Australian Football

The official Sandringham Football Club best and fairest award is named in honour of Neil Bencraft, a fitting endorsement of his almost forty years of service to the club both on and off the field. His senior playing career actually got underway at Melbourne in the VFL, however, where he played a couple of games and kicked three goals in 1944. The following season saw him at Sandringham where he would go on to 141 VFA games and boot 244 goals in an eight season stint. That stint got underway in highly promising fashion as Bencraft won the Zebras' 1945 best and fairest award. Even better was to follow a year later as Sandringham won their first ever VFA premiership with Bencraft, who had roved well all day, contributing the decisive goal in a seven point grand final defeat of Camberwell. Another grand final appearance followed in 1947 but Port Melbourne had the Zebras' measure on that occasion.

As a coach Neil Bencraft led Sandringham for five years, commencing in 1958 and culminating with the 1962 first division grand final defeat of Moorabbin, a match which has to go down as one of the most noteworthy in football history. At three quarter time Moorabbin led 12.15 to 6.7 only for the Zebras to come storming back, adding eight last term goals to one to steal victory at the death by the narrowest margin possible.

Bencraft continued his involvement with Sandringham by coaching the thirds to five premierships in a dozen seasons.

Author - John Devaney