The Encounter Bay Football Club, nicknamed the Eagles, 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

club based in

Encounter Bay Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Bau ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, that plays in the Great Southern Football League.

Club history

Australian rules football on the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula ( ; locally mainly ) is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western s ...

dates back to the 1860s–1870s, when the Goolwa Football Club was established in 1878. Matches were organised between local towns on a 'friendly' basis. Following this period, it was thought that a stable league should be created to oversee the competition. That league was named The Great Southern Football League; Encounter Bay joined the league two years after the club's founding, in 1921. In Encounter Bay's first few years of existence, the team was made primarily of players from the Victor Harbor area. The club's first match was against Victor Harbor, and they also played games against Hindmarsh Valley and Finniss. The club first saw premiership glory in 1940, captained by local legend Frank Joy, beating Port Elliot 10.15.75 to 7.5.47, playing home games at a paddock off Maude Street in

. Originally, Encounter Bay's colours were red and white; the current yellow and blue was the result of a split in 1946. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, there was a large number of players who couldn't get a game. With support from the local areas of Back Valley, Lower Inman, and Inman Valley, they formed a breakaway football club – the Valleys Football Club. The Valleys FC played their home games at the Back Valley Oval, next to the Back Valley Tennis Club, but by 1953, the club was finding it difficult to win games and so they re-amalgamated with Encounter Bay to form the Bay Valley Rovers. The new team had the blue and gold colours of the former Valleys FC, and the merger lasted until 1957, when the name was changed to Encounter Bay. The 1958 season saw the change from a gold sash to the eagle that is still worn on the guernsey, and the Eagles won the A- and B-Grade premiership that same year. The club dominated the decade of the 1960s by making numerous grand finals and winning in 1960, 1961, 1965, and 1967. Encounter Bay saw a twenty-two-year premiership drought until 1989, when the Eagles won the league and reserves flags under Bob Beecroft after being bridesmaids to Willunga the year before; they won again in 1996 under Darren Mansell. The Bays were strong through the 2000s led by Jim west, with Tony Modra putting on some good displays up forward. The club made a number of preliminary and Grand finals without getting over the line. The club has enjoyed recent success winning the league premiership in 2013 under Billy Neely with Scott Welsh having a good year up forward. The Bays won the flag again in 2015 after being runners up in 2014. The bays have won the GSFL league premiership 10 times and been runners up on 20 occasions, most recently being runners up in 2020. Of note the Encounter Bay Football Club was in 2020 named in the top 12 teams in all competitions in South Australia by sports broadcaster The South Australian Footballer

Team of the Century

In 2021 the Encounter Bay Football Club named a team of the century as part of their centenary celebrations. The team is as follows BP: Trevor Prior FB: Ian Millard BP: Rigby Barnes HB: David Shegog CHB: Frank Joy HB: Reg Masters W: Don Bartel C: Lyndon Ellsworthy W: Peter Millard HF: Jim West CHF: Allan Field HF: Peter Johnston FP: Robert Beecroft FF: Tony Modra FP: David Pearson 1R:Andrew McLean :Tyson Davis-Neale :Marty Fraser 2R:Robert Beecroft :Noel Clark :David Pearson INT: Jack Roads (Snr), Steven Hann, Craig Littley, Bert Hutton, Greg Brand, Noel Clark, Tony Proud. CPT: Don Bartel VC : Peter Millard DVC : Tyson Davis-Neale Coach: Doug Tugwell

Premierships

* GSFL (10): 1940, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1967, 1989, 1996, 2013, 2015

Individual awards

Mail Medallists * 2015 Rigby Barnes * 2014 Rigby Barnes * 2013 Ian Perrie * 2004 Andrew McLean * 1990 D Pearsons * 1986 M Fraser * 1959 A Field * 1958 A Field * 1957 D Bartell * 1950 N Clark * 1949 N Clark * 1940 R Masters * 1927 L Pearce * 1926 B Hutton Argus Medallists *2014 Tom Bloomfield *2004 Jon Joy *1993 P Lihou

References

External links

Encounter Bay FC Website
{{Great Southern Football League (South Australia) Clubs Australian rules football clubs in South Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1921 1921 establishments in Australia