SOCCER
PENINSULA Strikers have signed attacking midfielder Kyle Eichenberger from Langwarrin.
The 20-year captained Langwarrin’s under-23s last season, won the Golden Boot award and was runner-up in the Player’s Player Of The Year voting.
He grew up in Langwarrin and with the exception of a short spell at Springvale White Eagles in the junior boys NPL program he has always played for his neighbourhood club.
“I started to learn how to take football more seriously in the NPL juniors,” Eichenberger said. “When I went back to Langy (from White Eagles) I played under-15s, 16, 18s and 23s and made around five senior appearances. “A highlight was probably winning the under-15 NPL championship under Donn Delaney.”
Given the upward trajectory of Eichenberger’s Lawton Park career what prompted his switch from VPL1 to State 2 level? “I thought gaining senior experience and regular (senior) game time would be beneficial to me. “I have a great relationship with all the coaches at Langwarrin – “Skells” (Jamie Skelly), “Pooley” (Adam Poole), “Caff” (Ben Caffrey) and Alex (Van Heerwarden) – so it was easy to tell them I was going to move on and they were very supportive.”
In October Langwarrin announced three major signings – Tosen Popo from Nunawading City and Kingston City duo Cooper Legrand and Kosta Apostolopoulos – and this was the catalyst for Eichenberger’s move to Centenary Park.
“I was training with the seniors during pre-season and I realised they had made a lot of good signings and the team had strengthened. “They had a stacked side, a squad of 26 and I was going to be a fringe player while still in my transitioning year so opportunities would be limited.
“When Scott (Morrison) reached out to me it was really enticing and he was really keen to get me down to Strikers.” And when the youngster arrived at Centenary Park he soon realised that he’d made the right move. “All the players there were so welcoming and so passionate when delivering their pitch so it didn’t take long to realise it’s a really good fit for me.” There was no shortage of information and opinions from Strikers players principally Steve Elliott, Ethan Goulding and Faraz Zenoozi who all spoke about Morrison and their club in positive terms.
The connection with Elliott came from coaching his son at Ballers Football Academy which Eichenberger co-owns with Sean Skelly and Van Heerwarden while Eichenberger was friendly with Goulding and Zenoozi through a shared Langwarrin playing link. “I’m looking forward to working with Scott because I’ve heard good things about him as a manager and from what I’ve seen so far everything’s been very positive.”
But ties with Langwarrin haven’t been completely severed. “I definitely have in the back of my mind to go back there. “I’ve spoken to ‘Skells’ and Scott about this as I’d love to play football at as high a level as I can.”
For Morrison signing Eichenberger was a no brainer given the youngster’s character and ability. “He’s an outstanding kid with a great personality which is exactly what we look for at Strikers,” Morrison said. “We’ll use him across the front third and although his preferred spot is as a 10 he gives us numerous options up there. “He’s young, fast as lightning and a very good footballer and he complements our existing players in the front half of the pitch that is full of outrageous speed and skill.”
In other news Football Victoria last month released plans for a major restructure of the State Leagues for 2026. The state controlling body plans to introduce State 6 and State 7 levels and standardise the overall State League structure by having two 12-team regionalised leagues – South-East and North-West divisions – from State 1 to State 7.
The restructure has a significant impact on clubs in State 4 and State 5 who finish outside the top six next season. All four league champions in State 4 and State 5 will be promoted and teams finishing in second to sixth positions will retain their league status. Teams finishing seventh to 10th are effectively relegated to the next lowest tier of competition while teams finishing in 11th and 12th positions drop down two levels. This amounts to a double relegation as the last two teams in State 4 will drop into State 6 and the last two teams in State 5 will drop into State 7 for the 2026 season.
Meanwhile some local clubs have arranged pre-season friendlies.
Please note that kick-off times for the following fixtures are subject to change depending on weather conditions so check club social media announcements for confirmation:
Langwarrin
Saturday 11 January v Goulburn Valley Suns, John McEwen Reserve, 1.30pm
Friday 17 January v Northcote, John Cain Reserve, 7.30pm
Saturday 18 January Steve Wallace Cup
Saturday 25 January v Banyule, Lawton Park, 3pm & v Mornington, Lawton Park, 5.30pm.
Mornington
Tuesday 21 January v Springvale White Eagles, 7.30pm
Saturday 25 January v Langwarrin, Lawton Park, 5.30pm
Saturday 1 February v Werribee City, Galvin Park Reserve, 1pm & 3pm
Saturday 15 February v Keilor Park, Keilor Park Recreation Reserve, 1pm & 3pm
Peninsula Strikers
Tuesday 21 January, Strikers reserves v Somerville Eagles, Centenary Park, 6.30pm
Thursday 23 January v Somerville Eagles, Centenary Park, 6.30pm
Saturday 1 February v Williamstown, Centenary Park, 1pm & 3pm
Saturday 8 February v Old Scotch, Centenary Park, 1pm & 3pm
Tuesday 11 February v Chelsea, Centenary Park, 6.30pm
Saturday 15 February v Corio, Centenary Park, 1pm & 3pm
Tuesday 18 February, Strikers reserves v Mount Martha, 6.30pm
Saturday 22 February v Surf Coast, Banyul Warri Reserve, 1pm & 3pm
Saturday 1 March v Geelong Rangers, Centenary Park, 1pm & 3pm
Skye Utd
Sunday 12 January v Hampton East Brighton, Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve, 11am & 1pm
Aspendale
Saturday 8 February v East Bentleigh, Monash University playing fields, 3pm
Saturday 21 February v Frankston Pines, Monterey Reserve, 3pm
Finally in State 4 news Baxter recently unveiled Billy Armour as its new head coach with George Hughes as his assistant. Armour has coached Peninsula Strikers, Casey Comets, Skye United and Noble Park United.
Jamie O’Halloran has recently resigned as Baxter’s football operations manager. “I left for personal reasons and for now I want to focus on my business and my family,” O’Halloran said. “I could no longer work with the president (Bray Hodgkinson) due to a football matter relating to a couple of players who the club had decided to let go last season – a decision that the president agreed to at the time. “I’m happy that Billy got the job after Hayden (Taylor) and I discussed him as a replacement for Hayden and put Bray and Billy in contact with one another.
“Brendan (Norris) is doing amazing things with the juniors along with the junior committee and I’m very happy that he has taken up the vice-president’s role. “I wish Baxter great success and they will have my support moving forward and I hope to get back to watch them next season.”
First published in the Frankston Times – 7 January 2025
