|
|
GOODWOOD SAINTSCurrent Affiliation: South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL) since 1985 Home Ground: Goodwood Oval Formed: 1985 by means of a merger of the Goodwood and St Raphael’s Football Clubs Colours: Red, white, gold and black Emblem: Saints Senior SAAFL Premierships: Division One - 1997, 2005-6-7-8 (5 total); Division Two - 1990 (1 total); Division Three - 1987 (1 total) The amalgamation of Goodwood and St Raphael’s in 1985 produced a club which would go on to dominate the amateur football scene in Adelaide to an extent that was arguably unprecedented. In purely statistical terms, this assessment is hard to refute, for in claiming the last four South Australian Amateur Football League division one premierships the Saints achieved a feat that no other club has ever managed. The Saints’ roller-coaster began building up momentum right from the outset. Formed in 1985, the club commenced life in the SAAFL’s A4 Grade, the equivalent of today’s division four. By the end of the 1990 season the club had acquired a place in the competition’s top echelon, A1 Grade, and there it has remained to this day. The first of the Saints’ five A1/division one flags came via a tensely fought 7 point grand final defeat of PHOS Camden. Further grand final appearances followed in 1998 and 1999, resulting in contrasting losses by 67 points to Broadview in the former year and the narrowest of margins to Adelaide Uni in the latter. The Saints’ next senior grade grand final appearance, against Broadview in 2004, also ended in defeat, but this reversal might be said to have kick-started the club’s magnificent, unrivalled achievements of the ensuing four seasons. For the record, the scorelines which produced the record-breaking sequence were: 2005 Saints 13.10 (88); Gaza 8.5 (53) 2006 Saints 18.11 (119); Adelaide Uni 10.12 (72) 2007 Saints 19.16 (130); Gaza 11.7 (73) 2008 Saints 13.9 (87); Salisbury North 9.4 (58) The club’s success extends beyond its top grade side, most notably with the reserves who claimed five consecutive flags between 1998 and 2002. Prior to the merger, Goodwood had competed successfully in a variety of leagues and associations dating back to 1918, when the club went by the name of Goodwood Rovers. Included among its many achievements were SAAFL A2 Grade premierships in 1947 and 1967 and an A3 flag in 1948. Although a much younger club (founded 1945) St Raphael’s had also competed in numerous different competitions, including the SAAFL in which it enjoyed premiership success at A4 level in 1983, and A5 level in 1978. Where now? or
|