Gepps Cross Football Club

Gepps Cross Football Club is an Australian rules football club located at Duncan Fraser Reserve, Northfield, South Australia. The club plays in Division 1 of the South Australian Amateur Football League and is known as "The Rams". The Club has produced several high-profile AFL players and many SANFL and Amateur League players.

The Junior Football Club was formed when a lady by the name of Mrs. Sawford approached John Weaver late in 1955 to help organise a football team so her son and other boys in the area could play football. The club nominated a team in the North Adelaide District Football Association in 1956. The Association has had a number of name changes over the years, now being known as the North Eastern Metro Junior Football Association.

In the early days there was only one grade - under 14's. An under 16 grade was instituted in 1961. Then, during the early 60's, the ages were changed to under 15 and under 17, and under 13 and under 11 grades were introduced.

The first 2 years brought limited success. In 1958 all parents were contacted and a committee was formed. A prime mover of this was Max Bamford, father of ex North Adelaide player Barry and grandfather of Scott who played AFL for Essendon, Brisbane and Geelong and is currently playing for North Adelaide.

Max, along with John Weaver, coached the under 14's and in 1958 the team made the finals for the first time, finishing 4th. In 1959 they were defeated by 1 point in the Grand Final. The first premiership was won in 1960. In 1961 the team finished 2nd then won premierships in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966. All would agree this is an amazing performance. The other grades had instant success with all winning premierships.

There were many players who went on to play league football. Some who made the grade include David Cearns, Bob Smith, Brian Smith, Barry Bamford, Dennis, Neil and John Sachse, Malcolm Ellis, Shane Tongerie, John May, Josh Mail, Martin Pike and former Sturt coach Brenton Phillips. Many of our senior players are products of the Junior Club.

Some of the stalwarts of the early years include Graham Smith who was Secretary for many years. Graham also coached the under 11's and under 17's to premierships. Graham went on to be Secretary of the Association. Another great worker for the club was Don Ellis who was Treasurer for many years and was the first Secretary of the Sports and Social Club and largely responsible for the club rooms being built. Other names include Eddie Sachse, Bob Smith, Kevin Briggs, Marge Ellis, Gwen Weaver and Alf Smith.

A point worth mentioning is that at one time in the late sixties and early seventies, there were 22 players from Gepps Cross in North Adelaide's four teams.

Due partly to the aging population in the area the club reached rock bottom in 2002, fielding just five struggling teams. Over the last four years the club has grown to 12 teams and is bursting at the seams with players. We have a policy of never turning a player away, providing he, or she, abides by club and team rules.

Over the years a lot of hard work has gone into making the club what it is today and we believe we are on the verge of returning to the glory days and a lot of credit must go to Neil Rawlings who brought a more professional approach to the Club and our Secretary Andrew Pearce.

In 2007 the club won two premierships - The Under 13's beat Pooraka in the grand final and the Under 16's beat Broadview. These were the club's first premierships since 1999.

Four players also figured prominently in the North Eastern Metro Junior Football Association Best and Fairest awards. Ben Rawlings won the Under 16's award with Caleb Warren the runner-up. Alex Guy won the Under 15's Best and Fairest, while Oleg Markov from the Under 11's was runner-up.

In 2008 the strong growth has continued. Despite the club's decision not to heavily promote itself, a flood of new players saw team numbers for the 10 to 16 year olds reach the maximum practical figures, while still giving each player equal match time. The club also fielded three Under 8 teams and two Under 6 teams. In 2009 the Rams hope to field 17 teams in both the North Eastern Metro Junior Football Association and the South Australian Amateur Football League.

External links

* [http://www.ramsjfc.co.cc/]
* [http://www.northgatesports.com.au/sports/football/ Gepps Cross FC]
* [http://www.footypedia.com/00002994.htm Footypedia]
* [http://www.saafl.asn.au/ South Australian Amateur Football League]