History of the
Glenelg Football Club
affiliated South Australian National Football League

In 1933, after Jim Handby's retirement, Jack Owens was appointed Captain, and Bruce McGregor, dual Magarey Medallist and Captain-Coach of West's 1927 premiership side, was appointed Coach.
With 3 rounds remaining Glenelg were only half a game behind 4th placed Norwood and a genuine finals contender for the first time.
Unfortunately their last 3 games were against the 2nd, 3rd & 4th ranked teams (two of them away), which meant if they were going to make it they would definitely have to earn it.
As it turned out they lost to Norwood by 41 points and Torrens by 26 points, but beat 2nd placed North at Prospect by 4 points in the last round to finish the season in 6th position on the ladder with 9 wins & 8 losses, 1.5 games outside the final four, and for the first time had a percentage above 50%. They played the top four teams on 10 occasions, for 4 wins and 6 losses.

• Len Sallis won his 4th Glenelg best & fairest award, and was 2nd in the Magarey Medal, only 2 votes behind winner W.K. Dunn of Sturt.
• Clem Rosewarne with 74 goals, pipped Jack Owens by 1 goal to win the club's top goalkicking honour.
• The team achieved their highest score and their biggest winning margin in their history, when they kicked 24.21 165 to beat West by 86 points.

After winning just 9 out of 51 games in the first three seasons after Word War II, 1948 showed signs that Glenelg were becoming competitive again for the first time since 1934.
With five rounds remaining, Glenelg were still in finals contention on 6 wins, 6 losses - just two games behind 4th placed West, whom they played the following round. Unfortunately they lost this pivotal match and finished the season in 6th place with 8 wins & 9 losses - two games and percentage out of the final four.

• Ray Curnow was Glenelg's coach for the 5th successive season (either side of the war), and Norm Betson was captain.
• Alex Donaldson won Glenelg's best & fairest award.
• Colin Churchett was Glenelg's top goalkicker with 88 goals, and became the 2nd Glenelg player, after Jack Owens, to be the league's leading goalkicker.

In 1949, Glenelg adopted the black guernsey with a yellow sash, as worn by Richmond, and appointed Port legend Allan 'Bull' Reval as coach - ending Ray Curnow's reign as coach which had begun in 1941.
After 10 rounds Glenelg were sitting in 6th position, but equal with Torrens and Port in 4th & 5th, on 5 wins & 5 losses.
In round 11 Glenelg narrowly lost to Torrens by 4 points - putting them a game behind - but kept in touch by defeating top side Norwood at Norwood Oval (with a goal on the final siren) in round 12.
Unfortunately this good work was undone when they suffered a 2 point loss to bottom side Sturt the following round.
This left them 1 game and percentage behind new 4th side West, who they were due to play in the next match, with 4 rounds remaining. Their finals hopes were finally ended when they lost this match to West, leaving them 2 games and percentage behind with only 3 games remaining. They finished the season in 5th position with 8 wins & 9 losses.

• Allan Crabb was appointed Captain and won Glenelg's best & fairest award. He also tied with H.R. Phillips in the Magarey Medal. Unfortunately at the time, ties were resolved using a countback method, and Crabb was adjudged to be runner-up with Phillips the sole winner.
  Forty-Nine years later this countback system was abolished and all players who had come second on a countback were retrospectively awarded the Magarey medal.
  So in 1998, Allan Crabb became a 1949 Magarey medallist.
• Colin Churchett was Glenelg's top goalkicker for the 3rd season in a row with 72 goals, including 13 goals in a match against South at Glenelg Oval.
• Colin Churchett was also the league's top goalkicker for the 2nd season in a row.

After two lean seasons in 1960 & 1961, with only 6 wins from 37 games, 1962 saw Doug Long recruited from Geelong and appointed Captain-Coach at just 21 years of age, and a change in uniform to a black guernsey with a yellow yoke and colllar.
Glenelg showed substantial improvement and after round 15 with 4 matches remaining, were sitting in 4th spot on 9 wins & 6 losses - half a game in front of Torrens in 5th position, who they were due to play in the next round.
Unfortunately they lost to Torrens, putting them half a game out of the top four, but were due to play 2 of the bottom 3 sides in the last 3 rounds and were still a chance to make the finals.
As it transpired they lost all of their last 3 matches (making it four losses in a row) to finish in 5th spot with 9 wins & 10 losses - only 1.5 games out of the final four.

• Don Hewett won the club best & fairest award.
• Colin Richens was the club's leading goalkicker with 29 goals.

After getting off to a horror start by losing their first 3 games, Glenelg then won 10 of their next 13 games, which put them in 6th spot, but equal with Norwood and North in 4th and 5th, on 10 wins & 6 losses.
With 4 rounds to play, they were due to play both those sides in season defining games over the next two rounds - both away.
Unfortunately they lost them both, along with the two matches after that, and they finished the season in 6th position with 10 wins & 10 losses.
So just as had happened in 1962, after being in 4th or equal 4th spot with 4 rounds remaining, they lost their last 4 matches to miss the finals.

• Len Fitzgerald continued as coach for a second season, and Harry Kernahan continued as captain for a second season.
• Brian McGowan won the best & fairest in 1965.
• Ray Button was the club's top goalkicker in 1965 with 61 goals.

In Neil Kerley's second year as Captain-Coach, the club recruited state captain Ken Eustice, who had just completed a four year stint as captain-coach of new club Centrals.
Due to making finals in 1967, the Bays had a tougher draw in 1968, but after losing their opening two games against the previous season's grand finalists, they then won 10 of their next 13 games, including victories over top 4 teams Port & North, and a 1 point loss to top side Sturt.
This had them sitting comfortably inside the top 4 after round 15 with 5 games remaining - 1 game behind Port in 2nd, and 2 games ahead of West in 5th.
But then the wheels fell off - a loss to 9th ranked Centrals, with Kerley getting suspended for 2 matches, followed by 3 more losses in a row, the last one to West by 6 points - the team who had taken their spot in the top 4.
This left Glenelg needing to beat Norwood by atleast 15 goals and West to lose in the last round, neither of which happened - so the Bays finished in 5th spot, with 11 wins & 9 losses - a wasted season.

• Graham Cornes won his first club best & fairest award.
• Fred Phillis was the club's leading goalkicker with 30 goals and 31 points (and quite a few out of bounds) - after stating his career as a centre half back.

1971 was probably Glenelg's worst season during Neil Kerley's reign as coach. They lost their first four games (albeit by less than 3 goals each time), and never recovered from that bad start.
After 7 rounds they were equal bottom with Torrens on 1 win, 6 losses, but after winning 8 of their next 11 games, they climbed into the top 4 for the first time, thanks to a club record 170 point over Woodville in round 18.
However they lost their last 3 games to the top 3 sides (North, Port & Sturt) and finished 6th, with 9 wins and 12 losses - 3 games outside the top 4.
Glenelg did win the Coca Cola cup - a knockout competition during the finals for sides ranked 5th to 8th on the ladder.

• Peter Marker began his 7 year stint as Glenelg captain, won the club's best & fairest award, was runner-up in the Magarey medal by 1 vote to Russell Ebert, and became the club's second State Captain - after Neil Davies.
• Fred Phillis was the club's top goalkicker for the 4th consecutive season with 102 goals, including 10 goals in a match aginst Woodville at Glenelg Oval.
• Fred Phillis was also the league's top goalkicker for the 3rd year in a row, kicking 99 goals in the SANFL competition.
• Peter Carey made his debut against Centrals at Elizabeth in round 12, 1971, and Harry Kernahan retired after succumbing to a knee injury.
• Glenelg won their 4th Colts premiership.

Glenelg were sitting in 2nd spot after 7 rounds with 5 wins and 2 losses, but then two narrow losses to Centrals and Port saw them plummet down to 5th and they never got back into the top 4 for the rest of the season.
The highlight of the season was an 84 point belting of finals bound Norwood in round 11, but this was followed by the low point of a 12 point loss to bottom side South in round 13.
With five rounds remaining Glenelg were still in finals contention on 8 wins, 8 losses - 2 games outside the top 4 - but a loss to Centrals in round 17, left them 3 games out with only 4 to play.
Despite winning 3 of their last 4 games, it was too little too late and they finished the season in 6th spot with 11 wins, 10 losses. This is probably where they belonged, as they only won 1 of their 9 games against the top 4 sides but won 10 of their 12 encounters with teams outside the top 4.

• Neil Kerley was coach for a 6th successive season, and Peter Marker was in his 2nd season as captain.
• Peter Marker was SA State Captain in the Australian Football Carnival in Perth, and came third in The Tassie Medal.
• Graham Cornes won his second club best & fairest award.
• Fred Phillis was Glenelg's top goalkicker for the 5th season in a row with 75 goals - after moving to Melbourne for work, missing the first 3 rounds, and flying back each week thereafter.