Killarney Vale

Established in 1978, Killarney Vale joined the Central Coast Australian Football League the same year, bringing the number of clubs in the competition, which was then in its third season, to six. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Bunyips, as Killarney Vale were initially known, occupied sixth place on the ladder at the conclusion of their debut season, but improvement quickly ensued. After getting within a game of the grand final in 1979, the side finished as runner-up the following year, and then in 1981 and ‘82 heralded its arrival as a league power by winning consecutive premierships. These breakthrough successes followed closely on a change of image and identity for the club, which adopted the same Bomber emblem and black and red colours as Essendon in the VFL.

The 1980s proved to be something of a halcyon period for Killarney Vale which, besides its 1981-2 flag wins, enjoyed further back to back successes in 1986-7. At the end of the 1989 season the club could look back on a decade that had produced perennial involvement in the finals, seven grand final appearances, plus the aforementioned quartet of premierships. The Bombers carried their consistently good form into the 1990s, which began and ended with losing grand final appearances, and in between featured another couple of premierships in 1997 and 1998.

The 2000 season presented the club with a fresh set of challenges when the CCAFL combined with the Newcastle Australian Football League to produce a new, more demanding competition, the Black Diamond AFL. So far, Killarney Vale has coped well, with its breakthrough premiership in 2007 coming after several competitive seasons which included a runners-up spot in 2005 and three third place finishes. The flag was won at the expense of a more highly fancied opponent in Newcastle City which had conclusively won all three previous encounters between the sides during the year. On grand final day, however, the Bombers applied strong pressure throughout the match to prevent the Blues from achieving their usual fluency, and ultimately won with comparative ease by 23 points, 9.10 (64) to 4.17 (41).

The 2008 season brought a slight decline in fortune as the side bowed out of premiership contention at the first semi final stage, losing by 20 points against Warners Bay.