Photo: Altona Magic
State League One Champions Altona Magic have secured another massive coup, luring former Northcote City boss Goran Lozanovski as head coach, while goalkeeper Michael Stark also signs.
The five-time former Victorian top-flight champions have acted fast to replace former head coach Vlado Tortevski with the popular man-manager, who parted ways with Hercules at the conclusion of their 2016 NPL Victoria season, which saw them relegated to the second tier for the first time since 2009.
Lozanovski’s coaching career began with State League Two side Williamstown SC, before taking the reigns at Preston Lions in 2006, leading the club to a Minor Premiership/Championship double the season, taking out the decider with a 3-1 win over Moreland Zebras (née Whittlesea Zebras).
The 42-year-old enjoyed short stints at the helm of Hume City and Bentleigh Greens before joining Northcote as an assistant to Peter Tsolakis in the 2011 VPL season.
He took the reigns the season after and lead the club to a respectable fifth-placed finish – knocked out in the first round of finals – before masterminding a memorable league double at John Cain Memorial Reserve the season after.
Northcote claimed the Minor Premiership with a seven-point buffer over second placed Melbourne Knights, before claiming the Championship in stunning fashion in a five-goal thriller at AAMI Park, where they came from a goal behind to finish 3-2 winners, thanks to extra-time goals from Milos Lujic and Marino Gasparis.
Two consecutive seasons of heavy player turnover paid its toll in City’s first two NPL Victoria seasons, which saw Lozanovski oversee a more modest seventh and 10th placed finish, as the former Socceroo departed the club after a final day 3-0 loss to South Melbourne in 2015.
He took up a brief stint at Port Melbourne assistant coach to Eric Vassiliadis this season, before returning to Northcote to replace the departing Alex Gymopolous – the under 20’s coach under his previous regime at Hercules – after seven rounds.
Despite helping lead a mini-revival throughout the second half of the season, Lozanovski was unable to save the club from relegation, departing the club as the season ran to a close.
“It’s no secret that I love Northcote, and it’s with an extremely heavy heart that I have to walk away,” Lozanovski told northcotecity.com.au at the time of his departure.
“We made some huge improvements in a short time this season and I’m convinced that the club is back on the right track. I wish everyone here the best and I have no doubts that we’ll see Northcote back where it belongs very soon.”
22-year-old Stark joins the Magic from Port Melbourne Sharks, where he has spent the previous two seasons at JL Murphy Reserve.
It was there that he worked with Lozanovski at the start of this year, making 16 league appearances for the club in total.
Stark spent time as deputy for Richmond SC whom he joined mid-season in 2013 from Heidelberg United, where he also played the role of understudy to Phil Petrovski and Jason Koutsodontis.
He becomes the fourth high-profile top-flight player to join the club ahead of the 2017 State League season, with South Melbourne’s Amadu Koroma, Hume City’s Joey Franjic and Northcote City skipper Greg Lombardo all joining the club over the past week.