Ocean Grove Football Club

Ocean Grove

Names
Full name	Ocean Grove Football Netball Club
Nickname(s)	Grubbers
Club details
Founded	1964
Colours	White      Red
Competition	Bellarine Football League
Premierships	8 ( 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Ground(s)	Ray Menzies Memorial Reserve, Ocean Grove

The Ocean Grove Football Club is an Australian rules football club that plays in the Bellarine Football League and situated in the town of Ocean Grove, Victoria, Australia.

History

The club started off in the 1960's as a joint club between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove. The Barwon Heads/Ocean Grove Football Club wore purple jumpers with gold trim and were, and still are known as the 'Grubbers'. Ray Menzies was a founding member of the Club and also the Bellarine Football League, since honoured with the naming of the nearby 'Ray Menzies Memorial Reserve'.

Years later the club broke into the Barwon Heads Football Club and the Ocean Grove Football and Netball Club. The newly established club wore white jumpers with a red V, similar to the old South Melbourne jumpers. The current strip is a red and white jumper with a white swan on the front, red shorts and socks, white shorts for away games. The origins of the nickname 'grubbers' are unknown, but may have come from a major road in the area (Grubb Road) or could also be reference to a swan.

The club has won eight premierships in the Bellarine Football League at Senior level. This was achieved in two sequences of four-in-a-row, which in turn came from a sequence of twelve consecutive Grand Final appearances. The premierships were won in:

• 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

The Ocean Grove Football Club also fields a reserves team and U/18's in the BFL, and U/16's in the Geelong Junior Football League. The club also have a junior 'feeder' club, with the Ocean Grove/Collendina Cobras Football Club fielding U/14's, U/12's and U/10's teams.

The Under 18's team won the premiership in 2008 after only losing one game for the year, and going undefeated in the home and away fixture in 2007. They triumphed over the Queenscliff U/18's by a considerable margin. Many of the former U/18 top age players from 2008 will no doubt strengthen the club with their promotion into the senior teams.

In October 2006 a number of players from the club assaulted a Jewish man while they were on a club trip.^[1] In 2007 three players from the Ocean Grove Football Club, including the team capitan were found guilty by the Melbourne Magistrates Court for their part in an anti-semitic remark on a father who was with his two young children. Criminal convictions were recorded against two other men for their role in the incident, while the player who punched the father in the face was never identified.^[2] In November 2007 Melbourne writer and social commentator Christopher Bantick in his column in the Herald Sun wrote that "the club is deserving of public shame".^[3]

Notable club members

The club's two premiership coaches, Brendan McCartney (who won the 1994-1997 flags) and Mark Neeld (who won the 2000-2003 flags), have both gone on to senior coaching jobs in the Australian Football League, with the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne respectively. Coincidentally, both men were appointed to their senior coaching jobs in the same week at the end of the 2011 AFL season.^[4]

As of 2009, five players have made it from the Grubbers up to AFL level:

• Melbourne's Clint Bartram
• West Coast's Jordan Jones,
• Collingwood's Danny Stanley,
• Western Bulldog's Ayce Cordy,
• Western Bulldogs Guy O'Keefe.^[5][6][7]

References

1. ^ "Football club sorry for 'Nazi' attack". NEWS.com.au. October 17, 2006. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20595004-2,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
2. ^ Mex Cooper (November 15, 2007). "Ocean Grove footballers sentenced for 'racist' actions". Geelong Advertiser. http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2007/11/15/8943_news.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
3. ^ Christopher Bantick (November 22, 2007). "Racist attack on Jews in our midst". Herald Sun. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22798945-5000117,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
4. ^ Gullan, Scott (20 Sep 2011). "Grubbers' favourite sons bring sea change to the big league". http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/grubbers-favourite-sons-bring-sea-change-to-the-big-league/story-e6frf9jf-1226141212700. Retrieved 20 Sep 2011. 
5. ^ "AFL Table - player profile - Clint Bartram". superstats.heraldsun.com.au. http://superstats.heraldsun.com.au/profile/250245.html. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
6. ^ "Footy Draft - Mock AFL Draft 2005 - Danny Stanley". www.footydraft.com. http://www.footydraft.com/players.php?player=danny_stanley. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
7. ^ "Young Bulldog waiting in Seagulls' wings - Leader News: Melbourne community news". www.leadernews.com.au. http://www.leadernews.com.au/article/2008/05/27/35990_htv_sport.html. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 

External links

• http://oceangrovefnc.vcfl.com.au/ (official site)