Geelong West Football Club
Encyclopedia
The Geelong West Football Club are an Australian rules football
club which played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1963 until 1988. Geelong West, nicknamed the 'Roosters', wore white and red during their time in the association.
in 1946.
Premiership success followed with the club winning four premierships in a row from 1956 to 1959.
The VFA was looking to expand it's association and approached Geelong West, the club had to change it's jumper as it clashed with the Preston Bullants. The club reversed it's colours so they wore a white jumper with a red GWFC monogram. In 1963 the club was admitted into division two of the VFA. In their inaugural season they only missed out on the finals by percentage but took out the premiership the following year, thus earning promotion to the first division.
Geelong West only spent one season at the top league before being demoted again but in 1968, after losing the previous two Grand Finals, they won their second division two premiership.
Once again, the club weren't good enough to last in the first division but things changed in the 1970s, beginning with their third premiership in 1972. On this occasion they deserved to be competing amongst the best teams and in 1975, under the coaching of Bill Goggin
, Geelong West claimed a surprise first division premiership by defeating Dandenong
in the VFA Grand Final.
By the time the 1980's came around the football club had ran up a large financial debt that it struggled to manage. Lack of support from the local community and a shortage of quality players willing to travel to Melbourne every second week led to the club withdrawing from the VFA after the 1988 season.
They now compete in the Geelong Football League
, under the name Geelong West St Peters.
VFA 2nd Division Premierships (3)
BFL Premierships (4)
GDFA Premierships (25)
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club which played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1963 until 1988. Geelong West, nicknamed the 'Roosters', wore white and red during their time in the association.
History
Formed in 1878, Geelong West began in the Geelong & District Football Association. The club with their red jumper and white GWFC was not to be confused with the Geelong West Cricket & Football Club who wore a blue and white jumper. The Roosters and were a consistently strong club winning 25 premierships before joining the Ballarat Football LeagueBallarat Football League
The Ballarat Football League is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football League in 1908 and was briefly known as the Ballarat-Wimmera...
in 1946.
Premiership success followed with the club winning four premierships in a row from 1956 to 1959.
The VFA was looking to expand it's association and approached Geelong West, the club had to change it's jumper as it clashed with the Preston Bullants. The club reversed it's colours so they wore a white jumper with a red GWFC monogram. In 1963 the club was admitted into division two of the VFA. In their inaugural season they only missed out on the finals by percentage but took out the premiership the following year, thus earning promotion to the first division.
Geelong West only spent one season at the top league before being demoted again but in 1968, after losing the previous two Grand Finals, they won their second division two premiership.
Once again, the club weren't good enough to last in the first division but things changed in the 1970s, beginning with their third premiership in 1972. On this occasion they deserved to be competing amongst the best teams and in 1975, under the coaching of Bill Goggin
Bill Goggin
William "Bill" Goggin is a former Australian rules football player in the Victorian Football League for Geelong Football Club and later coached Footscray and Geelong football clubs. Goggin ranks as one of Geelong's greatest ever players in a career that spanned more than a decade...
, Geelong West claimed a surprise first division premiership by defeating Dandenong
Dandenong Football Club
Dandenong Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association . Based in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, the Redlegs wore navy blue and red as their club colours.-History:...
in the VFA Grand Final.
By the time the 1980's came around the football club had ran up a large financial debt that it struggled to manage. Lack of support from the local community and a shortage of quality players willing to travel to Melbourne every second week led to the club withdrawing from the VFA after the 1988 season.
They now compete in the Geelong Football League
Geelong Football League
The Geelong Football League is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia. It is the highest quality league in the Geelong area, with numerous former AFL players playing for various clubs.-History:...
, under the name Geelong West St Peters.
Honours
VFA 1st Division Premierships (1)- 1975
VFA 2nd Division Premierships (3)
- 1964, 1968, 1972
BFL Premierships (4)
- 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
GDFA Premierships (25)