Australian Football

Strathalbyn can lay claim to being one of the oldest country football clubs in South Australia tracing its history back as far as 1879. For the remainder of the nineteenth century the club engaged in periodic challenge matches against teams from nearby towns such as Murray Bridge, Mount Barker and Meadows. In 1903 and 1904 the club played in the Hills Football Association before resuming the cycle of challenge matches in 1905. The 1906 season saw Strathalbyn commence an extended involvement in the HFA which continued until 1929 and saw the club engaging in a total of fifteen premiership play-offs, from seven of which they emerged victorious. In 1930 Strathalbyn undertook a one season stint in the Great Southern Football League, reaching the grand final only to lose by 40 points to Victor Harbor. The 1931 season saw the commencement of a prolonged and reasonably successful involvement in the Hills Central Football Association. By the time the club returned to the GSFL in 1963 it had contested nine CHFA grand finals, winning in 1933 against Aldgate, 1952 against Echunga, 1958 against Meadows, and 1960 at the expense of Mount Barker. The 1934 grand final against Aldgate ended in a draw, with Aldgate winning the replay comfortably.

On resuming in the GSFL in 1963 the Roosters enjoyed an exemplary start to their involvement in the competition by claiming that year’s premiership with a 13.12 (90) to 6.8 (44) grand final defeat of Victor Harbor. Twelve months later the same two clubs again played off for the flag with Strathalbyn once more triumphing, albeit by the somewhat narrower margin of 10 points. The Roosters went on to qualify for each of the next four grand finals, facing Encounter Bay each time for wins in 1966 and 1968 and losses in the other two years. Given that the decade had opened with the club claiming a premiership in the Hills Central Football Association it is difficult to gainsay the impression that the 1960s were Strathalbyn’s halcyon era. Not that the ensuing couple of decades suffer much in comparison. During the 1970s the Roosters contested five senior grade grand finals, winning against Goolwa in 1971 and Mount Compass in 1979. The 1980s produced half a dozen grand final appearances for three wins but for the remainder of the twentieth century the Roosters struggled somewhat, adding just a solitary premiership to their tally. This came in 2000 by means of a 7.12 (54) to 7.4 (46) grand final defeat of Willunga. Strathalbyn played off for the premiership three times in ten seasons following their 2000 triumph, but McLaren in 2003 and Willunga in both 2008 and 2009 proved too strong. Mind you, the 2009 grand final was a close and tensely fought affair, with Willunga only triumphing in the end by a couple of points.

Finally, in 2010 the Roosters managed to claim their eleventh A Grade flag thanks to a 13.8 (86) to 12.11 (83) grand final defeat of Willunga. They were also successful in their next grand final appearance in 2014, downing Encounter Bay by 8 points, 7.8 (50) to 6.6 (42), meaning that with twelve senior grade flags to their credit the Roosters have been the GSFL's second most successful club, after Victor Harbor.

Since claiming their 2014 premiership the Roosters have finished fourth (2015), third (2016), seventh (2017) and eighth (2018) on a ladder containing ten teams.