The Elizabeth Football Club Inc was established in 1956 and first based at Ridley Reserve. It wasn’t until 1981 that we found our current home at Argana Park in Elizabeth Downs. We started in the Gawler District Football League where we got off to the perfect start taking home the Premiership in our first year. After 3 years we changed leagues and went into the Central Districts Football Association, then moved to the South Australian Football Association and then onto the Northern Metropolitan Football League. After 8 more years we finally found our home in the South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL) which was in 1995.
Throughout the chopping and changing of leagues we had our fair share of success taking home several Premierships in each of the Leagues. In fact, in our very first year in the Gawler and Districts Football League, the Eagles started in the B Grade Division, which was our A Grade at the time and won the premiership in our first year. It wouldn't be until 1958 until we were promoted into the top division, and won the Premiership defeating South Gawler. In 1960 however, Elizabeth were defeated in the grand final by South Gawler.
We would over the coming years move leagues, firstly in the SAFA with the 1985 A4 Premiership, followed in 1986 with the A2 Premiership and also the A4 Premiership in the same year. And during our time in the SAAFL, we won a Division 4 Reserves Premiership in 1996, and again in 2005, won both the Seniors and Reserves Division 6 Premierships. This was a great year for our Club!
Along with our two Premierships in 2005, our A Grade notched up an all time SAAFL record win against North Pines during that season. The final score was Elizabeth 70.30.450 to North Pines 1.3.9. In the second quarter alone we piled on 22 goals.
The 2020's from a premiership perspective for our Seniors showed that we can be a real strength in the north with Premierships in:
- 2021 M6 A Grade Undefeated Premiers coached by Justin Platten and Jamie Dekort, defeating St. Pauls by 25 points. In the same year, our C Grade also took home the cup, coached by Lance Ramsell where they defeated Henley in a 3 point thriller.
- 2026 M7 A Grade Undefeated Premiers coached by Darryl Cotter and Lee Makris, defeating cross town rivals Central United by 51 points.
During this time however, the club would hit a low in the 2024 season and would call on all past and present members to come back and help revive our great club. One would not have expected this in-between two undefeated premierships.
Here is a list of our premierships over the years in the senior grades:
Year Premiership Competition / Grade
1956 🏆 Premiership Gawler & District Football League — B Grade
1958 🏆 Premiership Gawler & District Football League — A Grade
1966 🏆 Premiership Central District Football Association — A1
1967 🏆 Premiership Central District Football Association — A1
1973 🏆 Premiership Central District Football Association — A1
1985 🏆 Premiership SAFA — A4
1986 🏆 Premiership SAFA — A2
1986 🏆 Premiership SAFA — A4
1991 🏆 Premiership Northern Metropolitan Football League — A1
1996 🏆 Premiership SAAFL — Division 4 Reserves
2005 🏆 Premiership SAAFL — Division 6 Seniors
2005 🏆 Premiership SAAFL — Division 6 Reserves
2017 🏆 Premiership Adelaide Footy League — Division 6 Reserves
2021 🏆 Premiership Adelaide Footy League — A Grade
2021 🏆 Premiership Adelaide Footy League — C Grade
2025 🏆 Premiership Adelaide Footy League — Men’s Division 7
Total: 16 premierships
The Elizabeth Football Club are proud of all of their past and present players but a special mention goes to some of our past players who have gone on to bigger and better things. Elizabeth Football Club players have consistently won Association Medals throughout the years within each of the Leagues they’ve been part of. Our most recent Association Medal Winners are Ben Halliday in 2005 and Brayden Abbott in 2025. We have had too many players to list go on and play at the SANFL level and have done so very successfully. We have had 8 players go on to play AFL and within them two Magarey Medalists and a Brownlow Medalist.
This group consists of John Platten (Hawthorn), Paul Thomas (Essendon), Adam Switala (Essendon), Peter Vardy (Melbourne, Adelaide), Stewart Cochrane (North Melbourne, Port Power), Michael O’Loughlin (Sydney), Stephen Shwerdt (Adelaide), Adrian Wilson (Essendon), Cameron Faulkner (Western Bulldogs) and Joshua Glenn (Gold. Coast).
It is great to look back and see the success we have had over our history but it is even better looking to the future and eyeing off the possible success to come. Our Club is thriving with our 3 Senior sides and currently 5 junior sides
Our Club has a great community atmosphere. It is this atmosphere that has helped us attract a number of first-rate sponsors who have been an asset to us. We look forward to our future.
