Australian Football

Greenacres

The Dragons can boast the rare although not quite unique distinction of having claimed senior grade premierships in each of the South Australian Amateur Football League’s top five divisions. The club’s heyday came during the 1980s when the seniors were coached by former Port Adelaide player Stephen ‘Bomber’ Clifford. In 1988 Clifford steered the Dragons to their first and so far only top flight premiership thanks to an 11.13 (79) to 11.11 (77) grand final defeat of Broadview.

Over the past couple of decades Greenacres’ fortunes have deteriorated considerably, although the 2008 season brought promise of better things to come as the senior grade side reached the Division Five grand final, losing by just 4 points to Golden Grove. This result meant that the Dragons were promoted to Division Four where they remained until a disastrous 2013 season which saw them finish with the wooden spoon. For the next four seasons the clubs competed in Division Five, finishing eighth in 2014, seventh in 2015, eighth again in 2016 and ninth in 2017 which meant relegation to Division Six. Worse was to follow as in 2018 the Dragons lost all 18 matches contested en route to the Division Six wooden spoon. This meant that they had to compete in Division Seven in 2019 but on a more positive note they performed solidly to qualify for the finals in fifth place, which is where they ultimately finished after a one point elimination final loss to Adelaide Lutheran. Owing to financial concerns the club did not field a senior team during the COVID-19 affected 2020 season but resumption in 2021 seems probable.