Ocean Grove Football Club
Encyclopedia
The Ocean Grove Football Club is an Australian rules football
club that plays in the Bellarine Football League
and situated in the town of Ocean Grove
, Victoria
, Australia
.
and Ocean Grove. The Barwon Heads/Ocean Grove Football Club wore purple jumpers with gold trim and were, and still are known as the 'Grubbers'. Ray Menzies was a founding member of the Club and also the Bellarine Football League, since honoured with the naming of the nearby 'Ray Menzies Memorial Reserve'.
Years later the club broke into the Barwon Heads Football Club
and the Ocean Grove Football and Netball Club. The newly established club wore white jumpers with a red V, similar to the old South Melbourne
jumpers. The current strip is a red and white jumper with a white swan on the front, red shorts and socks, white shorts for away games. The origins of the nickname 'grubbers' are unknown, but may have come from a major road in the area (Grubb Road) or could also be reference to a swan.
The club has won eight premierships in the Bellarine Football League at Senior level. This was achieved in two sequences of four-in-a-row, which in turn came from a sequence of twelve consecutive Grand Final appearances. The premierships were won in:
The Ocean Grove Football Club also fields a reserves team and U/18's in the BFL, and U/16's in the Geelong Junior Football League. The club also have a junior 'feeder' club, with the Ocean Grove/Collendina Cobras Football Club fielding U/14's, U/12's and U/10's teams.
The Under 18's team won the premiership in 2008 after only losing one game for the year, and going undefeated in the home and away fixture in 2007. They triumphed over the Queenscliff U/18's by a considerable margin. Many of the former U/18 top age players from 2008 will no doubt strengthen the club with their promotion into the senior teams.
In October 2006 a number of players from the club assaulted a Jewish man while they were on a club trip. In 2007 three players from the Ocean Grove Football Club, including the team capitan were found guilty by the Melbourne Magistrates Court for their part in an anti-semitic remark on a father who was with his two young children. Criminal convictions were recorded against two other men for their role in the incident, while the player who punched the father in the face was never identified. In November 2007 Melbourne writer and social commentator Christopher Bantick in his column in the Herald Sun wrote that "the club is deserving of public shame".
(who won the 1994-1997 flags) and Mark Neeld
(who won the 2000-2003 flags), have both gone on to senior coaching jobs in the Australian Football League
, with the Western Bulldogs
and Melbourne
respectively. Coincidentally, both men were appointed to their senior coaching jobs in the same week at the end of the 2011 AFL season
.
As of 2009, five players have made it from the Grubbers up to AFL level:
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club that plays in the Bellarine Football League
Bellarine Football League
The Bellarine Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Bellarine Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia, formed in 1971.Six of the eight founding clubs played in the Polwarth Football league the year before....
and situated in the town of Ocean Grove
Ocean Grove, Victoria
Ocean Grove is a seaside town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Bellarine Peninsula. At the 2006 census, Ocean Grove had a population of 11,274.-History:...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, 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...
.
History
The club started off in the 1960's as a joint club between Barwon HeadsBarwon Heads, Victoria
Barwon Heads is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to the west by farmland, golf courses and the ephemeral saline wetland Murtnaghurt...
and Ocean Grove. The Barwon Heads/Ocean Grove Football Club wore purple jumpers with gold trim and were, and still are known as the 'Grubbers'. Ray Menzies was a founding member of the Club and also the Bellarine Football League, since honoured with the naming of the nearby 'Ray Menzies Memorial Reserve'.
Years later the club broke into the Barwon Heads Football Club
Barwon Heads Football Club
The Barwon Heads Football Club is an Australian rules football club that plays in the Bellarine Football League and situated in the township of Barwon Heads, near the City Of Geelong Victoria, Australia...
and the Ocean Grove Football and Netball Club. The newly established club wore white jumpers with a red V, similar to the old South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
jumpers. The current strip is a red and white jumper with a white swan on the front, red shorts and socks, white shorts for away games. The origins of the nickname 'grubbers' are unknown, but may have come from a major road in the area (Grubb Road) or could also be reference to a swan.
The club has won eight premierships in the Bellarine Football League at Senior level. This was achieved in two sequences of four-in-a-row, which in turn came from a sequence of twelve consecutive Grand Final appearances. The premierships were won in:
- 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
The Ocean Grove Football Club also fields a reserves team and U/18's in the BFL, and U/16's in the Geelong Junior Football League. The club also have a junior 'feeder' club, with the Ocean Grove/Collendina Cobras Football Club fielding U/14's, U/12's and U/10's teams.
The Under 18's team won the premiership in 2008 after only losing one game for the year, and going undefeated in the home and away fixture in 2007. They triumphed over the Queenscliff U/18's by a considerable margin. Many of the former U/18 top age players from 2008 will no doubt strengthen the club with their promotion into the senior teams.
In October 2006 a number of players from the club assaulted a Jewish man while they were on a club trip. In 2007 three players from the Ocean Grove Football Club, including the team capitan were found guilty by the Melbourne Magistrates Court for their part in an anti-semitic remark on a father who was with his two young children. Criminal convictions were recorded against two other men for their role in the incident, while the player who punched the father in the face was never identified. In November 2007 Melbourne writer and social commentator Christopher Bantick in his column in the Herald Sun wrote that "the club is deserving of public shame".
Notable club members
The club's two premiership coaches, Brendan McCartneyBrendan McCartney
Brendan McCartney is the senior coach of the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League . McCartney was a former Australian rules football player who played in the Geelong Football League...
(who won the 1994-1997 flags) and Mark Neeld
Mark Neeld
Mark "Neeldy" Neeld is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and Richmond in the Australian Football League during the 1990s. He is currently the senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club.-Playing Career:...
(who won the 2000-2003 flags), have both gone on to senior coaching jobs in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, with the Western Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
and Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
respectively. Coincidentally, both men were appointed to their senior coaching jobs in the same week at the end of the 2011 AFL season
2011 AFL season
The 2011 Australian Football League season was the 115th season of the Australian rules football competition. It was the debut year for , and was scheduled to be the only season to be played with 17 teams...
.
As of 2009, five players have made it from the Grubbers up to AFL level:
- MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
's Clint BartramClint BartramClinton "Clint" Bartram is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Currently playing for the Melbourne Football Club, Bartram was recruited from the Geelong Falcons after growing up in Leopold... - West Coast's Jordan JonesJordan JonesJordan Jones is an Australian rules footballer currently listed with in the West Australian Football League . He previously played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League . He was selected at pick No. 52 in the 2008 AFL Draft with West Coast's 4th round selection...
, - CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
's Danny StanleyDanny StanleyDaniel "Danny" Stanley is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.-Collingwood career :Recruited by the Collingwood Football Club in the 2005 AFL Draft, he is considered a solid midfield prospect...
, - Western Bulldog's Ayce CordyAyce CordyAyce Cordy is an Australian rules footballer with the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League . The Bulldogs used their first round selection, 14th overall, to secure Cordy after St Kilda bid their first round selection for him. Cordy's father, Brian, played 124 games for the Bulldogs...
, - Western BulldogsWestern BulldogsThe Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
Guy O'Keefe.
External links
- http://oceangrovefnc.vcfl.com.au/ (official site)