Peninsula Raiders Superules FC Club History

1995
The idea to form “The Mornington Peninsula Superules FC” came about in late 1995 by Leigh Paris, Roger Corfield and Phil Peterson who were associated with the Mornington F.C. These men went to the Vic Metro Superules Football League and applied to form a team in Mornington. They had to supply a list of names showing they had the numbers to form a team. They were going to use the Mornington FC “Bulldogs” jumper but that jumper was taken by Nth Heidelberg. The club adopted the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League colours of Navy & Gold panels on the jumper.

1996
A Superules team took to the field for the first time in the “Vic Metro Superules” competition in Division 2, for the 1996 season. The home ground was the main Mornington football ground, Alexandra Park. The club had good numbers so they also fielded a team in the “Masters” exhibition matches. The President was Roger Corfield, Secretary: Don Sheenan, Treasurer: Norm Scammell and Coach: Barry Evans. Phil Williams was our inaugural captain. The team finished 9th on the ladder. 2 games were played at Victoria Park. The first win for the club was in round 5 verses Noble Park played at Victoria Park. The team won 4 games for the season.

1997
A coup took place at the 1996 AGM. John Gannan was elected as president for season 1997, with Warren Adam: Vice president, Bob Penzer: Secretary and Karen Wooldridge: Treasurer. The previous committee all left the club. It was decided that a new emblem be adopted. A “Viking” was selected and the team’s nickname would be “The Raiders”. At first there was only one O/35 team but that was expanded to 3 teams for this season. We had 2 x O/35(Superules) teams in Division 2 because another team folded before the season began. We filled the space with our 2nd team. We also fielded an O/40(Masters) team. The Masters competition was played for the first time this season. The Superules teams were both in Division 2. The Superules teams wore the navy & gold panelled jumper with gold socks. They were given separate identities. The first O/35 team were called “Bass” and wore navy shorts. Phil Corn was appointed coach and Colin Bambrook captain. The second O/35 team were called “Flinders” and wore gold shorts. Alan Sutherland was appointed coach and Mark Woodruff captain. When they played each other the away side wore the Masters jumpers. The Masters team wore a Navy Jumper with a gold sash, navy shorts and gold socks. John Jones was appointed Masters Coach and Andy Dinnage captain. The Masters competition was not played for points and there are no finals. Bass finished 5th on the ladder and missed the finals narrowly by percentage only. Flinders finished 10th. They kicked their highest score of 113pts in round 4 verses Sunshine to win by 106pts. Mark Grills won the Division 2, League Superules (O/35) Best and Fairest Award. Bill Rutherford was the club’s first All Australian player after the National Carnival held in Geelong. He won selection in the Seniors(O45) age group. The club song of the time was to the tune of “The Marseillaise” Fitzroy FC theme. The words were written by a player, Ian Wheeler.

We are the boys from Mornington,
We wear the colours of Blue and Gold,
We will always fight for victory,
We will always see it through,
Win or lose we’ll do or die,
In defeat we’ll always try,
Go Raiders, Go Raiders,
The team that loves a beer,
Premiers we’ll be this year.

1998
The committee remained the same for this season with John Gannan President. Phil Corn was still Bass coach and Col Bambrook captain. Alan(Chesty)Hayes coached Flinders with Mark Woodruff again captain. Alan Sutherland coached Masters with Les Clarke captain. Bass & Flinders were still together in Division 2. Bass had a great season winning 9 games to finish in second spot on the ladder and make the finals for the first time. They played their semi final against Nth Heidelberg at Northcote Park but were beaten. Masters failed to win a game and Flinders only won 2 games. The club song was updated for this season. It was set to the tune of “The Road to Gundagai”.

OOOOhhhh,
Come on boys make a noise,
We’re the red hot Raider boys,
We are the boys from Mornington,
You can bring up all your locals,
And bring them to the top,
But the Raiders boys are coming,
And they’re coming on the hop,
Come on boys make a noise,
We’re the red hot Raider boys,
We are the boys from Mornington,
(SPOKEN)
What do we sleep on?     SEAWEED!
What do we eat?     FISH!
How do we eat it?   RAW!

1999
John Gannan remained President. The committee employed a Manager for the first time. John Stirling was appointed as a paid manager to ease the load on the executive committee. John Jones was VP and Bob Keillor Treasurer. Phil Corn continued as Bass coach with Ross Twyford captain. Alan Sutherland was captain/coach of Masters. Paul Carlson was appointed as coach of Flinders but was replaced as coach by Chris Burke after 4 games. The club was unhappy with the job that Paul was doing. Both coaches were captain coaches. This season Bass played Mordialloc for the “1892 Commemorative Cup” for the first time. Bass won.  Masters won 3 games. Flinders won 1 game. Bass won 9 games to finish 4th and make the finals. They played Reservoir West Preston at Peanut Farm Res. St Kilda but lost. The Grandstand at Alexandra Park burned down.

2000
The Committee remained the same this season except Tom Klingenspor became VP. Phil Corn coached Bass for the 4th season with Ross Twyford captain. Chris Burke captain/coached Flinders and Alan Sutherland captain/coached Masters. A new set of jumpers were purchased for the Masters side. They were the same Navy Blue & Gold panels as Bass and Flinders. The Vic Metro Superules League split the Over 35 divisions into 3. Bass remained in Div2 while Flinders moved to Div3. The committee decided that Bass would be called the 1st’s & Flinders the 2nd’s. Bass made the finals again finishing 4th on the ladder with only 5 wins. They played Reservoir West Preston at Spotswood but lost. Flinders won 2 games finishing 6th out of 8 teams. Masters had 4 wins for the season. Flinders won 2 games and finished 6th out of 8. Chris Burke kicked the most goals in a game for Flinders with 5 goals in rounds 9 & 11. The club became incorporated this season and the name changed to “Peninsula Superules FC Inc”. Phil Corn became the first player to play 50 club games. Kevin Deason played in the Ted Whitten legends game curtain raiser, Vic Metro v Vic Country. By the end of this season 200 players had represented the club.

2001
John Gannan was president again, Tom Klingenspor & Dave Dooley VP’s, John Stirling Secretary/Manager and Bob Keillor treasurer. Leith Gage was appointed Bass coach with Ross Twyford captain. Garry Newman coached Flinders with Bob Keillor captain. Ash Ackehurst captained/coached Masters. Bass won all their home and away games to finish on top of the Division 2 ladder for the first time. They also won their first ever final when the defeated Nth Essendon at Williamstown Oval. They lost the Grand Final to Southern Saints at Preston FC. Jim Marconi won the Div 2 League goal kicking award with 43 goals. He also was the first Raider to kick 10 goals in a game in round 6 against Cranbourne.  Bass also kicked their highest score of 173pts in round 6 verses Cranbourne to win by 163pts. Flinders recorded 2 wins to finish 10th out of 12 teams. They played their 50th game in round 6 verses Brunswick Districts at Brunswick. Masters won 3 games. Bass kick their highest ever score, 26-16-172 to beat Cranbourne by 163pts in rd 6.

2002
The 2002 season had a lot of changes for the Raiders. Brendan Anderson became President. Dave Dooley & Des Dalrymple VP’s. Phil Williams became Treasurer. John Stirling was Secretary/Manager but in a much reduced role due to the poor finances of the club. Phil Williams took over most of the managers duties early in the season. The new committee found that the club was in debt by about $12,000. Firstly, Committee members payed their membership fees early so that John Stirling could be payed out. The next step to erase the financial debt was to put the membership fees up and increase prices over the bar. An auction night was also held using donated goods and services. Dish and Anne Anderson put in a huge amount of time in Mornington asking for donations from local businesses. By the end of 2002 the deficit was eliminated. After losing the Grand Final in 2001, Bass were promoted to Division 1. Graeme O’Sullivan was appointed as Bass Coach with Ross Twyford Captain for the 4th season. Ash Ackehurst was reappointed captain/coach of Masters. Due to falling club membership over the last few seasons the club decided not to field a second Over 35 team for 2002. After 5 seasons, Flinders were no more. The name Bass was dropped for the Superules team. They were just called Supers. They struggled in div 1. The club lost a lot of players from the 2001 GF side. The Supers won only 1 game and finished 9th out of 10 teams. Masters only had 1 win also. The club changed the socks from gold to navy blue. The National body of Superules changed its name to “Masters Australian Football”, MAF.

2003
In 2003 the club officially changed the name to “The Peninsula Raiders Superules FC Inc.” The jumpers were also updated with a stylised “Viking” holding a shield and sword depicted on the front of the jumper and the colours changed to royal blue, white and gold. The shorts were updated to royal blue with the name Raiders on the leg piping in gold. The socks became royal blue with gold tops. Brendan Anderson was President, Rick Hubbard, VP & Phil Williams, Treasurer. Alexandra Park in Mornington was being resurfaced this season so we had to play our home games at Dallas Brooks Park. Graeme O’Sullivan again coached the Supers with Troy Arnott as captain. Ash Ackehurst captained/coached the Masters side. The Supers again struggled in Div1 recording only 2 wins for the season to finish 7th out of 9. The Masters had 1 win and finished 10th & last on the unofficial ladder. Troy Arnott won the MAF Division 1 Superules O/35 Best & Fairest. He also won the National Carnival O/35 Best & Fairest in Perth. Andy Evans was the first player to kick 50 club goals in rd 8.

2004
The club executive committee remained the same with Ross Twyford added as secretary. The club appointed new coaches. Andy McQueen coached the Supers with Troy Arnott as captain. Peter Boyle coached the Masters with Vin Brown as captain. The club celebrated the playing of the 100th Superules game in Round 8 by naming the “Best Superules Team of the first 100 games”. The Supers had only 1 win for the season finishing 10th and last. The masters had 2 wins and finished 9th out of 10 teams on the unofficial ladder. Home games were played back at Alexandra Park. Sadly we lost one of our mates when Stephen Knights passed away during the Rd8 Masters game against Keysborough. A player from Northern Districts/Greensborough Masters also passed away during the Rd10 game against us at Alexandra Park.

2005
The only executive committee change for this season was Mark Leonard elected as VP. The coaches and captains were reappointed. 2005 was the 10th Anniversary of the club. We had a big Birthday function with former players and committeemen invited. The Supers were relegated back to Div 2. They had a much better season winning 7 games to qualify for the finals after finishing in 4th position at the end of the home & away season. They lost to Federal/Bayside in the semi final at Southern Saints. The Masters side had 2 wins, one being a forfeit. Troy Arnott won the MAF Division 2 Superules O/35 Best & Fairest. Vin Brown won the National Carnival O/50 Best & Fairest in Adelaide. The Raiders fielded their own team at the Pambula Easter Carnival. Kevin Deason was the first to play 100 club games.

2006
The club executive committee was unchanged for this season. Andy McQueen and Troy Arnott remained in charge of the Supers. Ash Ackehurst was appointed for his second time as Masters coach, with Vin Brown captain. The MAF established a league headquarters at the Whitten Oval. League meetings, best & fairest count and matches each round were played there. Supers played 2 games there and Masters 1. Supers won 6 games but missed the finals finishing 6th out of 10 teams. The Masters competition was expanded to 18 teams but was separated into 2 groups to play each other for the season. The Masters side won 5 games and played their 100th game in Round 7 verses Diamond Valley at Whitten Oval. Gordon McQueen won the National Carnival O/55 Best & Fairest in Maroochydore, Qld. The 300th player represented the club this season.

2007
The club executive committee was unchanged for this season. Andy McQueen and Troy Arnott remained in charge of the Supers. Ash Ackehurst was appointed for his second time as Masters coach, with Craig Armstrong & Peter Ellery joint captains. The Supers missed the finals again by percentage only. They lost the last game of the season to slip out of the 4. The Masters again won 5 games. Troy Arnott won the MAF Division 2 Superules O/35 Best & Fairest. The league began an O/47 competition. It was played as Northern, Southern, Footscray & Werribee. A few Raiders played with the Southern side. Ash Ackehurst coached his 50th game for the club in round 8.

2008
The club executive committee was unchanged for this season. Dean Bowman was appointed Supers coach with Stephen Lewis as captain. Ash Ackehurst continued as Masters coach with Don Theobald as captain. The National body of Superules changed its name to “Australian Football League Masters”, AFLM. The Over 47’s competition expanded to 6 sides. With good member numbers the Raiders took over the Southern O/47’s after rd 1. This gave the club 3 sides for the first time since 2001. It was a hugely successful season for the Raiders. The Supers finished the season in 4th place with 6 wins. They qualified for the Grand Final after winning their 2nd final by beating Darebin in the semi final at Epping. They lost the grand final to Mordialloc at St Bernards College. The Masters competition was split in to 2 divisions. The Raiders played in Masters 2/3. The Raider Masters team was unbeaten for the season. Masters kicked their highest ever score 20-23-143 when they beat Knox Lions in rd 7 by 133 pts. Andy Burriss won the Masters 2/3 Goal Kicking award with 34 goals. He also kicked the most goals in a game for Masters with 7 goals in rounds 7 & 9. Troy Arnott won the National Carnival O/35 Best & Fairest award in Darwin.