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Official name
Hampton Football Club
Known as
Hampton
Former name
Hampton Methodist, Hampton United
Formed
1947 as Hampton Methodist; in recess 1951 to 1958; reformed 1959; renamed Hampton United in 1976; renamed Hampton in 1996
Colours
Black, yellow and blue
Emblem
Hammers
Affiliation (Current)
Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) 1993–2024
Affiliations (Historical)
Methodist Football Association (MFA) 1947–1950; Eastern Suburban Churches Football League (ESCFL) 1959–1992
Senior Premierships
East Suburban Protestant Churches Football Association (ESPCFA) A Grade - 1986 (1 total); B Grade - 1961, 1978 (2 total); C Grade - 1959, 1972 (2 total); Southern Football League Division Three - 2002, 2010 (1 total)
Postal Address
P.O. Box 2071, Hampton East 3188, Victoria
Website
www.hamptonhammers.com/
Originally known as Hampton Methodist, the club was formed in 1947 and admitted to the East Suburban Protestant Churches Football Association. The club’s debut season was unmemorable in the extreme as it failed to win a single match, and in subsequent seasons it continued to struggle before going into recess in 1951.
Things were very different on the club’s resumption in 1959. Competing in the ESPCFA’s C Grade competition the side claimed its first flag after defeating Canterbury Presbyterian in that season’s grand final. A second premiership followed two years later, this time in B Grade, as Hampton Methodist accounted for Gardenvale East Presbyterian in the grand final by 22 points, 15.15 (105) to 12.11 (83).
The club’s 1961 triumph earned it promotion to A Grade, but it managed to survive just two seasons at that level before succumbing to relegation. The 1964 season brought relegation for the second consecutive time followed by an eight year stint in C Grade. The team was generally quite competitive during this period but did not manage to reach a grand final until 1972 when it scored a 30 point win over Elsternwick United, thereby earning promotion to B Grade.
In 1976 the club was renamed Hampton United. It continued to compete in B Grade until 1978 when it claimed its second flag at that level, and with it elevation to A Grade, courtesy of a 26.19 (175) to 12.9 (81) grand final annihilation of Box Hill Pioneers. The club’s second stint in A Grade proved to be even briefer than its first as it was relegated after just one season. However, its third top tier sojourn would prove to be altogether more satisfactory. That sojourn arrived via the ‘back door’ of a B Grade grand final defeat to Glen Waverley in 1982. Over the ensuing half a dozen seasons Hampton United would enjoy the greatest era in its history, getting as far as the A Grade grand final on three occasions. In 1986 it procured the ultimate prize of an A Grade premiership when it overcame Donvale United in the grand final by 19 points, 21.10 (136) to 18.9 (117). The other two grand finals, in 1985 and 1988, both against Burwood United, ended in defeat.
In 1990 Hampton United was relegated to B Grade but bounced straight back when it lost the following year’s grand final at that level to Collingwood Districts. Since 1993 the club, which dropped the word “United” from its name in 1996, has competed in the Southern Football League. The Hammers’ first senior grade flag in this competition was acquired in 2002 in Division Three thanks to a 19.19 (127) to 5.7 (37) grand final trouncing of Black Rock. Their second premiership was claimed at the same level in 2010. Promoted to Division Two as a consequence the Hammers have consolidated at that level with the highlight coming with finals involvement in 2014. More recently they have struggled somewhat, finishing sixth in 2015, seventh in 2016, ninth in 2017 and sixth in 2018.
John Devaney - Full Points Publications