The Club - History
Eagles
| VS | Played | Win | Loss | Draw |
| Central District | 55 | 25 | 30 | 0 |
| Glenelg | 48 | 32 | 14 | 2 |
| North Adelaide | 54 | 35 | 19 | 0 |
| Norwood | 48 | 29 | 19 | 0 |
| Port Adelaide | 54 | 22 | 32 | 0 |
| South Adelaide | 47 | 37 | 10 | 0 |
| Sturt | 49 | 38 | 11 | 0 |
| West Adelaide | 49 | 32 | 17 | 0 |
| Totals | 404 | 250 | 151 | 2 |
End of Round 19
Woodville
| VS | Played | Win | Loss | Draw |
| Central District | 69 | 28 | 41 | 0 |
| Glenelg | 58 | 10 | 48 | 0 |
| North Adelaide | 65 | 14 | 51 | 0 |
| Norwood | 61 | 18 | 43 | 0 |
| Port Adelaide | 58 | 7 | 50 | 1 |
| South Adelaide | 66 | 23 | 43 | 0 |
| Sturt | 59 | 13 | 45 | 1 |
| West Adelaide | 69 | 22 | 46 | 1 |
| West Torrens | 70 | 25 | 44 | 1 |
| Totals | 575 | 160 | 411 | 4 |
West Torrens
| VS | Played | Win | Loss | Draw |
| Central District | 66 | 28 | 37 | 1 |
| Glenelg | 161 | 91 | 69 | 1 |
| North Adelaide | 211 | 89 | 119 | 3 |
| Norwood | 212 | 74 | 135 | 3 |
| Port Adelaide | 218 | 54 | 163 | 1 |
| South Adelaide | 212 | 117 | 90 | 5 |
| Sturt | 199 | 88 | 108 | 3 |
| West Adelaide | 219 | 117 | 95 | 7 |
| Woodville | 70 | 44 | 25 | 1 |
| Totals | 1568 | 702 | 841 | 25 |
Woodville Football Club History
Woodville football clubs had some newspaper references in 1869, 1877 and even 1910, but little is know about any of them. The club formed to play in the Port and Suburban Competition in 1938 is the origin of the SANFL Woodville Football Club.
In 1938 that Woodville team played in red and white but in 1940 changed its uniform, to purple and white, and its competition by joining the SA Amateur league.
Woodville had early success in this competition with Premierships in A2 in 1941 and followed, after the WW2 recess of 4 years, with a Premiership in A1 in 1946.
Woodville Oval was the team's home ground from 1941
1947 saw the club again change its colours to the more familiar green and gold but further premierships in the Amateur league top grade eluded it. The best results in A1 were runner-up in 1947 and third in 1948 and 1950.
A premiership was attained by the A3 reserve team in 1954.
Ron Batt, Woodville's Captain/Coach for the years 1956-1958 won the Hone Medal in 1956, the award for the competitions best and fairest player.
In the 1950's Woodville and Central Districts were selected as the clubs to increase the teams contesting the SANFL to ten and they were admitted as reserves grade teams in 1959 to serve a 5-year apprenticeship.
By the time promotion to the A Grade arrived in 1964 Woodville had only reached the reserves finals on one occasion, 1960, when it finished 3 rd . They did possess a shining light in one Robert Simunsen, who would have waltzed into any other League Club had he not been loyal to his Woodville. In 1961 and 1962 he won the Seconds Magarey Medal and was runner-up for the award in 1960 and 1963.
At the start of the 1964 season Bob Simunsen played his first League game as a Club captain. Woodville in its first season was only able to score 3 wins, all against the other new club, Central Districts.
27 seasons in the league were usually disappointing for its fans. Finals were reached in only 3 seasons, 1979, 1986 and 1987. The best result achieved was a loss in the preliminary final in 1986 thus finishing 3 rd .
Woodville, to its credit, was able to win two night premierships, the Coca Cola Cup, in 1972 and the Escort Cup in 1988
Woodville did produce a Magarey Medallist in Malcolm Blight, in 1972. He went on to greater things playing in the VFL premierships with North Melbourne and winning a Brownlow Medal in 1978. Malcolm Blight returned to Woodville in the 1983 as Captain/Coach. In 1985, his last playing season, he kicked a club record 126 goals that topped the SANFL season. In 1989 Malcolm commenced an illustrious AFL coaching career with Geelong and eventually the Adelaide Crows.
West Torrens Football Club early History
In the 93-year history of the West Torrens club many ups and downs were experienced, but with only 4 Premiership titles to display the loyal support of the club's throng of admirers were surely tested over the years. The fact that only a handful of the Titles were gained made them lifetime highlights for players, officials and supporters when they did come along.
First mention of a West Torrens team is made as early as May and June 1879 when results of what must have been scratch matches against South Adelaide and North Adelaide (both these sides were members of the South Australian Football Association) were reported upon in the “Register” newspaper. The colours of the club at that time were Red. It appears that the club went by the somewhat strange pseudonym of “The Butchers”, and perhaps this was because the team contained a number of slaughtermen and it seems to have played matches near the West Park slaughterhouse that was situated behind the Adelaide Gaol.
Reference can also be found to an Annual Meeting of the club at the Squatters Arms Hotel on April 7 th 1881 at which time the colours of the club were changed to Red and White. A photo does exist in the Hindmarsh Historical Society of a West Torrens team dated 1881.
By 1884 the club had joined the Adelaide and Suburban Association and had some success in this competition playing in the Red and White uniform. In 1887 the club joined with West Adelaide and with the addition of blue to its colours played under the name of West Adelaide , but the team dissolved after only one season.
The West Torrens Club, as the fans knew it, had its beginnings from a group of players known as the Port Natives. This was a splinter group of dissatisfied members of the Port Adelaide Football Club, who, in 1894, broke from that club when unable to get games with Port, and formed their own team known as the Port Natives. This club was accepted into the Adelaide and Suburban Association and won two Premierships in a row. The success was cut short when the Adelaide and Suburban competition went into a recess. The Port Natives, at their Annual meeting in March 1896, renamed themselves simply “Natives” and were accepted into to South Australian Football Association for that season.
The Natives club first secretary was John Carr, a member of the Legislative Council and the colours that the club adopted were Blue and Gold.
G Rimes was the Captain of the team and they finished in fourth position out of five teams. Ironically the team finishing last in that year was Port Adelaide.
With the introduction of district football in 1897, the club changed its name to West Torrens as it realised that a major number of its players resided in that area. Thus was born the West Torrens Football Club.
The new team trained in a yard behind the Land of Promise Hotel but this was soon found to be inadequate so the players used Port Road as their training track. For the first few years the Club was an itinerant side, playing at other sides home grounds and contesting a fair number of their matches at the Jubilee Oval just near the Adelaide Zoo.
It was not until 1902 that the Hindmarsh Council realising the need of a local Oval started to redevelop an irregular shaped paddock known as “Lindsay's Circus” which was opened in 1905 as Hindmarsh Oval and the home ground of West Torrens Football Club. This ground was shared with many of the locally based sporting codes but because of its odd shape and lack of available expansion space it was constantly criticised as an Oval not up to the standard for League Football. The Hindmarsh Council spent a lot of pounds in an effort to improve the situation over the years and the Club used the Oval until 1922 when it moved its head quarters to Thebarton Oval.
West Torrens introduction to the South Australian Football Association in 1897 was a baptism of fire, as the SAFA refused to recognize Dr. Ralph Potts, the Club Patron, as one of the Clubs chosen delegates. The reason for this rejection was never explained, however J H Sinclair was chosen to replace him. He resigned the position after making a point of principle at the SAFA meeting while being abused by fellow delegates. John Carr subsequently succeeded him.
As well as that controversy, the team's on field performance in its first two games, when it failed even to score and could not field a full complement of the allowed 20 men, was hardly a confident beginning. However it prevailed and finished in 6 th position out of 7 teams in the inaugural season.
The team won 3 games, drew 1 (abandoned after quarter time) and lost 13, which included a forfeit.
In newspaper reports on the games the first captain appears to be Fanning but later in the season he was replaced by J Collins.
West Torrens and Woodville Football Club Historical Timeline
| 1897 | West Torrens loses first two games without scoring Commencement of district system for player registrations in SAFA |
| 1898 | Fledgling club has 6 wins for the season but only finish in 5 th position |
| 1899 | Edward McKenzie, State player and older brother of Tom Mackenzie appointed captain |
| 1900 | West Torrens “Bos” Daly tops SAFA goal kicking with 27 goals Win 9 games for the season but just miss out on Grand Final appearance |
| 1901 | Edwin Filsell first recorded Club Champion. Sturt joins SAFA competition |
| 1902 | Tom MacKenzie wins his 1 st Magarey Medal (also wins award in 1905,1906 with North) Star player Oscar Hyman transfers from Sturt to captain West Torrens for one season |
| 1903 | Finish season in 5th position with only 3 wins |
| 1904 | Complete poor season with only one victory |
| 1905 | West Torrens move to Hindmarsh Oval as home ground |
| 1906 | Six West Torrens players appear on cigarette trade cards Life membership awarded for first time to 6 members. |
| 1907 | Competition becomes South Australian National Football League West Torrens finishes 3rd |
| 1908 | West Torrens ' George Kersley wins the Reserves Magarey Medal |
| 1909 | West Torrens again finishes season 3rd . |
| 1910 | West Torrens captain Ralph Aldersey retires at the end of the year after 130 games |
| 1911 | Tom MacKenzie returns to West Torrens as captain. Former West Torrens captain Ralph Aldersey umpires SANFL Grand Final Frank King takes over as 2 nd Club President from Thomas Brooker |
| 1912 | Dave Low wins Magarey Medal SANFL players start wearing jumper numbers |
| 1913 | West Torrens club chairman George Plenty, issues player numbers lists at Hindmarsh Oval matches In effect a forerunner of Football Budgets |
| 1914 | West Torrens loses semi final against North by 9 points to finish season 4th |
| 1915 | Dave Low, 1912 Magarey Medallist, killed in action in the War |
| 1916 | SANFL competition suspended during WW1 West Torrens runner-up in Patriotic Competition |
| 1917 | SANFL competition suspended during WW1 West Torrens runner-up in Patriotic Competition |
| 1918 | SANFL competition suspended during WW1 West Torrens win premiership in Patriotic Competition |
| 1919 | Recommencement of league competition, West Torrens finish 3rd |
| 1920 | West Torrens play 2 games in Tasmania during Interstate Match recess |
| 1921 | Johnny Karney ties in Magarey Medal won by Dan Moriarty (Medal posthumously award in 1998) |
| 1922 | West Torrens move to new home Thebarton Oval |
| 1923 | Roy Brown appointed West Torrens captain (lasting 5 years) |
| 1924 | West Torrens wins 1 st Premiership after 27-year wait. Defeat Sturt in Grand final |
| 1925 | West Torrens lose Challenge Final against Norwood by 1 point |
| 1926 | Club loses only 6 games but finishes season 5th . |
| 1927 | Torrens reaches finals but finishes 4th . |
| 1928 | Premiership captain Roy Brown transfers to Glenelg |
| 1929 | West Torrens has 2 drawn games during season |
| 1930 | West Torrens finish bottom for first time |
| 1931 | Final series amended with deletion of “Right of Challenge” by Minor Premier |
| 1932 | Max Pontifex wins Magarey Medal |
| 1933 | West Torrens wins 2nd Premiership defeating Norwood |
| 1934 | Torrens loses another 1 st Semi Final, finish 4th . Club plays Tasmania in Hobart during August |
| 1935 | West Torrens full forward Alex Kinlough, brother of premiership coach Joe Kinlough, wins Reserves Magarey Medal. He only played 5 reserves games. Torrens plays Queensland at end of season |
| 1936 | SANFL celebrated South Australia 's centenary year, West Torrens finish 6th Introduction of Thirds competition, West Torrens won Inaugural Premiership |
| 1937 | Perennial Club Secretary Harold Tomkins retires at end of the season after 19 years at club |
| 1938 | Woodville Club starts playing in Port and Suburban Competition West Torrens loses another 1st Semi Final, finishes 4th South won Premiership coached by former Torrens Star Len (Buck) Ashby |
| 1939 | West Torrens runner-up to Port Introduction of Junior Colts competition, West Torrens finish runner up to North |
| 1940 | Ken Farmer kicks league record 23 goals against West Torrens on July 6 th at Prospect. Woodville Club join Amateur League |
| 1941 | Woodville win A2 premiership in Amateur League Star Torrens Player Lance Juttner badly breaks his leg in game at Thebarton. Never plays again. West Torrens finish season with Wooden spoon Don Waite, West Torrens vice captain and 1938 Club Champion killed in action at Tobruk |
| 1942 | SANFL competition suspended during WW2 West Torrens and Port Adelaide combine for war year's competition Port/Torrens win premiership |
| 1943 | SANFL competition suspended during WW2 Port/Torrens runner-up to Norwood/North |
| 1944 | SANFL competition suspended during WW2 Port/Torrens runner-up to Norwood/North |
| 1945 | Recommencement of SANFL competition. West Torrens wins 3rd Premiership defeating Port |
| 1946 | Bob Hank wins Magarey Medal Woodville win A1 premiership in Amateur League |
| 1947 | Bob Hank appointed captain for 1st of 9 straight seasons Bob Hank wins his second Magarey Medal |
| 1948 | West Torrens runner-up to Norwood |
| 1949 | West Torrens runner-up to North Adelaide |
| 1950 | Torrens Star Full Back Alf Roberts 3rd in Magarey Medal |
| 1951 | Bob Hank coaches West Torrens for 1 season 4 time club leading goal kicker John Mehaffey enforced retirement after contracting polio |
| 1952 | John Willis West Torrens and SANFL top goal kicker with 85 |
| 1953 | West Torrens wins 4th Premiership defeating Port by Bob Hank selected in “All Australian” team |
| 1954 | Bob Hank misses 8 games with fractured jaw. West Torrens lose Preliminary Final to West Future league star Brian Livesey wins Reserves Magarey Medal |
| 1955 | West Torrens change jumper to Eagle Emblem Lindsay Head wins his first Magarey Medal In seasons first game Bob Hank badly injures his knee, does not play again in this season. |
| 1956 | Mick Clingly kicks club record 12-3 in game against Glenelg Lindsay Head selected in “All Australian” team |
| 1957 | Bob Hank club champion for record 9th time |
| 1958 | Lindsay Head wins his second Magarey Medal West Torrens Champion Bob Hank forced into retirement by coach Dick Jones |
| 1959 | Woodville and Central District join the SANFL Competition in Reserve Grade |
| 1960 | Woodville finish 3rd in Reserves competition Bob Hank returns to West Torrens club as Reserves playing coach |
| 1961 | Triple Brownlow Medallist Dick Reynolds coach of West Torrens for 3 years Geoff Kingston SANFL top goal kicker with 78 All Australian selection for Geoff Kingston and Bob Shearman Torrens lose 1st semi Final to Norwood Woodville's Bob Simunsen wins Reserves Magarey Medal |
| 1962 | Bob Shearman appointed captain Champion forward Neil Hawke gains clearance from Port to West Torrens Torrens again loses 1st Semi Final to Norwood Woodville's Bob Simunsen wins another Reserves Magarey Medal |
| 1963 | Lindsay Head wins his 3rd Magarey Medal West Torrens “Minor Premiers” but lose both finals to finish 3rd |
| 1964 | Woodville commence League Grade competition Harold McDonald coach of league team Bob Simunsen first league captain of Woodville |
| 1965 | West Torrens Captain Bob Shearman stands out of football to obtain clearance to Sturt Peter Obst appointed Woodville captain/coach for 3 years Woodville finish season with Wooden Spoon |
| 1966 | Woodville's Bob Simunsen runner-up in Magarey Medal |
| 1967 | Lindsay Head club champion for 8th time |
| 1968 | Former Essendon star John Birt appointed captain/coach of West Torrens for 3 years Noel Teasdale appointed coach of Woodville for 4 years |
| 1969 | West Torrens wins 10 straight to reach first finals since 1963 but loses 1st semi-final replay |
| 1970 | Lindsay Head retires during season after 327 league games |
| 1971 | Wayne Jackson captain/coach of West Torrens Reserves |
| 1972 | Malcolm Blight wins Magarey Medal Malcolm Blight selected in “All Australian” team Woodville wins Coca Cola Cup Competition Fred Bills West Torrens Champion for 4th time |
| 1973 | West Torrens finish 7th for third year in a row Woodville finish 8th |
| 1974 | Wayne Jackson takes over as league coach from Bill Barrot for half a season Torrens rally to improve to 5th , miss finals on percentage. |
| 1975 | West Torrens finish with Wooden Spoon Champion Fred Bills retires during season after 313 games |
| 1976 | West Torrens again finish with Wooden Spoon |
| 1977 | Neil Kerley appointed West Torrens coach for 4 years Woodville's John Roberts kicks club record 16 goals against Central District |
| 1978 | West Torrens reach finals, finish 5th Dr Peter Barnes wins Reserves Magarey Medal |
| 1979 | Glynn Hewitt of Woodville SANFL top goal kicker with 83 Woodville reach finals for the first time but finish 5th |
| 1980 | West Torrens reaches finals for last time, finish 5th |
| 1981 | Woodville finish with first of 6 straight Wooden Spoons |
| 1982 | Woodville Trevor Pierson kicks 104 goals for the season West Torrens' Kym Dillon wins Reserves Magarey Medal First suggestion of Woodville and West Torrens amalgamation appear in newspapers |
| 1983 | Woodville “favourite son” Malcolm Blight returns to club as captain for 3 years/coach for 5 years West Torrens wins “Night Premiership” |
| 1984 | West Torrens finishes 9th in league but wins 18th Reserves premiership. Tony Owens wins Reserves Magarey Medal |
| 1985 | Malcolm Blight SANFL top goal kicker with 126 Malcolm Blight selected in “All Australian” team |
| 1986 | Woodville reach finals and finish 3rd Woodville's Stephen Nichols SANFL leading goal kicker with 103 goals |
| 1987 | Woodville again reach finals, finish 5th Woodville's Stephen Nichols kicks 108 goals Woodville's Andrew Rogers selected in “All Australian” team |
| 1988 | West Torrens finish with Wooden Spoon Andrew Payze runner-up in Magarey Medal 4 time Magarey Medallist Russell Ebert appointed coach of Woodville for 3 years Stephen Nichols SANFL leading goal kicker with 103 goals Woodville wins night “Escort Cup” competition |
| 1989 | Andrew Bennett appointed West Torrens coach Torrens play at Thebarton Oval for the last time on September 2nd |
| 1990 | West Torrens and Woodville play against each other in last round at Adelaide Oval Allen Jakovich kicks a total of 101 goals in Woodville's last season Ralph Sewer retires at end of season after 325 games Amalgamation committee formed during year to join both clubs. |
Committee Members from West Torrens were Graham Thompson, Des Barry, Murray Richardson, John Graham, Terry Caldow, Tony Farrugia, Steve Turner and Rex Sellars.
Committee Members from Woodville were Alan King, Charlie Winstanley, Ron Kinsman, Les Stevens, Norm Tanti, Bill Sanders, Kevin Angel and Geoff Hosking.
Club finishing positions
West Torrens: 1st - 4, 2nd - 4, 3rd - 7, 4th - 19, 5th - 20, 6th - 13, 7th - 5, 8th - 4, 9th - 7, Last - 5.
88 Seasons
From 1914 to 1990 West Torrens Reserves team won 18 Premierships,
Runner-up 7 times and only finished bottom once in 1977
Woodville: 1st - 0, 2nd - 0, 3rd - 1, 4th - 0, 5th - 2, 6th - 1, 7th - 2, 8th - 5, 9th - 7, Last - 9.
27 Seasons
Woodville West Torrens Football Club Historical Timeline
| 1991 |
Woodville and West Torrens join forces as Woodville West Torrens Eagles. Peter Schwarz chosen as inaugural captain of the new Club with Neil Balme as coach. After a fine minor round with 16 wins and being equal top, the Eagles lose both Finals and finish 4th. Scott Morphett SANFL top goal kicker with 99 becoming Club's first Ken Farmer Medallist and also voted Club Champion. |
| 1992 | After an excellent minor round, Woodville West Torrens finish 3rd . Reserves win Premiership and Jason Sziller wins Reserves Magarey Medal Malcolm Blight awarded Life Governorship joining Bob Hank, Lindsay Head and Fred Bills. Robert Pyman voted Club Champion. |
| 1993 |
Bruce Winter appointed Coach. After a stellar minor round Eagles are minor premiers an cap season with a crushing Grand Final win over Norwood to claim 1st Premiership as new Club. Steven Sziller wins Grand Final Jack Oatey Medal. Eagles also claim pre-season Foundation Cup. Reserves team and Junior Colts also claim Premierships. Andrew Rogers voted Club Champion. |
| 1994 |
Eagles win Foundation Cup night competition Final. 18 wins in minor round gives Eagles minor Premiership. Eagles in 2nd Semi against Port by 12 goals but suffer shock 6 goal defeat in Grand Final. Jason Sziller Club Champion. Peter Schwarz retires after 269 League games. |
| 1995 |
Club decimated by AFL draft, finish in 8th position. Andrew Rogers voted Club Champion for a 2nd time. |
| 1996 |
Eagles finish 4th. Malcolm Blight, Lindsay Head and Tom MacKenzie inducted into inaugural AFL Hall of Fame. Jason King wins Reserves Magarey Medal. Eagles take U19 Premiership. Andrew Rogers Club Champion for 3rd time. |
| 1997 |
Premiership coach Bruce Winter retires as Coach at end of season after 5 years as Senior Coach. Eagles miss finals with 7th position. Steven Hall Club Champion. |
| 1998 |
Mark Mickan appointed Coach for 2 years. Eagles again miss Finals with 6th position. Andrew Payze retires at end of season with 308 games. Nick Pesch voted Club Champion. |
| 1999 |
Woodville West Torrens finish 3rd. Bob Hank inducted into AFL Hall of Fame. Andrew Payze awarded Life Governorship. Gavin Colville and Adam Pearce joint Club Champions. Greg Chapman wins Tompkins Medal. Under 17's win Premiership. |
| 2000 |
Paul Hamilton appointed new coach. Eagles runner-up to Central District in League, Premiers in all other grades. Gavin Colville runner-up in Magarey Medal. Eagles win Stanley H Lewis trophy for overall performance. Gavin Colville voted Club Champion. |
| 2001 |
Ron Fuller appointed Senior Coach. Eagles runner-up to Central District. 6-time captain and 3-time Club Champion Andrew Rogers retires during the year after 242 games. |
| 2002 |
Eagles finish 4th. Club Players selected in inaugural SANFL Hall of Fame Bos Daly, Tom MacKenzie, Bob Hank, Lindsay Head, Fred Bills, Malcolm Blight, Ralph Sewer, Bob Shearman, Barry Barbary, Russell Ebert. Andrew Rogers awarded Life Governorship with Club. Justin Cicolella voted Club Champion. |
| 2003 | Inductees into SANFL Hall of Fame Ray Huppatz and Norm Grimm. Eagles finish 3rd. David Newett wins Reserves Magarey Medal tied with 2 others. |
| 2004 |
Eagles runner-up to Central District. Gavin Colville voted Club Champion for 4th time. |
| 2005 |
Eagles runner up for 4th time in 6 seasons to Centrals. Mark McKenzie voted Club Champion. |
| 2006 |
Eagles win their second Premiership defeating their nemesis Centrals in the Grand Final by 76 points. |
| 2007 |
In defending their title Club finishes third despite a slow start to season and injuries to key players. |
Club's finishing positions in 17 seasons to 2007
Woodville West Torrens: 1st - 2, 2nd - 5, 3rd - 4, 4th - 3, 5th - 0, 6th - 1, 7th - 1, 8th – 1, Last – 0.
Club Historian: John Storer
Further information can be obtained at an excellent web site dedicated to Australian Rules Football www.fullpointsfooty.net