The Flagstaff Hill Football Club is a relatively young club compared to some and we are still building our heritage as we enter Season 2012. We commenced our evolution in 1963 as the Brighton Methodist Football Club. After only 5 seasons as a club we won our first Premiership, the E.J. Thomas Memorial Trophy in the A1 Reserves in 1967.
The 1970’s was a time of great change and development for our club. In 1974 we won another premiership, the Division 2 A Grade Premiership. The following year the club moved from Mitchell Park to Mawson High School and 2 years later in 1977 changed our name to the Brighton Tigers, omitting the 'Methodist' reference. In 1978 we changed from the United Church to the Glenelg South Football Association and then in 1979 our metamorphosis was complete when we changed our name and became incorporated as the Flagstaff Hill Football Club.
In 1981 Mayor Geoff Simpson opened our clubrooms at the Flagstaff Hill Oval and we spent our first season at our new home. The club continued to grow and evolve as it took advantage of the developing area of Flagstaff Hill, with new junior sides being added in 1983, 1984 and 1985.
1985 brought about another change as we changed associations to the Southern Football League and changed our colours to red and blue. This resulted in immediate success when we achieved the memorable double of Premierships in the A and B Grades with both teams enjoying undefeated seasons in 1985. During this year the club also achieved another milestone of some note when it registered a score of 65.30 (420), an Australian record score at the time. For the record, we won!
In 1986 we were promoted to Division 1 and won a C Grade Premiership and in 1987 in only our second year in Division 1 we lost the grand final by just 6 points.
The 1990's came with further expansions to the club, with Sub-Junior teams being introduced in all grades (Under 9's, Under 11's and Under 13's) as well as a booming Auskick program. In 1995/96 the clubrooms underwent a huge overhaul, being renovated into the clubrooms that we use today. The club went without a premiership in the 90's, with 3 grand final appearances but no flags.
The turn of the century brought about immediate success for the Falcons, with the Under 14's winning the clubs first ever Junior Premiership in the Division 2 competition. 2002 saw major changes behind the scenes, with the club taking stock and deciding it was time to move forward and we set about rebuilding our club based on the following 3 principles:
- Club Spirit
- Constant Improvement
- Junior Development
After the Southern Football League merged into one division the club set out to win its first flag in the top competition. They achieved this in 2003 with the rampant Under 14's going through the season undefeated and bringing home the Falcons first Division 1 Premiership. The highlights continued in the off-season as former Falcon Junior Adam Cooney was taken as pick No. 1 in the AFL Draft by the Western Bulldogs.
The Under 14's went back-to-back in 2004, while both the Under 16's and Under 18's capped off a stellar year for the Juniors by both making the preliminary finals. Another Flaggy junior was taken in the 2004 AFL Draft with Danny Meyer being picked up at No. 12 by Richmond, and later re-drafted by Port Adelaide.
Fantastic junior success followed on in 2005 with the clubs first Under 18's Premiership. Midway through the season the club undertook a $50,000 Oval Lighting upgrade project which was partly funded by FHFC Supporters and Sponsors.
The Oval was further improved in the 05/06 off-season with a $80,000 Drainage project undertaken, which took our oval from one of the worst to one of the best in the league. Construction of a communal storage shed, and a total renovation of the home changerooms further improved the Flagstaff Community Centre. On the field 2006 almost returned the clubs second back-to-back success with the Under 18's falling short in the Grand Final.
Premierships in both Seniors and Juniors came in 2007 with the C Grade and the Under 16's both winning their Grand Finals. Olliecom Voice & Data Solutions installed a state of the art audiovisual system into the clubrooms for reviewing games, social events, corporate functions and promoting sponsors. In 2007 the club also fielded a record (at the time) of 11 teams, 3 Senior and 8 Junior.
Our 4th Under 14's Premiership came in 2008 while past player Adam Cooney took out the AFL's most prodigious award, the Brownlow Medal while playing for the Western Bulldogs. In 2009 the Senior side of the club took steps backwards in the clubs quest for Senior glory, but the Under 18's continued the clubs strong decade in junior football with another Grand Final appearance.
2009 also saw club legend Wade Stone beat the Flagstaff Hill Football Club's record for most Senior Games, when he played his 330th game in Round 5 against Aldinga. The club took a further leap forward in the Junior system, adding both Under 14's and Under 16's to the SFL Sunday Competition. After gaining sponsorship for a new Football Club only Gym, a shed was constructed mid season and over $10,000 worth of Gym Equipment was purchased and installed before the 2010 pre-season.
2010 was another success story for the Junior Falcons with the Under 16's winning the Premiership and the Under 14's making it to a Grand Final. In 2011 the Falcons took another step towards their goal with the A Grade having their best division 1 season since 1997, finishing 4th. The B Grade also made a preliminary final after finishing minor premiers. These results along with the Under 16's going back-to-back meant that the Flagstaff Hill F.C were awarded the SFL's 'Club of the Year' in the competitions 125th year.
During the pre season of 2012 the club implemented two more major projects around the club. The first was a net which was constructed behind the southern goals to help eliminate the time lost by balls going missing everytime a goal was kicked. The second project was to replace the old goalposts, these were replaced with AFL Standard 12m high Goal posts and 9m high Point posts.
Stay tuned... or better still GET ON BOARD... this is only the beginning.
We are proud of our heritage and now we are focused on our future.