Colours Black and Red Coach Ryan Meldrum Founded 1903 | President John Goode Captain(s) Ted Strudwick Competition Sydney AFL | |
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Full name North Shore Australian Football Club Ground(s) Mortgage Choice Oval (Gore Hill Oval) | ||
North Shore Football Club, known informally as the North Shore Bombers is an Australian rules football club competing in the Sydney AFL Premier League and based out of the Sydney suburb of St Leonards, New South Wales. Formed in 1903 it remains one of only three foundation clubs still in existence and generally recognised as one of the more successful clubs of Sydney AFL. The club's current home ground is Gore Hill Oval in St. Leonards, next to the Royal North Shore Hospital.
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Previously nicknamed the Bears, the club has the same playing strip and now logo as the Essendon Football Club in the AFL. The 2016 Senior Coach at North Shore is Ryan Meldrum and the club's President is John Goode. The club fields five teams in the Sydney AFL league. The seniors compete in the Premier Division. The reserves are in Division Two, the thirds in Division Four. The Under 19s compete in the top Division One competition, in which they appeared in the 2014 Grand Final but had to wait until the 2015 Grand Final to claim their first flag in 6 years while they have also introduced a season Under 19s team competing in the Under 19s Division Two competition.
History
The club formed in 1903, one of only three remaining foundation clubs, and since then has won thirteen senior premierships. The Bombers competed in 6 Grand Finals in a row from 2000–2005, winning premierships in 2001, 2004 & 2005. Although the Bombers failed to qualify for the finals in 2006, they bounced back in 2007 to take their 13th premiership. In 2008, after a slow start to the season, the Bombers finished strongly to qualify for the final five, but were eliminated in the first finals match. They failed to qualify for the finals in 2009, but finished fifth in 2010 and fourth in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
With strong junior numbers coming through the ranks, from 2006 to 2008 North Shore fielded two teams in the Under 18s Premier Cup, Sydney AFL's strongest under-18s competition. One of their teams, the Bombers, took out the premiership in 2006 and 2008; while their other team, the Wildcats, took out the 2007 title undefeated. In 2008, the Wildcats changed their name to the Bears. However, the introduction of a divisional structure in the Sydney AFL competition, with a limit of one team per club in each division, saw North Shore only field one under 18s team from 2009 onwards. North Shore have always fielded seniors and reserves teams. With solid growth in player numbers, a third open-age team was entered in 2011; competing in Division Three under the league's divisional structure. The thirds team was relegated after its first season, and now competes in Division Four. Continued growth in numbers saw a fourth open-age team entered in Division Five in 2014.
Senior premierships: 1904, 1910, 1921, 1952, 1961, 1978, 1979, 1985, 1991, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007.
Reserve premierships: 1912, 1913, 1950, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004
U19/U18 premierships: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 2006, 2007(Undefeated Premiers), 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016.
Past Players
The club has produced AFL players such as Ryan Davis, Russell Morris, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Henry Playfair, Phil Bradmore, Andrew Bomford, Simon Davies, Michael Byrne and Will Sierakowski. Former North Shore Bomber Sam Naismith is currently playing for the Sydney Swans. The club has also had a number of players admitted onto senior club rookie lists with Ed Clarke, Tom Hill and Mark Livy all listed with the Sydney Swans at one point throughout their careers. Most recently Callum Mills was drafted with the third pick in the 2015 AFL Draft when the Sydney Swans matched Melbourne Demons bid on Mills.
Tennis champion Pat Rafter played a number of games for the reserves in 2004.