# Sandringham Football Club

The Sandringham Football Club, nicknamed the Zebras, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Sandringham. It currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VFLW).
Sandringham has competed in the VFL − originally known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA) − since 1929, and was one of only two clubs to not be relegated to Division 2 when the VFA was split into two divisions.
Since the 2009 VFL season, Sandringham has had a reserves affiliation with Australian Football League (AFL) club St Kilda.

## History
### Origins and formation

The first steps towards establishing a semi-professional football team from the Sandringham area were made in 1927, with the Black Rock Football Club (Black Rock Amateurs), the Hampton Football Club, the Sandringham Amateur Football Club and the Sandringham District Football Club discussing the viability of amalgamating to form a team in the VFA. The proposal failed after a meeting of club representatives on 17 February 1927 despite Sandringham Amateurs "unreservedly" favouring the concept, wih Black Rock unable to field a team, Hampton opposing the merger on the grounds of losing local identity and Sandringham District wanting at least three clubs involved. All four clubs competed in the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA) for the 1927 season. On 15 August 1927, four other clubs merged to form the Sandringham Football Club.
On 17 February 1928, Sandringham, Sandringham District and the Sandringham United Football Club amalgamated to form a new Sandringham Football Club. This was, however, effectively a continuation of the Sandringham Amateurs. The club entered two teams in the MAFA and one team in the Federal Football Association (FFA) junior competition for the 1928 season. The second Sandringham team in the MAFA (known as Sandringham B) withdrew from C Section in August 1928 after having a record score kicked against them.
Sandringham was told by the VFA in November 1928 that it would be admitted into the competition if it obtained permission to build a fence around Beach Road Oval; the lack of a fence had prevented the club from entering for the 1928 VFA season. In January 1929, the Sandringham Council supported a bid from an (apparently new) senior Sandringham Football Club to enter the VFA. The bid was successful, and Sandringham was accepted into the Association on 4 February 1929.
Despite the admission, the club still faced a challenge prior to its first game. Sandringham applied for the use of Beach Road Oval for its reserves team (Second Eighteen) on Saturdays, but Sandringham Amateurs − returning to the MAFA for the 1929 season − also applied for its use, having played at the ground for 20 years. Sandringham Amateurs requested for use on alternate Saturdays and during the week for training purposes, while Sandringham said its VFA bid would have to be abandoned if it did not have access to the ground. Ultimately, Sandringham Council choose to allow the Amateurs to continue using the ground. Sandringham's VFA reserves team instead played its home games at Tulip Street Reserve. The club wore the colours of gold, black and blue, taken from Sandringham Amateurs, Black Rock and Hampton.

### VFA/VFL

In the club's first 10 years of existence, they achieved a season finish of no better than 5th place, which came in the 1933 season.
Sandringham recorded its inaugural premiership in the 1946 season, coming from behind late in the final quarter to record a 7-point win over Camberwell in front of 30,000 spectators. Though the club struggled throughout the 1950s, it has since gone on to record 10 premierships in total, being one of the most consistent teams in the VFL, their most successful period coming in the 2000s, with 4 premierships in 10 years cementing the club as one of the premier teams in the league.
The Zebras' home ground is and almost always has been the Beach Oval, which was renamed the Trevor Barker Beach Oval in the 1990s after the death of Trevor Barker, who had coached Sandringham to the 1992 and 1994 premierships. Only in 1966 did the club change home grounds, spending a year at the Junction Oval in St Kilda before moving back to Beach Oval ahead of the 1967 season. From the 2018 season, the club will play three of its home games each year at Moorabbin Oval, and will wear St Kilda's black, red and white guernsey in these games.
The oval has a single grandstand (the Neil Bencraft Grandstand), a south end named after Nick Sautner (the Sautner Goal), and an administration centre (the John Mennie Administration Centre) – a social club and a capacity of 10,000. A record crowd of 18,000 attended the venue's first Sunday VFA premiership game, held between Sandringham and Port Melbourne Football Club in April 1964. A Rec Footy competition is also played at the ground.

### Affiliations

The Zebras have an alignment agreement with Australian Football League (AFL) club St Kilda which has been in place since 2009. Previously, Sandringham had an alignment with Melbourne. Sandringham and Melbourne were the first two clubs to form an alignment. This was announced in 1999 and began in the 2000 season. The alignment had an immediate effect with Sandringham winning the premiership in 2000, and a further three premierships (2004, 2005 and 2006) were won during the affiliation.
St Kilda announced in December 2013 that the alignment would be continued until the end of the 2015 VFL season, with a plan for both clubs would go their separate ways in 2016. This led to Sandringham establishing a partnership with Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) club Hampton Rovers. The affiliation with St Kilda was temporarily extended for the 2016 VFL season. However, after renegotiations throughout 2016, a new rolling affiliation deal with no fixed term was signed, to begin in 2017. The new deal changed the nature of the affiliation, expanding St Kilda's involvement in Sandringham's operation − including removing a stipulation from the previous agreement that no more than 14 St Kilda-listed players could play in Sandringham's senior team in any given match and Sandringham playing three games per year in St Kilda colours (beginning in 2018) at Moorabbin Oval, St Kilda's former home ground.
In October 2023, St Kilda announced that, beginning at the 2025 AFL rookie draft, it would use one of its rookie list places to draft a Sandringham player. However, at the 2025 rookie draft, which was held in November 2024, this did not occur.

## Honours
### Club

Premierships :
| Competition | Level | Wins | Years Won |
| Victorian Football League | Seniors | 10 | 1946, 1962, 1985, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006 |
| VFA/VFL Reserves | Division 1 | 9 | 1960, 1961, 1969, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1993, 1994, 2000 |
| VFA/VFL Thirds | Division 1 | 10 | 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1994 |
| Other titles and honours ||||
| Lightning Premiership | Seniors | 1 | 1979 |
| Finishing positions ||||
| Victorian Football League | Minor premiership | 6 | 1960, 1985, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2007 |
| Victorian Football League | Grand Finalists | 5 | 1947, 1960, 1963, 1977, 1995 |
| Victorian Football League | Wooden spoons | 5 | 1929, 1930, 1940, 1941, 1954 |

### Individual

JJ Liston Trophy Winners (8) 1929 – Edward Bourke 1947 – Stan Tomlins 1962 – Keith Burns 1985 – Neil McLeod 1992 – Joe Rugolo 1997 – Justin Crough 2003 – David Robbins 2005 – Paul Johnson

## Seasons

| Season | Win–loss | Finishing position | Finals |
| 2009 | 7-11 | 10th | DNQ |
| 2010 | 7-11 | 9th | DNQ |
| 2011 | 6-12 | 10th | DNQ |
| 2012 | 10-8 | 6th | Elimination Final |
| 2013 | 6-11-1 | 11th | DNQ |
| 2014 | 9-8-1 | 8th | Semi Final |
| 2015 | 14-4 | 2nd | Preliminary Final |
| 2016 | 10-8 | 7th | Semi Final |
| 2017 | 8-10 | 11th | DNQ |
| 2018 | 5-12-1 | 13th | DNQ |
| 2019 | 6-12 | 12th | DNQ |
| 2022 | 8-9-1 | 12th | DNQ |
| 2023 | 5-12-1 | 16th | DNQ |
| 2024 | 8-9-1 | 12th | DNQ |

### VFA/VFL Grand Finals

| Year | Opponent | Score | Venue |
| 1946 | Camberwell | 14.15 (99) - 13.14 (92) | Junction Oval |
| 1947 | Port Melbourne | 11.8 (74) - 15.13 (103) | Junction Oval |
| 1960 | Oakleigh | 8.14 (62) - 18.14 (122) | Junction Oval |
| 1962 | Moorabbin | 14.10 (94) - 13.15 (93) | Junction Oval |
| 1963 | Moorabbin | 9.12 (66) - 19.16 (130) | North Port Oval |
| 1977 | Port Melbourne | 7.15 (57) - 23.19 (157) | Junction Oval |
| 1985 | Williamstown | 14.16 (100) - 13.16 (94) | Junction Oval |
| 1992 | Williamstown | 19.16 (130) - 13.8 (86) | Princes Park |
| 1994 | Box Hill | 11.12 (78) - 10.9 (69) | Victoria Park |
| 1995 | Springvale | 6.15 (51) - 14.10 (94) | Victoria Park |
| 1997 | Frankston | 10.13 (73) - 5.14 (44) | North Port Oval |
| 2000 | North Ballarat | 15.18 (108) - 11.11 (77) | Waverley Park |
| 2004 | Port Melbourne | 9.13 (67) - 9.9 (63) | Princes Park |
| 2005 | Werribee | 11.17 (83) - 11.8 (74) | Princes Park |
| 2006 | Geelong | 13.13 (91) - 11.7 (73) | Princes Park |

## VFA/VFL Club Records

| Highest Score | 44.20 (284) v Dandenong, Round 5, 1984, Beach Road Oval |
| Lowest Score | 0.9 (9) v Williamstown, Round 11, 2018, Williamstown Cricket Ground |
| Greatest Winning Margin | 206 points v Camberwell, Round 18, 1990, Beach Road Oval |
| Greatest Losing Margin | 236 points v Port Melbourne, Round 19, 1941, North Port Oval |
| Lowest Winning Score | 5.9 (39) v Frankston 5.8 (38), Round 20, 2003, Frankston Park |
| Highest Losing Score | 26.12 (168) v Preston 28.7 (175), Preliminary Final, 1981, Junction Oval |

## Notable former players

* Ian Cooper – St. Kilda. Best on ground in 1966 VFL grand final premiership.
* Bob Murray - St. Kilda
* Rex Hunt - Richmond, Geelong, St Kilda (1968-1978)
* Nick Sautner
* Chad Liddell
* Stan Tomlins
* Len Toyne
* Dallas O'Brien – 1983 Stawell Gift winner
* Michael Conlan
* Jeff Sarau - St. Kilda
* James Magner
* Jack Gunston
* Max Stokes
* Des Kennedy