The Mansfield Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Eagles, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Mansfield, Victoria.
The Mansfield teams currently compete in the Goulburn Valley League. The Eagles home ground is the Mansfield Recreation Reserve.
History The seed of the Mansfield FC was planted because of an advertisement in the Mansfield Guardian on 18 May 1878. The ad called for a meeting to be held at the Mansfield Hotel with the purpose of forming a football club.
Surviving records of those times describe a game between Mansfield and Jamieson in July 1883. Nevertheless, in 1886 the Mansfield Courier reported that Mansfield had fielded teams in 1881.History of Mansfield FC on MNFC website
Early games were played against neighbouring towns on a round robin basis with the teams playing for trophies donated by prominent businessmen. The original shirt worn by Mansfield was white with red stripes. In 1900 these local clubs formed an Association, adopted a constitution and began a formal competition for points culminating in a final series. Mansfield played many clubs in this era in various leagues and associations. Jamieson, Bonnie Doon, Merton, Maindample, Delatite, Mt Battery, Swanpool, Tolmie, Yarck, among others.
Between the wars the district became unable to maintain numerous clubs, so the various smaller ones morphed towards the larger Mansfield FC and Mount Battery FC. Eventually these two formed the "Mansfield Battery FC", adopting a navy blue guernsey with a white monogram.
Mansfield competed continuously in the various District Associations until after World War II when the club joined the Waranga North East FL. The netball section would be added later.
Trent Hotton, won the league best and fairest in 2007. The Eagles won their first GVFL premiership in 2004 since moving to the league in 1997. In 2009 the Eagles capped off a fantastic year with a win in the GVFL Grand Final over Kyabram, capturing their second GVFL flag in five years.
Leagues Since its foundation, the club has participated in the following leagues:
1925–33: Mansfield Line Association 1934–40: Mansfield-Alexandra FA 1945–46: Upper Goulburn FL 1946–76: Waranga North East Football Association 1977–95: Tungamah Football League 1996–97: Goulburn Valley FL (2nd Division) 1998–present: Goulburn Valley FL
Players 2010 Football Squad 1 Matt Storer (C) 2 Mitch Wareham 3 James Herridge 4 Ben Millot 5 Tim Demetriou 6 Sam Armstrong 7 Nick Gieschen 8 Simon Hart 9 Sean Purcell 10 Fraser Stevenson 11 Jim Hopgood 12 Phil Doeven 13 Warren Smith 14 Brett Mahoney 15 Adam Boshevski 16 Tim Van Der Klooster 17 Ross Brown 18 Dom Vincent 19 Travis Leitch 20 Brant Anselmi 21 Simon Dick 22 Sam Dolling 23 Scott Heveran 24 Casey Briggs 25 Stuart Quinn 26 Nathan Dundas 27 Guy Taylor (C) 28 Kane Blunt 29 Luke McMillian 30 Troy Mahoney 31 David Mensch 32 Simon Jones 33 Nick Gray 34 Jarrad Mahoney 35 James O'Grady 36 Mark Jones 37 Sam Christopher 38 Josh Briggs 39 Andrew Nunn 40 Rhys Steward 41 Anthony Burgess 43 Elliot Christopher 44 Adam Mahoney 45 Chris Laing 46 Stephen Collins 48 Liam Scales 50 Lawrence Apps 52 Tom Niewenhuizen 54 Ben Cios 55 Aaron Stephens 57 Ross Hopkins 58 Eddy Oliver 59 Ben Ryan 60 Alby Hill
Matt Storer and Guy Taylor are Eagles Co-Captains for the 2010 season. The Eagles Seniors are coached by ex-Collingwood player, Craig 'Ned' Kelly.
VFL / AFL Players The following footballers played with Mansfield prior to playing senior VFL / AFL football. The year indicates their VFL / AFL debut. 1922 - Jim Fraser - Carlton 1950 - Bill Reardon - Footscray 1953 - Tom Tarrant - Collingwood 1955 - Alan Jewell - Hawthorn 1955 - Ray Yeoman - Hawthorn 1957 - Peter Barran - Geelong 1962 - Peter Dolling - South Melbourne 1962 - Bob Lockhart - Richmond 2000 - Josh Fraser - Collingwood & Gold Coast 2005 - Jarrod Kayler-Thomson - 2017 - James Cousins - Hawthorn
The following players/coaches came to Mansfield, with prior VFL / AFL senior football experience - 1942 - Ted Leehane - Essendon 1982 - Peter Tossol - Melbourne 1989 - Craig Kelly - ex-Collingwood and player manager. 1990 - Brendan Hehir - Draft Number 17, in AFL 1990 National Draft. Geelong, Australian Football League 1993 - Andrew Tranquilli - ex-Collingwood player in the Australian Football League 1992 - David Mensch - ex-Geelong player in the Australian Football League 1994 - Trent Hotton - ex-Carlton player in the Australian Football League 1997 - Darren Hulme - Carlton 1999 - David A. Clarke - Geelong & Carlton 2005 - Craig Flint - Number 17 in 2005 AFL Rookie Draft. Carlton
Premierships Mansfield Hotel / Bremner's Cup (1): 1900 Mansfield FA (3): 1900, 1904, 1905 Mansfield District FA (3): 1911, 1912, 1913 Mansfield Swanpool District FA (1): 1927 Mansfield Line FA (1): 1929 Waranga North East Football Association (4): 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955 Tungamah Football League (2): 1987, 1989 Goulburn Valley 2nd. Division (1): 1996 Goulburn Valley FL (2): 2004, 2009
Grand Finals 2004 GVFL Grand Final Goals Behinds Total Tatura 11 8 74 Mansfield 20 15 135 Venue: Deakin Reserve, Shepparton
2009 GVFL Grand Final Goals Behinds Total Mansfield 16 12 108 Kyabram 13 9 87 Venue: Deakin Reserve, Shepparton
Football League Best & Fairest honors Seniors Tungamah Football League 1987 - Bruce McCormack 1988 - Bruce McCormack Goulburn Valley Football League - Division 2 1997 - Dennis Sheahan Goulburn Valley Football League 2007 - Trent Hotton
Reserves Waranga North East Football Association 1954 - K Doolan 1966 - Bill Reardon Reardon also won this award in 1961, 1962 and 1963, playing with Bonnie Doon FC.
Notes
References
External links
Official website 1948 - Mansfield FC team photo 1956 - Mansfield FC & Seymour FC team photos