Heidelberg United and Preston Lions will, this evening, step onto the pitch together for the first time in fourteen years – though the clubs have met 64 times since their first meeting at JA Cochrane Reserve almost 60 years ago.
Both clubs have been on a journey that has included stints on the national stage, as well as in the first, second and third tiers of Victorian football.
There is little to separate these two iconic Victorian clubs, with 23 wins apiece and a further 18 draws, with a couple of penalty shootouts to throw into the mix.
The start of this engaging rivalry proved a spasmodic affair, with the yo-yo effect of promotion and relegation seeing the clubs avoid one another in the league and rarely drawn together in Cup competition.
By 1981, both clubs had settled into their respective homes in Melbourne’s northern corridor and earned a position in the National Soccer League, with Preston settled in Reservoir, and Heidelberg taking up residency at Olympic Village. But it was Olympic Park that hosted their first national league encounter, a match which featured five goals and a crowd of over 8,000 – Preston running out 3-2 winners thanks to a man-of-the-match performance by Socceroo Peter Ollerton.
A run of three successive goalless draws finally resulted in a home team win, the Bergers scoring an emphatic 3-1 victory in the penultimate round of the 1983 season thanks to an opening strike from the legendary Gary Cole and a brace from the late Derek Lea. The win put paid to any hopes of a National Championship for Preston, who had to settle for third, a game-and-a-half behind St George and Sydney City. Cole himself would make the move to Preston the following season.
Arguably the biggest match between the two clubs came two years later, as the northern rivals locked horns in the semi-finals of the NSL Southern conference. Second half goals to Sean Lane and Joe Angele (in his own net mind you) were enough for Preston to advance to the Preliminary final, where they edged South Melbourne in a thriller on penalty kicks before Brunswick Juventus came from a goal down to overhaul them in the Conference final and setup a maiden Championship win.
Both clubs fell victim to the contraction of the NSL, with relegation to the Victorian Premier League within two seasons of each other followed by the indignity of relegation to the Victorian State League First Division in 1996 and 1998 respectively. The Lions enjoyed their greatest victory over the Bergers in Heidelberg’s relegation season, winning 6-1 at BT Connor Reserve with a hat-trick of braces to Sash Markovski, Chris Emsovski and Joe Tricarico. The Bergers returned the favour almost a dozen years later at the same venue in 2009, thrashing them 7-0 thanks to an Osagie Ederaro hat-trick and a double from Marinos Gasparis. That season proved to be the Lions last in the top-flight, before their return this season.
The respective coaches this evening - John Anastasiadis (who began his career at Heidelberg United) and Lou Acevski (117 appearances for the Lions) - will feel the return of this rivalry more than most, and will be eager to be at the helm in ensuring their club eeks out a 24th win and earns bragging rights for the return leg at BT Connor Reserve in June.