Aldinga Football Club

Aldinga

Full name	Aldinga Football Club
Nickname	Sharks
Sport	Australian Rules Football
Founded	1879, (in recess 1953–76)
League	Southern Football League
Home ground	AMAC Oval (Aldinga Oval), Aldinga
Colours	Black, Gold (1977-present), Black, White (1879–1953)
Anthem	"The Sharks Will Keep Rolling Along"
President	Danny Wilde
Head coach	Damian Smith
Captain	Daniel Dempsey

The Aldinga Football Club is an Australian rules football club that was a foundation member of the Southern Football Association in 1886.^[1] From 1927 to 1932, Aldinga won a record 6 premierships in a row in the Southern Football Association. In 1901 Aldinga was involved in a brief merger with the Sellick's Hill Football Club to form the Hills United Football Club.^[2]

The Aldinga Football Club continues to field teams in both Senior and Junior grades in the Southern Football League.

2014 media coverage

In 2014, Aldinga received significant media coverage after sacking their coach, Shane Lynch, after only two games which resulted in combined losses of 457 points, including a 300-point loss to Port Noarlunga.^[3] Following being sacked by Aldinga, Lynch was appointed coach of Mitchell Park and led them to the 2015 Channel 9 Adelaide Football League Division 7 premiership.^[4] Following the sacking of Lynch, further media coverage occurred the next weekend when a player was stung in the throat by a bee in a 254-point loss against Morphett Vale,^[5] including an appearance by the President, Danny Wilde and the bee-stung player, Ali Vessali on The Footy Show.

These stories of plight led to Australian Football Hall of Famer Graham Cornes volunteering his time to run a training session and North Adelaide coach Ken McGregor offering his time to give a pre-match "rev-up" before their next game, a 6-point loss against Marion.^[6][7] The Advertiser also placed their support behind running a family day during the same game with various giveaways including cow bells and a free barbecue.^[8] Further events occurred:

• Brownlow Medallist Shane Crawford led Aldinga to their first win of the season playing as a guest player against O'Sullivan Beach-Lonsdale on May 24.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]}
• At the same game that Shane Crawford played, Sam Newman sung the National Anthem, Billy Brownless led the cheersquad, Warwick Capper made an appearance and some coverage will be given on the following week's Footy Show.^[9]
• Port Power invited Aldinga to play a curtain raiser against fellow strugglers Kilburn to be held on May 12.^[16] This game failed to eventuate when the South Australian Amateur Football League refused to adjust its program to allow Kilburn to play.^[17]

A-Grade Premierships

• Southern Football Association A-Grade (7)
  • 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934
• Southern Football League Division 2 (2)
  • 1991, 1993

Greatest SFL Team

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Southern Football League, each club was asked to name their "Greatest Team" whilst participating in the SFL.^[18]

Aldinga Football Club's Greatest Team 1886–2010
B:	R. Eatts	C. Lovelock	H. Eatts
HB:	Clarence Pellew	C.K. (Pete) Lovelock	T. Boothby
C:	R. Bickmore	Bryce Garrard	L. Humphrey
HF:	L. Lovelock	Horace Leaker	C. Culley
F:	W. Pethick	K. Culley	M. Grandison
Foll:	W. Martin	Ben Stone (Coach)	K. Noblett
Int:	A. Foreman	D. Stone	A. Humphrey
Coach:	Ben Stone

References

1. "The Early Years - Season 1882 to 1911". Southern Football League. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
2. "Sellick's Hill". The Advertiser (Adelaide). 11 May 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
3. Turner, Matt (9 April 2014). "Aldinga Sharks sack coach Shane Lynch just two matches into the Southern Football League season". AdelaideNow. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
4. Turner, Matt (7 September 2015). "Tears as ridiculed Aldinga Sharks footy coach proves doubters wrong at Mitchell Park". News Corporation. Messenger Community News. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
5. Robertson, Calum (14 April 2014). "Aussie Rules finds its Bad News Bears — Southern Football League’s Aldinga Sharks". Fox Sports News (Australia). Retrieved 14 April 2014.
6. Turner, Matt (22 April 2014). "Former Crows coach Graham Cornes offers to help hapless Aldinga Sharks football club". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 23 April 2014.
7. Bednall, Jai (27 April 2014). "Fired-up Aldinga Sharks fall short by only five points in battle against Marion". Sunday Mail (Adelaide). Retrieved 27 April 2014.
8. De Nadai, Natalie (23 April 2014). "Aldinga Sharks’ game is in the bag". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 24 April 2014.
9. Morgan, Kym (25 April 2014). "Big boost for Aldinga Sharks as Brownlow Medallist Shane Crawford joins the team". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 25 April 2014.
10. Epstein, Jackie (18 May 2014). "Hawthorn legend Shane Crawford will play his first football match in six years with". Herald Sun. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
11. Homfray, Reece (21 May 2014). "Brownlow Medallist Shane Crawford warns Aldinga Sharks — don’t expect miracles in my comeback". The Advertiser. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
12. Epstein, Jackie (25 May 2014). "Shane Crawford inspires victory for battling footy team, the Aldinga Sharks". Sunday Herald Sun. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
13. Simmons, Michael (26 May 2014). "Shane Crawford helps Aldinga Sharks bag a win". The Times (Victor Harbor). Retrieved 26 May 2014.
14. Walsh, Scott (24 May 2014). "Brownlow Medallist Shane Crawford leads lowly Aldinga Sharks to first win of 2014". Sunday Mail (South Australia). Retrieved 26 May 2014.
15. Turner, Matt (23 May 2014). "dinga comes alive as Hawks champion Shane Crawford dons a Sharks guernsey". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 26 May 2014.
16. Rucci, Michaelangelo (24 April 2014). "Port Adelaide push for Aldinga Sharks and Kilburn to play Adelaide Oval AFL curtain raiser". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 25 April 2014.
17. Homfray, Reece (29 April 2014). "The SA Amateur Football League won’t change schedule for ‘boutique’ Kilburn-Aldinga Adelaide Oval game". The Advertiser. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
18. Garvis, Sarah (29 June 2011). "Honour For Modern-Day Hero". Southern Times Messenger.

External links

• Aldinga Football Club Website