Australian Football

Seaford

Formed late in 1921, Seaford commenced in the Peninsula and District Football Association the following year. The club was quick to assert itself, reaching a grand final in only its second season (lost to Tyabb), and capturing its first premiership in 1924 thanks to a 7.9 (51) to 6.10 (46) grand final defeat of Navy. Seaford went on to qualify for the next three grand finals as well, going down narrowly to Navy in 1925, defeating the same opponent in 1926 by 27 points, and thrashing Mornington 15.9 (99) to 6.3 (39) in 1927.

The 1934 season saw the formation of the Mornington Peninsula Football League comprising A, B and C Grades. Seaford lined up in B Grade and claimed the very first premiership at that level with a 10.11 (71) to 4.8 (32) grand final triumph over Tyabb. Victory in the B grade premiership earned the club promotion to A Grade, but it struggled for the rest of the decade and it would not be until after world war two that it would really begin to flex its muscles. The early 1950s proved to be something of a halcyon phase for the Tigers who contested five grand finals between 1950 and 1956, winning three of them.

The ensuing ten or so seasons saw the Tigers struggling but they finally made another grand final in 1968, although the result was distinctly unmemorable as they were thrashed by Chelsea. Another losing grand final followed in 1969 before Seaford finally broke through to claim its fourth post-war flag with a 15.21 (111) to 10.11 (71) defeat of Chelsea in 1970. The remainder of the 1970s proved disappointing, however.

Seaford brought its tally of MPFL flags to half a dozen with twin grand final triumphs over Chelsea in 1981 and 1985. In 1987 the MPFL merged with Nepean Football League to form the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League. The Tigers struggled for many years in this new competition before finally breaking through for a flag, obtained at the expense of Frankston YCW in the top tier Peninsula League, in 2007. This was a prelude to the club’s first ever premiership hat-trick, completed by means of successive grand final victories over Edithvale Aspendale by margins of 5 goals in 2008 and 57 points the following year. Seaford again made the grand final in 2010 only to lose to Frankston YCW but subsequent seasons have mainly seen the side struggle. Having said that, in 2015, 2016 and 2017 the Tigers only narrowly failed to qualify for the major round.