Back to Glenelg Part 1
Government House in Glenelg, which was one of the oldest buildings in South Australia prior to its demolition in 1969.
At the conclusion of their all conquering 1973 season the Bays seemed poised for a long reign at the top but, as so often happens, subsequent events demonstrated that it was much more difficult to sustain success than to achieve it in the first place. Kerley remained at the helm until the end of the 1976 season, but the best Glenelg could manage were runners-up spots in 1974 and 1975. However, it was clear on his departure that the Bay Oval was a much healthier place all round than it had been on his arrival, and indeed during Kerley's tenure it became increasingly common for references to be made to 'the Big Four' of South Australian football - Port Adelaide, Norwood, Sturt.......and Glenelg. The reasons for this designation probably had to do with perceived resources as much as on-field achievement, but it could not be denied that, in a football sense at least, Glenelg had finally arrived on the map (see footnote 11).
In other senses, that 'arrival' took place a good deal earlier. Indeed, some of the very first European settlers in South Australia landed at Glenelg (see footnote 12), but although a small settlement was established there, the majority of the newcomers headed inland. Today, of course, Glenelg is an integral part of the Adelaide metropolitan area, but for much of the nineteenth century it was an isolated outpost (see footnote 13). Nevertheless, sport of many kinds, including football, was played, and during the nineteenth century there were, at differing times, at least two football clubs bearing the name of the township. Both these clubs, however, proved to be short-lived.
In 1898 considerable impetus was given to sport in the district when Glenelg Oval, eventual home of the Glenelg Football Club, was opened.
During the early years of the twentieth century the Glenelg area, which at the time boasted a population of only about 8,000, was represented in various junior level football competitions, but it could hardly be claimed that the groundwork was being laid for admission to the state's senior competition, the South Australian Football League. Nevertheless, shortly after World War One the Glenelg Oval Association launched an audacious application for league membership and although this did not meet with initial approval there was sufficient encouragement given to ensure that the matter would not be permanently dropped.
In 1919, a prototype Glenelg Football Club participated in, and won the premiership of, the United Suburban Association, in the process raising the profile of the sport in the locality, and engendering a substantial amount of public interest together with - and perhaps more to the point - financial and political backing. Glenelg Oval was upgraded, and fenced, and in March 1920 the mayor of Glenelg, John Mack, presided over a meeting at the town hall at which a new 'Glenelg Football Club' was inaugurated, and plans to seek affiliation with the SAFL discussed. The SAFL at this time was a seven team competition, and there was a strong desire in League circles to eliminate the inevitable weekly 'bye' via the admission of an eighth club. With the backing of the mayor and other local luminaries, and the strong support of neighbouring league side, Sturt, Glenelg was fast emerging as the favourite to fill the vacancy.
|
Jack Owens |
Events moved apace in those days:
when the new football season kicked off less than two months after the town hall
public meeting, Glenelg was a member of the SAFL 'B' grade, where it would
reside for a probationary term of still to be determined duration. In
colours of red, yellow and black, the newcomers performed creditably for much of
the 1920 season, winning 3 of their 14 matches to finish 7th. Considering
the haste with which everything had been put together, and allowing for the fact
that many of the best Glenelg-based footballers had, understandably, opted to
play at league level with other clubs rather than in 'B' grade with Glenelg
during 1920, the consensus was that the season had been a success. This
certainly appears to have been the view of the SAFL management committee, which
on 4 October 1920 unanimously endorsed Glenelg's application for full league
membership, effective from the following season.
In hindsight, during the course of the next four years there must have been many who came to regard the SAFL's decision as premature. During that time, the Glenelg Football Club blundered its way into the record books in spectacular, unparalleled fashion, losing every one of 56 league matches contested; indeed, during the entire course of its first 10 SAFL seasons, Glenelg never once finished higher than 7th on the ladder, and managed a paltry success rate of just 15.1%. By any objective criteria, it would seem that the club was not ready for the demands of league football. |
| # | |
| Nevertheless, a league competition without
Glenelg during the 1920s might have robbed aficionados of the game of the
delight of seeing players of the calibre of Len Sallis, Jim Handby and Jack
Owens in action. Sallis was a combative but highly skilful centreman
who played 172 games for Glenelg between 1924 and 1935, winning the club's best
and
fairest award on five occasions; old timers remember him for his sure ball
handling, irrespective of opposition pressure, and tremendous disposal skills.
Handby, the club's first Magarey
Medallist, shifted from South
Adelaide in 1925 and made his debut in
Glenelg's first ever league win; he was a determined, energetic and forceful
player who played 123 games for the club - interestingly, without kicking a
single goal - between 1925 and 1932. Broken Hill-born Owens was the
first in a long line of great Glenelg full forwards; between 1924 and 1935 he
played 177 games for the club, booting 827 goals, and heading the league
goalkicking list on three occasions.
Two of these men, Sallis and Owens, were teammates when Glenelg surprised the football world by winning the 1934 premiership. Prior to 1934, the Seasiders as they were popularly known at the time had never finished above 6th on the ladder, but under the coaching of former West Adelaide champion Bruce McGregor, appointed the previous year, the side had begun to play a tougher, more resolute - and ultimately much more successful - brand of football. In 1933, Glenelg enjoyed what the Americans term 'a winning season' for the first ever time, emerging victorious from 9 of its 17 league fixtures. The following year saw it overcome a slow start to transform itself into a formidable combination, vying for supremacy for much of the season with perennial powerhouse, Port Adelaide. In the end, both Glenelg and Port finished the minor round equal on points, and ahead of all other teams, with the Magpies' marginally better percentage securing the minor premiership. The Seasiders' first ever league final was an ostensible disaster which may, in fact, have constituted just the kind of wake-up call required to transform them from pretenders into bona fide contenders. Port Adelaide won with ease, 22.21 (159) to 13.16 (940, with Glenelg displaying a brittleness and indecisiveness which had not been apparent since the opening couple of games of the season. |
Jim Handby |
Such frailties were swept aside the following week, however, as Glenelg came roaring home in the last quarter to defeat Sturt by 13 points, having trailed narrowly at every change. Despite this, few pundits could see any reason to tip anything other than a substantial Port Adelaide grand final win.
|
|
The 1934 SANFL grand
final (see footnote 14) was one of the most
exhilarating witnessed up to that point. Played at breakneck pace, Port
Adelaide managed the first goal of the afternoon but never thereafter led.
The majority of the Glenelg players put in the performances of their
lives, enabling them to resist everything that their more illustrious
opponents could throw at them. Nevertheless, when Port levelled the
scores late on in the final term there would have been few members of the
30,045 strong crowd who did not expect them to go on with the job.
'Blue' Johnston (shown left), however, had other ideas, and his
spectacular defensive mark on the goal line moments later effectively
transformed the momentum of the game, precipitating as it did the move
from which Glenelg secured the match winning goal. Final scores were
Glenelg 18.15 (123); Port Adelaide 16.18 (114). Few at the Port
could believe it, but the rest of the League rejoiced along with Glenelg.
Best in a fairly even team display by the victors was spring-heeled centre half forward Arch Goldsworthy, with the fleet-footed roving trio of Arthur Link, Roy Colyer and Lance Leak also exerting a decisive influence. (A more detailed report on this match can be found in the GREAT GAMES section.) Glenelg now seemed poised for a sustained period of success, but the club's fall from grace was to be even more dramatic than its rise. In 1935, the team managed just 1 victory from 17 games, finishing last; it was the most spectacular premiership hangover in SANFL history, and the remaining pre-war years only added to the pain. Between 1935 and 1940 the team finished bottom every year bar one, managing a success rate of just 16.2%. There was slight improvement in 1941 - 5 wins and 6th position on the ladder - but then the league scaled down for three years, with the eight clubs pairing off according to their geographical positions. Glenelg's partner during this time was West Adelaide, and it was through the agency of this partnership that Glenelg players managed, in 1942, to contest the club's second grand final. This time 'round, however, Port had revenge, of sorts, as the Port Adelaide-West Torrens combination won by 11 points. |
Glenelg-West Adelaide finished 3rd in 1943, and last in 1944, before full scale competition was resumed in 1945. Unfortunately for Glenelg, its immediate post war achievements were almost as limited as those of the pre-war years.
In 1949, however, things began to improve. Glenelg adopted the somewhat controversial measure of appointing former Port Adelaide champion Alan 'Bull' Reval, who had played for the Magpies in the 1934 grand final, as coach. Under Reval's aggressive and disciplined regime the Bays, who this season adopted the 'Richmond Tiger' style of jumper, finally learned how to win, and although the finals were missed, it was a close run thing, with Glenelg managing to defeat every one of the eventual finals participants at least once during the year.
| Somewhat surprisingly,
Reval was replaced as coach by Johnny Taylor in 1950, but the winning
habit continued to develop rapidly. Under Taylor, Glenelg enjoyed its
best concerted spell in league company up to that point, finishing 2nd, 3rd, and
5th, before running 3rd again in 1953 under Taylor's successor, Pat Hall.
The key ingredients of this success were plain to see: with players of the
calibre of ruckman Allan Crabb, full forward Colin Churchett (pictured
right), and the Taylor brothers, Johnny and Don, the newly christened
'Tigers' were a match for almost any opponent. Unfortunately,
however, although the Glenelg sides of this era proved capable of winning
finals, the ultimate prize eluded them.
In Hall's second season as coach, 1954, the good times finally evaporated in emphatic fashion as the Tigers plummeted to last. Over the next thirteen seasons the club's finals involvement would be both sporadic and fleeting (see footnote 15). Not until 'King Kerley's' arrival in 1967 would the Tigers become consistent protagonists at the business end of each season. |
|
Following Kerley's departure in 1976, that regular finals involvement would continue until the South Australian - and indeed Australian - football landscape was irrevocably and dramatically altered with the formation of the Adelaide Crows in 1991. Since that time Glenelg has, with the exception of one losing grand final, in 1992, been more or less consistently on the outer in terms of viable premiership ambition.
Between 1977 and 1990, however, Glenelg was indefatigably one of the elite, as the following table clearly shows:
Summary SANFL Ladder 1977 to 1990 |
|||||||||
| P | W | L | D | Premiers | Runners up | Made Finals | Wooden Spoons | Success Rate | |
| Port Adelaide | 335 | 229 | 103 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 68.8% |
| Glenelg | 342 | 214 | 125 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 63.0% |
| Norwood | 343 | 205 | 136 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 60.1% |
| North Adelaide | 321 | 163 | 156 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 51.1% |
| Central District | 315 | 150 | 160 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 48.4% |
| Sturt | 319 | 152 | 164 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 48.1% |
| West Adelaide | 320 | 146 | 170 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 46.3% |
| South Adelaide | 318 | 131 | 185 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 41.5% |
| West Torrens | 308 | 112 | 194 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 36.5% |
| Woodville | 309 | 96 | 213 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 31.1% |
Neil Kerley's immediate successor as coach was former Carlton legend John Nicholls, under whose guidance the Tigers narrowly lost the 1977 grand final to Port Adelaide. Further losing grand finals followed in 1981 and 1982 under ex Sturt champion John Halbert, and it seemed clear that the club was, in a sense, marking time. This impression persisted under Halbert's successor, Graham Campbell, who in two seasons at the helm was unable to steer the club above 3rd place.
|
Glenelg's 'Super' Carey in action at Football Park against Port Adelaide in 1984. |
If
'King Kerley's' reign had witnessed the establishment of an embryonic
Tiger Dynasty, it was Graham Cornes' six year tenure which saw its full
flowering. Already assured of a prominent and distinguished entry in
the Bay annals for his exploits as a player (see footnote
16), Graham Cornes' achievements as a coach would qualify him for a
whole new chapter.
Cornes returned to the Bay Oval in 1985 after spending two seasons as coach of South Adelaide. To refer to this period as a 'coaching apprenticeship' would be insulting to South, but it nevertheless seems reasonable to suppose that Cornes would have derived a great deal of invaluable experience from working with players of inferior ability to those with whom he had spent the majority of his playing career. Under Cornes in 1985, the Tigers played aggressive, wholly team oriented football which improved as the season wore on. They finished the minor round 2nd on the ladder and progressed to the grand final with wins over Norwood (30 points) and minor premiers North Adelaide (14 points), earning warm premiership favouritism for the grand final re-match with the Roosters (see footnote 17). According to Andrew Capel: This year Glenelg has height, speed and skill and it also has the ability to fight back when the chips are down. In its two finals games, Glenelg has sometimes been awesome but mostly it has been tough and persistent. The Bays may not have a side full of stars as in past years but it (sic.) has a team who are all working hard at achieving the same goal - a premiership, and so far they have worked mighty hard for it. |
| # | ||
| Moreover, referring to the alleged
psychological frailties which had contributed to Glenelg's habit of 'freezing'
in important games - the side had lost its last 5 grand finals - Capel
continues:
The Tigers now have the physical and mental toughness needed to win big games. Glenelg's spirit is strong and it will fight to the end. Its players appear desperate and hungry for the ball and Cornes has finally found the right team balance. (See footnote 18) This assessment proved to be spot on. After trailing early, the Bays proved too powerful and cohesive for their talented but, on this occasion, disappointingly brittle opponents, winning comfortably in the end by 57 points. Centre half forward Stephen Kernahan earned the Jack Oatey Medal with an all action, 7 goal performance, while ruck rover Peter Maynard, back pocket Ross Gibbs, rover Tony McGuinness and wingman Tony Symonds were not far behind him in effectiveness. |
Tony McGuinness in action - click image to enlarge. |
In some ways, Glenelg's premiership year of 1985 represented a watershed in the development of football in South Australia. After the grand final young champions Stephen Kernahan (136 games in five seasons) and Tony McGuinness (112 games, also in five seasons, plus the 1982 Magarey Medal) announced that they would be heading east to the VFL in 1986. They would be joined by other high profile South Australians in the shape of Craig Bradley (Port Adelaide), Peter Motley (Sturt) and John Platten (Central District). Although the defection of star players to Victoria was not in itself a new occurrence, the departure of this particular quintet was arguably significant in that all five had made substantial contributions, indicative of genuine commitment and loyalty, to their SANFL clubs before leaving. In Kernahan's case, the departure had been quite deliberately delayed until he had helped the Tigers win a flag, while Platten would, after leaving, make frequent reference to his long term ambition of eventually returning home to help the Bulldogs do the same (see footnote 19). In subsequent seasons, the flood of defecting South Australian players accelerated, and it is at least arguable that few if any regarded their SANFL clubs with quite the same degrees of affection and esteem as had Kernahan, Bradley, Platten, Motley and McGuinness. Certainly by the end of the 1990s the perception of the overwhelming majority of SANFL players was that they were competing in a league which had as its primary raison d'être the nurturing and development of future AFL talent.
|
Chris McDermott |
As far as the Glenelg
Football was concerned, this process effectively undermined and stymied
all the progress which had been made over the preceding quarter of a
century or so. However, in 1986 it was still in its early stages,
and Glenelg under Cornes was still playing taut, powerful, effective
football, which culminated in another grand final demolition of North
Adelaide. This time the Bays were on top right from the opening
bounce, leading at every change by 24, 33 and 42 points, before coasting
to a 21.9 (135) to 12.15 (87) victory. Hawthorn-bound
Tony Hall emulated Stephen Kernahan with a best afield performance from
centre half forward, while evergreen ruckman Peter Carey, wingman David
Kernahan, on ballers Peter Maynard and Chris McDermott, and centre half
back Max Kruse all put in sterling efforts. Needless to say, coach
Cornes was elated:
"It's a terrific feeling. There were a few doubting Thomases last year who thought we couldn't do it without a couple of key players in Stephen Kernahan and Tony McGuinness and they were good players for us, but this year the boys have really had to work for it and today was just a fruition for all their efforts. |
| # |
| "I thought the
start of the 2nd quarter performance was just phenomenal. I've never seen
them play better."
(See footnote 20)
In retrospect, the 1986 grand final saw the Glenelg Football Club at its zenith, for although four grand finals have been contested since, all have been lost. The formation of the Adelaide Crows at the end of a 1990 season which had seen the Bays go under in an acrimonious grand final (reported in detail here) against Port Adelaide arguably damaged Glenelg more than any other club. Of the Crows' initial list of fifty-two players, no fewer than ten - easily the biggest single club contribution - were from Glenelg. Indeed, if you include returning son Tony McGuinness, there were actually eleven players, or more than half a team, tied to the Tigers. Of even greater significance, however, was the loss of Graham Cornes, who was enticed away to become Adelaide's inaugural coach, despite having earlier expressed misgivings over the VFL's real, underlying motives in pursuing a pseudo-national format for its competition. It took Glenelg the better part of two decades to recover from the depredations of the early 1990s and the senior side did not again contest a grand final until 2008. Favoured by many going into the match, they proved unable after half time to live with the greater skill and intensity of a finals hardened opponent in Central District, and succumbed in the end by 7 straight kicks. However, there seems little doubt that the Bays boast sufficient talent to give the premiership a real shake in the near future. |
Tiger joy - click on the image to see an enlarged version. |
Overall, the Glenelg Football Club has made a contribution to the history of the game which far transcends its ostensibly modest record of four league premierships. Whatever tangible success (or otherwise) the future brings, the impact on the game of players like Sallis, Handby, Owens, Johnston, Boyall, Brock, Davies, the Phillis brothers, Marker, Cornes, Kernahan, McGuinness and McDermott will, hopefully, never be forgotten.
Where now?
or
11. A graphic example of Glenelg's elevated status is afforded by attendance figures. During the first three seasons of the ten team competition Glenelg attracted an average of 7,437 spectators to league matches played on its home ground. This average rose to 10,084 during the ten year 'reign of King Kerley', a figure only exceeded by Port Adelaide among the other nine SANFL clubs. Return to Main Text
12. According to Bill Lyne in Explore Glenelg (Adelaide, The National Trust of South Australia, 1989), page 3, the H.M.S. Buffalo, which left Plymouth on 27 July 1836, and arrived at Glenelg on 28 December the same year, was the first ship carrying European colonists to arrive at Glenelg. It was followed shortly afterwards, on 12 January 1837, by the Coromandel, which had set sail from Deal on 26 September previous. These two ships were, respectively, the ninth and tenth to land in South Australia bearing colonists. The previous eight vessels all arrived at Nepean Bay between July and November 1836. Return to Main Text
13. Glenelg's isolation from the city centre was gradually addressed by the construction of a railway link in the 1870s, and the ANZAC Highway half a century later. In 1929 the rail link was transformed into the now famous tram line. Return to Main Text
14. The South Australian Football League (SAFL) became the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in 1927. Return to Main Text
15. Between 1955 and 1966 Glenelg reached the preliminary final in 1959 and the 1st semi final in 1964. Return to Main Text
16. A triple Glenelg best and fairest winner, Cornes also topped the club's goal kicking list in 1977. In the interstate arena he was prominent for over a decade, twice gaining All Australian selection, and winning the 1980 Tassie Medal. Return to Main Text
17. For example, the pundits in 'Football Times' (3/10/85) were split 6 to 1 in favour of the Bays. Return to Main Text
18. 'Football Times', volume 10, number 27, 3/10/85, page 9. Return to Main Text
19. See Sticks: the Stephen Kernahan Story by Harry Kernahan with Tony de Bolfo and The Rat: the Story of a Football Braveheart by John Platten with Ken Piesse. Return to Main Text
20. Quoted in 'Football Times', volume 11, number 30, 9/10/86, page 3. Return to Main Text
