Australian Football

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KEY FACTS

Known as
Killarney Vale

Colours
Black and red (originally red, gold and black)

Emblem
Bombers

Affiliation (Current)
Black Diamond Australian Football League (BDAFL) –2025

Senior Premierships
Central Coast Australian Football League (CCAFL) - 1981-2, 1986-7, 1997-8 (6 total); Black Diamond AFL - 2007 (1 total)

Postal Address
P.O. Box 8065, Tumbi Umbi, New South Wales 2261

Killarney Vale

Established in 1978, Killarney Vale joined the Central Coast Australian Football League the same year, bringing the number of clubs in the competition, which was then in its third season, to six. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Bunyips, as Killarney Vale were initially known, occupied sixth place on the ladder at the conclusion of their debut season, but improvement quickly ensued. After getting within a game of the grand final in 1979, the side finished as runner-up the following year, and then in 1981 and ‘82 heralded its arrival as a league power by winning consecutive premierships. These breakthrough successes followed closely on a change of image and identity for the club, which adopted the same Bomber emblem and black and red colours as Essendon in the VFL.

The 1980s proved to be something of a halcyon period for Killarney Vale which, besides its 1981-2 flag wins, enjoyed further back to back successes in 1986-7. At the end of the 1989 season the club could look back on a decade that had produced perennial involvement in the finals, seven grand final appearances, plus the aforementioned quartet of premierships. The Bombers carried their consistently good form into the 1990s, which began and ended with losing grand final appearances, and in between featured another couple of premierships in 1997 and 1998.

The 2000 season presented the club with a fresh set of challenges when the CCAFL combined with the Newcastle Australian Football League to produce a new, more demanding competition, the Black Diamond AFL. So far, Killarney Vale has coped well, with its breakthrough premiership in 2007 coming after several competitive seasons which included a runners-up spot in 2005 and three third place finishes. The flag was won at the expense of a more highly fancied opponent in Newcastle City which had conclusively won all three previous encounters between the sides during the year. On grand final day, however, the Bombers applied strong pressure throughout the match to prevent the Blues from achieving their usual fluency, and ultimately won with comparative ease by 23 points, 9.10 (64) to 4.17 (41).

Subsequent seasons have produced mixed fortunes with the highlight being a losing grand final appearance against Terrigal Avoca in 2014. By contrast, two seasons later the Bombers managed just 2 wins from 17 matches to slump to the wooden spoon, a result that was duplicated in 2017. There was considerable improvement in 2018 as the Bombers qualified for the finals and were ultimately placed sixth.

Source

John Devaney - Full Points Publications


 

Footnotes

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