Australian Football

Shepparton Swans

The club which is today known as the Shepparton Swans began life as the Lemnos Football Club in 1928. Lemnos is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea which the allied troops in world war one used as a base for the ill-fated Gallipoli operation out of which the nation-shaping ANZAC tradition arose. After the war, many ex-serviceman were settled on the land, portions of which in the Shepparton area had been subdivided under the Closer Settlement Scheme. One such portion of land, originally known as Thomas Estate No. 5, was given the name Lemnos by its residents, many of whom had fought at Gallipoli. The name was a ratification of the bond the former soldiers shared, as well as a reminder of the courage and self-sacrifice displayed by so many fallen comrades. The Diggers were nothing if not resilient, however, and they were quick to discern the name’s quirkily amusing, near palindromic properties, so that it was not very long before the phrase “lemons for Lemnos!” became something of a catch cry for the district (and, needless to say, a highly appropriate one, given that Shepparton lies at the heart of a major fruit-growing region).

By the time that the football club got underway Lemnos had developed into a modern, thriving community. The team, which wore the black and yellow of VFL club Richmond, played its home matches at the Lemnos Recreation Reserve, adjacent to the local Primary School. Admitted to the Goulburn Valley Second Eighteens Football Association, Lemnos would remain in the competition until 1941, winning premierships in 1937, 1938 and 1940. By this time the club was playing its home games at the Shepparton Recreation Reserve (later re-named Deakin Reserve), while the name of the competition had been changed to the Goulburn Valley Football Association.

After world war two Lemnos found that both its colours and its place in the GVFA had been usurped by Shepparton East, but it turned the situation to its advantage when it applied for, and was granted, admission to the stronger Goulburn Valley Football League. A couple of concessions were necessary before Lemnos could commence life in their new environment, however. Given that the GVFL was a town-based competition, the club’s name had to be altered to Lemnos Shepparton, although as things turned out this change was only temporary. More permanent were the changes required to the club’s colours, in view of the fact that black and yellow was already being used, by Rushworth. Lemnos opted for white with a red vee, as worn by VFL club South Melbourne - the Swans. Since 1946 the club’s uniform has been modified a few times, but the colours have remained unchanged. On joining the GVFL Lemnos relocated to the Shepparton Showgrounds for home matches.

The Swans, as they perhaps inevitably became known, first had a significant impact on their new competition in 1949 when captain-coach Bill Tyquin won the Morrison Medal. Tyquin, a talented key position defender, would also win the Lemnos best and fairest award on four occasions during the course of his eight season career with the club.

As a team, however, it was not until the late 1950s that Lemnos really began to assert itself in the GVFL, but when it did so it promptly made up for any lost time by winning consecutive flags. In the 1959 grand final the Swans emphatically downed Kyabram by 39 points, and the following year accounted for Nagambie in a dour battle of the backlines by 14 points. Both flags were achieved under the guidance of Doug Palmer, a former Geelong premiership player who arrived at Lemnos in 1957, and served as the club’s captain-coach for five seasons. Undoubted star of the team was Robbie Orrman, winner of the 1951, 1954 and 1959 Morrison Medals as well as the club’s best and fairest award on a record six occasions.

There were no further premierships during the 1960s, but one noteworthy development was the club’s decision to relocate to Princess Park where an ongoing series of improvements was implemented.

The 1968 season saw the club’s three grades all competing in their respective grand finals, the first time that this had occurred in league history. Unfortunately, all three teams finished runners-up - as, remarkably, they did again the very next year. Finally, in 1970, both the seniors and the thirds broke through for premierships, with the seniors comfortably seeing off the challenge of Kyabram in their grand final by 35 points. Captain-coach of the Swans’ 1970 premiership side was Roland Crosby, formerly of North Melbourne, who was also at the helm the following year when Lemnos lost a top quality, high scoring grand final to Euroa by 30 points.

During the 1980s the Swans failed to add to their premiership tally, although they finished runners-up in 1982 to Seymour and 1983 to Tongala. The ensuing decade was similarly dismal, at least in terms of procuring flags. The 1999 season brought a significant change at the club when, in anticipation of the fresh challenges that would inevitably arise in the new century, it adopted the trading name of the Shepparton Swans. Initially the club responded to those challenges well, with the senior side contesting the finals in 2001-2-3 and 2006. In November 2006 it was announced that Peter White, who had coached Kyabram to a premiership in 1996, would be the Swans senior playing coach in 2007. His impact on the Swans was immediate and considerable as the side comfortably qualified for the finals with a 13-5 record. However, reigning premier Seymour proved too strong in both the second semi final and grand final, making it clear that a fair amount of work still needed to be done if the Swans were to take that final elusive step to premiership glory. Unfortunately, instead of making progress, the side endured a slump in fortunes over the ensuing couple of seasons. After an unsuccessful finals campaign in 2008 the Swans plummeted to tenth place on the twelve team ladder the following year after managing just 5 wins from their 18 home and away matches.

The 2010 season brought something of a restoration of fortunes and pride as the Swans qualified for the finals and ultimately finished fourth. It proved to be a false dawn, however, as in 2011 they slumped to second from last on the ladder after winning just 2 of their 18 league matches. The following season saw scant improvement, but in 2013 the Swans again qualified for the major round and got to within a game of the grand final. In 2014 they improved still further and if the premiership they ultimately procured was unexpected it was nevertheless deserved. Opposed in the grand final by a Benalla side which had won all 19 matches contested prior to the grand final the Swans eked out a narrow and hard earned victory. The last quarter was a torrid affair with the Swans only managing to score a single behind themselves but crucially keeping Benalla to just 1.2 leaving them 3 points adrift.

In the wake of such a noteworthy triumph the subsequent two seasons have to be seen as rather disappointing. The side duly qualified for the finals in both years but bowed out of the flag race at the first hurdle at the hands of Seymour in 2015 and Benalla in 2016. Then, in 2017 the Swans slumped to the indignity of the wooden spoon after managing just a couple of wins from 18 matches. A year later they fared even worse, losing all 18 games contested en route to a second successive last place finish.