The Sandringham Football Club, nicknamed the Zebras, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It has an AFL reserves affiliation with the St Kilda Football Club.
| Sandringham Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Names | ||
| Full name | Sandringham Football Club | |
| Nickname(s) | Zebras, Sandy | |
| 2024 season | ||
| Home-and-away season | 12th | |
| Leading goalkicker | Matthew Allison | |
| Best and fairest | Tom Campbell | |
| Club details | ||
| Founded | 1929 | |
| Colours | Black Gold Blue | |
| Competition | Victorian Football League | |
| President | Nick Johnstone | |
| Coach | Brendon Goddard [1] | |
| Captain(s) | Anthony Seaton[2] | |
| Premierships | 10 (1946, 1962, 1985, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006) | |
| Ground(s) | Trevor Barker Beach Oval (capacity: 10,000) | |
| Uniforms | ||
| ||
| Other information | ||
| Official website | sandringhamfc.com.au | |
History
editSandringham entered the VFA competition (now VFL) for the 1929 season, although first steps towards establishing a semi-professional football team from the Sandringham region began two years earlier. The club was formed in that time as a three-way merge of the existing amateur clubs in the area, Sandringham Amateurs, Black Rock FC and Hampton Amateurs. The club colours of gold, black and blue were taken from those three local teams respectively. In the clubs' first 10 years of existence, they achieved a season finish of no better than 5th place, which came in the 1933 season.[3]
Sandringham recorded its inaugural premiership in the 1946 season, coming from behind late in the final quarter to record a 7-point win over Camberwell in front of 30,000 spectators.[4] Though the club struggled throughout the 1950s, it has since gone on to record 10 premierships in total, being one of the most consistent teams in the VFL, their most successful period coming in the 2000s, with 4 premierships in 10 years cementing the club as one of the premier teams in the league.[5]
The Zebras' home ground is and almost always has been the Beach Oval, which was renamed the Trevor Barker Beach Oval in the 1990s after the death of Trevor Barker, who had coached Sandringham to the 1992 and 1994 premierships. Only in 1966 did the club change home grounds, spending a year at the Junction Oval in St Kilda before moving back to Beach Oval ahead of the 1967 season.[6] From the 2018 season, the club will play three of its home games each year at Moorabbin Oval, and will wear St Kilda's black, red and white guernsey in these games.[7]
The oval has a single grandstand (the Neil Bencraft Grandstand), a south end named after Nick Sautner (the Sautner Goal), and an administration centre (the John Mennie Administration Centre)[8] – a social club and a capacity of 10,000. A record crowd of 18,000 attended the venue's first Sunday VFA premiership game, held between Sandringham and Port Melbourne Football Club in April 1964.[9] A Rec Footy competition is also played at the ground.
Affiliations
editThe Zebras have an alignment agreement with Australian Football League (AFL) club St Kilda which has been in place since 2009. The alignment agreement means that St Kilda listed players who are able to play but not selected for the Saints in the AFL are available to be selected for the Zebras in the VFL. The clubs extended their agreement at the end of 2016.[7]
Previously, Sandringham had an alignment with Melbourne.[10] Sandringham and Melbourne were the first two clubs to form an alignment. This was announced in 1999 and began in the 2000 season. The alignment had an immediate effect with Sandringham winning the premiership in 2000, and a further three premierships (2004, 2005 and 2006) were won during the affiliation.[11]
In October 2023, St Kilda announced that, beginning at the 2025 AFL rookie draft, it would use one of its rookie list places to draft a Sandringham player.[12] However, at the 2025 rookie draft, which was held in November 2024, this did not occur.[13]
Honours
editClub
edit| Premierships | |||
| Competition | Level | Wins | Years Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victorian Football League | Seniors | 10 | 1946, 1962, 1985, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006 |
| VFA/VFL Reserves | Division 1 | 9 | 1960, 1961, 1969, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1993, 1994, 2000 |
| VFA/VFL Thirds | Division 1 | 10 | 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1994 |
| Other titles and honours | |||
| Lightning Premiership | Seniors | 1 | 1979 |
| Finishing positions | |||
| Victorian Football League | Minor premiership | 6 | 1960, 1985, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2007 |
| Grand Finalists | 5 | 1947, 1960, 1963, 1977, 1995 | |
| Wooden spoons | 5 | 1929, 1930, 1940, 1941, 1954 | |
Individual
editJJ Liston Trophy Winners (8)
1929 – Edward Bourke
1947 – Stan Tomlins
1962 – Keith Burns
1985 – Neil McLeod
1992 – Joe Rugolo
1997 – Justin Crough
2003 – David Robbins
2005 – Paul Johnson
Seasons
edit| Season | Win–loss | Finishing position | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 7-11 | 10th | DNQ |
| 2010 | 7-11 | 9th | DNQ |
| 2011 | 6-12 | 10th | DNQ |
| 2012 | 10-8 | 6th | Elimination Final |
| 2013 | 6-11-1 | 11th | DNQ |
| 2014 | 9-8-1 | 8th | Semi Final |
| 2015 | 14-4 | 2nd | Preliminary Final |
| 2016 | 10-8 | 7th | Semi Final |
| 2017 | 8-10 | 11th | DNQ |
| 2018 | 5-12-1 | 13th | DNQ |
| 2019 | 6-12 | 12th | DNQ |
| 2022 | 8-9-1 | 12th | DNQ |
| 2023 | 5-12-1 | 16th | DNQ |
| 2024 | 8-9-1 | 12th | DNQ |
VFA/VFL Grand Finals
edit| Year | Opponent | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Camberwell | 14.15 (99) - 13.14 (92) | Junction Oval |
| 1947 | Port Melbourne | 11.8 (74) - 15.13 (103) | Junction Oval |
| 1960 | Oakleigh | 8.14 (62) - 18.14 (122) | Junction Oval |
| 1962 | Moorabbin | 14.10 (94) - 13.15 (93) | Junction Oval |
| 1963 | Moorabbin | 9.12 (66) - 19.16 (130) | North Port Oval |
| 1977 | Port Melbourne | 7.15 (57) - 23.19 (157) | Junction Oval |
| 1985 | Williamstown | 14.16 (100) - 13.16 (94) | Junction Oval |
| 1992 | Williamstown | 19.16 (130) - 13.8 (86) | Princes Park |
| 1994 | Box Hill | 11.12 (78) - 10.9 (69) | Victoria Park |
| 1995 | Springvale | 6.15 (51) - 14.10 (94) | Victoria Park |
| 1997 | Frankston | 10.13 (73) - 5.14 (44) | North Port Oval |
| 2000 | North Ballarat | 15.18 (108) - 11.11 (77) | Waverley Park |
| 2004 | Port Melbourne | 9.13 (67) - 9.9 (63) | Princes Park |
| 2005 | Werribee | 11.17 (83) - 11.8 (74) | Princes Park |
| 2006 | Geelong | 13.13 (91) - 11.7 (73) | Princes Park |
VFA/VFL Club Records
edit| Highest Score | 44.20 (284) v Dandenong, Round 5, 1984, Beach Road Oval |
| Lowest Score | 0.9 (9) v Williamstown, Round 11, 2018, Williamstown Cricket Ground |
| Greatest Winning Margin | 206 points v Camberwell, Round 18, 1990, Beach Road Oval |
| Greatest Losing Margin | 236 points v Port Melbourne, Round 19, 1941, North Port Oval |
| Lowest Winning Score | 5.9 (39) v Frankston 5.8 (38), Round 20, 2003, Frankston Park |
| Highest Losing Score | 26.12 (168) v Preston 28.7 (175), Preliminary Final, 1981, Junction Oval |
Notable former players
edit- Ian Cooper – St. Kilda. Best on ground in 1966 VFL grand final premiership.
- Bob Murray - St. Kilda
- Rex Hunt - Richmond, Geelong, St Kilda (1968-1978)
- Nick Sautner
- Chad Liddell
- Stan Tomlins
- Len Toyne
- Dallas O'Brien – 1983 Stawell Gift winner
- Michael Conlan
- Jeff Sarau - St. Kilda
- James Magner
- Jack Gunston
- Max Stokes
- Des Kennedy
References
edit- ^ "Brendon Goddard appointed VFL Head Coach". Sandringham Football Club. 11 October 2024.
- ^ "Sandringham Captain 2022". AFL. 14 March 2023.
- ^ "Zebras History 1920-1940". Sandringham Football Club. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ "Sandringham's first VFA premiership (archived at Trove.nla.gov.au)". Argus Newspaper. 7 October 1946. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ "Club Bio - Sandringham". Australianfootball.com.au. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ Jim Blake (27 April 1966). "Coburg show hot form". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne, VIC. p. 6.
- ^ a b Caroline Wilson (25 August 2016). "St Kilda and Sandringham to join forces in VFL". The Age. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ "Round 13 Preview and Teams – Sandringham V Casey". Sandringham Football Club. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ^ Scot Palmer (20 April 1964). "VFA got off to a great start". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. p. 44.
- ^ Saints, Demons in VFL affiliate swap (AFL.com.au)
- ^ 2000 VFL Grand Final - details
- ^ "St Kilda and Sandringham strengthen affiliation, commit to rookie selection". St Kilda Football Club. 26 October 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
- ^ Keating, Mitch (23 November 2024). "St Kilda backflip on Zebras draft commitment". ZeroHanger. Archived from the original on 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
External links
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