• Source: Queenscliff Football Netball Club

The Queenscliff Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Coutas, is an Australian rules football and netball club situated in the township of Queenscliff, Victoria, on the Bellarine Peninsula.
Queenscliff's teams currently play in the Bellarine Football Netball League, of which the club is a founding member. The club's unique nickname is short for barracouta, a type of fish. The Coutas play their home games at the Queenscliff Recreation Reserve, which is enclosed inside a local caravan park. The football oval is colloquially referred to as the 'Couta Bowl', lending to its uneven, sloped and bowl-like playing surface.




History


Evidence of a Queenscliff club playing football dates back to as early as 1882, where the Geelong Advertiser reported that they had lost a 'return match' against Drysdale. The club lists its official establishment date as 1884. The Coutas played in an early version of the Bellarine Football League that ran from 1895 to 1914. Reformed after World War I, the club continued to play locally until 1923 when it joined the Geelong Football Association where it enjoyed some success.
Queenscliff played the 1957 season in the Polwarth Football League and continued in this league until the Bellarine & District Football League was formed in 1971. During its years in the Polwarth league, Queenscliff dominated with Kevin Coltish at full-forward, winning seven premierships in eight seasons.
After the formation of the Bellarine league in 1971, Queenscliff remained a power club for some time, winning a premiership in 1975. But after that achievement, a 36-year premiership drought followed. Queenscliff's return to greatness came in 2011 when the club won its second BFL premiership, repeating the feat in 2012 and 2013 to mark a rare three-peat.




Premierships


Queenscliff Football Association (4):
1899, 1900, 1901, 1902
Queenscliff & Bellarine Football Association (7):
1904, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1913, 1920
Geelong Football Association (2):
1929, 1937
Polwarth Football League (7):
1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968
Bellarine Football League (4):
1975, 2011, 2012, 2013




League best and fairests






Notable VFL/AFL players


Queenscliff provided a pathway for many footballers to join the top league in the early decades of the VFL. Notably, one-fifth of Geelong's 1925 premiership team was recruited from the club.
Players to have been recruited from Queenscliff to the VFL/AFL include:

Peter Stephens with Geelong
Bill Hudd with Geelong, Essendon and Hawthorn
Syd Hall with Geelong
George Todd with Geelong
Jim Warren with Geelong
Ron Shapter with South Melbourne, Fitzroy and Essendon
Ted Hoppen with St Kilda
Arnie Bench with Fitzroy
Terry Farman with Geelong
Darcy Gardiner with Brisbane
Jhye Clark with Geelong




Bibliography


Cat Country: History of Football in the Geelong Region by John Stoward – Aussie Footy Books, 2008 – ISBN 9780957751583




References






External links


Official website

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Queenscliff Football Netball Club
• Bacchus Marsh Football Club
• Portarlington Football Netball Club
• Drysdale Football Netball Club
• List of Australian rules football clubs in Australia
• Bellarine Football Netball League
• List of Australian rules football clubs in Victoria
• Geelong & District Football Netball League
• Polwarth Football League
• Sorrento, Victoria