New Craigieburn City coach Tony Sterjovski is keen to lead a new era at the FV state league 3 north-west club.
Sterjovski has been appointed coach for next season, replacing Nick Murphy, who stepped up as coach when inaugural men’s coach Michael Loche stood down during the season.
Sterjovski brings a wealth of experience, having spent five years in Germany with Tennis Borussia before returning to play in the Victorian Premier League, where he achieved great success — including a 2007 championship with Preston Lions. He also represented Hume City and Fawkner Blues throughout his playing career.
Transitioning into coaching, Tony guided Lalor United to back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 and has since coached at Uni Hill and Albion.
Sterjovski said it was a really good opportunity to join Craigieburn.
“It’s a really exciting time ahead,” he said. “The club has a vision and is clear and transparent with what they want to achieve in 2026.
“It’s exciting to jump on board and create that winning culture again.”
Sterjovski started last season at Uni Hill Eagles after a long stint with Lalor United. After that didn’t work out, he finished the year at Albion Rovers but was keen for a new challenge in 2026.
The new coach said the growth of Craigieburn City and expected continued growth in the area was something that he was excited about.
“The main goal is to be competitive and push for promotion,” he said. “We’re building a squad that has the right balance and hunger.
“Players connected to the club and each other and creating a winning culture.”
Sterjovski said he had big shoes to fill with what Loche was able to achieve in the club in his time.
He took them from state league 5 through to state league 2.
The past couple of seasons, Craigieburn has struggled to match it with the top sides in the state league 2 competition for the whole season.
It finished bottom this year and will drop back to state league 3 north-west for next season.
Sterjovski said he wanted to bring success to the club and the supporters.
“Not too fussed what league we are in,” he said.
Sterjovski is already hard at work ahead of next season.
He said they had already locked in some new players ahead of the pre-season kicking off in December.
