The club was founded in 1954 at a meeting held in the Salisbury North Primary School. The meeting came about when a group of people from Salisbury North and a group from the RAAF base at Mallala got together to discuss the possibility of forming a soccer team in the Salisbury area. That group, who were all founding members, consisted of D.Grey, E.Jenkins, H. Wallace, H.Grey, D.Adcock from Salisbury North and W.Meyers, R.Bush, C.Chalk, E.Jefferson and J.McCabe from the RAAF base. Incidentally the RAAF base at Mallala, a WWII training base, was closed in 1960 with the RAAF staff moving to the new RAAF base at Edinburgh. The club affiliated with the SASFA and played its first game on 2 April 1955 beating British Wanderers 2–1. In 1958 the club spent 1000 pounds on lighting and ground improvements. Many addition improvements have been made to the ground over the years. In the mid-1980s to the early 1990s the club was one of the powerhouses in local football winning the 1st Division in 1985. With the support of Steve Jarvis it had become the banner club for the northern suburbs. Further the club was considered as a serious contender for the National Soccer League. However the death of Steve Jarvis put an end to the National League ambitions. In 1995 Salisbury United merged with Central Districts Apac and became known as the Apaches. Prior to the merger they were known as the Bears. In 2006 sadly the team was relegated to the State League after a poor start to the season they were unable to make up the ground despite a strong finish to the year. In 2014 Salisbury finished second in the NPL State League where they were then paired with 6th placed Playford City Patriots to see who would move on to the final at Hindmarsh Stadium. United ultimately lost the game 1-2 and were knocked out. For the 2017 season the club made a significant announcement in the appointment of past player and former Adelaide United inaugural team member Aaron Westervelt. His term was short lived and was replaced by Michael Brooks, a past player and also a former Adelaide United inaugural team member. Sadly Michael's rein only lasted 6 weeks due to an off field incident. Simon Catanzaro was then given the first team coaching job for the remainder of the season as the club narrowly escaped relegation. In 2018 Salisbury United reinstated Women's teams. The Women's teams have had great success, with 2019 seeing the Div 1 women's team sitting at the top of the league.
Club Achievements
U/18 State League 1 and Finals Series Champions: 2016 State League Champions: 2011 Reserves State League Champions: 2011 Reserves FFSA Cup Champions: 2011 State League Champions: 1991 & 2008 1st Division Champions: 1985 1st Division Runner-Up: 1987 & 1991 2nd Division Champions: 1983 2nd Division Cup Champions: 1982 3rd Division Champions: 1955 & 1976 3rd Division Runner-Up: 1968 3rd Division Cup runner-up: 1976 Federation Cup Runner-Up: 1983 & 1991 West End Cup Champions: 1984 West End Cup Runner-Up: 1991 AMPOL Cup Runner-Up: 1988 Coca-Cola Cup Champions: 1991 U/23's State League Champions: 1999 & 2000 Reserves Finals Series Champions: 2008 U/19's Finals Series Champions: 2008
