User:TherryPenola

Therry Penola Old Boys Football Club, previously known as Glenroy Amateur Football Club and Therry Corpus Christi Old Boys, is a Victorian Amateur Football Association club based in Oak Park, Victoria.

Football

The Therry Penola Old Boys Football Club has had a rich but short history since it was formed in the 1970s. It currently plays in the Victorian Amateur Football Association.

History

Glenroy Amateur Football Club was formed in 1974, and commenced the same year in F Section of the VAFA. At the end of the 1977 season it aligned itself with Therry College – a year 11 and 12 boys school in Broadmeadows – and adopted the name of Therry Corpus Christ Old Boys.

Therry reached the F Grade finals for the first time in 1978, ultimately finishing third. This was followed by fourth place in 1979, a temporary decline in 1980 when the finals were missed, and a first ever grand final appearance in 1981 against Banyule, another relatively new club which was on a similar upward spiral. Banyule achieved victory on this occasion, but both clubs gained promotion to E Section, where their continued fine form culminated in a second successive grand final encounter. This time it was Therry's turn to emerge triumphant, winning 16.16 (112) to 14.10 (94).

The two clubs coincidental ascent came to a halt in 1983 as Banyule won the premiership of D Grade while Therry had to be satisfied with third place. Ultimately it was Therry who enjoy the more prodigious rise, however, commencing in 1984 with a 19.19 (133) to 11.10 (76) D Section grand final trouncing of Thomastown. The following season brought a second-consecutive grand final appearance, this time in C Grade against Fawkner, and although it was lost, the inevitable pain associated with defeat was tempered by an awareness that promotion to B Section had been achieved.

It took the Therry players a season to find their feet at the new level, but once they did it became clear that they were not going to be satisfied for long with B Grade football. In securing consecutive third-placed finishes in 1987 and 1988 the side gained numerous admirers, but within the club there was only a sense of frustration over opportunities missed and potential unfulfilled.

In 1989, under the determined coaching of Tony Crotty, Therry put things right in emphatic fashion by marching all the way to the B Section grand final against fellow catholic college old boys club, De La Salle. One step away from glory, however, Therry faltered, putting in arguably its worst display of the year to go down by the somewhat embarrassing margin of 79 points. Nevertheless, promotion to A Grade had been achieved, something that few followers of the amateur game would have believed possible when the club was scratching its way around the VAFA's nether sections less than two decades earlier.

Over the years, quite a few clubs have made accelerated passage through the VAFA's grades, but Therry's ascent ranks with the very best of them, and affords a shining example of what the VAFA system allows the most dedicated and hard working of its member clubs to achieve.

In 1994 Therry College ceased to exist in its own right, amalgamating with Sancta Sophia and Geoghegan Colleges to form Penola Catholic College. Two years later, in acknowledgement of this development, Therry Corpus Christi College Old Boys altered its name to Therry Penola Old Boys. At the same time, strong links were established with the new college, meaning that the change of name was much more than merely cosmetic.

Since 1996 the club has added two senior premierships to its tally, that of C Grade in 2000, which was won by virtue of a 12.13 (85) to 9.10 (64) grand final defeat of Beaumaris, and in D2 in 2013.

In 2008 Dan Madden took over the reigns as Senior coach of the club. Madden would manage to keep the club in Division 2 in his first year and make Preliminary finals in his second and fourth seasons. The loss by under two goals in the 2011 Preliminary Final would hurt the team for more than a summer. 2012 was Dan Madden's last as senior coach, Dan is the equal longest serving coach at Therry with Brenie Dunn.

Return of a club champion

Dennis Castaldi (former captain and Club Champion) was appointed as the senior coach, after holding coaching roles at Old Collegians AFC, as well as working as a scout for Collingwood FC. The side lost in Castaldi's first game at the helm in 2014, going down to Old Ivanhoe, but the side went on to become a powerhouse in D2 – winning the premiership against Yarra Valley. Therry Penola's reserves also won the premiership in the same season.

In 2014, the Lions continued their impeccable form, going undefeated through the home-and-away season before suffering shock defeats to Williamstown CYMS in the semi final and grand final. However, back-to-back promotions had been achieved, and Therry Penola would be lifted to Premier C for 2015.

Unfortunately the club took a step backwards in 2015, suffering relegation at season's end, but bounced back into D1 finals in 2016, only to suffer a finals exit at the hands of local foe PEGS.

Castaldi announced he was standing down at the end of the 2016 season.

Therry Year By Year In VAFA

Premier A: 1990-1992, 1994

Premier B: 1986-1989, 1993, 1995-1998, 2001

Premier C: 1985, 1999-2000, 2002-2006, 2015

Division 1: 1983-1984, 2007, 2014, 2016-Current

Division 2: 2008-2013

E Grade: 1982

F Grade: 1974-1981

Time Line For Club Since Formed

1974: Glenroy Amateurs join the VAFA in “F” Grade

1978: Club is re-mamed to Therry Corpus Christi OBFC

1978: Round 1: Seniors 15.13.103 v Footscray 13.10.88, Reserves 17.11.113 v Footscray 4.4.28, Under 19s 15.22.112 v MHSOB 15.15.105

1981: First senior grand final appearance & first promotion with the club moving up to “E” Grade for 1982

1982: Therry’s first premiership & second straight grand final & second straight promotion moving up to “D” Grade for 1983

1984: Second premiership & third promotion In four seasons, moves the club up to “C” Grade for 1985

1985: Fourth grand final appearance in five seasons, moves Therry to “B” Grade for 1986

1986: Therry Corpus Christi OBFC Inc is formed

1989: Fifth grand final appearance sees Therry move up to “A” Grade for the first time for 1990

1992: Religated to “B” Grade at season's end

1993: Sixth grand final appearance gets Therry back into “A” Grade for 1994

1994: Religated to “B” Grade at season's end

1997: Club is re-named Therry Penola OBFC

1998: Religated to “C” Grade at season's end

2000: Wins the club's third senior premiership and earns promotion to "B" Grade for 2001

2002: Religated To “C” Grade at season's end

2007: Religated To “D1” Grade at season's end

2008: Religated To “D2” Grade at season's end

2009: Therry enters a team in the VAFA's new under-18 comp

2013: Dennis Castaldi returns as coach. Seniors win the premiership in "D2" Grade and reserves win "D2 Reserves" flag

2014: The seniors go undefeated through home-and-away season, before semi-final defeat to Williamstown CYMS. In week leading up to preliminary final, club great Rick Bannister passed away. In an emotional week, brothers Corey and Jarrod find the strength to play in preliminary final to help defeat Old Geelong. But the CYs prove too strong in the grand final for Therry Penola.

2015: The club's first season in Premier C since 2006. But it's short-lived as the Lions suffer relegation at season's end.

2016: Lions finish fourth but get knocked out of finals in elimination final defeat to PEGS. Castaldi announces retirement as coach after four seasons at the helm. Life member Michael Ptrevski passes away in September.

Premierships

1980: Reserves “F” Therry 13.12.90 V University Reds 9.14.68

1982: Seniors “E” Therry 16.16.112 V Banyule 14.10.94

1983: Reserves “D” Therry 13.8.86 V Nth Brunswick 3.13.31

1984: Seniors “D” Therry 19.19.133 V Thomastown 11.10.76

1984: Reserves “D” Therry 12.15.87 V Old Trinity 11.8.74

1985: Reserves “C” Therry 17.10.112 V Fawkner 12.9.81

1987: Under 19’s Section 2 Therry 12.11.83 V Old Haileybury 9.16.70

1994: Under 19’s Central Therry 14.18.102 V Ajax 11.11.77

1999: Reserves “C” Therry 13.7.85 V Whitefriars 2.11.23

2000: Seniors “C” Therry 12.13.85 V Beaumaris 9.10.64

2000: Reserves “C” Therry 12.12.84 V Beaumaris 12.11.83

2011: Reserves “D2” Therry 11.11.77 V Glen Eira 2.13.25

2013: Seniors “D2” Therry 13.7.85 V Yarra Valley 6.11.47

2013: Reserves “D2” Therry 9.7.61 V Eltham 4.9.33

VAFA Achievements

1984: Col Gibson - Certificate Of Merit

1998: Col Gibson - Personality Of The Year

1998: R.Taylor - Certificate Of Merit

1991: J.Biddlestone - Certificate Of Merit

1993: P.Egan - Certificate Of Merit

2001: Keven Ratcliffe - Certificate Of Merit

2001: Chris Bye - Certificate Of Merit

2002: Paul Matton - Certificate Of Merit

2011: Dennis Castaldi - VAFA 300-game club, inducted

VAFA Competition Awards

1975: B.O’Sullivan - “F” Best & Fairest

1981: A.White - “F” Best & Fairest

1983: A.White - “D” Best & Fairest

1985: David Wrigglesworth - “C” Leading Goal Kicker (63)

1992: Paul Matton - “A” Best & Fairest

1995: J.Thrush - Under 19 Premier Leading Goal Kicker (77)

1996: Jason Reddick - “B” Best & Fairest

1997: S.Stella - Club XVIII Sec (2) Leading Goal Kicker (53)

2000: M.Goodwin - “C” Bog In Grand Final

2000: J.Zanetti - Club XVIII Sec (2) Best & Faitest

2000: J.Zanetti - Club XVIII Sec (2) Leading Goal Kicker (33)

2002: G.Pinner - Club XVIII North Best & Fairest

2003: John Chapman - Club XVIII North Best And Fairest

2008: Corey Bannister - “D2” Leading Goal Kicker (72)

2009: Amareh Elmi - Club XVIII North Best & Fairest

2009: Corey Bannister - “D2” Leading Goal Kicker (105)

2011: Jarrod Egglestone - “D2” Best & Fairest (29 votes)

2011: Tim Goodwin - “D2 Reserve” Leading Goal Kicker (85)

2013: Corey and Jarrod Bannister – Tied, "D2" Leading Goal Kicker (77) (Corey finished on 86 and Jarrod 85 following three finals)

2014: Jarrod Bannister - "D1" Leading Goal Kicker (100) (finished with 112 after three finals)

2016: Jarrod Bannister - "D1" Leading Goal Kicker (77)

Club Captains

1978: Lindsay Clay

1979 - 1983: Tony White

1984 - 1985: Gerard Biddlestone

1986 - 1988: Terry Quinn

1989: Scott Ramsay

1990: Terry Quinn

1991 - 1993: Paul Matton

1994 - 1995: Simon Eastmure

1996 - 1998: Dennis Castaldi

1999 - 2000: Mark Finnigan

2001 - 2002: Stephen Boyle

2003: Dennis Castaldi

2004 - 2005: Mark Nancarrow

2006 - 2007: Corey Bannister/Mark Faroldi

2008: Leadership Group - Mark Faroldi, Corey Bannister, Justin Crotty, Jaryd Hanlon, Matt Reynolds, Matt McWhinney.

2009 - 2010: Matt McWhinney

2011 - 2016: Jarrod Egglestone

Notable players

Jordan Bannister - Therry Penola's sole AFL representative, having played a full season of under-19s before playing 14 games for Essendon and 53 games for Carlton. Following the end of his playing career in 2009, Jordan took up a career as an AFL umpire, spending 2010 and 2011 as a VFL field umpire before joining the AFL ranks in 2012.