North Sunshine Eagles

Arben Isai took charge of North Sunshine Eagles in 2002.

The club he inherited was built by Albanian immigrants in Melbourne, formed in 1975 as Klubi Futbollistik Shqiponja, later renamed Albanian Eagle Soccer Club before settling on North Sunshine Eagles in 1993. It has moved twice since: from McIvor Reserve in Yarraville to Keilor Downs in 1989, then to Larissa Reserve in St Albans in 1991, where it has stayed. Home colours are a yellow shirt with black shorts and socks, white away, and the Albanian community around St Albans remains its base.

Two league titles mark the climb through Victoria's pyramid: Provisional League 1 North-West in 2011 and State League 2 North-West in 2014, each good for promotion. By 2019 the Eagles were runners-up in State League 1, enough to reach Victorian Premier League 2, where they finished second again in 2024 and where they play now, under its current name, NPL Victoria 2.

Nothing sticks in the memory around St Albans quite like the derby with Sunshine George Cross. In the second round of the 2015 FFA Cup, the Eagles were down to nine men after two red cards and still took it to 6-6, then won the penalty shoot-out 4-2 — a result the club followed with an 0-8 defeat to South Melbourne in the next round. There is a second rivalry too, with Springvale White Eagles, sharpened by the Albanian and Serbian communities each club draws on; supporters of the two sides fought each other in April 2021.