The Mansfield Football Netball 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 ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

club based in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The Mansfield teams currently compete in the Goulburn Valley League. The ''Eagles'' home ground is the Mansfield Recreation Reserve.

History

The seed of the Mansfield FC was planted because of an advertisement in the ''Mansfield Guardian'' on 18 May 1878. The ad called for a meeting to be held at the Mansfield Hotel with the purpose of forming a football club. Surviving records of those times describe a game between Mansfield and Jamieson in July 1883. Nevertheless, in 1886 the ''Mansfield Courier'' reported that Mansfield had fielded teams in 1881. History of Mansfield FC
on MNFC website Early games were played against neighbouring towns on a round robin basis with the teams playing for trophies donated by prominent businessmen. The original shirt worn by Mansfield was white with red stripes. In 1900 these local clubs formed an Association, adopted a constitution and began a formal competition for points culminating in a final series. Mansfield played many clubs in this era in various leagues and associations. Jamieson, Bonnie Doon, Merton, Maindample, Delatite, Mt Battery, Swanpool, Tolmie, Yarck, among others. Between the wars the district became unable to maintain numerous clubs, so the various smaller ones morphed towards the larger Mansfield FC and Mount Battery FC. Eventually these two formed the "Mansfield Battery FC", adopting a navy blue guernsey with a white monogram. Mansfield competed continuously in the various District Associations until 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 ...

when the club joined the Waranga North East FL. The

section would be added later. Trent Hotton, won the league best and fairest in 2007. The Eagles won their first GVFL premiership in 2004 since moving to the league in 1997. In 2009 the Eagles capped off a fantastic year with a win in the GVFL Grand Final over Kyabram, capturing their second GVFL flag in five years.

Leagues

Since its foundation, the club has participated in the following leagues: Mansfield fc 1913

* 1925–33: Mansfield Line Association * 1934–40: Mansfield-Alexandra FA * 1945–46: Upper Goulburn FL * 1946–76:

Waranga North East Football Association The Waranga North East Football Association was established in 1913 as an Australian Rules football association which was based in the North East and Upper Goulburn Valley regions of Victoria and was active up until 1976. History In May 1913 rep ...

* 1977–95: Tungamah Football League * 1996–97: Goulburn Valley FL (2nd Division) * 1998–present: Goulburn Valley FL

Players

2010 Football Squad

Matt Storer and Guy Taylor are Eagles Co-Captains for the 2010 season. The Eagles Seniors are coached by ex-Collingwood player, Craig 'Ned' Kelly.

VFL / AFL Players

The following footballers played with Mansfield prior to playing senior VFL / AFL football. The year indicates their VFL / AFL debut. * 1922 - Jim Fraser - Carlton * 1950 - Bill Reardon - Footscray * 1953 - Tom Tarrant - Collingwood * 1955 -

Alan Jewell Alan Jewell (19 February 1932 – 22 August 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Originally from Mansfield, where he was best on ground in their 1951 Waranga ...

- Hawthorn * 1955 - Ray Yeoman - Hawthorn * 1957 - Peter Barran - Geelong * 1962 - Peter Dolling - South Melbourne * 1962 - Bob Lockhart - Richmond * 2000 - Josh Fraser - Collingwood & Gold Coast * 2005 -

Jarrod Kayler-Thomson Jarrod Kayler-Thomson (born 26 July 1985) is an Australian rules footballer. He had played in the Australian Football League with the Hawthorn Football Club. He currently plays with the Subiaco Football Club in the West Australian Football Leag ...

- * 2017 -

James Cousins James Henry Cousins (22 July 1873 – 20 February 1956) was an Irish-Indian writer, playwright, actor, critic, editor, teacher and poet. He used several pseudonyms, including Mac Oisín and the Hindu name Jayaram. Life Cousins was born at 29, ...

- Hawthorn The following players/coaches came to Mansfield, with prior VFL / AFL senior football experience - * 1942 - Ted Leehane - Essendon * 1982 - Peter Tossol - Melbourne * 1989 -

Craig Kelly Craig Kelly (born 29 September 1963) is an Australian conservative politician who represented the division of Hughes as a Liberal Party (and later United Australia Party) MP from 2010 until his defeat at the 2022 federal election. Kelly in ...

- ex- Collingwood and player manager. * 1990 - Brendan Hehir - Draft Number 17, in AFL 1990 National Draft.

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

* 1993 - Andrew Tranquilli - ex- Collingwood player in the

* 1992 - David Mensch - ex-

player in the

* 1994 - Trent Hotton - ex- Carlton player in the

* 1997 -

Darren Hulme Darren Hulme (born 19 July 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton. Hulme played junior football for the Frankston Bombers, and the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup. He was recruited to the AFL with the 8th sel ...

- Carlton * 1999 - David A. Clarke - Geelong & Carlton * 2005 - Craig Flint - Number 17 in 2005 AFL Rookie Draft. Carlton

Premierships

* Mansfield Hotel / Bremner's Cup (1): **1900 * Mansfield FA (3): **1900, 1904, 1905 * Mansfield District FA (3): **1911, 1912, 1913 * Mansfield Swanpool District FA (1): **1927 * Mansfield Line FA (1): **1929 * Waranga North Eastern Football Association (4): **1951, 1953, 1954, 1955 * Tungamah Football League (2): **1987, 1989 * Goulburn Valley 2nd. Division (1): **1996 * Goulburn Valley FL (2): **2004, 2009

Grand Finals

Football League Best & Fairest honors

;Seniors * Tungamah Football League ** 1987 - Bruce McCormack ** 1988 - Bruce McCormack *

Goulburn Valley Football League The Goulburn Valley League (GVL), also known as the Goulburn Valley Football Netball League (GVFNL), is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. History The leag ...

- Division 2 **1997 - Dennis Sheahan *

** 2007 - Trent Hotton ;Reserves *Waranga & North East Football League **1954 - K Doolan **1966 - Bill Reardon Reardon also won this award in 1961, 1962 and 1963, playing with Bonnie Doon FC.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Goulburn Valley Football League Australian rules football clubs in Victoria (state) 1880s establishments in Australia Goulburn Valley Football Netball League clubs Netball teams in Victoria (state)