Inside Kilburn Football Club’s 10-year turnaround

An Adelaide Footy League club has emerged as a legitimate contender for back-to-back flags, 10 years after facing extinction. Here’s what led to the remarkable resurrection.

An Adelaide Footy League club was staring down the barrel after suffering the biggest defeat in league history 10 years ago, but a decade on it has rebuilt from the ground up to become one of the competition’s fastest-rising outfits.

The Kilburn Football Club was on the brink of extinction on April 26, 2014 when it lost to Pembroke OS by a record margin of 437-1 in division three and would go on to suffer a winless season while conceding a mammoth 5,520 total points.

The club then began a major rebuild, with former players and members returning to the club to pull on the boots or support the Chics off the field.

Club stalwart Shane Brown, who joined as a third generation player in 1991, said the period was one of the darkest the Chics had seen.

“We were in danger (of folding),” Brown said.

“The club had a lot of players leave just before that season and there was a fair bit of financial trouble.

“There wasn’t enough volunteers or support around the committee either and we often had people trying to do four or five different jobs at once rather than being extremely good at one job around the club.”

The scoreboard from Kilburn's massive loss to Pembroke OS in 2014. Picture: Supplied

The club would see instant success in 2015 behind top goalkicker and current key player Billy-John Parks as well as a number of other recruits, finishing second on the division four ladder and defeating Salisbury by two points in a dramatic grand final.

Jake Levy booted four majors on the day while James O’Loughlin won best on ground honours.

Despite the success in 2015, Kilburn bottomed out in division three again, winning just one game in 2016 to fall back down to division four, but would soon return to consistency.

Under president Dale Agius and senior footy director Danny Ryan, who had a key focus on recruiting cost-effective players who would perform for the club in the present and future, the Chics built a competitive team across the park and regularly finished in division four finals.

The football and cricket club hit financial hardships again in 2019 when it racked up a debt of more than $120,000 worth of money owed to the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council, power company AGL and the Australian Taxation Office but would again manage to survive with the support of volunteers, sponsors, members and the wider community.

Kilburn celebrates its 2023 division five flag. Picture: Kilburn Sports and Community Club

“We’ve still had our challenges but have slowly been able to turn things around behind the leadership of Dale Agus and Danny Parks who has been a really good footy director,” Brown said.

“We found that the core group of supporters came back during that time and that a lot of people wanted to help out.

“We managed to recruit some more returning players as well which was a bonus.

“It’s been really hard work for everyone involved but we’ve managed to get more and more people volunteering and we’ve probably got anywhere from 40 to 50 people now putting their hands up to do whatever they can at the club.”

The Chics finished sixth in 2022 but finally saw their hard work and recruitment pay off in 2023, the club’s centenary year.

Kilburn is aiming for back-to-back flags after claiming division five honours in 2023. Picture: Kilburn Sports and Community Club

An influx of returning players and big signings including former Pooraka, Gawler Central and Gaza goal machine Corey Solly, as well as the emergence of star A Grade coach Matty Whelan catapulted the club to a dramatic 112-94 premiership win over division five favourite Gepps Cross.

Michael Howson and Rhys O’Keeffe booted six goals between them for the game as Solly was focused on by the Rams defence, while Scott Galbraith, Kyle Parks and Brayden Lauder all dominated through the middle.

The Chics saw Whelan step down in the pre-season but have continued their momentum to win their first two games of the 2024 division four season under new coach Stephen Couzner, defeating Gaza by 170 points in round one and Gepps Cross by 13 points last Saturday.

“We saw some returning players and fans in our centenary year and a lot of sponsors jump back on board,” Brown said.

Star Kilburn key forward Corey Solly has picked up where he left off in 2023, booting 14 goals in the first two games of season 2024. Picture: Kilburn Sports and Community Club

“To win A Grade and B Grade flags was simply huge for the club and the celebrations were well-deserved. They went on for a few days.

“We’ve managed to keep recruiting good players for low money and at the right age because we want to make sure we’re building for the future as well but we believe we can be very competitive again this year.

“The environment at the club is as good as I’ve ever seen it – we’ve got a really strong junior program now with a number of boys and girls teams and we’re seeing high supporter numbers on game days and for Thursday night dinners.

“We believe we’ve established that winning culture that people want to be a part of and we’re aiming to get back up to the top divisions, which is where I think we belong.”

The second spot Chics will take on fourth spot Morphettville Park at Blair Athol Reserve this Saturday.