Woodville-West Torrens Football Club
| Woodville-West Torrens | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Names | ||
| Full name | Woodville-West Torrens Football Club | |
| Nickname(s) | Eagles | |
| 2016 season | ||
| Leading goalkicker | Michael Wundke (46) | |
| Best and fairest | Jared Petrenko | |
| Club details | ||
| Founded | 1991 | |
| Colours | Blue, Green and Gold | |
| Competition | South Australian National Football League | |
| President | Kurt Slaven | |
| Coach | Michael Godden | |
| Captain(s) | Luke Thompson & Patrick Giuffreda | |
| Premierships |
3 1993, 2006, 2011 |
|
| Ground(s) | Woodville Oval (capacity: 15,000) | |
| Thebarton Oval (capacity: 15,000) | ||
| Uniforms | ||
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| Other information | ||
| Official website | www.wwtfc.com.au | |
Woodville-West Torrens Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (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, having previously used Football Park. They also play two or three games per season at their pre-season base of Thebarton Oval, 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).
West Torrens had competed in the SANFL since 1897, while Woodville entered the competition in 1964.
Both sides struggled on the field throughout their respective existences. To 1990, West Torrens had won four premierships in eighty seven seasons, the last one being in 1953, and Woodville had not won a premiership or played in a grand final in twenty-seven seasons, usually being close to or on the bottom of the ladder.
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 into the AFL placed both club's futures as separate entities in serious doubt, with West Torrens being technically bankrupt and Woodville realising that it would be very difficult to be competitive.
It was decided at the end of the season to merge the two sides as the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles, to 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.
Although officially formed in 1991, it was after the 1993 Premiership that many finally accepted the 'new' Eagles. In accepting the Thomas Seymour Hill Trophy for the first time for the Eagles (also the first time ever for Woodville, and the first time since 1953 for West Torrens), captain Peter Schwarz jubilantly proclaimed:
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Wikipedia