TUkraine is situated in the southeastern part of Central Europe. The country of Ukraine with a population of over 50 million, is bordered by Romania, Moldovia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus and Russia. Became independent from Soviet Union in 1991, August 24 is Ukraine Independence Day.  Capital is Kiev  as in chicken Kiev.
Many Ukrainians arrived in Australia between 1947 and 1952. Some were refugees from forced labour camps, others dispossessed by the Soviet occupation of their homeland in 1939.  Many of the first arrivals were single men and women, however, some families migrated together. They were required to work for the Australian government for two years on a contract basis.  The refugees had backgrounds ranging from rural workers to qualified professionals.  Some spent time on rural projects and many were employed by the famous Snowy Mountain Scheme in New South wales.  When their contracts ended, they headed back to the cities with hopes of continuing the lives they had left behind. The 1950’s saw communities stabilise and organise often these groups founded on interests such as craft, culture, religion and sport. ( Inglewood United [ W.A. Premier League Winners in 1996] was founded by Ukrainian immigrants in 1951 as Kiev Soccer Club.
The Ukraine emblem of a golden rampant lion on a blue background can be traced back to 1848. Around the same time light blue and yellow were accepted as the national colours of the Ukrainians.
2002 would have been the 50th anniversary of the USC Lion Soccer Club having been founded in approximately 1952. Lions first secretary was G. Murawskyj. By 1956 USC Lion had won the S.A.S.F. Cup and in 1965 won it’s first S.A. Premiership.
Adelaide Lion, with their home ground at Findon Reserve, Drummond Avenue, Findon (home of the notorious Findon Skid Kids) first fielded a team in the South Australian Amateur Soccer League Division 3 in 1971( same year as Elizabeth Downs). They immediately had an impact with their 1st team securing promotion as Runners-up and defeating Port Noarlunga 3-1 in the Minor Challenge Cup final.  Lions Reserve side captured the Division 3 Reserves title. The inaugural Lion side featured M. Muzkyka, W. Chichanowski (possibly Alex Chichanowski’s brother) and Petelski, who with 11 goals was the Division 3 leading scorer.
1972 saw Adelaide Lion achieving further success when their 1st Team finished undefeated in top position of Division 2. Lions side consisted of M.Muzkyka, the Division 2 B/F with 21 votes and 7 goals, W.Chichanowski with 28 goals along with G. Brydon, P. Diakiw, A. Kowalski, J. Pearson, W. Lazor and M. Sereda.
1973 in Division 1 saw Adelaide Lion come back to earth with a thud as their 1st Team finished bottom and their Reserve side finishing 2nd bottom.
The 1974 and 1975 seasons in Division 2 were fairly uneventful for Adelaide Lion and 1976 saw the club relegated to Division 3. Representing Lion between 1973-1976 were R. Zapotezny, W. Beseruk, A. Nosov, A. Pearson, A. Brydon, P. Diakiw, S. Hadaj, P. Kowalski, J. Kowalski, A. Kowalski J. Diakiw, M. Popovich, W. Majko, W. Lazor, M. Feciak, M. Yroniuk, A. Crompton, J. Zacharko, J. Panasiuk, J. Kafton and Zyzniewski. However, W. Cichanowski - 51 goals in 5 seasons, G. Brydon – 19 goals in 2 seasons and the emergence of M. Ilnyckyi – 19 goals in 2 seasons were the highlights of this period.
1977 saw Adelaide Lion bounce straight back into Division 2 after finishing 2nd in Division 3 whilst their Reserves captured a second Division 3 title and lost 3-5 to Western United in the Reserve Cup Final.
From 1978 to 1983 Lion struggled to maintain a foothold in Division 2 despite their Reserve side 2nd in ’80, ’81 and ’83 and 3rd in ’78 and ’82.  M. Ilnyckyi continued his goal scoring netting over 60 goals from ’75 –81. Other names from those years included E. Diakiw, B. Diakiw, J. Kowalski, B. Solowij, T. Jarema, E. Binkowski, R. Weresczack, J. Burketa, H. Czora, R. Zapotezny, M. Stolcman, D. Kyrpiza, J. Kaftan, E. Pado, A. Kowalski, R. Myrawsky, P. Dmytriw, M. Nyskohus, J. Ilnyckyi, Z. Tusim, W. Sobol, A. Hirniak, Dondria, M. Oleksyn, Rakin, Dwulat, A. D’Andrea, D. Baker, D. Marangon and former S.A. goalkeeper Wally Fedczyzyn. In 1981 Lion moved to their current home ground at Grange and also changed their name from Adelaide Lion to Grange Lion.
1984 saw Lion finish bottom and slip back into Division 3.
Over the next 6 seasons Lion languished at the wrong end of Division 3 finally succumbing to relegation in 1990 when they finished the season bottom with only 5 points. One feature of the Grange Lion side from 1985-1990 was the talented aboriginal player G. Scott who captured the Division 3 B/F in ’87 and ’89 and was joint top goal scorer in 1985. Scott amassed 85 B/F points and 34 goals in a struggling side. Other new faces in Lions team during this time were another G. Scott, G. Lakatos, N. Rotorto, P. Murawsky, M. Kisielicki, J. Zdenek, D. Hallahan, Rob Lorenzutti, P. Capone, C. Tsotsis, T. Mysak, I. Atkinson, M. Kowacenti, R. Graham, P. Connolly, D. Turcinov, C. Cerbo, P. Meus, K. Graham. J. Stocco, J. Ambrosino, S. McNaughton, S. Howard, T. Tkalek, S. Kaltapanedis, C. Connolly, A. Zabronarni, M. Daley, D. Coultate, W. Pastuch, R. Boffa, A. Verprek, I. Dalby, M. Petruzelli, and B. Daminato. 
Lions slide continued in 1991 when they finished bottom of Division 4 and in 1992 they finished 9th in Division 5.
1993 saw the merger of the Port Adelaide and USC Lion S.A. Federation sides to form Port Adelaide Lion. This merger was also mirrored at the Amateur League level with Grange Lion, now in Division 6, merging with Port Adelaide who had finished Division 8 League winners in their first season the previous year.
The new side Port Adelaide Lion, in Division 6 for the 1993 season, used John Hart Reserve at Ethelton as their home ground. D. Jarinick and D. Facchini headed the goal scoring with 13 and 12 goals respectively. Also representing the newly named club that year were D. Elmer, Daniel Marangon, J. Petruzzelli, J. Green, J. Dougall, E. Diakiw, J. Ilnyckyi, R. Clutton, D. Jirous, B. Myronwk, C. Darrell, Carlos Azevedo, W. Koulocheris and G. Petruzzelli.
1994 was almost a carbon copy of 1993 with Lions 1st team finishing one place higher in 4th position and the Reserves finishing runners-up. V. D’Cruz with 16 goals headed the goal scoring with much the same faces from the previous season.
In 1995 several former USC Lion Federation players arrived at the Port Adelaide Lion Amateur Soccer Club with immediate impact. The three biggest names were Ivan Hudoba a veteran of over 300 games and over 100 goals for Lion, Daniel Marangon Lions player of the year in ’89 and ’91 and brother Steve Marangon.    
Port Adelaide Lion under coach Marian Chmielewski finished Top of Division 6 undefeated with 104 goals in 21 games. Ivan Hudoba captured the Division 6 B/F and Top Scorer with 37 goals.
Daniel Marangon was runner-up in the B/F, whilst F. Picchianti – 18 goals and Steve Marangon – 14 goals contributed to the huge goal tally.
1996 and 1997 saw Port Adelaide Lion coached by Marian Chmielewski, continue on their upward march, finishing top of firstly, Division 5 and then Division 4. Ivan Hudoba topped the Division 5 goal scoring in ’96 with 22 goals and repeated the feat in Division 4 in ’97 with 15 goals. Daniel Marangon was the Division 5 B/F in 1996 and the clubs leading vote getter in 1997.  Other names prominent for Port Adelaide Lion between ’95-’97 included C. Darrell, J. Petruzzelli, Carlos Azevedo, Mark Chumbley, David Antunez, J. O’Conner, D. Facchini, G. Samarelli, S. Ahmadi, P. Diakiw, Jason Treager, Paul Muscat, M. Moussali, L. Samarelli, G. Sauchelli, Rodolfo Galaret, Andy Toland, P. Zapotezny, P. Karamalis, and S. Millar. In 1998 a relatively unchanged Port Adelaide Lion squad finished 4th. in Division 3 with Ivan Hudoba grabbing another 17 goals to take his tally of amateur league goals to 91 in just 4 seasons.
Meanwhile, in 1997 the Ukrainian Sports Club (USC) Lion coached by Slavco Hancar and based at Grange, re-emerged with 2 teams in Division 7. USC Lion finished second in 1997 and found themselves in and finishing top of Division 5 in 1998. Their teams for these 2 seasons included M. Sanger – 38 goals ,Steven Kroon – 29 goals, Zelko Popovic – 23 goals, R.  Holovati, A. Kyryk, Y. Kremenchtskiy, D. Mudronja, C. Denitto, N. Xipteras, Fabio Scodella, D. Antunez, S. Tarasenko, Atkalek, D. Hicks, R. Gilmour, M. Racki, F. Pasquini, M. Mosowyj, S. Miskovic, M. Ljujic, A. Ljujic and T. Calabro.
Season 1999 saw the name Port Adelaide Lion vanish and was replaced by USC Lion in Division 3 and with a C-Team in Division 10. Minus the goal scoring of Ivan Hudoba, Steven Kroon, Zelko Popovic and M. Sanger, Lion finished mid-table in 6th position with Michael Hadaj grabbing 11 goals and Steve Marangon on 10 goals.
With the appointment of former White City Woodville player Zelko Popovic as player-coach USC Lion topped Division 3 in 2000. Popovic won the Division 3 B/F and headed the Division 3 goal scoring with 24 goals.  With much of the same squad for the 2001 season USC Lion finished 4th in Division 2.  Zelko Popovich led from the front once again with 21 goals and plenty of referees’ votes. For 2000 and 2001 Lions players other than Popovic included Rodolfo Galaret, Paul Muscat, Andrew Tarasenko, Roman Holovati, James Wilkinson, Steven Kroon, Fabio Scodella, Kane Murray, Michael Hadaj, David Antunez, Steven Tarasenko, Greg Smith, Paul Scodella, Sinisa Cosic, Nikola Karanovic, Gholam Narooz Ali, Paul Waters, Miroslav Postic, Savo Cvetanovic and Djoko Dobric.
Last season 2002, saw USC Lion gain promotion to Division 1 after finishing runner-up to Para Hills East. Popovic’s departure from Lion back to Budapest was alleviated by Djoko Dobric who stepped up to slot away 21 goals and Mark Sanger who had returned to Lion to lead the B/F voting and post 11 goals of his own. Tony Salvatore – 9 goals, Sinisa Cosic – 7 goals and Paul Waters – 6 goals, Steven Tarasenko, Gibb Thompson, Jason Traeger, David Limareff, Robert Marotta, Jason Cooke, Michael Hadaj, Borislav Postic, Fabio Scodella, Steven Lyons and Tim Williams were other squad members contributing to Lions return to Division 1 after a 30 year absence.
In 2003, USC Lion are already displaying form that could see them capturing their first ever Division 1 Amateur League Winners title.