SFNL: How Hampton has spun from bottom feeder to power
Hampton dropped two divisions at the end of 2021, fielded one team and it lost 14 matches by an average of 10 goals. Two years on, the Hammers have two teams vying for the premiership.
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Hampton co-captain Leo Grenville has an element of appreciation for the Hammers’ hard times.
He had played his first season at the club in 2021 when there was a call to arms.
The Hammers had won only one game in the Southern league’s second division and a player walkout had begun.
Grenville attended a meeting where Hampton stalwarts spoke about the importance of keeping the doors open.
He admits the importance of footy clubs escaped him at the time.
But after a further two years at the club, watching it turn from on the brink of folding to a chance at a premiership, Grenville is thankful it went down the path it did.
“I didn’t really know what was going on at the time, I was fresh and had no prior connections to the club,” he said.
“We had old players, coaches and supporters stepping up and telling us how important the club was.
“At the time it didn’t click with me because I didn’t know what was going but now I know how important it was to get it up and running.”
The Hammers dropped down from Division 2 to Division 3 and fielded just one side that season.
They gathered only four wins and wore defeats as large as 178 points.
The Hammers’ average losing margin that year was a dour 10 goals.
But Hampton sharpened back up in 2023 and ascended into an unlikely grand final berth.
Hampton’s place in the decider was ahead of its time and it lost to a rampant South Mornington.
Momentum has grown again in 2024 and it will head into Saturday’s Southern league Division 4 grand final as the heavy favourite.
Grenville said the club was “really special” and has helped him rediscover a passion for football.
“It’s a good family club, we’ve got about five pairs of brothers playing on the weekend,” he said.
“When we were getting smashed, I didn’t want to go but now it’s much more enjoyable.
“Last year we sort of just come together, we were a new team, had under-19s coming in and we were all young.
“We’ve had a year to gel together and hone in on our craft – we’ve played together for a season and now we’re clicking.”
The Hammers appointed Norm Smith Medalist Shannon Grant as their coach ahead of the 2024 season.
Grant is in the league’s bottom division but he is its highest-profile coach.
“We’ve got some good footy brains, it helps having a Norm Smith medallist coaching you,” Grenville said.
“We’ve got good assistants in Dave Cafarella and Ilya Fridman as well, everyone listens, wants to learn and we’re really excited to put it out there on the weekend.”
While Grenville jokes “it’s the good leaders” as a reason for the club’s rise, Grant sees the leaders as “strong pillars” of the club.
“It’s a credit to the boys that stuck by the footy club, we made the decision to go with co-captains who we thought would be strong leaders and develop the club for a long time,” he said.
“They’re still growing and developing into great leaders, which we thought they would, so it’s guys like that and old heads like Jake and Guy Timms, who have been able to have an impact as well.”
Even if the Hammers do go down in Saturday’s grand final, Grant is confident the foundations are there to propel the club back to where it once was.
“We’re putting together a young group who are doing the work together,” he said.
“You’ve got to have strong pillars and good foundations and that’s the focus we’ve had over the last 12 months.
“It’s been driven by the work and the effort, we know if we do that then hopefully results look after themselves.
“We’ve created an environment that’s inclusive and the footy club has become really big in people’s lives – it’s somewhere these boys can go and have a purpose.
“It’s up to us now to make it a really good football club over the next few years.”
Hampton spearhead Madden Griffin is a nine-goal haul from cracking the first Southern league ton since Mt Waverley’s James Gough (2016).
Grenville doesn’t think the goal tally worries Griffin.
“Is he really on 91? I knew he had a good home and away season but I didn’t know he was that close,” Grenville said.
“I don’t think he cares, to be honest, I think he just wants a medal.”
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