The Knox City Soccer Club has its roots in the foundation of the Bayswater Soccer Club in 1951 by members of the Temple Society living in Bayswater and Boronia. The Temple Society, an independent Christian religious society, was founded in Germany in 1861. Within a decade the Society were organising the migration of members to the Holy Land, then part of the Ottoman Empire.

At the outbreak of the second world war German Templers living in Palestine, by then a British mandate, were interned of which some 500 were transported to Australia for internment for the duration of the war. At the end of the war the Mandatory Government advised Templers interned in Palestine that they would be required to leave the country and that the Templers abroad would not be allowed to return to Palestine.

In 1947 those Templers sent to Australia for internment were released and almost all were permitted to remain in Australia. The majority settled in four areas: Bayswater/Boronia and Bentleigh/Moorabbin in Victoria, Meadowbank in NSW and Tanunda in South Australia.
The Society has a strong community ethos and the members built church halls, community centres and later in the 1970’s accommodation for the aged. The Australian Templers maintained close links with society members in Germany and those who did remain in Palestine.

KNOX CITY SOCCER CLUB HISTORICAL TIME LINE

Victorian Soccer Federation Honours [Seniors]