Essendon Royals Sc

Michael Ferrante spent two seasons on the field at Essendon Royals before moving into the technical area in 2020, and the club he now coaches still carries the imprint of the men who first pulled on a shirt for it in the late 1950s. Those were Italian immigrants from Trieste, and the team they put together was called Unione Sportiva Triestina — 1959 marks that beginning.

In 1995 Triestina merged with several other local sides, Fiorentina, East Brunswick and Moonee Ponds among them, forming Essendon-Brunswick Royals. The current name, Essendon Royals, dates only to 1999. The club plays in red and white, and its senior teams are based at Ormond Park in Moonee Ponds, while juniors and the women's sides train and play at Cross Keys Reserve back in Essendon.

The club plays in red and white, and its senior teams are based at Ormond Park in Moonee Ponds, while juniors and the women's sides train and play at Cross Keys Reserve back in Essendon. Division 2 South in 1962, Division 1 South the year after, a Metropolitan League Division 4 title in 1973. More recently, the men's State League 3 North-West side won its section in 2014, and the senior women followed with the State League 3 West title in 2015.

Brunswick Juventus is the name that matters most on the fixture list. Before Ferrante's time, it was Lino Tribuzio who ran the side as player-coach through the 1960s, and Robert Traficante who carried the club's name furthest individually, named Victoria's best young player in 1978. Ferrante is the one now shaping what comes next.