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MANSFIELDCurrent Affiliation: Goulburn Valley Football League (GVFL) since 1998 Formed: 1880s; merged with Mt Battery in the mid-1930s, but retained Mansfield name Colours: Navy blue and gold since 1998. Original colours were red and white, with the club adopting Mt Battery's navy blue and white colours after the merger. Between 1977 and 1997 the club's official colours were navy blue and red. Emblem: Eagles Senior Premierships: Gardner Cup - 1890 (1 total); Mansfield Football Association - 1900, 1904-5 (3 total); Mansfield District Football Association - 1911-12-13 (3 total); Mansfield Swanpool District Football Association - 1927 (1 total); Mansfield Line Football Association - 1929 (1 total); Waranga North East Football League (WNEFL) 1951, 1953-4-5 (4 total); Tungamah Football League (TFL)/Goulburn Valley Football League Division Two/Central Goulburn Football League (CGFL) 1987, 1989, 1996 (3 total); GVFL 2004, 2009 (2 total) Morrison Medallist: Trent Hotton 2007 (1 total) Mansfield Football Club's overall premiership tally may be somewhat meagre compared to several of their current GVFL rivals, but the Eagles' performances in recent seasons have left no one in any doubt that they are now one of the principal players in the competition. Admitted to the GVFL in 1998, Mansfield took a few seasons to find their feet, but the twenty-first century has seen them blossom into a highly consistent power, whose inaugural premiership in 2004 could scarcely have been achieved in more resounding fashion. Placed third after the home and away matches, with a 13-5 record, the Eagles lifted their performance level several notches in disposing of the challenges of Shepparton by 49 points in an elimination final and Rochester by 71 points in the 2nd semi. The grand final clash with Tatura was similarly one-sided: by half time Mansfield led by 32 points before rattling on 7 goals to 2 in a devastating third quarter burst. Final scores saw the Eagles triumphant by the equivalent of more than ten goals, 20.15 (135) to 11.8 (74), with former Collingwood and Carlton player Trent Hotton earning the Wilf Cox Medal for best afield, and Brendan Hehir nabbing 7 goals to give him a season's tally of 41. Since 2004 the Eagles have continued as a force, bowing out of premiership contention at the preliminary final stage in both 2006 and 2007, and narrowly failing to qualify for the finals in 2008. Tim Reilly, who along with Keith Leydon undertakes the role of club historian for Mansfield, reports that the earliest known contemporary account of a match involving the club dates back to July 1883. However, match reports in 'The Mansfield Courier' in 1886 appear to suggest that Mansfield may have fielded teams as early as 1881. Mansfield's early years saw it compete in a number of round robin competitions with teams from nearby towns, typically with a trophy donated by local business men as the prize. The club's earliest premiership success came in one of these competitions, known as the Gardner Cup, in 1890. In 1900 Mansfield was instrumental in establishing an ongoing formal premiership competition, the Mansfield Football Association, for teams in and around Mansfield. The club competed in this competition and a number of subsequent variants until after World War Two, enjoying premiership success eight times. It then transferred to the Waranga North East Football League where, during the early 1950s, it claimed four flags in five years under the coaching of former Essendon player Ted Leehane. When the WNEFL disbanded at the end of the 1976 season the club crossed to the Tungamah Football League, which was effectively a second tier of competition for the Goulburn Valley region. Mansfield's apprenticeship at this level spawned further flags in 1987, 1989 and 1996, but the club's achievements since the turn of the century make it clear that it has now passed well beyond the apprentice stage, and further GVFL flags in the near future would not surprise. Where now? or
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