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

Johnny Taylor continued as captain-coach for a second season, and was looking to go one better after making the Grand Final in his first season in charge.
But as Glenelg had lost Laurie Taylor to a coaching position in New South Wales, the team was re-arranged, with Don Taylor moving to centre-half-forward to replace his brother and the rapidly improving Brian Wright moving to centre-half-back to fill the hole left by Don Taylor's move.
Furure All-Australian and dual best & fairest winner Neil Davies was recruited from Broken Hill, and after just three games was picked in the state side.
So despite the loss of Laurie Taylor, Glenelg still had a very stong goal to goal line of Colin Churchett (FF), Don Taylor (CHF), Neil Davies (C), Brian Wright (CHB), Ray Hunt (FB), not to mention a pretty handy ruck combination in Allan Crabb and Johnny Taylor.

After losing to eventual premier Port Adelaide at Alberton in round 1, Glenelg won 3 games in a row and then promptly lost 3 games in a row, to be sitting in 5th place on the ladder with a 3-4 win-loss record, and a game behind 4th placed Torrens after round 7.

Glenelg then won 4 in a row, albeit against the bottom 3 sides (including 2 wins over Norwood at The Parade and at Moonta), so that after round 11 they were sitting in 3rd spot with a 7-4 win-loss record, 2 games and percentage in front of 5th placed West.
Losses to Port and West in the next 2 rounds, brought West Adelaide back level with Glenelg, with Glenelg retaining 4th spot due to a better percentage.

Then Glenelg came storming home, winning their last 5 games, including wins over 2nd side North, 4th side Torrens, and equal 5th side West (to snuff out their finals chances).
After this run of wins Glenelg finished the minor round comfortably in 3rd position with a 12-6 record, 2 games clear of 4th and 3 games clear of 5th.

In the first semi final, Glenelg led at every change and overwhelmed Torrens by 38 points (with Colin Churchett kicking 8 goals to bring up his 100 for the season).
In the preliminary final, North Adelaide pulled away in the third quarter to establish a 17-point lead and kept Glenelg goal-less in the last to win by 25 points.

• Brian Wright won his first Glenelg best & fairest award.
• Colin Churchett was Glenelg's top goalkicker for the 5th season in a row, was the league's top goalkicker for the 4th year in a row, and kicked 100 goals in a season for the 2nd year in a row - becoming only the 2nd player to achieve this feat, behind Ken Farmer.

After the departure of Johnny Taylor, Glenelg appointed 23 year old Pat Hall from Norwood as Captain-Coach for the 1953 season.
The team got off to a fast start, winning their first four games all by sizable margins ranging from 47-points to 73-points, and whilst they were undefeated on top of the ladder after 4 rounds, those wins were all against sides that finished in the bottom 4 at the end of the season.

In the next 3 rounds Glenelg played against and lost to sides in the top-4, so the pattern of the season was set.

The top-4 seemed to be set quite early in the season, and Glenelg's place in the top-4 never really looked in jeopardy until the second half of the season when Glenelg started to lose to sides in the bottom-4.

After unexpected late-season losses to Sturt, North and South resulted in Glenelg losing 6 out of 7 matches (with the only win being a surprise 12-point victory against ladder leader Port at Alberton), North had drawn level with Glenelg on the ladder with 1 round remaining, and they were scheduled to play each other in the last round at Kensington Oval - a ground at which Glenelg had only ever won once in 6 attempts.

Glenelg defeated North by 29 points in this pre-finals elimination match and claimed 4th spot on the ladder with a 9-9 win-loss record, and would face Norwood in the first semi final, whom they had not beaten in their last four attempts, and had never beaten in a final.

Despite being behind all day, the Bays unleashed a withering last quarter burst and overran Norwood in the last 8 minutes to win the first semi final by 24 points.

The following week in the preliminary final against Port Adelaide, Glenelg made the mistake of playing injured players and were never in the game. They were 6 goals down at 1/4 time and 8 goals down at half-time, and lost by 58 points.

• Neil Davies won his first Glenelg best & fairest award, and was runner-up in the Magarey Medal.
• Neil Davies became Glenelg's first All-Australian player at the 1953 Australian National Football Carnival held in Adelaide.
• After spending 1952 mainly at centre-half-forward, Colin Churchett returned to full-foward and was Glenelg's top goalkicker for the 6th time with 74 goals.

In 1959 Neil Davies continued as Captain-Coach for a 2nd season, and after 8 rounds Glenelg were sitting in 5th place on the ladder with a 3-5 win-loss record, already two games and percentagae outside the top-4. But Glenelg's only wins to this point in the season were all against sides in the bottom 3.

That changed in round 9 when Glenelg had their first win against a side in the top-4, West Torrens, who were in 3rd position, and this win narrowed the gap to 4th spot to just one win.

In the next 5 rounds, thanks to a couple of wins against against the bottom two sides (South & North), Glenelg stayed in touch with the top-4, to be in 5th position after 14 rounds with 6 wins - 8 losses, just 1 win behind 4th placed Torrens who they were due to play in the next round.

This round 15 encounter with Torrens was a do-or-die clash, as a loss would leave them 2 games and percentage outide the top-4 with just 3 rounds to play. Glenelg were able to upset West Torrens by 17-points, which drew them level with Torrens on the ladder but with an inferior percentage - but on the downside Neil Davies was carried off during the game with a recurrence of his knee injury.

Going into round 17, Torrens and Glenelg were locked together on 8 wins each, but because Torrens had the better percentage, then if Glenelg lost to 2nd placed West Adelaide and Torrens defeated 6th placed Norwood, Glenelg's finals chances would be snuffed out - it was a must win game for Glenelg.
In a high scoring game, Glenelg led for most of the day, and triumphed by 20-points, and after Torrens also beat Norwood, Glenelg and Torrens were still tied together on 9 wins, but Torrens had a 1.3% advantage.

Glenelg would need to defeat 7th placed North in the last round to qualify for finals regardless, but if Torrens defeated top side Port, then Glenelg would need to win by a club record margin to eclipse Torrens' percentage.
As it turned out, Torrens lost to Port, and Glenelg defeated North by 12-points, and with 10 wins - 8 losses, Glenelg snuck into 4th spot for the first time in the season, and qualified for their first finals series in 6 years.

The first semi final against Sturt was a close game all day, with Sturt continually sneaking ahead and Glenelg always fighting back to close the gap. Sturt had again sneaked out to an 11 point lead with just 3 minutes remaining in the last quarter, but two spectacular marks and goals from full-forward Fred Pemberton late in the game gave Glenelg a 1 point victory.
In the preliminary final, Glenelg were defeated by eventual premier Port Adelaide by 59 points.

• Fred Pemberton topped the club's goalkicking with 44 goals.
• Colin Richens won his first club best & fairest award.
• Glenelg won the night premiership in the pre-season competition - The Advertiser Cup
• The club won both the Junior Colts and Senior Colts premierships - for the Junior Colts, it was their second in a row.

1964 saw the introduction into league ranks of two new teams - Central Districts and Woodville - for the first time since Glenelg was admitted in 1921.
Glenelg appointed triple Magarey medallist Len Fitzgerald as coach, and Harry Kernahan as captain.

With a new coach, new captain and two new teams to beat up on, Glenelg's fortunes showed a marked improvement from the previous season.
Although getting off to a poor start, with a draw and 2 losses in the first 3 rounds, recording the club's first ever 100-point win in round 4 against newbie Centrals kick-started their season, with Glenelg going on to win 8 of their next 9 games - including a 9-point come-from-behind win against ladder leaders South Adelaide in round 9, and a 46-point win over 3rd placed Norwood in round 10.

After 12 rounds Glenelg had risen to 3rd spot on the ladder with 8 wins - 3 losses - 1 draw. In the last 8 rounds, Glenelg lost to fellow finalists Port, Sturt & South, but as these were Glenelg's only losses, this was enough to secure fourth spot on the ladder with 12 wins - 6 losses - 2 draws.

Glenelg and Sturt met in the first semi final - in both teams' first finals appearance since their epic clash in the 1959 first semi final.
In another thrilling and eerily similar encounter, Sturt had opened up a 17 point lead with nine minutes remaining in the last quarter. But Glenelg had fought back to within 5 points, and with two minutes to go, McGowan kicked the ball in to Button who marked a metre out from the behind post - but the umpire awarded a contentious free against McGowan for running too far (as can be seen in this short video) and Sturt held on to win by 5 points.

• New recruits Colin Rice and Brian McGowan had an immediate impact in their first season at the club. Rice won the club's best & fairest award, while McGowan was the club's top goalkicker with 54 goals.
• Future star Fred Phillis won the thirds best & fairest award.

1967 began a new era at the Glenelg Football Club with the appointment of Neil Kerley as Captain-Coach, and a new look, with the adoption of the black guernsey with a gold sash across the front.
Kerley brought a new level of commitment and professionalism to the club, at all levels, both on and off the field. He had already coached West and South to premierships - their first premierships for 14 and 26 years respectively - and had taken South from bottom in 1963 (which is where Glenelg finished in 1966) to top in 1964 in his first year as coach.

Kerley had an immediate impact, beating North Melbourne in a trial match, and opening the season with 4 consecutive wins - three of them by over 10 goals (admittedly all against teams who finished in the bottom 3), including a 100 point win over Woodville in his very first match in charge (only the club's 2nd ever 100 point win).

But after this initial honeymoon period against the weaker sides was over, reality set in as they started meeting better opposition and Glenelg lost their next 4 games, to be one game outside the final four on 4 wins - 4 losses after 8 rounds.

After a round 12 thumping at the hands of Port Adelaide, Glenelg's season was at the cross roads, sitting outside the top-4 on 6 wins - 6 losses, 1 game behind 4th placed Norwood, who they were due to play in the next round.
Half of their remaining 8 matches would be against top-4 sides, and only one against the bottom two sides who were the only teams already out of finals contention, so if they were to make the finals they were going to have to earn it.

In round 13, they had a critical 36-point win over 4th placed Norwood at The Parade which lifted them back into the top-4 on percentage.

Then in round 17 they needed to defeat 2nd side North to prevent Norwood from displacing them in the top-4. After only kicking 1 goal and trailing by 27-points at half time, Glenelg kept North to 1 goal in the 2nd half to run out winners by 4-points.

After a loss to West in round 18 left them in equal 4th place with South and Norwood (but ahead on percentage), they faced the intimidating prospect of needing to defeat Sturt at Unley Oval in round 19 or face the prospect of dropping out of the top-4 once again. Glenelg responded with an emphatic 53-point drubbing of league leading Sturt, which kept them in 4th spot, but still needing to defeat Norwood in the last round or hope that South lost to Port.

In the last round Glenelg defeated Norwood for the 3rd time in the season, to finish the minor round in 4th spot with 12 wins & 8 losses - 1 game and percentage in front of 5th placed South.

Unfortunately in a rugged first semi final against Port Adelaide, Glenelg finished with just 17 fit men (two went to hospital) and were blown away by 46 points. This was the the third time that Port had ended Glenelg's season prematurely after preliminary final defeats in 1953 & 1959.

• Glenelg changed to its jumper to a black guernsey with a gold sash at the front.
• As well as being Captain-Coach, Neil Kerley also won the club's best & fairest award.
• Ray Button & Bob Anesbury tied for the top goalkicking honours with 45 goals each, and Ray Button kicked 11 goals in the round 1 demolition of Woodville.
• Peter Marker, Rex Voigt, Kerry Hamilton, Wayne Phillis & Graham Cornes all made their league debuts in 1967 - setting the foundations for future success.
• The reserves won their first ever premiership, and the thirds won just their second premiership (after losing only one game for the year).

In 1976 Neil Kerley continued into his 10th (and last) season as coach, and Peter Marker was captain for the 6th consectutive year - both club records.
Despite substantial list changes caused by the departures of Greg Bennett, Bob Tardiff, Kerry Hamilton, Peter Anderson & Bob Treganza from the club, Glenelg still remained a genuine premiership contender.

Smarting from their unexpected grand final loss in 1975, Glenelg were on top of the ladder and undefeated after the first 5 rounds, which included comprehensive victories of 58 points against Sturt in round 1, our biggest ever win of 88 points against Port in round 2, and a 29 point win against reigning premiers Norwood in round 4 (after kicking 17-26).

Although they remained on top of the ladder until round 10, when they had an 8-2 win-loss record, they suffered from massive fluctuations in form for the rest of the minor round. After round 10 they could not string together more than 2 wins in a row.

From round 11 onwards, apart from a 20-point loss to Port, their other 4 losses were all by atleast 37 points, and their 6 wins were all by atleast 40 points... with no close matches.

In fact 7 times during the season thre was a turnaround of atleast 13 goals from one meeting against a club to the next meeting against that club. A good example is, against Sturt they went from 58 point winners in round 1, to 47 point losers in round 11, to 82 point winners in round 21. Glenelg's inconsistency saw them finish the minor round in 3rd position with 14 wins & 7 losses.

In the finals, they beat Sturt in the qualifying final by 23 points, lost to Port in the second semi final by 43 points, and then faced Sturt again in the preliminary final - whom they had defeated twice in the previous 3 weeks by 82 points & 23 points.

Unfortunately the preliminary final did not go to plan, and after missing countless opportunities to establish a match winning lead, Sturt came back from 19 points behind at 3/4 time to inflict a gut-wrenching 7 point loss.

The repercussions of this humiliating loss were severe, with Neil Kerley resigning as coach after 10 years in the job.

• Fred Phiilis was the club's top goalkicker for the 7th time with 104 goals, including 12 in a match against Sturt in round 21 at Football Park.
• Fred Phillis was also the league's top goalkicker again - for the 5th time.
• 19 year old Paul Weston won his first club best & fairest award, and came 3rd in the Magarey medal.
• Brian Colbey's career was cut short at 29 due to a serious achilles tendon injury.

With John Nicholls at the helm as coach for his 2nd year, and Graham Cornes appointed captain (with Peter Marker under an injury cloud and the reirement of Wayne Phillis), the 1978 season began in sensational fashion against South at the Bay in round 1. Only 6 points up at 3/4 time, Fred Phillis, who had returned to full-forward after spending 1977 at full-back, kicked 7 goals in the last quarter - finishing with 10 all up - and the Bays ran out winners by 53 points.

After a 74-point win over Port Adelaide in round 4, Glenelg were undefeated and top of the table, leading into a round 5 clash against an also undefeated Sturt at the Bay - but they were humbled to the tune of 42 points, and were relegated to 2nd on the ladder.
From rounds 6 to 11, Glenelg won their next 6 in a row, to be on 10 wins - 1 loss, still in 2nd spot on the ladder and only percentage behind top side Sturt.

After belting bottom side North Adelaide at Prospect in round 15 by 122 points - with Kym Hodgeman picking up 52 touches and kicking 7.3 - they were still 2nd with a 12-3 record and three games in front of Norwood in 3rd spot.

Then something strange happened...they lost their ability to score. Up to round 15, Glenelg averaged 116 points per match, but in the next four matches they averaged just 51 points per match, and comfortably lost all four matches. There were signs of life in the round 20 loss to South (their 5th loss in a row) where they managed to kicked 15 goals, and then won their last 2 matches to cling onto 3rd spot and the double chance in the finals with a 14-8 record.

But in the finals they were eliminated in straight sets, losing to Norwood by 54 points in the qualifying final, and Port by 12 points in the first semi final - after being 28 points up at three-quarter-time. This was the first time in Glenelg's history where they had the double chance in the finals and couldn't win a single final.
Also of note is that Kym Hodgeman was unavailable for the first semi final after getting injured at training.

• Kym Hodgeman had a sensational season - winning his 2nd club best & fairest award and winning the Magarey medal.
• Kym Hodgeman was also the club's leading goalkicker with 54 goals, with Fred Phillis 2nd on 53 goals, and Stephen Copping 3rd on 50 goals - Hodgeman became only the 3rd player, after Frank Burt in 1945 and Neil Davies in 1956 to win both the best & fairest and top goalkicking honours in the same season.
• Fred Phillis became Glenelg's greatest ever goalkicker, surpassing Jack Owen's career goal tally of 827 goals for the club.