Australian Football

Heathcote

A Heathcote Football Club was in existence as early as 1905, when it was a founder member of the Heathcote District Football Association. In 1922 the club split to form Heathcote North and Heathcote South.

The present day Heathcote Football Club came into existence in 1967 when Heathcote North and Heathcote Rovers recombined. Boasting the red and white colours of the former club along with the black and white of the latter, Heathcote perhaps not surprisingly adopted the Saints emblem.

Both North and Rovers had achieved considerable success prior to the merger. North’s tally of eight senior HDFL premierships included a competition record five in succession between 1955 and 1959, while Rovers, with nine senior flags, had done even better overall. Given this impeccable pedigree there seemed little doubt that the Heathcote Football Club would make its mark on the competition sooner rather than later, and so it proved. In 1967 the seniors reached the grand final, where they lost to Mount Pleasant. A measure of consolation came in the form of Warren Elsbury’s Cheatly Medal win.

The club’s first premiership was claimed in 1970 via a grand final defeat of Elmore. Another grand final loss to Mount Pleasant then followed before the Saints again went top in 1972, this time at the expense of Colbinabbin.

The Saints’ most successful phase to date came from the late 1980s through into the ‘90s when they contested half a dozen consecutive grand finals, winning flags in 1989 and 1992. The 1989 grand final triumph was especially noteworthy in that Heathcote trounced Stanhope by almost 100 points, 24.15 (159) to 9.7 (61).

In addition to their seven grand final wins at senior level the Saints have claimed reserves flags in 1978 and 2010 and a total of nine under age premierships.

The seniors reached the grand final in 2008, losing by 22 points to Colbinabbin. The under seventeens also qualified for their grand final but were comprehensively beaten by Lockington Bamawm United. A year later the Saints seniors atoned by accounting for their 2008 conquerors by 4 points on grand final day with scores of 15.17 (107) to 15.13 (103). The 2010 season brought still more reason for celebration as Heathcote went back to back for the first time in their history after accounting for Lockington Bamawn United ('LBU') in the grand final by 3 goals.

In 2011 the Saints again qualified for the grand final for what, to date, has been the last time. Opposed by LBU, they suffered the agony of losing by a goal.

After reaching the finals in 2012 and 2013 the Saints tumbled down the list and the last five seasons have seen them finishing eighth (of nine) in 2014, last in 2015, eighth once more in 2016, seventh in 2017 and eighth in 2018.