Ironbank-Cherry Gardens Football Club

The Ironbank-Cherry Gardens Football Club, known as the Thunderers, is an Australian rules football club that plays in Division 2 of the Hills Football League. The club's colours are green and gold and play at Cherry Gardens Ironbank Recreation Ground.

Ironbank-Cherry Gardens
Full nameIronbank-Cherry Gardens Football Club
NicknameThunderers
SportAustralian rules football
Founded1985
LeagueHills Football League
Home groundCherry Gardens Ironbank Recreation Ground 'Thunder Park'
Anthem'The Thunder Song'

History

The Ironbank-Cherry Gardens Football Club was founded in 1985 from a group of men that played cricket for the local cricket club and football for other HFL clubs got together and decided to form a new football club to compete in the Hills Football League. The HFL accepted the team into the Division 1 - A3 competition in late 1985. The club's team name and colours flowed on from the cricket club and had the Woodville Football Club guernsey as their own. After a lot of discussion with looking for a home ground, the Cherry Gardens Ironbank Recreation Ground became the club's home. The sports ground had only been used for cricket, tennis and netball and so the newly-formed club didn't have goal posts on the field, changerooms, clubhouse or coaches' boxes. The players ran the club as well as getting the ground ready for a football match in Ironbank's first year of existence. The players had to rely on their friends, family and local residents to get behind the new Ironbank club. The team trained on Sundays as there were no lights at the ground either.[1]

The 1986 season saw the club's official home game at Thunder Park against Echunga, winning by twenty goals. The new team remained undefeated for the whole season until the final round when they lost by 9 points to Mount Lofty, but ended up beating the Devils in the Grand Final that same year. New changerooms and showers were built at Thunder Park in 1987, with the Thunderers fielding two senior teams - in Division 2 - A2 and Division 1 - A3, both teams making finals but falling short of the Grand Final.

Ironbank's first junior team was fielded in 1988 from kids from the nearby Upper Sturt Primary School and the kids of players with the Thunderers building the first stage of the clubrooms in 1990. The 1990s saw a rather unsuccessful era for the senior teams but managed to field teams in U10s, U12s (Mini Colts), U15s (Junior Colts) and U17s (Senior Colts), with the Senior Colts team winning the premiership in 1994. The 1998 season saw the A-Grade and B-Grade teams win the premiership and heralded a strong period when the Thunderers played in four grand finals, winning two and being runners up twice. The Ironbank-Cherry Gardens FC celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011 and the previous senior premiership was from the C-Grade team in 2014, with Ironbank relegating to Division 2 of the HFL in 2017 but fielding only one junior side and fielding female football teams in 2017.[2][3]

The Ironbank-Cherry Gardens Football Club still continues to field teams in the Hills Football League.[4]

A-Grade Premierships
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References
  1. "ICGFC Early Years".
  2. Devaney, John (2008). The Full Points Footy Encyclopedia of Australian Football Clubs Volume Two. ISBN 9780955689734.
  3. Lines, Peter (2012). South Australian Country Football Digest.
  4. Lines, Peter (December 2017). ICGFC History. ISBN 9780648069904.
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