Old Westbourne

The Old Westbourne Amateur Football Club was formed in October 1990 by a group of former students of Westbourne Grammar School. Admitted to the VAFA the following year, it initially competed only in the Club XVIII competition as it had insufficient players to field a reserves team. The main reason for this was a self-imposed recruitment restriction whereby only ex-students of the school were eligible to play for the club. From 1993, however, the club chose to dispense with what it had come to see as a constraint on its growth, and welcomed players from a range of backgrounds. As a result, it was able to field both senior and reserves sides, and was admitted to the mainstream VAFA competition, commencing in F2 Grade.\n\nOld Westbourne’s first senior grade grand final appearance came in 2004 in D4 Section, and in what was a landmark day for the club it scored a highly impressive 55 point win over Kew to snare its inaugural flag. In 2005 and 2006 the side competed in D3 Grade, performing creditably in both years to finish fourth and fifth.It was somewhat unfortunate in the latter season in that its tally of 12 wins from 18 matches would normally have been expected to have been good enough to secure a finals berth, but it fell short by a single game. It made emphatic amends a year later when, after cruising to the minor premiership with 16 wins and a draw from its 18 home and away matches, it scored comfortable wins over Hawthorn in the second semi final and Ivanhoe Assumption in the grand final to earn the second senior grade premiership in its history.\n\nSince 2008 Old Westbourne has competed in D2 Section. In 2009 the club’s senior grade side performed moderately well, but its ultimate record of 10 wins and 8 losses narrowly failed to procure finals involvement.