Flagstaff Hill chases Southern Football League flags in all grades

BUILDING from the junior ranks up has put Flagstaff Hill Football Club in a strong position to win multiple premierships and its first top-tier flag.

BUILDING from the junior ranks up has put Flagstaff Hill Football Club in a strong position to win multiple premierships and its first top-tier flag this season.

The Falcons sit second on the Southern Football League’s A-grade ladder with an 12-0 record but their strong form does not stop there.

Flagstaff is also second in the B grade and under-16 competitions, and top in the under-18s and under-14s.

Between them the five Falcons sides have won 57 games, lost two and drawn one.

Flagstaff president Brett Charlesworth said the club had not been in a better position in his 13 years in the role.

“We’ve been building for a long, long time,” Charlesworth said.

“The vision was there 10 years ago to build a platform through junior development.”

The Falcons have never won a top-tier flag but they were division two premiers in 1985.

Flagstaff’s A grade has finished eighth, 11th and sixth since reaching a preliminary final in 2011.

Charlesworth said the Falcons put more resources into their A grade before the start of this season because club officials believed success was around the corner.

They lured back Flagstaff juniors, including former Greater Western Sydney and Glenelg midfielder Alex Carey, hired a physiotherapist, started filming every game to review performances and recruited a handful of players from other sides.
“We’ve had the foundations in place ... so we put a real focus this year on taking that final step with the A grade,” Charlesworth said.

Falcons coach Rod Mitchell said the club had created a culture as “a place lads want to be”.

Mitchell said the A grade usually featured 18 players who were Flagstaff juniors.

“We haven’t sacrificed our junior programs to try to get that ultimate success in the A grade,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said the club could win an A-grade flag this season.

“But there’s a long way to go – I can’t stress that enough to everyone,” Mitchell said.

“We’ve still got some really good sides to play.

“But our best is good enough.”