SANDY BAY
Affiliated: TFL 1945-1997
Club Address: P.O. Box 278, Sandy Bay 7005, Tasmania
Home Ground: Queenborough Oval
Formed: 1945
Colours: Blue and white
Emblem: Seagulls
Premierships: 1946, 1952, 1964, 1971-72, 1976-77-78 (8 total) Tasmanian State Premierships - 1946, 1971 (2 total)
William Leitch Medallists: E.Pilkington 1946; W.Smart 1950; T.Cashion 1953; R.D.Lewis 1956; G.Whitton 1963; R.Steele 1969 & 1970; R.Olsson 1971 & 1973; A.Martyn 1982 & 1983; A.Bennett 1986; M.Seddon 1988 (10 Medallists/13 Medals)
All Australians: Des James 1979 (1 total)
TFL Top Goalkickers: L.Collins (50) 1947; I.Westell (57) 1948, (83) 1950, (66) 1952, (68) 1954 & (88) 1955; B.Palfreyman (51) 1969 & (67) 1970; R.Adams (96) 1973 (8 total)
Sandy Bay's Official 'Best 25 Players': Click here
Highest Score: 30.12 (192) vs. Launceston 9.14 (68) in 1994
Most Games: 315 by Bob Lahey
Record Home Attendance: 6,070 in 1964: Glenorchy 10.14 (74); Sandy Bay 8.11 (59)
Record Finals Attendance: 20,775 for 1964 grand final at North Hobart Oval: Sandy Bay 11.11 (77); New Norfolk 9.11 (65)
| MINI-BIOGRAPHIES: | Stan Booth Terry Cashion Tony Martyn Darrin Pritchard Eric Zschech |
Sandy Bay full forward Michael Elliott tears away from his Cooee opponent, John Greening, during the 1978 Tasmanian state premiership final at West Park, Burnie.
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Bruce Greenhill punches clear of Gary Hitchin of New Norfolk. (Click to enlarge.) |
Having gained admission to the TFL on the competition's
resumption after World War Two the Seagulls made an immediate impact, reaching
the grand final in their debut season, and winning a flag in their second.
Admittedly, there were only three other clubs in the league at that point, but even
so it is difficult to think of many other teams making similarly auspicious
starts.
Once the competition expanded to six clubs in 1947, however, Sandy Bay began to find life tougher. They eventually rediscovered the winning touch in 1952 with a 12.9 (81) to 9.9 (63) grand final victory over Hobart followed by a losing grand final in 1953. Another grand final defeat followed in 1958 before the Seagulls returned to the victors' rostrum in 1964 with a dour 2 goal grand final defeat of New Norfolk. It was during the 1970s, however, that the Sandy Bay Football Club really came into its own, embarking on a sustained period of dominance that few TFL clubs have matched. Sandwiched in between 3rd place finishes in 1970 and 1979 the Seagulls contested 8 consecutive grand finals for 5 wins and 3 losses. Especially towards the end of this period the side was well nigh indomitable, as the results of the grand finals bear out: |
|
| XXX |
| Year |
Grand Final Result |
| 1971 | Sandy Bay 18.13 (121); Clarence 16.16 (112) |
| 1972 | Sandy Bay 18.9 (117); North Hobart 10.14 (74) |
| 1973 | Hobart 11.19 (85); Sandy Bay 10.5 (65) |
| 1974 | North Hobart 21.10 (136); Sandy Bay 15.18 (108) |
| 1975 | Glenorchy 15.16 (106); Sandy Bay 10.7 (67) |
| 1976 | Sandy Bay 21.10 (136); Glenorchy 5.9 (39) |
| 1977 | Sandy Bay 19.9 (123); Glenorchy 3.14 (32) |
| 1978 | Sandy Bay 11.14 (80); Glenorchy 9.15 (69) |
The Seagulls were the only TFL club since the war to secure three consecutive senior premierships, but sadly there were no subsequent additions to the honour board prior to the club's compulsory exclusion from the competition at the end of the 1997 season. Sandy Bay's demise was a simple matter of economics: the TFL had outgrown itself and there was no longer a place for clubs which first and foremost were about enjoying football - like, quintessentially, Sandy Bay - rather than about achieving success in business terms. The new, trimmed down TFL was leaner, meaner and supposedly better equipped to withstand the inevitable pressures of the new century. However, according to the subjective criteria to which many genuine football supporters still subscribe the departure of Sandy Bay - and Hobart, and Launceston - left the TFL a considerably poorer football environment.
| Three years later it was all academic anyway as, in potentially the most damaging body blow yet incurred anywhere by the sport of Australian football, the Statewide League collapsed. The creation of a de facto state team to compete in a glorified AFL reserves competition will have afforded little if any solace to the dwindling band of football aficionados in a state which was once, arguably, the richest jewel in Australian football's crown. |
Sandy Bay's dual Leitch Medallist, Tony Martyn, pictured after his first Medal win in 1982. (Click to enlarge.) |
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