Australian Football

Lefroy

Formed in 1898, at a time when interest in football in the Hobart area was at a low ebb, and the very continuation of the STFA was in doubt, Lefroy went on to become one of Tasmania’s most successful football clubs until the emergence of district football in 1945 forced its demise.

Lefroy’s success began at once, as it won all bar 1 of its 9 games in 1898 to secure the premiership ahead of established club North Hobart. Playing an exciting brand of football, Lefroy was instrumental in enticing spectators back to the code, and it continued its dominance in 1899 when it again lost only 1 match en route to the premiership. In an unofficial state premiership clash with Launceston, Lefroy won easily, 10.12 (72) to 1.6 (12).

Lefroy’s bid for three premierships in a row faltered at the last hurdle in 1900 when it lost to Wellington by 14 points in the season’s decisive match. A year later it achieved revenge in conclusive style with a 52 point grand final annihilation of its 1900 conquerors, following this up with an unofficial state premiership win over Launceston, but the rapid improvement in the standard of Tasmanian football - brought about in large part by Lefroy’s influence - was leading to a tougher, more evenly contested competition. Lefroy’s losing grand final appearance against North Hobart in 1902 was the closest the club would come to a premiership for five years.

In 1907, as record crowds flocked to games, Lefroy re-emerged as a power, narrowly overcoming North Hobart in the race for the flag, which was decided on total premiership points achieved, rather than by means of a finals system. In an unofficial state premiership encounter in Launceston, however, the Blues went under to City by 27 points.

With North Hobart and Lefroy finishing level on points at the end of the 1908 season a play off was necessary in order to determine the premiers. After a nail-biting confrontation, the scoreboard showed Lefroy 4.6 (30) having tied with North Hobart 3.12 (30). The game captured the imagination of the football public, and when the replay took place it attracted a record crowd of 8,000, who were treated to another absorbing tussle which the Robins eventually won by 4 points.

Lefroy finished second again in 1909, losing the grand final against newcomers Cananore by 23 points. The TFL competition[1] at this period in time was contested by just three clubs - Lefroy, North Hobart and Cananore - but such was the evenness in standard between them that matches were well attended, and football’s popularity was at an all time high.

Lefroy next broke through for a flag in 1912 when it overcame North Hobart 6.12 (48) to 3.12 (30) in the decisive match of the year before securing its first official state premiership after “showing an excellent combination of pace and brilliance, with every member of the team working with clock-like precision and unbounded enthusiasm”[2] against NTFA premier North Launceston in Launceston. Lefroy won 8.9 (57) to the northerners’ 4.10 (34).

With sides depleted because of the loss of players to the armed forces, Lefroy won its seventh premiership in 1915 after a closely contested season. In the grand final, it overcame Cananore 6.12 (48) to 3.5 (23).

Following New Town‘s admission in 1921, the TFL became a four club competition, and it would probably be fair to suggest that Lefroy’s days as a pre-eminent league power were over. Nevertheless, it would still win a further three premierships before its eventual demise. The first of these came in 1924 when, on grand final day, it overcame both the opposition in the shape of Cananore and incessant, lashing rain in what, in spite of the atrocious weather, was described as “one of the most spectacular games in years”.[3] With the two sides having, earlier in the season, produced a high scoring classic (won by Lefroy by 12 points), on this occasion it was a completely different brand of - equally exhilarating - football which had the crowd at fever pitch:

A heavy fall of rain greeted the first bounce of the ball and continued for an hour. Lefroy attacked vigorously and so systematically that 5 goals were scored before the attackers eased off. Cananore retaliated with a succession of attacks that gave it 2.3. A dribbled goal by Lefroy opened the 2nd quarter, then Cananore took a hand and fought like Britons. The Canaries lost many good positions owing to defective forward work and their shooting for goal was in marked contrast to the Lefroyites. The play was even, as the half time scores showed - Lefroy 6.2 to Cananore 3.6. The 3rd belonged to Cananore which attacked with remarkable determination. But the defence was too solid to do much damage. It was the best quarter of the day and both skippers were on the alert for weak spots. The scores bear out the solid nature of the play, for Lefroy scored 1 point to Cananore’s 4. With a deficit of 11 points, Cananore faced a big task. Scores were: Lefroy 5.1, 6.2, 6.3, 8.3 (51); Cananore 2.3, 3.6, 3.10, 4.11 (35).[4]

A week after the grand final the Blues met visiting SANFL premier, West Torrens, losing an absorbing, high quality encounter by 19 points, before later going on to down NTFA premier Launceston by 4 points for the state title. The remainder of the 1920s were dominated by Cananore and North Hobart, but in 1930 the Blues prevented what would have been a sequence of three consecutive premierships by the Robins when they won a gripping grand final by 18 points, 14.11 (95) to 10.17 (77). It was a vastly different story in the state grand final, however, as NTFA premier City, which boasted a youthful Laurie Nash in its line up, overwhelmed the Blues by 58 points, 14.10 (94) to 5.6 (36). North Hobart was very much the pre-eminent force in the TFL for most of the 1930s, but Lefroy did manage one moment of glory, winning the Coronation year premiership in 1937. The Blues were clearly the strongest side in the competition that year, winning 11 and drawing 1 of their 15 roster matches before trouncing North Hobart 17.12 (114) to 9.15 (69) in the grand final. Once again, however, the state title proved elusive, with North Launceston playing the steadier football to win in the end by 21 points, 16.9 (105) to 12.12 (84).

Another highlight for Lefroy during the 1930s was a challenge match in 1935 against touring VFL club, Fitzroy, for whom the great Haydn Bunton senior booted 7 goals in a 16.11 (105) to 10.4 (64) win.

Lefroy again qualified for the TFL grand final in 1938 after a high standard 17.17 (119) to 15.19 (109) semi final defeat of Cananore. However, on grand final day North Hobart proved able to resist everything the Blues threw at them, ultimately edging home in a thriller by 12 points. Little could the spectators who watched the match have realised, first, that the TFL as they had known it since the early years of the twentieth century was on its last legs, and secondly that Lefroy was not only playing in its last ever senior grand final, but, within three years, would effectively no longer exist.

When world war two commenced in 1939 the TFL, in common with other major leagues around Australia, spluttered on for another couple of seasons, but from 1942 to 1944 it went into mothballs, along with its four constituent clubs. When the league re-opened for business in 1945 it was with a re-vamped, district-based structure that had no room for old style clubs like Lefroy and Cananore, which were replaced by Hobart and Sandy Bay. Applications for admission to the new competition from Bellerive (later Clarence) and New Norfolk were temporarily shelved, but later accepted. 

Over the years, Lefroy had provided an outlet for the talents of many excellent footballers, none of whom made a greater all round impact than games played record holder, Gavin Luttrell, winner of the club’s last four best and fairest awards in succession, between 1937 and 1940. During the 1930s he was rated the best wingman in Tasmania. After Lefroy folded, he went on to play with both Longford and North Launceston, ultimately taking his career tally of games to more than 350.

All told, the Lefroy Football Club existed for less than half a century, and yet its impact on, and contribution to, Tasmanian football was significant, and deserves to be recalled with admiration and respect. In a sense, it helped lay the foundation for what might be described as Tasmanian football’s ‘golden era’ of the 1950s and ‘60s, as well as providing a sobering reminder that, in football as in life, no amount of success can ever guarantee survival.