Grovedale Football Club
Encyclopedia
Grovedale Football Club plays in the Geelong Football League
Geelong Football League
The Geelong Football League is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia. It is the highest quality league in the Geelong area, with numerous former AFL players playing for various clubs.-History:...

 in Victoria, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. They play their home games at Burdoo Reserve.

Club history

In 1920 Grovedale formed a football side. They put them self in the Freshwater Creek DFA which in these days does not run any more. In 1923 they made the "Grand Final" against Belmont now known as Sth Barwon, they lost the game by 16 pts. Two years later in 1925, they made another Grand Final, in which they played Barrabool, but again they lost the game.

Merger

In 1956 they entered into the Geelong & DFL, as the Cup was called the Jarman Cup, and they merged with Marshall to form Marshall-Grovedale. In 1963 they made the Jarman Cup where they played against Leopold, they won by 27 pts. The following year the cup was renamed the Woolworth Cup. In 1970 they changed their name back to Grovedale Football Club.

1970s

In 1973 they had to make two divisions because there were so many teams, so the club went into Division 2. Between 1973 & 1976 Grovedale made it to every Grand Final where they played Modewarre
Modewarre Football Club
The Modewarre Football Club is an Australian rules football club that plays in the Bellarine Football League and situated in the township of Modewarre, near the City Of Geelong Victoria, Australia. The clubs plays its home games at Modewarre Reserve, Moriac....

. In '73 they lost by 19pts, in '74 they lost again, this time by 25pts.
In 1975 they won by 5pts. The following season Modewarre
Modewarre Football Club
The Modewarre Football Club is an Australian rules football club that plays in the Bellarine Football League and situated in the township of Modewarre, near the City Of Geelong Victoria, Australia. The clubs plays its home games at Modewarre Reserve, Moriac....

 beat them by 21 pts.

Geelong Football League

In 1978 they were promoted to Division 1 but they didn't win many games that year. The following year the Geelong Football League
Geelong Football League
The Geelong Football League is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia. It is the highest quality league in the Geelong area, with numerous former AFL players playing for various clubs.-History:...

 was formed. But the Following 36 years seldom made the finals.

Famous players

They had always had great junior players coming up through the ranks, but somehow they just seem to leave and play at other clubs (notably Modewarre Football Club
Modewarre Football Club
The Modewarre Football Club is an Australian rules football club that plays in the Bellarine Football League and situated in the township of Modewarre, near the City Of Geelong Victoria, Australia. The clubs plays its home games at Modewarre Reserve, Moriac....

 in recent years). Over the years, Grovedale has had numerous players who played at AFL level who started their careers at the club.

Grovedale has had David (The Mountain) Mensch, Michael Schulze and Matthew Primus
Matthew Primus
Matthew Richard Primus is the current coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club and a former Australian rules footballer, captain and All Australian ruckman.-Early career :...

 all playing for the team. Even in 2004 Tim McGrath
Tim McGrath
Tim McGrath is a former Australian rules footballer for the North Melbourne Football Club from 1989 to 1991, and the Geelong Football Club from 1992 to 2002, in the Australian Football League , which was known as the Victorian Football League when McGrath made his debut for North Melbourne in...

 came down for a playing-coach role, and he brought a couple of good players, but not enough in this league.

List of VFL / AFL listed players:
  • Kent Butcher
    Kent Butcher
    Kent Butcher is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Australian Football League ....

  • Adam Donohue
  • Daniel Fletcher
  • Simon Fletcher
    Simon Fletcher (Australian footballer)
    Simon Fletcher is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and Richmond in the Australian Football League ....

  • David Mensch
    David Mensch
    David Mensch is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Australian Football League.Mensch was a half forward and played in two losing grand final teams...

  • Matthew Primus
    Matthew Primus
    Matthew Richard Primus is the current coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club and a former Australian rules footballer, captain and All Australian ruckman.-Early career :...

  • Michael Schulze
    Michael Schulze
    Michael Schulze is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL/AFL during the late 1980s and early 1990s....

  • Shane Crothers
    Shane Crothers
    Shane Crothers is an Australian basketball player and former Australian rules footballer. He played with the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League and Geelong Supercats in the National Basketball League ....

  • Craig Evans

2006 season

In 2006 they had a chance to make the finals. The club gained a new president in the shape of Reece Chadwick, and with the likes of David Mensch
David Mensch
David Mensch is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Australian Football League.Mensch was a half forward and played in two losing grand final teams...

 and Mensch himself coming back to where it all started for him in the juniors. He was quickly elevated to the seniors following complaints from rival junior squads that a 144 game AFL veteran was a little above the standard of junior footy. Mensch played 144 games for the Geelong Cats in the AFL and Kicked 152. With Tim McGrath still coaching, he brought in another couple of players, such as Michael Poon and Peter O'Brien, but they needed some better players as once again, they failed to make the finals.

They finished 9th out of 12 teams in what was a disappointing season. Once again the under 18s just missed the out on the finals. A couple of players played falcons such as Daniel Broderick and Luke Delaney. With Daniel and Luke playing for most of the season in the Senior side. Even in the last couple games of the season Sam Bourke played in some games and really stood out. Jack Chafer and Devon Eddy also got a game in the Seniors.

2007 season

With 2007 footy season just around the corner the team had to make a few changes, and they did.

With Tim McGrath leaving, they replaced him with David Mensch who took over the coaching roles.
With him taking over in that role, he brought in a couple of handy football players. Andrew Barrs (who is 21) also signed for them after playing at Modewarre for 2 years. He also played for the club in the Juniors.

The signing of the season would have been 22 year old Brad Edwards
Brad Edwards
Bradford Wayne Edwards is a former American football defensive back who played nine seasons in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, and the Atlanta Falcons. He graduated from Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1984...

 who also played for the juniors, but instead went to coach Belmont Lions. The club is currently talking to other players.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK