The 50-year Commemorative Video

Have a look at this video highlighting some of the history of the club – put together for the 50 year celebrations held at the MCG in March 2011

1972 Halifax Street Oval matches

The Bloods face the much-feared Reservoir Old Boys in Round 4 and Old Xaverians in Round 8 on the pocket-sized Halifax Street Oval.  The footage is grainy, but recognisable through the mists of time are the likes of Home (1), Marshall (2), Lord (3), Langford-Jones (4), Bannon (5), McQueen (6), Bowring (7), Houghton (8), Campbell (10), Pollock (11), Kane (17), Mason (22), Cracknell (30) and Young (31).  [silent video]

1978 Grand Final - U19s v De La Salle

In 1978 the Bloods fielded an Under-19 team for the first time.  The nucleus of this side came from the previous year's school team that had won the APS premiership.  Coached by Ken Rowse and captained by David Hodge (4), the team took all before them, capped by a Grand Final win against bitter rivals De La Salle.  Look out too for Roger Gerny (23), who won the Section Best and Fairest.

1981 v Old Camberwell

Round 10 of 1981 saw the Bloods venture out to Old Camberwell's Gordon Barnard Reserve.  Don McQueen was firmly in charge as captain-coach of the Reserves and can be seen trying to inspire his muddied troups in typical style.  Then the Seniors are led out by captain John Houghton and his deputy Roger Paul, the team resplendent in those gold shorts they wore from 1976 through to 1985.  [silent video]

1989 C Reserve Grand Final v Preston MBOB

After a disastrous fadeout in the 1988 Grand Final when they surrendered an eight goal lead, the Reserves were in no mood to repeat that performance.  So in 1989 under coach Greg Meadows they went one better and led all the way against Preston MBOB at Elsternwick Park, winning 13.16 (94) to 9.6 (60).

1989 C Grade Grand Final v Banyule

A twenty year drought for the Bloods' senior team finally broke in 1989 with a crushing win over close rivals Banyule, 23.20 (158) to 12.11 (83), a turnaround of 20 goals from their semi-final loss to the same opponents a fortnight previously.

1990 B Grade Second Semi-final v Kew

Tempers flared early in the 1990 Second semi-final as Kew tried to unsettle the highly fancied Bloods who had topped the ladder almost all year.  The move backfired, however, and Kew found themselves trailing by nine goals at quarter time.  The Bloods cruised to a 29.15 (189) to 9.14 (68) victory to gain promotion to A Grade for the first time - but they were just warming up for the Grand Final that followed!

1990 B Grade Grand Final v Old Melburnians

A record-breaking demolition of Old Melburnians was one of the Bloods finest ever performances.  Their stunning 26.25 (181) to 7.3 (45) win was a superb team effort which seemingly had them threatening the rare C, B, A Grade triple.  Their score and winning margin were VAFA records for any A or B Grade Grand Final to that time.

1995 B Grade Grand Final v Old Mazenod

Relegated in 1994, under new coach Neville Taylor the Bloods bounced back to A Grade immediately, capped by a hard fought Grand Final victory in the wet against Old Mazenod, 9.13 (67) to 6.9 (45).  The game hung in the balance until the last quarter.  This was an emotional win, President Ken Phillips having passed away suddenly during the year and both his sons Garry (26) and Wayne (40) playing in the win.

Highlights of the 1980s and 1990s

The late 1980s and 1990s were great years for the Old Haileyburians Amateur Football Club, with three senior premierships secured in the space of six years from 1989 to 1995.  Great players such as Darren (12) and Mark (23) Seccull, Garry (26) and Wayne Phillips (40), Chris McKenzie (4), Andrew Walden (21), Glenn Tanner (33), Wes Byrns (3), Simon Meehan (28), David Connell (2) and Matthew Armstrong (19) graced the field for the Bloods.

2001 B Reserve Grand Final v Ormond

Highlights package from the Reserves' most recent premiership under the guidance of Supercoach Andrew Bonwick and led by the goalkicking colossus that was Chris Efstathiou.  Watch the game and then a cameo post-match Allan Jeans impersonation by the inimitable James Bell.

2006 A Grade Grand Final v Old Xaverians

The Bloods' finest hour finally arrived in 2006 when they defeated VAFA behemoth Old Xaverians four times in the course of the season, including their first ever A Grade Grand Final.  They led for most of the day, especially after 38-year-old Mark Seccull's (23) extraordinary goal-kicking spree in the second quarter that turned the match.  Skipper Paul Corrigan (3) was an inspiration all day and Carl "Funky" Steinfort (1) was voted best afield.  The final score was 13.8 (86) to 9.9 (63).

2006 A Grade Grand Final - Highlights Package

The 2006 Grand Final condensed into a 4-minute highlights package.

2010 B Grade Preliminary Final v University Blacks

Under coach David Lappage in his first year, the Bloods surprised the competition to win a Preliminary Final playoff against Uni Blacks and return to A Grade.  Former St Kilda stars Brett Voss (13) and Tony Brown (2), along with survivors of the 2006 premiership team such Kynan Ford (17), Laz Siapantas (6), Sam Langford-Jones (4), David Mason (22), Hamish McLauchlan (3) and Tom Chisholm (35), led them to a comfortable 18.11 (119) to 11.18 (84) win.  Young stars Peter Gleadhill (9) and Spencer Roberts were also prominent.

2011 Season Highlights

The bright lights of a difficult 2011 season back in A Grade were wins against Old Trinity home and away, against OMs at the Junction Oval and Old Scotch at their Camberwell ground.  Any team with the likes of Travis Ridgway (14) up forward and sprinkled with a bit of Vossy (13) magic is worth watching!

2012 v Beaumaris

This high quality video features footage from both the Seniors and Reserves matches against Beaumaris in Round 14 at McKinnon.  The Seniors won handsomely under coach Darren Seccull, 22.18 (150) to 10.14 (74) with elusive small forward Travis Ridgway (14) notching a personal best 10 goals.

2014 Pre-season video

The Bloods entered the 2014 season coached by St Kilda legend. Stewart Loewe.  Footage in this video includes pre-season training, practice matches, pre-game routines and highlights from the previous 2013 season.

2015 v Oakleigh - Hamish McLaughlan plays his 250th

In his penultimate season, champion defender Hamish McLaughlan (3) reached the 250 game milestone when the Bloods took on Oakleigh at Princes Park.  And once again, as one of McLaughlan's premiership coaches Peter Nicholson used to exclaim, it was "Hammer Time".

2015 C Grade Grand Final v Monash Blues

For the first time since 1989 the Bloods found themselves in C Grade, but under new coach Daniel Hughes rediscovered their mojo quickly.  After winning successive finals against more fancied rivals in Old Ivanhoe and Marcellin to gain promotion back to B Grade, they produced a sparkling last quarter performance to run over the top of favourites and old rivals Monash Blues, who they had played Grand Finals against as far back as 1962.  Scores of 13.18 (96) to 6.12 (48) suggest an easy win, but it was far from that at the last change.

2017 C Grade Grand Final v Old Caulfield Grammarians

Under former Melbourne dasher Daniel Ward, the Bloods again featured in the C Grade Grand Final, this time out at Casey Fields.  The normally immaculate playing surface has been softened by rain, but this didn't stop the Bloods taking an early lead and steadily extending it all day to run out winners 14.10 (94) to 6.10 (46) for their eighth Senior premiership.

2022 B Grade Preliminary Final v Beaumaris

Despite finishing third on the ladder, the Bloods fancied their chances heading in to the 2022 finals.  After a narrow win against Fitzroy in the First Semi-final, they faced up to Beaumaris in the Preliminary.  Over the past few years the Sharks had been something of a bogey side.  But the Bloods had come together beautifully at the end of the season, and led by a 5 goal virtuoso performance from Jack Lonie won easily, 17.12 (114) to 4.8 (32).

2022 B Grade Grand Final v University Blacks

In disgraceful conditions at Elsternwick Park, the 2022 Grand Final was as much swimming and mud-wrestling as it was football.  Despite Uni Blacks losing only two games since 2019 and the Covid pandemic, the Bloods had no fear as they were the team to inflict those losses.  Daniel Ward's boys stood up in the slop, kicking an early goal and setting up a lead they were able to hang on to until the end, winning 2.10 (22) to 2.5 (17) for their ninth senior premiership win.

2023 Hearts v Old Camberwell

Round 3 saw Sean Brady's Hearts head out to Old Camberwell's Gordon Barnard Reserve.  They prevailed in a low scoring affair, 4.6 (30) to 2.3 (15) after both teams had been locked on a goal apiece at the final change.

2024 Second Semi-final v De La Salle

Ladder leaders at the end of the home and away season six points clear, the Bloods were warm favourites against De La Salle.  Tricky conditions included a strong wind across the ground slightly favouring one end plus drizzling rain, so anything could happen.  The Bloods opened strongly and led at quarter time after kicking into the breeze; from there they were never headed in another convincing finals performance under coach Daniel Ward.  Also at https://www.vafa.com.au/news/vafa_tv/sf-prem-b-old-haileybury-v-de-la-salle/

2024 Grand Final v De La Salle - Highlights Package

The Bloods entered the 2024 Grand Final with plenty of confidence, which emphatically proved not to be misplaced.  Daniel Ward became their most successful ever coach with a third flag in seven seasons.  Ruckman Lachie Treverton became the first Old Haileyburian to play in four senior premierships and forward Dre Stefanakis took best on ground honours.  For the VAFA's streaming coverage of the game in full, go to https://www.vafa.com.au/news/2024/09/19/prem-b-mens-gf-live-stream-old-haileybury-v-de-la-salle/

Haileybury and Hawthorn - Michael Porter and Jack Gunston

Michael Porter (9) and Jack Gunston (19) certainly played different ways, but both featured in Hawthorn premierships.  Porter appeared in the 1971 Grand Final, famed as one of the toughest deciders ever played and certainly played his part in creating that legend.  Gunston went two better with an important role in Hawthorn's three-peat of 2013, 2014 and 2015, kicking ten goals in those games.  Other Haileyburians to have played in VFL/AFL premierships to that time were Rodger Head (St Kilda) and James Thiessen (Adelaide).

Haileybury's Teams of the Century

Teams of the Century were all the rage in the early 2000's and this video produced by top journalist Stephen Phillips features the top footballers (and cricketers) produced by Haileybury up until that time.

The Victory Song

A rousing rendition of the Victory Song in 2011 after a win against Old Scotch.

Stars of the Future - Haileybury 1st XVIII 2018

Visitors Caulfield Grammar and Brighton Grammar face the 2018 Haileybury team.  Those who would go on to AFL careers include Ben King (11), Josh Worrell (16), Jack Bell (18), Cody Weightman (23) and Hugo Ralphsmith (54).  And future OHAFC players were Bill Mackay (7), Lachlan Riley (8), Max Sievers (12), Jessie Laity (21) and Liam Kirkwood-Scott (35).

External Links

More videos can be found at the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@davidsouthgate5757 and also through VAFA links at https://www.vafa.com.au/vafatv/ and https://www.vafa.com.au/category/videos/