The Drysdale Football and Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Hawks'', is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

club that plays in the

Bellarine Football League The Bellarine Football Netball League (BFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Bellarine Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia. Established in 1971 as the Bellarine & District Football League, the competition ...

and situated in the township of Drysdale, in the centre of the Bellarine Peninsula,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The clubs plays its home games at Drysdale Recreation Reserve, Drysdale. Its teams currently compete in the

, a competition based in the

Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...

region of

, formed in 1971.

History

The club was established in 1879. Drysdale club played in an early version Bellarine Football League that ran from 1895 to 1914. Reformed after the great war the club continued to play locally until 1924 when it joined the Geelong Football Association. The Drysdale Football Club continued to play in various Geelong district competitions until the Bellarine District Football League was formed in 1971. Drysdale won back to back premierships in the GDFL prior to joining the new league. Since joining the Bellarine District Football League the club has a winning rate of 60.1%. The Drysdale Football Club was first formed in 1879 when, as reported in the Geelong Advertiser, a team played the Chillwell 2nds on Saturday, 14 June. The side, captained by Cuddy, was defeated six goals to two. Other games followed that year against East Geelong, Artillery, and Wanderers, with a draw against Artillery the best result. Early games were played at a ground behind the hotel known as The Buck's Head. This was also the location of the race-track and the ground was most likely in the centre of this. In 1900 The Bellarine Football Competition was formed with games previous to that being by invitation only. Drysdale, Portarlington, and Queenscliff were the inaugural teams with Military joining some years later. The club's first premiership came in 1903 with an impressive marble clock being awarded to the victors. The clock can still be seen in the clubrooms today. The club colours have changed many times over the years with membership tickets giving us the best indication of early colour combinations. The club has in its possession a maroon and gold ticket from 1891, a blue & white ticket from 1912, and a red & white ticket from 1935. The club continued to wear white jumpers with a red sash until 1948 when new jumpers were urgently required but these colours were unavailable. The brown jumper with gold collar & cuffs was adopted & worn until 1978 when brown & gold vertical stripes were chosen for financial reasons. The final change came in 2005 when the club reverted to the 1948 design of brown jumpers with a gold vee. Throughout its history the Drysdale Football Club has played in several different competitions experiencing much success resulting in thirteen senior, five reserves, four under 18, five under 16, & six under 13 premierships.

Premierships

(5): 1976, 1977, 1985, 2009, 2010

Notable VFL/AFL players

*Dick Grigg with

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

* Ron Lunn with

Russell Renfrey Russell 'Hooker' Renfrey (11 August 1923 – 28 April 2018) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, l ...

with

Adam Richardson Adam Scott Richardson (born 20 August 1974) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to moving to ...

with

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Tom Ruggles Tom Ruggles (born 25 April 1992) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the Geelong Football Club with their third selection and f ...

with

Connor Idun Connor Idun (born 29 July 2000) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Connor Idun was born in London to an Australian mother and a father from Ghan ...

with

Greater Western Sydney Football Club The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

Notable netball players

Emily Mannix Emily Mannix (born 16 April 1994) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Melbourne Vixens. Early life Mannix attended Geelong Grammar School on a sports scholarship and played netball for Drysdale i ...

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 ...

Bibliography

* ''Cat Country: History of Football in the Geelong Region'' by John Stoward – Aussie Footy Books, 2008 –

References

External links

Official website
{{AFL Barwon Women's Football Bellarine Football League Australian rules football clubs in Victoria (state) Sports clubs and teams established in 1879 Australian rules football clubs established in 1879 1879 establishments in Australia Netball teams in Victoria (state)