ |
| 2024 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 66 | 43 | 23 | 36 | 4th | Not held | Not held | Runners-up | DNQ |
| 2025 | NPL Tasmania (2) | 21 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 45 | 33 | 12 | 41 | 3rd | Not held | Not held | Quarter-finals | DNQ |
Ref:[5]
Current Squad - Women
Note: Known players.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | GK | AUS | Josie Rose |
| 2. | DM | AUS | Lucy Page |
| 3. | FW | KOR | Min-Hee Kim |
| 4. | DF | AUS | Maddie Black |
| 5. | FW | AUS | Enya Anderson |
| 6. | FW | AUS | Amy Ollington |
| 7. | MF | AUS | Emelia Howell |
| 8. | MF | UK | Hannah Walsh |
| 9. | MF | AUS | Christabelle Moore |
| 10. | FW | UK | Tilly Wills |
| 11. | DF | AUS | Teigan Hennessy |
| 12. | MF | KOR | Hae-Eun Kim |
| 13. | DF | AUS | Eloise Paine |
| 14. | FW | KOR | So-Young Lee |
| 15. | DF | AUS | Anna Fewkes |
| 16. | DF | AUS | Saskie Ashby |
| 17. | FW | AUS | Cara Lashmar |
| 18. | DF | AUS | Jorja Edwards |
| 19. | FW | AUS | Greta Crevatin-Gunn |
| 20. | FW | AUS | Talara Lawson |
| 21. | GK | AUS | Kiera Kingston |
| 22. | DF | AUS | Hannah Kull |
| 23. | DF | AUS | Emily Hughes |
Coaching Staff - Women
Note: Known Staff.
| WSL Head Coach: | WSL Assistant Coach | WSL GK Coach | WSL S&C Coach | WSL18 Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Edwards | Douglas Ollington | Masatoshi Kawano | Nick Atwell | Adam Coleman |
Recent Seasons - Women
| Season | League | Statewide Cup | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Position | ||
| 2016 | Southern Championship Women | 20 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 12 | 110 | -98 | 3 | 6th | Did not exist |
| 2017 | Women's Southern Championship | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 39 | 54 | -11 | 25 | 4th | Round of 16 |
| 2018 | VETO Women's Southern Championship | 21 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 31 | 33 | 39 | 3rd | Final |
| 2019 | Women's Super League | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 57 | 43 | 14 | 27 | 4th | Final |
Honours
- State Championships: 7 times (as "Caledonians", 1953,1955,1956,1957,1958,1960,1981); 5 times (as "Rapid", 1964,1976,1979,1980,1982)
- State Championship Runners-up: 1 time (as "Rapid" 1961)
- Southern Premierships: 6 times (as "Caledonians", 1953,1955,1956,1957,1958,1960); 4 times (as "Rapid",1961,1964,1976,1982); 1 time (as "Lions" 1999)
- Tasmanian football cups: 2 times (as "Caledonians", 1965,1973); 4 times (as "Rapid",1974,1979,1980,1984); 1 time (as "Lions" 2026)