The Latrobe Football Club 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 ...

club based in the town of Latrobe in northern Tasmania. The club competed in the

North West Football Union The North West Football Union (NWFU) was an Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 to 1986. In its time it was one of the three main leagues in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Football League and Northern Tasmanian Football As ...

throughout the competition's entire existence from 1910 until 1986, and has competed in its successor, the

North West Football League The North West Football League is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the "Northern Tasmanian Football League" from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 season. History ...

, since 1987. Latrobe was one of the most successful NWFU clubs, and its tally of 12 premierships is a joint record shared with Burnie and Ulverstone. It was the only club to win four successive NWFU premierships, achieved from 1969 to 1972. In 2013, it became the first Tasmanian club outside of the

State League The Hallyburton Johnstone Shield is the premier domestic women's one-day cricket competition in New Zealand. The tournament began in 1935–36, as a first-class competition, but is now played as a 50-over competition, with six provincial teams ...

to be inducted into the

Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame The Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame was established to help recognise outstanding services and overall contribution made to the sport of Australian rules football in Tasmania. Any participant of the sport, including players, umpires, media person ...

History

During their time in the NWFU, Latrobe were known as the "Diehards" and had royal blue and red as their club colours. The club was formed on the 19 June 1881 and they played local football before joining the NWFA in 1894. They continued in the NWFA until 1908 where after a fallout with the NWFA executive they helped formed the NWFL in 1909. this turned into the NWFU IN 1910. They claimed premierships in 1891, 1892 in local competitions and a NWFA premiership in 1907. In 1910, Latrobe were one of the foundation members of the NWFU and were premiers in just their fourth season. They had one of their strongest era in the 1920, appearing in every Grand Final from 1920 to 1924 and were to have a particularly successful team in the early 1930s winning three of the four premiership titles on offer between 1930 and 1933, only missing out in 1932 when they were losing Grand Finalists. The club had fielded two different teams in the 1931 season, Latrobe Country and Latrobe Town, to fill a spot vacated by Devonport's withdrawal, but merged again for the finals series. After their 1933 success, the Diehards didn't win another NWFU premierships for 36 years, they began building a strong team in the 1960s, highlighted by the fact that every Wander Medal between 1964 and 1971 was won by a Latrobe player. This culminated in their drought breaking Grand Final win in 1969 under captain-coach

Darrel Baldock Darrel John Baldock AM (29 September 1938 – 2 February 2011) was an Australian sportsman and state politician. He played Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), East Devonport Footba ...

, who then steered Latrobe to the next three premierships. Latrobe won the

Tasmanian State Premiership The Tasmanian State Premiership was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested at the conclusion of the season, initially between the reigning Tasmanian Football League (TFL/TANFL) and Northern Tasmanian Football Association (18 ...

in 1970 when they defeated

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

by 35 points at

Devonport Oval Devonport Oval is an Australian rules football, cricket and athletics stadium in Devonport, Tasmania. It is the home stadium for the Devonport Football Club in the Tasmanian State League (TSL) and for the Devonport Cricket Club in the NWTCA comp ...

. Latrobe also reached the Tasmanian State Premiership decider in 1971 and 1972 but lost to Sandy Bay and City-South respectively. The 1972 premiership was Latrobe's last in the NWFU. The club competed in the NWFU until it merged with the NTFA to form the

Northern Tasmanian Football League The North West Football League is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the "Northern Tasmanian Football League" from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 season. History ...

in 1987, and has competed in that competition (which was renamed the

in 2015) since. It won its first NTFL premiership in 2010, ending a 38-year premiership drought across both competitions, by defeating Ulverstone by 30 points in the NTFL Grand Final after having previously lost the 1994 and 2000 Grand Finals to Ulverstone on both occasions. It was the first of three premierships won over four years from 2010 until 2013.

Club details

*Home ground – Darrel Baldock Oval (Latrobe Recreation Ground) *Established – 19 June 1881 *Playing colours – Navy blue and red *Emblem – Demons *Club theme song – "It's a Grand Old Flag" (Tune: "

You're a Grand Old Flag "You're a Grand Old Flag" is an American patriotic march. The song, a spirited march written by George M. Cohan, is a tribute to the U.S. flag. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, includ ...

") *Affiliations – NWFL (1882–1909) NWFU (1910–1986), NTFL/NWFL (1987–present)

Premiership titles

NWFL Premierships * 1891, 1892, 1907 NWFU Premierships *1913, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972. NTFL/NWFL Premierships *2010, 2011, 2013, 2016

s *1970.

Individual medal winners

Wander Medal winners * 1948 – Dave Jeffrey * 1952 – Peter Gillam * 1956 – Joe Murphy * 1959 –

* 1964 – Wally Clark * 1965 – Len Lawson * 1966 – Bob Hickman * 1967 – Bob Hickman * 1968 –

Brian Waters Brian Demond Waters (born February 18, 1977) is a former American football offensive guard, guard. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1999 out of the University of North Texas. He played most of his career for the K ...

* 1969 –

* 1970 –

John Jillard John Jillard (28 March 1941 – 28 December 1998) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Latrobe Football Club in the North West Football Union The North Wes ...

* 1971 –

Ovaltine Medal winners * Nil Pivot Medal winners * Nil Darrel Baldock Medal winners * 2009 – Gavin Woodcock * 2013 - Josh Holland * 2014 - Josh Holland (joint winner) All Australian players * 1961 -

Competition leading goalkickers

NWFU leading goalkickers * 1920 – H. Hicks (Not available) * 1921 – H. Hicks (Not available) * 1922 – H. Hicks (39) * 1937 – N. Horne (71) * 1938 – N. Horne (61) * 1939 – N. Horne (84) * 1954 – A. Cole (97) * 1970 – R. (Ned) Gillam (83) * 1986 – Tom Honner (85) NTFL/NWFL leading goalkickers * 1989 – Mark Williams (132) * 1994 –

Terry Keays Terence John "Terry" Keays (born 3 May 1970) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Richmond in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL). His grandfather Fred Keays represented both Fitzroy and Col ...

(117) * 2000 – S. French (42) * 2011 - B. Deverall (77) * 2012 - B. Deverall (106) * 2013 - A.Jeffrey (67) * 2016 - Ryan Keep (103)

Club records

Club record score * 38.22 (250) v

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

9.6 (60) in 2004 Club record games holder * Rod Butler (324)

Club record match attendance

* 11,329 – Latrobe v Sandy Bay at

North Hobart Oval North Hobart Oval is a Stadium, sports venue in North Hobart, Tasmania, used for Australian rules football. History North Hobart Oval started its existence as Hobart Town's brickfields in 1844 before becoming a Brickfields Hiring Depot, convi ...

on 2 October 1971 for the

Final.

References

External links

Full Points Footy: Latrobe
{{North West Football League Australian rules football clubs in Tasmania 1881 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1881 North West Football League clubs