President: Ian Roberts Secretary: Michael Hickey Treasurer: John Groves

PO Box 582 Mildura, 3502 Telephone: 5023 2402 Fax: 5022 0081

IMPERIAL FOOTBALL AND NETBALL CLUB Inc.

 Registration No. A0008051E                               ABN: 16 109 216 786

 Affiliated with Sunraysia Football & Netball League, Mildura.

 PREMIERS: 1936, 1949, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1971, 1977, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2008.

 The Club

The Imperial Football Club, founded in 1929, has developed into an enormously successful club with a great tradition that is well-respected inside and outside of football circles, both, from within the region and other areas of the State of Victoria. The club prides itself on its on-field and off-field performances and the development of the people that pass through the club.

The club, which consists of three football teams and four netball teams, and its junior club, affiliated with the Sunraysia Junior Football League, enjoy a very good partnership and this relationship has helped in the development of a very stable club in which a family environment has been fostered.

The club has been able to recruit and retain very good coaches and support personnel, with two previous senior coaches (Mark Cross & Tony Hickey) both winning the Victorian Coach of the Year award during their time in charge of the Senior team at the club.

The club can lay claim to many good players who have played for the Imperial Football Club and who have developed into very good people and leaders. The most recent, and notable, of these who have gone on to play very well at the highest level are Dale Weightman, Mathew Knights, both Captains at Richmond, Mathew Croft at the Western Bulldogs and currently, Joshua Hunt at Geelong.

The Imperial Football Club has established itself as Sunraysia Football League’s most successful Club and, indeed, one of Victoria's most successful major football league clubs. Since 1986 the club has missed the finals’ series only 3 times, played in 17 Grand Finals and won 12 premierships. In fact, since the formation of the SFL in 1945, the club has played in twenty-seven grand finals, an average of two grand finals every five years. The club’s premierships are listed below.

 

Seniors

Premiers: (19) (18 since the formation of the Sunraysia Football League in 1945)

 1936,'49,'50,'56,'57,'71,'77,'86,'87,'88,'90,'92,'93,'94,'95,'99, 2004, ’05, ’08

Runners up: (10)

 1962,'63,'64,'76,'79,'89,'96,'98, 2003, 2007

Reserves

Premiers: (13) 1953,'65,'70,'73,'74,'76,'85,'87,'98, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

Thirds

Premiers: (12) 1974,'75,'76,'80,'81,'82,'83,'86,'90,'98, 2002, 2007

Administration

Off-field the club administration is stable. The current committee, consisting of 13 members has ensured that the club has a very sound financial base. The majority of the committee consists of past players of the club and most have been members of the committee for upwards of five years.

The sound financial position of the Imperial Football and Netball Club is due in the main to the club seeking income streams from sources outside traditional football operations.

The club administrators have long held the view that club success is not about “buying” a Senior premiership, but more about fostering friendships and developing a great environment in which all people representing the club can enjoy success and young people can develop.

The people associated with the Imperial Football and Netball Club take immense pride in the on- field success enjoyed by the club but consider this more of a by-product of the work ethic and atmosphere created by those involved in the club.

Recent Seasons

After back-to-back premierships in 2004 & 2005 the senior team failed to make the finals in 2006. However, all four netball teams and the Reserve and Under 18 grade football teams played in the Grand Final with premierships won by three of the netball teams and the Reserves football team.

2007 saw a return to Grand Final action for three of the four netball teams and all three grades of football. All but the senior team won the respective premierships.

The club’s successful junior program has ensured that several of the younger players have emerged as significant contributors at senior level. In fact in 2005 and 2007 fifteen of the twenty-one players that represented the club in the Grand Final started their playing careers with the Imperial Junior Football Club. In 2008 this figure increased to seventeen of the twenty-one with fourteen of these under 24 years of age.

The Future

The Imperial Football and Netball Club is extremely confident that with selective recruiting, good coaching and the fostering of our junior talent, on-field success will continue in the foreseeable future.

Andrew Petrie, himself a product of the “Imps Nursery”, returned in 2008 after a two-year stint overseas and will coach the club in 2008.  The playing group of 2008 has committed to another season and with the continued development of the younger players Andrew is confident of being competitive again. With a bit of luck in the running he may even equal the club’s back-to-back successes of 2004, 2005 and give the club its’ 20^th premiership.

2008 was, by anybody’s standard, a very successful year with six of the seven teams which represent the club each week playing in the Grand Final - the Senior and Reserve football teams, and the A, B, C and Under 17 Grade netball teams.

Back-to-back premierships in A Grade and Under 17 Netball and premierships in C Grade Netball and Senior football resulted.

With very little change in playing personnel and the inclusion of some good recruits, Andrew and the match committee, remain confident the club will remain competitive and strive to continue the success our members and supporters have been accustomed to.