Woodville-West Torrens 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 playing in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL). It was formed in 1990 from an amalgamation of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football clubs and played its inaugural game in 1991. Since 1993, the Eagles have played most of their home games at Woodville's home ground of

Woodville Oval Woodville Oval (currently Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval and formerly ''Unleash Solar Oval'') is primarily an Australian rules football and cricket oval found on Oval Avenue in the western Adelaide suburb of Woodville South in South Australia. It ...

, having previously used

Football Park Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, South Australia, West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 197 ...

. They also play two or three games per season at their pre-season base of

Thebarton Oval Thebarton Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia currently used for a variety of sports including Australian rules football. It was the home ground of South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Torrens Football Clu ...

, a ground which has six light towers that the club has upgraded in 2012 to allow night games at the ground for the first time since the 1983 Escort Cup Grand Final (a game won by West Torrens).

History

West Torrens had competed in the SANFL since the 1895 SAFA season, when it was originally known as the Port Natives (who wore Blue and Gold) and renamed to West Torrens for the

1897 SAFA season The 1897 South Australian Football Association season was the 21st edition of the top level of Australian rules football to be played in South Australia. Port Adelaide won its 3rd premiership. This was the first season of football in South Aus ...

, while Woodville entered the competition for 1964 SANFL season. However, a third western suburbs team in the competition West Adelaide proved too much to handle with both sides struggling on the field following Woodville's inception. Heading into 1964, West Torrens had won four premierships in the previous forty seasons, and were a highly competitive club, regular finalists, and played off in 8 Grand Finals - the last one being the 1953 victory over Port Adelaide. Woodville did not win a premiership or play in a grand final in their twenty-seven seasons (1964–90), usually being close to or on the bottom of the ladder. West Torrens were also dragged down to this level by the 1970s. Whispers had grown throughout SA football circles that a merger would save these clubs throughout the 1980s. In 1990, the imminent admission of the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

into the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

placed both club's futures as separate entities in serious doubt: West Torrens was technically insolvent, with debts of $1.1 million, and while Woodville was financially viable, club officials realised that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the club to be competitive in the foreseeable future. It was decided at the end of the season to merge the two sides to form the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles, effectively returning to how things were prior to 1964. The club would play their home games at Woodville's home ground, Woodville Oval, and use the West Torrens Eagle emblem. The new club proved immediately competitive, and won their first premiership in 1993. In accepting the Thomas Seymour Hill Trophy for the first time for the Eagles, captain Peter Schwarz jubilantly proclaimed: :''"This is a very sweet moment – the end result of two clubs that made a lot of tough decisions three years ago. This is for Woodville and for West Torrens. Now we are one club."'' The club colours of blue, gold and green incorporate the club colours of West Torrens (blue and gold) and Woodville (green and gold). The Eagle logo of the West Torrens Football Club was adopted as the official emblem of Woodville West Torrens. It was also agreed that blue would be the primary colour of the merged club. It took 27 years, but order was finally restored for SANFL clubs in the western suburbs in 1991. By 2018, the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club officially surpassed Woodville's total existence as it entered its 28th SANFL season, and interestingly, the club's on-field record read very similar to that of West Torrens prior to Woodville entering the competition in 1964. Woodville-West Torrens entered a team in the

SANFL Women's League SANFL Women's League (also known as the SANFLW or the Hostplus SANFL Women's League) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in South Australia. History The league was launched in February 2017, initially comprising ...

in 2019 and, as of 2021 SANFL season, are the only club to have never won a

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

Premierships

After having merged only 3 years prior, Woodville-West Torrens claimed the Holy Grail of SANFL footy, The Thomas Seymour Hill Trophy, with a convincing 73-point victory over Norwood. It would, however, prove to be the Eagles only premiership success during 1994–2005 in which they lost 5 Grand Finals – 1994 to Port Adelaide and 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005 all to Central District. After losing yet another Grand Final to their arch rivals in 2005, the Eagles bounced back and got their first premiership in 13 years, and after 6 attempts, with a thumping 76-point victory over the Bulldogs. In 2011, the Eagles became the only club since the turn of the century to defeat Central District in two grand finals, with a thrilling 3-point win – 81 to 78 on 9 October 2011. The Eagles went in as the underdogs but coach Michael Godden (in only his second year with the team and in a senior coaching position) believed his Eagles could overcome the Dogs. Ruckman Craig Parry was named the Jack Oatey Medalist for Best on Ground for 2011. Godden became the third coach to win a Premiership for Woodville-West Torrens, following Bruce Winter (1993) and Ron Fuller (2006). He became the second to win one at his first attempt (Winter 1993). The Eagles became the first side to win the Premiership from a Qualifying Final loss since Sturt did so in 1976, and the only club in the competition to have won Premierships in each of the last 3 decades. In 2015 the Woodville West Torrens Football Club celebrated their 25th season in the SANFL, and dominated the competition in U/18s, Reserves and League, taking out each Minor Premiership (the only club to ever do so) dropping just 4 games across all 3 grades throughout the minor round season. The league team with a 16–2 record from their 18 games. Each club progressed straight through to their respective Grand Finals, and the Reserves completed a remarkable undefeated season (first team to do so since West Torrens in 1919) to take out their 8th flag. Unfortunately the League team were dealt with 3 major season ending injuries in their 2nd semi-final victory, ripping out their engine room including Magarey Medal Runner-up and eventual 2015 Club Champion Angus Rowntree, as well as number 1 ruckman Marc Borholm and former Reserves Magarey Medalist Angus Poole. It proved too much to cover for the Eagles in the Grand Final, falling short to West Adelaide by 30 points. The U/18s also lost their decider. It was a bitterly disappointing end for Michael Godden and his men after a near perfect season, cruelled by injury at the final hurdle.

The Jade Sheedy Era & Back-to-Back

Before the start of the

2020 SANFL season The 2020 South Australian National Football League season (officially the SANFL Statewide Super League) was the 141st season of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), the highest-level Australian rules football competition in ...

, the club hired a new coach: former Sturt premiership player and

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

ist Jade Sheedy. In Sheedy's first year in charge, the club finished minor premiers and advanced to the 2020 SANFL Grand Final where the club overcame

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

by 39 points to win their first premiership in 9 years. This was the first premiership against North Adelaide. West Torrens had previously played North Adelaide in the

1949 SANFL Grand Final The 1949 SANFL Grand Final was 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 ova ...

. During the 2021 SANFL season, the Eagles finished 2nd behind minor premiers Glenelg who had lost only one game all season. They defeated Glenelg in the 2021 SANFL Grand Final by a margin of 67 points to claim their 5th premiership and became only the second team all year to defeat Glenelg. In doing so, the club went back-to-back for the first time in their history. Not even West Torrens had managed the feat previously. West Torrens won 4 Premierships pre-1991, in 1924, 1933, 1945 and 1953.

Player Development

In 2011, a study commissioned by the AFL identified Woodville-West Torrens as the most effective developer of AFL talent in the country. From 1998–2010, the Eagles had 19 selected at the AFL Draft. Notable AFL Listed Players * Matthew Pavlich * Brian Lake * Matthew Stokes * Scott Camporeale * Bernie Vince * Stephen Sziller * Jay Schulz * Kent Kingsley * Rhett Biglands * Nathan Bock * Luke Thompson * Jared Petrenko * Jarrad Redden * Martin Frederick * Justin Cicolella * Sam Jacobs * Riley Knight * Luke Dunstan * Tyson Stengle * Jimmy Toumpas * Brennan Cox * Brodie Smith * Matthew Broadbent * Brett Burton * Aaron Shattock * Robert Shirley * Paul Stewart * Ken McGregor * Jack Hayes * Jared Polec * Cameron Sutcliffe * Harry Schoenberg * Jack Lukosius * Glenn Freeborn

Club details

Club song

The Woodville-West Torrens Football Club song is called "We're the mighty flying Eagles" and is to the tune of ''

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

'' ''(Verse)'' ''We're the mighty Eagles''
''And we always battle through''
''The mighty flying Eagles''
''Wearing Gold and Green and Blue''
''Sound the Siren, turn us loose''
''And watch the Feathers fly''
''And you'll see what we can do'' ''(Chorus)'' ''We're the mighty flying Eagles''
''We're the mighty flying Eagles''
''We're the mighty flying Eagles''
''In Gold and Green and Blue'' ''(Home Run)'' ''In Gold and Green and Blue''

Coaches

*1991–1992 –

Neil Balme Neil Allen Balme (born 15 January 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), as well as for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australian National Footba ...

*1993–1997 – Bruce Winter * *1998–1999 –

Mark Mickan Mark James Mickan (born 30 January 1961) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Mickan began his senior career with South Austr ...

*2000 – Paul Hamilton *2001–2009 – Ron Fuller * *2010-2018 – Michael Godden * *2019 -

Sam Lonergan Sam Lonergan (born 26 March 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted from the Launceston Football ...

*2020 - '' Jade Sheedy'' * ''italics'' current coach
* Premiership Coach

Captains

*1991–1994 – Peter Schwarz * *1995–2000 – Andrew Rogers *2001–2006 – Gavin Colville *2007 – Justin Cicolella * *2008–2011 – Mark McKenzie * *2012-2014 – Luke Powell *2015–2019 - Patrick Giuffreda & Luke Thompson *2020 - ''Luke Thompson'' * ''italics'' current captain
* Premiership Captain (Justin Cicolella was acting captain for the 2006 Premiership)

Current playing list

Honours

Club achievements

League placings

*1991 – 4th *1992 – 3rd *1993 – Premiers *1994 – 2nd *1995 – 8th *1996 – 4th *1997 – 7th *1998 – 6th *1999 – 3rd *2000 – 2nd *2001 – 2nd *2002 – 4th *2003 – 3rd *2004 – 2nd *2005 – 2nd *2006 – Premiers *2007 – 3rd *2008 – 6th *2009 – 4th *2010 – 3rd *2011 – Premiers *2012 – 5th *2013 – 4th *2014 – 5th *2015 – 2nd *2016 – 2nd *2017 - 3rd *2018 - 3rd* *2019 - 7th *2020 - Premiers *2021 - Premiers *2022 - 7th

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...
lists

*2021 – James Tsitas

Fos Williams Medal The Fos Williams Medal has been awarded since 1981 to the best Australian rules football player from South Australia during Inter-State or Inter-Competition matches. The medal is named in honour of legendary South Australian National Football Le ...
lists

Presented to best on ground for South Australia in a State match *2012 – Adam Grocke (representing

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

)

Jack Oatey Medal The Jack Oatey Medal is awarded to the best player during the SANFL Grand Final. It has been awarded since 1981. In 2018, Mitch Grigg of Norwood became the first player to win the Jack Oatey Medal on a losing team, after his team were defeated b ...
lists

Presented to best on ground in an SANFL Grand Final *1993 – Steven Sziller *2006 –

Hayden Skipworth Hayden Skipworth (born 25 February 1983) is a former Australian Rules Football, Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) with the Adelaide Football Club and the Essendon Football Club. Skipworth returned to ...

*2011 –

Craig Parry Craig David Parry (born 12 January 1966) is an Australian professional golfer. He has been one of Australia's premier golfers since turning professional in 1985, and has 23 career victories, two of those wins being events on the PGA Tour; the 2 ...

*2020 – Jordan Foote *2021 - Jack Hayes

Reserves Magarey Medal The Reserves Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1906 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Reserves competition, as judged by field umpires. The a ...
lists

*1992 – Jason Sziller *1996 – Jason King *2003 – David Newett *2012 – Angus Poole *2015 – Matthew Appleton *2016 - Jake Comitogianni

Tomkins Medal The Tomkins Medal (officially called the H. W. Tomkins Memorial Medal) was an Australian rules football honour awarded from 1939 to 2008 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) under-19 co ...
lists (U/19's)

*1997 – Adam O'Hara *1999 – Greg Chapman *2008 – Shane Harris

McCallum-Tomkins Medallists (U/18's)

*2013 – Paul Ventura *2018 - Kai Pudney

Bob Lee Medallists

Presented to best on ground in an SANFL Reserves Grand Final *2001 – Brett O'Hara *2004 – Luke Spehr *2013 – Byron Sumner *2014 – Sam Martyn *2015 – Ethan Haylock *2020 – Mitch Mead

Alan Stewart Medallists

Presented to best on ground in an SANFL U/18's Grand Final *2012 – Matthew Appelton *2013 –

Malcolm Karpany Malcolm Karpany (born 1 June 1995) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was raised in Adelaide and Moonta, South Australia. He is Indigenous Aust ...

*2018 - Jackson Mead *2019 - Michael Frederick *2021 - Adam D’Aloia

U16s Grand Final Medal

Presented to best on ground in an SANFL U/16's Grand Final *2022 - Tom Luck

Ken Farmer Medal The Ken Farmer Medal is named in honour of the Australian rules footballer, North Adelaide Football Club full forward Ken Farmer. The medal is awarded to the South Australian Football League The South Australian National Football League, or ...
lists (SANFL Leading Goalkickers)

*Scott Morphett: 99 goals (1991) *Mark Passador: 74 goals (2006) *Michael Wundke: 63 goals (2014) *James Rowe: 47 goals (2020) *Daniel Menzel: 51 goals (2022)

Bob Quinn Medalists

Presented to best on ground in an ANZAC Day match (Grand Final replay) *2005 – Luke Powell *2006 – Mark Passador *2016 – Jared Petrenko *2017 – Angus Poole *2021 – Sam Rowland

R.O. Shearman Medalists

Presented to best SANFL player as voted by League coaches *2000 – Gavin Colville *2006 – Justin Cicolella *2016 – Jared Petrenko *2022 – Riley Knight

Best and Fairest

*1991 – Scott Morphett *1992 –

Robert Pyman Robert Pyman (born 6 October 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne, Collingwood and Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. Career AFL A Woodville-West Torrens 'best and f ...

*1993 – Andrew Rogers *1994 – Jason Sziller *1995 – Andrew Rogers *1996 – Andrew Rogers *1997 – Steven Hall *1998 – Nick Pesch *1999 – Gavin Colville & Adam Pearce *2000 – Gavin Colville *2001 – Gavin Colville *2002 – Justin Cicolella *2003 – Justin Cicolella *2004 – Gavin Colville *2005 – Mark McKenzie *2006 – Mark McKenzie *2007 – Leigh Treeby *2008 – Mark McKenzie & Luke Powell *2009 – Mark McKenzie *2010 – Justin Cicolella *2011 – Mark McKenzie *2012 – Angus Rowntree *2013 – Phil Raymond *2014 – Scott Lewis *2015 - Angus Rowntree *2016 – Jared Petrenko *2017 - Joseph Sinor *2018 - James Boyd *2019 - Jordan Foote *2020 - Joseph Sinor *2021 - James Tsitas *2022 - Riley Knight

Life Governors

''The highest individual honour that is bestowed by the club'' *

Bob Hank Robert William "Bob" Hank (19 June 1923 – 14 June 2012) grew up in and lived in Lockleys and was an Australian rules footballer who played for West Torrens in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Career Hank began hi ...

Lindsay Head Lindsay Hudson Head MBE (born 16 September 1935 in North Adelaide, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with West Torrens in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He was awarded three Magarey Me ...

Fred Bills Fred Bills was an Australian rules footballer for the West Torrens Football Club in the South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football le ...

Malcolm Blight Malcolm Jack Blight AM (born 16 February 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian Nati ...

* Andrew Payze * Andrew Rogers *

Bob Simunsen Robert 'Bob' Simunsen (born 7 June 1941, in Adelaide) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Woodville in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). A talented cricketer, he also played some first-class cricket matc ...

* Ron Fuller * Justin Cicolella * Luke Powell

Club records

*South Australian Premiers: 9 – 1924, 1933, 1945, 1953, 1993, 2006, 2011, 2020, 2021 *South Australian Night Series Winners: 4 – 1983, 1988, 1993, 1994 *Home Ground(s):

(''Maughan Thiem Kia Oval'') (1992–present) *Former Home Ground(s):

(''AAMI Stadium'') (1991),

(''Adelaide Airport Stadium'') (2012– 2014) *Record Attendance: 42,719 v Norwood at

, 1993

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

Grand Final *Record Attendance Minor Round: 15,126 v

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

, 1994

ANZAC Day *Record Night Attendance at Thebarton Oval: 4,566 v

, Round 1, 2012 *Most Games: 266 by Justin Cicolella (1998–2012) *Most Goals in a Season: 99 by Scott Morphett in 1991 *Most Goals for the Club: 312 by Mark Passador (2003–10) *Most Goals in a Game: 12 by

Andrew Taylor Andrew or Andy Taylor may refer to: Sport * Andrew Taylor (footballer, born 1986), English footballer * Andy Taylor (footballer, born 1986), English footballer * Andy Taylor (footballer, born 1988), English footballer * Andrew Taylor (Australian ...

in 1994SANFL – History of the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club
/ref> *Most Years as Coach: 9 by Michael Godden (2010–18) *Most Premierships as Coach: 2 by Jade Sheedy (2020, 2021) *Most Years as Captain: 8 by Luke Thompson (2015–22) *Most Premierships as Captain: 2 by Luke Thompson (2020, 2021) *Most Best & Fairest Awards: 5 by Mark McKenzie (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011) *

lists: James Tsitas (2021) *

Ken Farmer Medal The Ken Farmer Medal is named in honour of the Australian rules footballer, North Adelaide Football Club full forward Ken Farmer. The medal is awarded to the South Australian Football League The South Australian National Football League, or ...

lists: Scott Morphett (1991), Mark Passador (2006), Michael Wundke (2014), James Rowe (2020), Daniel Menzel (2022) *Highest Score: 30.14 (194) v

in 1994 *Longest Winning Run: 14 (1993–94 – last 7 games in 1993, first 7 games in 1994) *Longest Winning Run in a Season: 12 (2004) *Longest Losing Run: 8 (1997)

Home Grounds

The Woodville-West Torrens Eagles first home ground was

league headquarters

in their inaugural season of 1991. In 1992 the new club moved permanently to the

(former home of the Woodville Warriors). Due to Woodville Oval also being the home of the Woodville Cricket Club who play in the

South Australian Grade Cricket League South Australian Premier Cricket (previously known as South Australian District Cricket and South Australian Grade Cricket) is the semi-professional State league based in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. It is currently the highest level o ...

, the Eagles use West Torrens' former home ground

as their pre-season training base. Thebarton, which had lights installed for night games since the 1950s (the lights were upgraded in 2011–12), is occasionally used as an alternative playing venue for the club, with the team having played a handful of games at the venue since 2006. *

(''AAMI Stadium'') (1991) *

(''Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval'') (1992—present) *

(''Adelaide Airport Stadium'') (2006—present)

References

External links

*
Full Points Footy History of The Eagles
{{Authority control Australian rules football clubs established in 1990 South Australian National Football League clubs SANFL Women's League Australian rules football clubs in South Australia 1990 establishments in Australia