Eltham Football Club is an Australian rules football club in

Eltham, Victoria Eltham () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km north-east of the Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Eltham recorded a population of 18,847 at the 2021 census. Eltham ...

, currently competing in the

Northern Football League The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Division ...

History

The Eltham Football Club began playing social matches at nearby Kangaroo Ground, Diamond Creek and Greensborough from around 1904. Phil McGavin was listed as Secretary in 1904. In 1907,

Police Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

"Ike" Stephens convened a meeting with the idea of providing entertainment for the lads and an outlet for their surplus energy. . Eltham continued to play social games however World War One saw these stop. After the return of the men in 1918-19, Eltham returned to the football field. In 1920, the Eltham Football Club joined the Heidelberg District Football League. The team travelled by train to

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

to play their first game. Home games were played at Eltham Park, now called Eltham Lower Park. In 1922, Eltham joined other nearby clubs Greensborough, Diamond Creek, Templestowe,

Warrandyte Warrandyte is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Warrandyte recorded a population of 5,541 at the . Warran ...

, and Kangaroo Ground in establishing the Diamond Valley Football League. Eltham made their first finals appearance in 1928 and won their first premiership in 1930 by defeating

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. In 1930, Eltham Central Park was opened, although this was only used by the footballers for training until 1935, when the club formally moved their home games there and this has been the club's home ever since. In 1935, Eltham defeated Epping in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, but Epping lodged a protest over the eligibility of an Eltham player. A tribunal in Melbourne upheld the protest and ordered a replay. Eltham forfeited the replay and Epping was awarded the premiership. Eltham left the DVFL to play in VFL Sub Districts League for seasons 1936 & 1937 before returning in 1938. After five consecutive

wooden spoons Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) ** Australian rugby league wooden spooners ** County Championship Wooden Spoons ** List of Australian Football League wooden spoons ** MLS Wooden Spoon * Wooden Spoon ...

during the early 1960s, the club went through a golden period of four premierships in six seasons between 1969 and 1974. Eltham Football Club was relegated to the new DVFL Second Division for Season 1981, but quickly responded with the 1982 premiership and subsequent return to the First Division. This began a trend with Eltham "yo-yoing" between the two divisions – six Second Division premierships and five First Division wooden spoons. The 2002 Second Division premiership was the Panthers last success. After relegation in 2017 the Panthers went into the season strong favourites and won their first 15 games. On a blustery, raining day the seniors gave up a 3/4 time lead to lose on the siren to Lower Plenty. The reserves, coached by 2017 U/19 Premiership winning coach Tom Snell held on in a tough game to defeat Diamond Creek and only their 5th reserves premiership. Season 2020 was called off due to the COVID19 Pandemic.

Premierships

Seniors

(Division One) * 1930 Eltham 7.15.57 defeated Heidelberg 7.8.50 @ Memorial Park, Greensborough * 1932 Eltham 13.19.97 defeated Heidelberg 8.10.58 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1949 Eltham 8.8.56 defeated Greensborough 7.6.48 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1953 Eltham 9.16.70 defeated Lakeside Rovers 9.7.61 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1969 Eltham 16.11.107 defeated Diamond Creek 10.12.72 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1970 Eltham 14.13.97 defeated Diamond Creek 12.11.83 @ Epping * 1972 Eltham 15.19.109 defeated Reservoir Lakeside 11.11.77 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1974 Eltham 10.9.69 defeated Heidelberg 9.8.62 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg (Division Two) * 1982 Eltham 15.13.103 defeated Macleod Rosanna 14.8.92 @ Nillimbik Park, Diamond Creek * 1989 Eltham 18.11.119 defeated Epping 17.8.110 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1995 Eltham 10.14.74 defeated West Preston 10.10.70 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1997 Eltham 13.9.87 defeated Mernda 7.13.55 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 2000 Eltham 12.8.80 defeated Watsonia 8.6.54 @ Shelly St, North Heidelberg * 2002 Eltham 12.9.81 defeated Mernda 7.17.59 @ Whittlesea Showgrounds, Whittlesea

Reserves

(Division One) * 1947 Eltham 3.6.24 defeated Diamond Creek 3.5.23 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1971 Eltham 11.11.77 defeated Greensborough 10.8.68 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg * 1974 Eltham 10.13.73 defeated Templestowe 5.5.35 @ Warringal Park, Heidelberg (Division Two) * 2000 Eltham 13.16.94 defeated Macleod 7.12.54 @ Shelley Street Reserve, North Heidelberg * 2018 Eltham 7.12.54 defeated Diamond Creek 5.8.38 @ Preston City Oval, Preston * 2021 No final series due to Covid Pandemic. Awarded Minor Premiership * 2022 Eltham 16.13.109 defeated Diamond Creek 3.8.26 @ Preston City Oval, Preston

Under 19

(Division One) * 2007 Eltham 16.13.109 defeated Northcote Park 10.7.67 @ Preston City Oval * 2017 Eltham 7.14.56 defeated

Greensborough Football Club Greensborough Football Club is an Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an ov ...

7.10.52 @ Preston City Oval * 2019 Eltham 13.10.88 defeated

St Mary's Senior Football Club The Northern Football Netball League (formerly known as the Diamond Valley Football League and later Northern Football League) is an Australian sports league based in the Diamond Valley region of suburban Melbourne, Victoria. The league reg ...

11.14.80 @ Preston City Oval

Honourboard

Other highlights: * Most no. 'A' Grade games at Eltham Football Club Harry Barrett (dec.) (263) * Most no. Open Age games at Eltham Football Club David Brown 308 * Most no. 'A' Grade games as a player/umpire Eddie Mapperson (843). * Winner of VFL / AFL

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

Peter Moore Peter or Pete Moore may refer to: Politicians *Peter Moore (British politician) (1753–1828), English civil servant of the East India Company and politician *Peter Moore (Queensland politician) (born 1938), member of the Queensland Legislative As ...

1979, 1984

AFL / VFL footballers from Eltham Football Club

* Nick Coffield – Current St Kilda Footballer * Patrick Lipinski – Current

Collingwood Collingwood, meaning "wood of disputed ownership", may refer to: Educational institutions * Collingwood College, Victoria, an Australian state Prep to Year 12 school * Collingwood College, Durham, college of Durham University, England * Collingw ...

Footballer *

Lauren Brazzale Lauren Brazzale (born 5 November 1993) is an Australian rules footballer playing for Collingwood in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). She was drafted by Carlton with the club's eighth selection and the sixty second overall in the 2016 AFL Wo ...

– Current AFLW Carlton Footballer *

Marcus Bontempelli Marcus Bontempelli (born 24 November 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as Western Bulldogs captain since the 2020 season, and was previ ...

– Current

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the ...

Footballer *

Josh Caddy Joshua Nicholas Caddy (born 28 September 1992) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who last played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Gold Coast Football Club ...

– Former

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

Footballer *

David Zaharakis David Zaharakis (born 21 February 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Zaharakis attended Our Lady Help of Christians Primary ...

– Former

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

Footballer * Nick Vlastuin – Current

Footballer * Daniel Currie – Former Sydney Swans

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

and

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since t ...

* Adam Simpson –

. Captain 2004 -09, Premiership's 1996 & 1999. Currently Coach of West Coast Eagles Football Club * Andrew Dale –

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

in 1980s * Matthew Ryan -

, Sydney,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Stephen Easton Stephen Easton (born 12 August 1959) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne and Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He later played for Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association. Easton' ...

–

& Carlton in late 1970s, early 1980s * Darren McLaine –

in 1980s * Alexander "Sandy" Hyslop –

in 1980s *

–

& dual

list, AFL and

Hall of Fame * John Caulfield -

1963 * Tom Butherway -

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family ( Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) **Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

1937 * Jack Twyford -

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government ...

(1932 Premiership side) &

* Don Fraser -

1920s

External links

Official club website

Northern Football League

{{DVFL Northern Football League (Australia) clubs Australian rules football clubs established in 1909 1909 establishments in Australia Sport in the Shire of Nillumbik Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne