Australian Football

As the name suggests, Windsor Zillmere arose out of an amalgamation between the Windsor and Zillmere Australian Football Clubs. Initially, as with many marriages of convenience, finding a winning formula proved elusive, and over the course of the new club’s first decade finals involvement was only sporadically enjoyed. However, by the mid 1970s, if some crass wordplay can be allowed, the Eagle was ready to land, an activity it undertook just as football in Queensland was experiencing arguably the closest thing to a genuine boom period in its history. Attendances were on the rise and, helped to a great extent by an influx of ‘foreign’ players and coaches from the southern states, the standard of football being played was higher than ever. On the interstate front Queensland won section two of the Australian championships for the first time, and scored its first ever victories over Tasmania in 1975 and the Victorian Football Association two years later.

While this was happening Windsor Zillmere, with premierships in 1975 and 1976, was Queensland’s leading football club. With players like Ken Fitzgerald, Neville Weller, Frank Cattelini and Barry Karklis to the fore, it seemed set to dominate for years to come, but this was not to be. The side did make one further grand final during the 1970s, in 1978, but with only 14 goals from 39 scoring shots effectively kicked itself out of contention against Western Districts, who managed 17.11 (113).

The Eagles returned to pre-eminence briefly in 1981 and again seven years later, but maintaining financial viability in football was becoming increasingly problematical. In 1991, in a bid to ensure survival, it was decided to combine forces with Sandgate to form a new club, North Brisbane.