Red Hill Football Club

Founded on Tuesday 5th of February in 1929 in the Mechanics Hall, the club under coach Alf Hunt played finals in its first year. During the 1930's under the astute leadership of Fred Volk the club also played finals in 1932, 1933, 1934 in B grade of the Peninsula Association. In 1935 the side won 14 games and were runners up to Sommerville. The same year Volk won the League B/F kicking 86 goals.

More finals appearances occurred in 1939 and 1940 when a grand final was lost to Dromana by 4 points, the first grand final appearance by the club.

After the World War 2 the club played for several seasons as a single entity before combining with Dromana in 1951. Under the leadership of Allen Holmes an under 16 side re-entered the Nepean league in 1965 followed by a seconds side in 1966-68 under the leadership of local legend Graeme Emond. This was later followed by the creation of a senior side in 1969. During the 70's the club produced fine players without participating in September action. Finals action come in 1982 when the seconds under coach Wayne Spence made the first of four successive finals series culminating in a flag in 1984. The seniors under coach Michael Pierce made finals from 1983-85 resulting in a grand final appearance in 1984 but unfortunately coming up second best to Bonbeach. The year of 1985 was the year that could have been with the seniors going undefeated all year but tragically going out in straight sets in the final series.

The high point of the clubs history occurred in 1990 when under coach Tim Luscombe and long time captain Boyd Johnston, the seniors brought home the premiership against Karingal at Frankston. During the 1990's Red Hill played in the Premier division of the MPNFL coming agonisingly close to finals in 1991 and 1994 but eventually returning to the Nepean division in 1998. Under the guidance of Andrew Brady, the seniors played finals in 1999 and 2000 with the reserves playing finals from 1999-2001.

Since that time the senior sides have struggled to get into finals, however the junior club has flourished with a premiership every year since 2000. Especially in the last two years the junior club has thrived with all sides making finals in 2007, plus 6 premierships and producing 5 League B& F winners. This has culminated in the under 18's playing finals 5 years running including a Grand Final, which has supplied the seniors and reserves with an abundance of talent and an average senior age of 20. In recent years many have taken the responsibility upon themselves to help bring a successful culture back to the club with tireless hard work.

This combined with a new and rejuvenated committee, new clubrooms, senior coach Jason Watts, fitness adviser Niel McKinnon and the return and loyalty of local talent the club is looking to having one of the most positive seasons since 2000. With the renewed enthusiasm, huge junior talent and long term plans the club is hoping to move up the ladder and towards future success.

Front Entrace

About the Area

Red Hill is located on the Mornington Peninsula and is known as one of the premier regions in Victoria for producing fine wine, food, beer and fresh produce. The soil in and around Red Hill is where the town gets its name as the soil has a distinct red tinge and can be obviosuly seen in certain areas which is also the main reason for such fine produce made in the area due its high nutrient content. The town of Red Hill while being small and having a population less than 4,000 draws support from sorrounding country areas and towns including Flinders, Main Ridge, Shoreham, Merricks, Arthurs Seat, Somers and Balnarring reuslting in a relaxed atmosphere around the club and at games.These areas are known for rolling hills with forrests around the centre of town and scattered throughout the regions. These areas also border some of the best beaches and surf breaks in Victoria.

So why not come down and enjoy the country atmosphere of the club?

1st Round 2

Front (Back Oval)

Season(s) in brief

2007

Season 2007 was a hard year for the club with the seniors failing to win a game and the reserves winning only 5. However the under 18s made it 3 years running in the finals but went down to junior rivals Sorrento prematurally. A huge recruiting drive undertaken by the club backfired terribly but the events of the season taught the club some hard lessons that have in essence greatly benefited the club for future and will continue to do so well into the future. The club now has a distinct Red Hill talent and youth policy and has ensured proper financial management into the future.

2008

Season 2008 was the the first of five year plan to restore the club to glory through a proper mix of youth and local talent and proper and well coordinated off field management. Former AFL player and ACT league coach Jason Watts and fitness coach Neil Mckinnon took over with the same ideals as the committee of youth and local talent to bring success. While it was not essentially successful on the field for the seniors it was without a doubt one of the most progressive for the club since the late 80's and 90's. The under 18s were runners-up in the grand final, the reserves made finals (first time since 1999) and despite only recording 4 wins the seniors went forward in leaps and bounds with a 20 year average age among players and with only 2 players not from the area or have played less than 3 years at the club. Daniel Smith also had another year winning the league best and fairest award in the seniors. Were it not for the lack of experience it would be expected that the club would of recorded atleast 4 more wins and maybe with that momentum made finals. However in the end the cloose loses to numerous sides both finals contenders and lower sides cost the seniors in the long run. Not only was the club taking huge steps forward on the field but also off the field with large profits recorded at the auction night, new sponsors, the launch of this website and a generally the largest club profit in years.

2009

Season 2009 was a boom year for the club off the field with a largely lamentable year on the field with some exceptions. In 2009 the club welcomed the first of a few boom off field achievements. Firstly and most importantly was the construction and finishing of state of the art $1.2 million dollar club rooms on the Arthurs Seat road end of the oval. The new clubrooms are widely considered to be the premier club rooms and change rooms in the league. Second was the re-development of the old social rooms into a club and player maintained gym especially available to the the Red Hill Football club. Finally the appointment of St.Kilda hall of Famer and Premiership and, AFL assistant coach Gary Collins as head of selection committee which was a major coup for the club. On the field the the under 18s after starting slowly rampaged their way home to their second straight Grand Final berth after barely making finals and suffering several defeats to bottom half sides. Unfortunately they went down for the second time in a row as well but could be immensely proud of their effort to make it that far after starting the season with 15 players. The reserves won half their games for the year but with injuries in both the seniors and reserves combined with off-season departure's they struggled to finish 2 games out of the finals contention. The seniors after a slow start never really got off the ground in 2009 with several close loses early and several injuries to senior personal in a side with barely any senior personal during the season the club slumped to 2 wins for the year. However the injuries did give the opportunity for several young players to gain an opportunity not just in the seniors but to attempt to hold down key positions and those of responsibility. All in all a good year off the field and another year of development on the field. The signs are there for 2010 and beyond.

2010

Season 2010 was arguably the most successful year the club has had since it's 1990 premiership year with all three sides featuring in finals for the first time in the clubs 81 year history. Off the field the club had some issues with revenue rasing in the form of sponsorship but through the hard work of Roger Siversen the club created another from of income in the Red Hill farmers market. On the field the netball sides of the club welcomed another team and continued to develop and create a lasting bond with the Red Hill Junior Netball Club who changed their colours to match the senior clubs. This was great for the women of the local community who never before had a club to play for once their junior years were finished. In respects to the football club the seniors finished in third on the ladder in the double chance position after finishing equal last the year before. A great effort by the boys who ended their year in the preliminary final after struggling with late season form due to injuries and fatigue. Another good pre-season for the young guys shall see us go one step further in the future. The reserves after being top of the ladder with 3 weeks to go lost two critical games and finished just off a double chance. However it was a high finish for a young and inexperienced side and one more result would have seen them make the Grand Final after beating every side during the year and only just losing out on a prelim birth by a small margin. The under 18s while struggling with numbers kept their strong winning culture going bowing out in the first week of finals. It was a great effort by the boys to finish the year in finals after struggling to field a team at times during the year. The juniors capped off another stellar year with 4 sides in finals and 2 sides featuring in Grand finals with the under 16s victorious. All in all a great break-out year for a young club on the up. On a individual note Jason Watts was named coach of year with Ben Macguiness and Marcus Dal Lago featuring the team of the year while Mat Burns was runner-up in the league B & F and Andrew Mock won the reserves league goal kicking.