Australian Football

Avondale Heights

Avondale Heights Football Club commenced operations in 1965 when it fielded a team in the Essendon District Football League's under 15s competition. Given that the average age of the team members was just eleven, it is not surprising that no wins were recorded. Within two years, however, the under fifteens would improve sufficiently to win the club's first premiership.

The Avondale Heights senior side got underway in 1967 when it was admitted to the EDFL's C Grade league, and like the juniors it found the going tough at first. The seventies brought gradual improvement, however, both on and off the field. By 1972 the club was fielding half a dozen teams each weekend, two at senior level, and four junior Avondale Heights combinations. The first senior premiership arrived in 1976 thanks to a 17.13 (115) to 15.14 (94) B Grade grand final win over Brunswick City. Over the ensuing decade the senior team established itself as a solid performer in A Grade, finally breaking through for a premiership in 1987. Meanwhile, the club's A3 team had enjoyed premiership success in 1980 and 1983.

Avondale Heights' most recent senior grade premiership arrived in 2004 in B Grade, and was won in the most emphatic fashion possible as the team went through the entire season unbeaten. The Heights then went on to qualify for the A Grade finals in 2005, but the 2006 season brought a slump in form and a mid-table finish. Improvement was shown in 2007 as the team managed 11 wins from 18 matches to qualify for the finals in fourth spot, ahead of West Coburg on percentage. It failed to do itself justice in the first semi final, however, and ended up losing by 45 points to Keilor. The 2008 season brought a decline in fortunes with the side winning just 7 games to finish well out of finals contention.

The past decade has seen the Heights continuing to compete in Premier Division as A Grade is now known, with mixed success. They last reached the finals in 2014 when they came third but, by contrast, they finished second from last in both 2012 and 2016. The 2017 season brought a modicum of respectability as they won half a dozen games to finish in eighth place on the 10 team premiership ladder. A year later they rose one place on the ladder despite only managing 4 wins and a draw from their 18 matches but in 2019 the same tally of victories was only good enough for a second to last place finish. After spending a season in abeyance because of the coronavirus pandemic the Heights will be hopeful of putting the recent past behind them in 2021 and making a realistic bid for finals qualification.