Australian Football

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KEY FACTS

Official name
Old Geelong Grammarians Football Club

Known as
Old Geelong

Former name
Old Geelong Grammarians

Former name date
1974-01-01

Formed
1954

Colours
Navy blue and white

Emblem
Ogs

Affiliation (Current)
Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) 1954–2024

Home Ground
Como Park

Senior Premierships
VAFA C Section - 1957 (1 total); D Section/Division One - 1956, 1966, 2016 (3 total); E Section - 1990, 2005 (2 total)

Championships and Trophies
LS Zachariah Medal – T.F. Brown 1969 (1 total); LS Pepper Medal – A.H. Poolman 1965; John W. Manton 1992 (2 total); J Fullerton Medal – B.H. Spiden 1978; H. McCarthy 2003 (2 total); Peter Hutchinson Medal – Dougal G. Morrison 1983 (1 total)

Old Geelong

Old Geelong Grammarians came into being in early 1954, and within a few months was lining up for its first match in the VAFA’s newly formed E Section. Progress was swift, with the side reaching a grand final in its second season and thereby earning promotion to D Section, although somewhat disappointingly it failed to annex the flag, losing by 30 points to De La Salle. A year later, however, it was smiles all round as both premiership and promotion were achieved thanks to a resounding 11.16 (82) to 7.1 (43) D Section grand final win over UHSOB.

The Ogs, as they are popularly known, were now on a roll, and in 1957 they breezed their way through C Section, clinching their second successive flag and third straight promotion with a 19 point grand final defeat of ES and A Bank. Five years earlier the club had not even existed, and yet here it was within touching distance of A Section.

It is now more than six decades later, and A Grade football remains an elusive dream. During the late 1950s and early ‘60s the Ogs’ fortunes declined steadily, and when they next contested the finals in 1965 it was in D Section. After bowing out in the preliminary final that year they re grouped and twelve months later the entire club had ample cause for celebration as both the seniors and the reserves went top. The seniors won their grand final by 30 points thanks in part to some superb kicking for goal. Final scores were Old Geelong 13.5 (83) to Old Carey Grammarians 7.11 (53). The reserves team had only been established in 1963 and this was its first premiership.

The 1970s and 1980s did not produce any further senior grade flags, and although the side made intermittent finals appearances, it also succumbed to relegation several times. By 1990 the Ogs were back where they started, in E Section, but paradoxically this proved to be a springboard to a much more productive decade. They won the E Section premiership that year on the strength of a highly impressive 19.15 (129) to 10.7 (67) grand final demolition of AJAX and within two years they were back in C Section, albeit through the ‘back door’ after losing the D Section grand final to St. Bede’s Mentone Tigers.

Old Geelong’s fifth senior flag was won as in D2 Section in 2005, courtesy of a 9.17 (71) to 6.14 (50) grand final triumph over Rupertswood. The side lost just one match for the season, but the reserves did even better, winning their premiership unbeaten.

In 2006, coached by Michael Lockman, the Ogs got as far as the D1 Section preliminary final, where they had the misfortune to come up against a Rupertswood side that managed to find its best form when it mattered. Having come so close to promotion, though, they would have been extremely confident of taking that vital extra step in 2007 under the guidance of Lockman’s replacement as senior coach, Adrian Farrer, a former player with the club. However, they found the going tougher than expected, and their eventual tally of 10 wins from 18 matches was only good enough for sixth place on the ten team ladder.

In 2008 Old Geelong enjoyed an excellent season that ought really to have culminated in a premiership. As it was, the Ogs somehow managed to squander opportunity after opportunity in losing the grand final to Bulleen Templestowe by a couple of straight kicks. Final scores were Bulleen Templestowe 21.9 (135) defeated Old Geelong 17.21 (123). The 2009 season brought consolidation in C Section with the side managing 5 wins from its 18 matches to finish in eighth place, one and a half wins clear of relegated Bulleen Templestowe, but one season later the Ogs were relegated back to Division One as D Section was by this time known. Between 2011 and 2016 Old Geelong competed in Division One, struggling a little at first before finding their feet. In 2016, however, they reached the grand final and managed to procure their sixth senior grade flag thanks to a 14.10 (94) to 12.14 (86) defeat of Old Mentonians. This triumph earned the Ogs promotion to Premier C where they consolidated in 2017 by winning 9 of their 18 matches to finish fifth before getting as far as the grand final a year later, only to lose by 70 points to Fitzroy. Nevertheless, as runners-up the principal goal of promotion had been achieved, and the 2019 season will see them lining up in the VAFA's second tier competition for the first time since 1958.

Source

John Devaney - Full Points Publications

 

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.