Australian Football

Kenilworth

Kenilworth was a major force in the South Australian Amateur Football League for most of the 1920s and 1930s. After joining the competition in 1924 it reached the A1 Grade finals in eleven out of its first twelve seasons, capturing premierships in 1927 and 1930, both times at the expense of Adelaide University. It was also runner-up in A Grade in both 1925 and 1928, while its second string side captured an A3 Grade flag in 1931.

The late 1930s brought a decline in the club’s on-field fortunes, and in 1938 it succumbed to relegation to A2 Grade after finishing second from bottom. Its initial stint in the lower division was fleeting as it promptly secured the 1939 A2 Grade premiership, albeit that it had to rely on the minor premier’s right of challenge after losing its semi final clash with Teachers College. Faced by the same opponent a fortnight later in the challenge final Kenilworth was hard pressed all day but a combination of greater steadiness and fresher legs helped it get home by 15 points, 15.13 (103) to 12.16 (88).

The club’s 1939 A2 Grade flag triumph effectively brought its halcyon phase to an end. Although it spent a brief time in A1 Grade after the war it never seriously challenged for the premiership, and from the 1960s on entered a period of steady decline, the culmination of which came in 1986 when, to ensure its survival, it entered into a merger with Colonel Light Gardens to form Kenilworth Colonel Light. The arrangement only lasted five seasons, after which the two clubs felt sufficiently viable to re assume their separate identities, but by securing the 1989 premiership in A4 Grade the merged club did at least manage one feat which had eluded Kenilworth for half a century.

In 2008 the Kookaburras had a poor season, winning just 4 of their 18 Division Five minor round matches to finish second from last, thereby succumbing to relegation to Division Six. Recovery was fairly swift as they went top in 2011 to earn promotion, and two years later they enjoyed further premiership success in Division Five. After qualifying for the finals in second place they went on to face Woodville South in the grand final. After a tough, tight, tense encounter scores were deadlocked on 9.10 (64) apiece. In the following week's replay, however, the Kookaburras proved too strong, winning a low scoring encounter by 22 points.

The 2014 season saw Kenilworth obtaining mid-table respectability in Division Four, a feat that was repeated the following year. In 2016, however, the Kookaburras only managed to win 1 game all season en route to the wooden spoon and a ticket back to Division Five where in 2017 they again struggled, winning just 4 and drawing 1 of their 18 league matches to finish in eighth place on the ten team premiership ladder.