WILLIAMSTOWN FOOTBALL CLUB

ANNUAL REPORT

SEASON 2019

PRESENTED AT SEAVIEW EVENT CENTRE

71 MORRIS STREET, WILLIAMSTOWN

6pm Thursday 19th December 2019

2

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Board 2019 4

Coaching Staff 4

Best and Fairest Votes 4

Special Acknowledgements 5

Presidents Report 6 - 7

CEO’s Report 8 - 11

Coach’s Report 12

Football Report 13

VFL/W Match Results & Ladders 14 - 16

Support Staff 2018 17 - 18

Community Report 19 - 20

Marketing Report 21 – 22

Sponsorship Report 23

Communications Report 24 - 25

2019 Sponsors 26 - 28

Treasurers Report 29 - 30

Life Members 31 – 35

4

VFLW

1. Megan Williamson 83

2. Sharnie Whiting 77

3. Danica Pedersen 70

4. Ashlea Melnikas 68

4. Jasmine Kawa 68

6. Eliza Straford 62

7. Lauren Suleiman 59

8. Moana Hope 57

9. Emily Crawford 55

9. Jacinta Reid 55

WILLIAMSTOWN FOOTBALL CLUB 2019

BOARD OF DIRECTORS DURING YEAR to 31 OCT

Michael Howlett (President) Clint Rippon

Sara Borowiak (appointed) Michelle Redfern (resigned)

Merryl Dooley Terry Wheeler

Louise Eyres (resigned) Darren Whitelegg

Ben Kane Emma Woolley (appointed)

Kim Kershaw

2019 COACHING STAFF

Andrew Collins VFL Senior Coach Peter Banfield VFL Senior Assistant Coach

Clay Illman VFL Line Coach / Defence Clint Proctor VFL Line Coach / Forward

Matthew Pearce VFL Line Coach / Midfield Brian Winton VFL Goal Kicking / Marking Coach

Murray Fielding VFL Coach Performance Manager Brett Henderson VFL Development Coach

Amy Catterall VFLW Head Coach Troy Newton VFLW Senior Assistant Coach Jason Quinn VFLW Line Coach / Defence

Lachlan Walker VFLW Line Coach / Forwards Adam Tardif VFLW Line Coach / Midfield

2019 BEST AND FAIREST VOTES

Leigh Masters Megan Williamson

VFL

1. Leigh Masters 85 2. Joel Tippett 74 3. Nicholas Meese 71 4. Jack Charleston 69 4. Jake Greiser 69 4. William Wheeler 69 7. Mitchell Hibberd 68 8. Billy Myers 59 8. Liam Hunt 59 10. Brayden Monk 54

5

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Member for Williamstown and our Number 1 female ticket holder, Melissa Horne.

• Number 1 male ticket holder, Wade Noonan

• Mayor Colleen Gates, past-Mayor Jonathon Marsden, and the Hobson’s Bay City Councillors – Angela Altair, Tony Briffa JP, Michael Grech, Peter Hemphill, Sandra Wilson.

• CEO Aaron van Egmond and staff at Hobsons Bay City Council.

• AFL Victoria Chairman Ray Horsburgh, AFL Talent and State League Manager Tristan Salter, AFL Victoria CEO Ricky Bell, and all the staff at AFL and AFL Victoria.

• Ian Francis, Tom Francis, and management and staff at Seagull’s Nest.

• Mandy Drew, President and all members of our Gulls Coterie Group.

• Terry Wheeler and the Club 1864 committee for their work with the Past Players, as well as Alan Parker, John Grieve and Bruce Davis for their contributions to the ‘Team of the Decade’ event.

• All 2019 Sponsors, in particular our major partner Downer and their CEO Transport and Infrastructure, Serge Cinerari; Anthony, Robert and the extended Anile family at Hocking Stuart, Conrad Taylor from the Werribee Automotive Group, Leigh Small from Hellenic Hotel, Mark D’Amico from West Suburban Taxis, Matt and Charlotte Wilson from Titan Plumbing, and Nick Cameron from NAB.

• Western Jets Football Club Talent Manager Luke Williams, Football Operations Manager Matt Dervan, and Female Talent Co-Ordinator Claudia Davey.

• Our new life members: Nick Meese, Nick Sing and Sam Dunell in recognition of 100

senior VFL games; match day volunteer Di Ward; physiotherapist Michael Ranger; and

football support staff member Maurie Thurston; all worthy recipients.

• Leigh Masters and Willie Wheeler for reaching the 150 VFL game milestone and Oliver

Tate who played his 100th VFL game.

• All the volunteer staff that work so hard throughout the year, with particular note of

Gerard Drew who was recognised with the best club person award for his role in our

heritage operations.

• David Utber, Graeme Crocker, and Max Aitken for their ever-reliable work throughout

each training week and on match days.

• Carol Utber, Mandy Drew, who assist with the match day lunches and Club events.

• Seaview staff and our catering partner The Greenery

6

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

On behalf of the Board of the Williamstown Football Club it is my

pleasure to present the President’s report for the 2019 season.

The 2019 season marked the first year in Williamstown’s history

where our teams played under lights at Downer Oval and these

VFL and VFLW night games proved to be very successful. We

are hopeful council announce early in the new year that the

ground upgrade is brought forward and along with the new lights

further enhance the use of the ground from a community perspective.

What an end to the season with our VFL side going down in an exciting Grand Final by less

than a kick in a game that could have gone either way. As a club we were so proud of the way

in which the side fought back after quarter time against a strong Richmond side that contained

18 AFL players.

The women’s team continued their ongoing development with our young talent showing many

promising signs but found it difficult competing against teams loaded with AFLW players. This

has been addressed in 2020 with our VFLW side forming a partnership with the Adelaide Crows

AFLW side.

Congratulations to Amy Catterall and her coaching group, support staff, volunteers and players

on their 2019 season. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Amy for her contribution

in establishing the inaugural Williamstown VFLW side and wish her well for her future coaching

career.

On an individual level I would also like to congratulate Danica Pederson who was named in the

VFLW Team of the Year.

The men’s team faced the 2019 season with the challenge of competing without 4 key players

who were drafted into the AFL and 2 retirees which required the introduction of a number of new

players into the group. They finished the home and away in 3rd place and had a great finals

series unfortunately losing the grand final by 3 points.

Congratulations to Andy Collins and his coaching group, support staff, volunteers and the

players on a very successful 2019 season.

On an individual level I would like to congratulate Nick Meese, Jack Charleston, Leigh Masters

and Mitch Hibberd who were all named in the VFL Team of the Year.

Congratulations to Mitch Hibberd on being drafted into the AFL and to Sharnie Whiting on being

drafted into the AFLW. We wish them all the best for the 2020 season.

The Board would also like to thank Jason Reddick and his team for their hard work during the

season. Events held throughout the year were of a high quality and our social media presence

continued to grow keeping members up to date with what is happening around the club and

promoting our membership, sponsors and events.

7

Our financial performance during the year was disappointing, in particular, the performance of

the Seaview Event Centre which is currently under review. On a positive note the Future Fund

managed by JB Were performed strongly. Thank you to both Chris O’Connor and Chris Voigt

from JB Were for their efforts.

Bayside College Oval improvements continued this year with the ground expansion expected to

be available for pre-season training for both our VFL and VFLW sides early in the new year.

Seagulls Nest continued to perform well. Thank you to both Ian and Tom Francis and their

management team for their efforts.

Thank you to all our sponsors in particular our major sponsors Downer, Hocking Stuart, Hellenic

Hotel, and Werribee and Western Automotive Group, club members including the Gulls, and

volunteers for their generous support of the club throughout the year.

Finally, I would like to thank my fellow Board members for their hard work and guidance

provided throughout the year. We welcomed Emma Woolley and Sara Borowiak Puhar onto the

Board during the year and the Board sub committees continue to work effectively. Thanks to

Board Sub-committee members Simon Woolley (Strategy, Risk and Governance and Marketing

and Community) and Mel Backhouse and Troy West (VFLW) for their contribution. I would also

like to thank Simon Stevens (chair) and Kristie Eales for their efforts in ensuring the

Independent Nominations Committee (INC) continued to operate in a professional and effective

manner.

A special thanks to Louise Eyres who was joint head of the Marketing and Community sub-

committee and Michelle Redfern who was head of the VFLW sub-committee since inception

who both resigned from the Williamstown Football Club board during the year due to other

Directorship commitments. Both made significant contributions whilst on the Board.

2020 shapes as an exciting and challenging year as our VFL side strives for ultimate success

and our VFLW side continues to develop and improve.

The Board wishes both Andy and Penny and their respective teams all the best for 2020.

If you are not already a member of the club I urge you to sign up soon. There has been no

better time to be part of the Williamstown Football Club and at the same time receive local

benefits from being a member.

Michael Howlett

President

8

CEO’S REPORT

No doubt the VFL Grand Final was the pinnacle of our 2019 year. To

lose a VFL Grand Final by less than a kick in a nail biting finish will

always lead to a high level of frustration and yet the overwhelming

emotion from every Williamstown supporter that I have spoken with,

was that of immense pride in the performance of all our VFL players.

Many a Seagull fan has commented on the players ‘never say die’

approach in coming back from a score line of 31 to nil early in the

second quarter to force a memorable finish to the contest.

It is standard for our playing lists to have a 30% turnover each season, and we thank all our

departing players for their dedication and contribution to our Club. In particular, I wish to

acknowledge the great VFL careers of our Premiership heroes and life members: Nick Meese,

Sam Dunell, Leigh Masters, Willie Wheeler, and Jack Charleston who are moving on in 2020.

Great people from great families who have all made significant contributions to our Club.

We also acknowledge the efforts of Andrew Collins and his coaching group. We wish the assistant

coaches the very best in the next stage of their careers. Matt Pearce (Western Bulldogs), Clint

Proctor (Carlton) and Clay Illman (Richmond), will develop their coaching careers at AFL Clubs

in 2020. Along with the experienced Peter Banfield, all gave many dedicated hours to the cause.

It is great that our Club continues to provide a talent pathway for skilled people in the industry,

both on and off the field.

The positive news is that the Club has worked feverishly over the off season to bring in plenty of

experienced and talented players and coaches, as we are determined to remain a force in the

VFL competition in season 2020.

In the VFLW competition, our women’s team fought bravely against the odds all year. Despite

losing the services of our key 2018 AFLW players and suffering injuries to some of our key

players, our young team proudly competed against teams filled with AFLW players each week.

The highlight was a memorable victory at home against NT Thunder in atrocious ‘Williamstown’

winter conditions!

I want to acknowledge the work of coach Amy Catterall, who will be forever recognised in club

history as the inaugural coach of our first ever women’s team. Amy has played an important role

in the development of our playing group.

We have made significant additions to our VFLW program with the recruitment of 2019

Collingwood VFLW Premiership coach Penny Cula-Reid as senior coach, Western Jet Female

Talent Co-ordinator Claudia Davey as Football Manager, and establishing a partnership with the

Adelaide Crows to provide up to 5 AFLW players each week. These significant changes has

everyone excited about what can be achieved by our women in season 2020 and beyond.

Congratulations to our respective B&F winners: Leigh Masters and Meagan Williamson. Both

players are worthy and popular winners and ironically, both originally from Swan Hill.

Congratulations also to our latest AFL / AFLW draftees: Sharnie Whiting to Carlton and Mitch

Hibberd to Essendon. Great reward for their efforts and another reflection on our Club’s ability to

provide a talent pathway to the elite level.

9

Off the field we continue to deliver in all the key areas of facilities, commercial, and community:

1. Night Matches

Our Club worked with the AFL and Hobsons Bay City Council in order to deliver four new

light towers that catered for the first ever night match played at Williamstown: a victory in

the round one clash for the inaugural Johnson-Callahan Cup against arch-rival Port

Melbourne. The night match proved a significant drawcard with a sell-out President’s

Dinner and a great crowd in attendance, and our aim is to make this a featured event to

start every VFL season.

The lights also enable opportunities for more community football to be played at the

Downer Oval in the future, an important issue given the growth of football in Hobsons

Bay.

2. Scoreboard

The Club replaced the old scoreboard with a TV vision scoreboard, complete with an

around-ground sound system that provides an important information and entertainment

medium for our members and patrons at the ground, including showing the Channel 7

vision from broadcast games and corporate partner advertising.

3. Training Venue

Again, collaborating with Hobsons Bay City Council, Bayside College and Williamstown

Juniors Football Club, we are undertaking an extension of the training ground at Bayside

College Oval #2 so that the ground size replicates the same dimensions as Downer

Oval. This significant investment will allow our VFL and VFLW players, from January

2020, to conduct their pre-season training on a purpose-built, appropriately sized,

football ground within Hobsons Bay – another first for our Club.

4. Membership

We continue to remain the #1 supported stand-alone club in the state league

competitions, with close to 1,500 members.

The strong support we have as a Club was evident in the crowd at the VFL Grand Final and we value all our passionate Seagull fans. We will take on board the feedback from our annual survey to continue to deliver on the things that matter most to our members. Please spread the word and encourage all your Seagull supporters to join. The strength

in numbers is so important for our Club.

5. Corporate Partners

Further growth in our Corporate Partnerships continued, especially with the announcement of our oval naming rights partnership with Downer, who have been terrific in embracing our Club. Led by their CEO Sergio Cinerari, Downer are a community minded organisation with their train production operations in Newport and we look forward to a long-term partnership with them.

We were pleased to also welcome Matt and Charlotte Wilson from Titan Plumbing, a local business who joined us to help deliver the match day ‘Kids Activity Zone’ in 2019.

10

As always, we continued to get great support from our other major partners and local

businesses, and in particular we wish to thank Hocking Stuart (Richard and Anthony

Anile), Hellenic Hotel (Leigh Small), Western Automotive (Conrad Taylor), NAB (Nic

Cameron), West Suburban Taxis (Will Sergeant), and we encourage all members to

support the businesses that support our club.

6. Community

2019 saw us extend our connections into the community through our various involvement in:

• the Hobsons Bay Community Fund, with the annual fundraising luncheon, annual golf day, and active participation in the Melbourne University study for inclusiveness of people with disabilities.

• our Club contributed directly to the Les Twentyman Foundation, whilst also fundraising through our partnership with the Williamstown Beer & Cider community event.

• In my CEO position, I represent our Club on the Council’s ‘Communities That Care’ board, overseeing several programs being delivered into local schools to address youth issues such as alcohol and drugs, family conflict, commitment to school.

• We continued to deliver our Accelerated Football Program to Year 7-9 boys and girls from Williamstown High School, and the Year 7-9 girls at Bayside College. In 2019, we expanded to deliver this football program for the Year 7-9 boys at Bayside College.

• We continued our connections with local Primary Schools, in particular Williamstown Primary (bi-annual Seaside Fair) and Williamstown North Primary (annual Fete).

• We supported the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce with the Williamstown Christmas Market, and the Williamstown Literacy Festival.

• We continue to sponsor the Western Region Football League and its five member clubs

and Auskick centres in Hobsons Bay (Williamstown Juniors, Altona, Newport,

Spotswood, Laverton).

• We continued our support of Williamstown CYMS Amateur Football Club, and both the men and women programs at Williamstown Lacrosse Club.

Our members can be proud of the continued engagement and support that our club

delivers to our local community, who in turn support our Club so well.

7. Memorabilia & History

Gerard Drew has been working voluntarily on our historical records and capturing the Club’s rich history on our website for prosperity.

Terry Wheeler and Lee Herrick have carried on the painstaking work done by Bob Bearman and others before him, in identifying and consolidating all our records of past players/staff/volunteers and their achievements onto the one central database.

As always the celebration of our 1990’s players in the now annual Team of the Decade event was another great night. Many thanks to Terry Wheeler and Bruce Davis who were instrumental in producing a great video presentation.

11

Future Challenges

Our greatest challenge at the moment is the ground surface at Downer Oval which was deemed

by the AFL to be unfit for play during the year, forcing the relocation of our VFL and VFLW

home games against Geelong, as well as the relocation of 29 community teams who were

fixtured to play at Downer Oval in August and September.

We have had meetings with Hobsons Bay City Council requesting that they bring forward their

planned expenditure to reconstruct the ground to October 2020. Thank you to all the members

who signed the petition in support of our submission which we lodged with. Council have

nominated the February Council meeting for a decision.

Thanks

I would like to acknowledge the tireless work of President Michael Howlett, all the directors who

served on the Board, and the additional members of the sub-committees, for the great support

they gave myself and the club in 2019. We are lucky to have such qualified and dedicated

people governing our Club.

Finally, to our very loyal staff, support staff and volunteers. Your efforts over and above the call

of duty is what makes this Club such a great place to be and why it is respected throughout the

industry. A massive thank you from me. I’d like to special acknowledge both David Bye and

Jacinta Evans are both finishing up in their full time commercial and marketing roles at year end.

We thank them for their contribution to our club and wish them both the best for their next

challenges.

Overall, 2019 was another progressive year for the Club and we look forward to your continued

support in 2020, as we are all “Proudly Williamstown”.

Jason Reddick

Chief Executive Officer

12

COACH’S REPORT

What an amazing season we experienced.

I am so proud of the players, coaches, staff and club on their achievement

this year.

Late last year four elite players were drafted to the AFL, we lost some of our

older players and after 5 rounds our football was not where we wanted it to

be.

Football seasons are incredibly challenging and the VFL is a complex football

puzzle. We compete against a range of teams and individuals in a wild

variety of conditions that provide the most physically demanding contest.

We will never forget the 2019 season because of the dramatic ending.

It was fantastic to finish top 4 but the real challenge for the group was to overcome the preliminary final.

The way we played during the finals series, the players that stood up in the big moments was celebrated

amongst the sadness of getting so close to bringing home a premiership cup.

A couple of months have now passed and our Williamstown world has been rocked to hear that Nick

Meese, Sam Dunell, Leigh Masters, Willie Wheeler, Jack Charleston have retired from our club. We need

to thank these great players and leaders for their special contribution to the success we have experienced

in the last 6 years.

I would also like to thank Ben Kennedy, Jason Pongracic, Ollie Tate and Christian Buyx-Smith who have

also decided to finish up.

Coaches: Clay Ilman, Matt Pearce, Clint Proctor have accepted roles at AFL clubs which is a great

reward for their skills and hard work. I would also like to acknowledge my lifelong friend and my senior

assistant Pete Banfield for his guidance over the last few years. Brian Winton has also been amazing in

his coaching role.

At this time I would especially like to congratulate Mitch Hibberd for his wonderful year in which he was

rewarded with a Rookie contract to Essendon.

As Head Coach I have the largest of expectations of our playing group and coaches each and every year.

Our winning record has been amazing over the last 6 years and I am looking forward to the journey

ahead.

We have welcomed new players and coaches to Williamstown in preparation for 2020 and I cannot wait

until round 1.

Once again, I want to thank all the players and staff for their amazing efforts in 2019 and their ongoing

support. Our leadership group led by Adam Marcon again set a great environment for training and

playing. I want to congratulate Adam and Joel Tippett on becoming Fathers.

Recruiting players and new staff is nearly complete. We have lost some great players and coaches in

which we give thanks, but football clubs continue to move and our desire to go one better is greater than

ever

Kindest Regards, Andrew Collins

Senior Coach

13

FOOTBALL REPORT

The 2019 VFL grand final will go down as one of the greats in recent

seasons however the record books will show a 3pt loss. Despite this,

we are left with a sense of pride and respect as our 23 players on the

day fought valiantly against a strong Richmond outfit.

Our Women’s side finished the season unfortunately finished with 1

win in their second season in the VFLW competition. We will continue

to build on their first two seasons with changes already made in

respect of a Penny Cula-Reid (Coach) and Claudia Davey (Football Manager) appointed in Full-

Time roles which will provide greater support in each area to ensure all facets of the program run

smoothly.

Leigh Masters arguably played his best season for the Club since joining in 2013 resulting in his

first Gerry Callahan Medal and VFL Team of the Year selection. Leigh’s departure alongside Willie

Wheeler, Nick Meese, Sam Dunell and Jack Charleston will no doubt be significant culturally but

we look forward with optimism into the future with Paul Hunter, Luke Meadows, James Tsitas and

Corey Rich among our new recruits.

Sharnie Whiting had an outstanding season finishing 2nd in our VFLW Best & Fairest to rising star

Megan Williamson and then being taken by Carlton at pick 36 in the AFLW draft in which we wish

Sharnie all the best at AFLW level.

Four players were named in the VFL Team of the Year in Nick Meese, Jack Charleston, Leigh

Masters and Mitch Hibberd whilst Danica Pedersen was named in the VFLW Team of the Year.

Having joined us from North Melbourne, Mitch Hibberd was rewarded for an outstanding first

season with us, being selected by Essendon with pick 10 in the AFL Rookie Draft and gaining a

second opportunity at AFL level.

On behalf of the Club I’d like to thank all members and supporters for all of their great support

throughout the season. The support our players receive at our home and away matches is

fantastic and we look forward to seeing you again in 2020.

Stephen Soulsby

GM-Football

14

2019 VFL MATCH RESULTS

RD Date Opposition Location Williamstown Opponent Result

1 6/04/19 Port Melbourne Downer Oval 10.15-75 9.11-65 Win

2 14/04/19 Frankston Skybus Stadium 18.9-117 6.9-45 Win

3 21/04/19 Sandringham Trevor Barker Oval 9.14-68 14.8-92 Loss

4 28/04/19 Footscray Downer Oval 9.10-64 6.12-48 Win

5 5/05/19 Richmond Downer Oval 4.10-34 12.13-85 Loss

7 19/05/19 Coburg Pirhana Park 14.16-100 10.8-68 Win

8 26/05/19 Casey Demons Downer Oval 11.11-77 9.7-61 Win

9 1/06/19 Box Hill Hawks Box Hill City Oval 8.5-53 10.14-74 Loss

10 8/06/19 North Melbourne Downer Oval 19.9-123 10.10-70 Win

11 16/06/19 Port Melbourne North Port Oval 10.14-74 10.14-74 Draw

12 23/06/19 Werribee Avalon Airport Oval 16.7-103 14.11-95 Win

14 6/07/19 Frankston Downer Oval 18.12-120 8.10-58 Win

15 13/07/19 Collingwood Victoria Park 7.13-55 6.11-47 Win

16 21/07/19 Northern Blues Preston City Oval 8.22-70 7.7-49 Win

17 27/07/19 Essendon Downer Oval 15.12-102 12.12-84 Win

19 10/08/19 Coburg Downer Oval 13.13-91 7.11-53 Win

20 18/08/19 Geelong Avalon Airport Oval 11.14-80 10.11-71 Win

21 24/08/19 Werribee Downer Oval 4.12-36 6.8-44 Loss

Q/F 31/08/19 Footscray VU Whitten Oval 11.11-77 9.10-64 Win

P/F 15/09/19 Essendon Adcon Stadium 14.12-96 9.16-70 Win

G/F 22/09/19 Richmond Ikon park 7.13-55 8.10-58 Loss

15

2019 VFLW MATCH RESULTS

RD Date Opposition Location Williamstown Opponent Result

2 18/05/19 Western Bulldogs Downer Oval 1.3-9 8.8-56 Loss

3 26/05/19 Casey Demons Downer Oval 2.1-13 7.6-48 Loss

4 1/06/19 Hawthorn Box Hill City Oval 4.2-26 4.11-35 Loss

5 8/06/19 Melbourne Uni Downer Oval 4.8-32 6.7-43 Loss

7 22/06/19 Darebin Bill Lawry Oval 1.5-11 4.7-31 Loss

8 29/06/19 NT Thunder Downer Oval 4.2-26 1.9-15 Win

9 6/07/19 Southern Saints Trevor Barker Oval 1.1-7 9.5-59 Loss

10 13/07/19 Collingwood Victoria Park 4.8-32 9.3-57 Loss

11 21/07/19 Carlton Ikon Park 4.2-26 9.5-59 Loss

12 27/07/19 Essendon Downer Oval 1.2-8 7.5-47 Loss

13 4/08/19 Richmond Swinburne Centre 1.4-10 7.16-58 Loss

14 10/08/19 Darebin Downer Oval 0.4-4 7.11-53 Loss

15 18/08/19 Geelong La Trobe, Bundoora 1.0-6 8.4-52 Loss

16 24/08/19 Essendon Windy Hill 0.1-1 11.12-78 Loss

16

2019 LADDERS

VFL

VFLW

17

FOOTBALL SUPPORT STAFF 2019

VFL Head Coach Andrew Collins Statisticians Ian Cashill

VFL GM-Football Stephen Soulsby Craig Blair

VFLW Head Coach Amy Catterall Jeremy Blair

VFL Senior Assistant Coach Peter Banfield Craig McNiece

VFL Line Coach - Defence Clay Illman Dietician Emma Inglis

VFL Line Coach - Midfield Matthew Pearce Timekeeper Graeme Crocker

VFL Line Coach - Forwards Clint Proctor IT Analysis Domenico Lammardo

VFL Goal Kicking / Marking Coach Brian Winton Matt Dunbar

VFLW Line Coach – Defence Jason Quinn Liam McClean

VFLW Line Coach – Midfield Adam Tardif Property Staff Dave Utber

VFLW Line Coach – Forwards Lachlan Walker Gary Howell

VFL Coach Performance Manager Murray Fielding Ball Retrievers Max Atkin

VFL Development Coach Brett Henderson David Tate

Women’s Football Coordinator Jo Utting VFL Team Managers Peter Brown

VFL High Performance Manager Calvin Pane Maurice Thurston

VFL High Performance Manager Richie Hollins Head Trainer Ally Dean

VFL High Performance Manager / Leadership Consultant

Jenni Screen 2IC- Trainer Alana Bellino

VFL Head of Sports Science Katelyn Cantwell Trainers Sibin Matthew

VFLW High Performance Manager Craig Staunton Tony Lam

VFLW High Performance Manager Sarah Furian Caitlin Jerkovic

VFLW High Performance Assistant Alex Dellaportas Christian Azzopardi

VFL Runner Darren Bickley Elise Ward

Club Doctor Dr. Michael Ryan Samantha Bonnici

Physiotherapists Michael Ranger Saida Ali

Ty Saunders Damien Frost

Adam Walters James Wrout

Sara Clapman Holly Ponyiczky

Monique Rowlands Emma Sexton

Matthew Delaney Yolanna Lee

GPS Analysis Josh Smearton

Maddy Rush

18

MATCH DAY SUPPORT STAFF 2019

Match Day Luncheons Mandy Drew

Carol Utber

Gulls Coterie Group Loretta Flint

Bernadette O’Sullivan

Frank Rog

Merchandise Jan Dandridge

Olivia Herrick

Bar Staff Dianne Ward

Robert Ward

Ray Moloney

Gate Attendants Kay & Max Ruddle

Dave Riddle

Match Day BBQ Jami Moran

Frank Risvanis

Scoreboard Attendant Winton

Chris Skyring

Game Day Operations Seamus Lyons

Memberships Lee Herrick

Ground

Announcements

John Grieve

19

COMMUNITY REPORT

The Williamstown Football Club prides itself on its community involvement

throughout the whole Hobson’s Bay area.

Through each season we make a point to engage with various football and

sporting clubs, community groups and schools to promote the club and the

game of Australian Rules Football.

Williamstown FC opened the doors to Community Sporting Clubs and

competitions to use Downer Oval again in 2019. Unfortunately, we couldn’t

meet our target of ground participants due to unforeseen weather and

ground surface issues. The ground and its facilities were used by 29 teams

over 6 competitions including the VFL, VFLW, NAB League Boys and Girls,

WRFL Junior Finals and VAFA Senior Women’s. The ground was also opened as a training venue for the

Williamstown High School Accelerated Football Program.

At each home game at Downer Oval we have at least two Auskick centres or Junior Football Clubs

playing grid games at halftime. The invitation is extended to five Auskick centres and 3 Junior Football

Clubs in Hobsons Bay; Williamstown Juniors, Williamstown Auskick, Newport Auskick, Spotswood

Auskick, Altona JFC, Altona Auskick and Laverton Auskick.

We provide jumpers for the kids to wear and involve several of them to run out as team mascots with the

senior team at the start of the game. As well as offering up a BBQ on their allotted game day for potential

other revenue to help financially assist their respective junior programs.

All Williamstown Football Club players from both Men’s and Women’s programs also attended one of the

5 Auskick Centres this year, along with the ever favourite Speccie the Seagull.

To further enhance our home games, we have the Titan Plumbing Kids Activity Zone set up where there

are various rides and attractions for the kids to participate in. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of

Titan Plumbing, we can deliver unique attractions and rides at each home game so the match day

experience for kids and families never gets stale.

This year we also had the privilege of expanding our Accelerated Football Program to include Boys and

Girls from Bayside College. This program now consists of four classes and is a mix of Boys and Girls from

Williamstown High School and Bayside College. Williamstown Football Club conducts this program free to

the schools and is conducted by accredited players and staff of the Football Club.

Throughout the year we have continued to partner with AFL Victoria to deliver a Primary School football

program throughout Hobson’s Bay. Using a mixture of our own and AFL Victoria’s staff on our behalf we

have ran multiple programs across many schools in the region, this service is free to the schools and ran

by accredited coaches.

The club was again proud to support our local charities Les Twentyman Foundation, Western Chances,

Pride Foundation, Outside the Locker Room and White Ribbon.

We held multiple Community engagement activities for local football as well as for the Hobsons Bay City

Council in the Seaview Events Centre. This included but was not limited to the Western Region –

Foundation Coaches Night, Western Region Auskick Night and the Western Jets Presentation Night.

20

Williamstown Football Clubs helped further deepen its Community Football connections at grass roots

level by taking on and supporting 5 Auskick Centre’s and 3 Junior Football Clubs, both Williamstown

Lacrosse and Williamstown Womens Lacrosse Clubs, visiting 7 Primary Schools for their ‘Footy Day’

activities during the 2019 Season.

During 2019 we also held marquee’s and activations at Community Events including the Willy Lit Festival,

Williamstown Night Market, Williamstown North Primary School Fete, Williamstown Primary School

‘Seaside Fair’, Williamstown Football Family Day and the Williamstown Seagulls Schools Cup.

Community involvement and support is a key pillar of our Club operations, and we look forward to building

on our positive impacts in the future.

Andrew Dandridge

Community and Operations Manager

21

MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING REPORT

2019 was a remarkable year for both our memberships and events. I would like to extend a very big thank you to our members and corporate partners who supported us throughout 2019 and we look forward to seeing you throughout 2020.

Memberships 2018 2019 % Increase

Adults: 245 296 20.8% Concession: 68 65 - 4.4% Specie Club: 55 50 - 9.1% Family: 118 137 - 16.1% Club 1864: 115 115 0.0% Gulls: 104 127 22.1% Towners: 29 24 - 17.2% TOTAL PAYING MEMBERS 734 814 10.1% Sponsors: 527 510 - 3.2% Life Members: 102 98 - 3.9% Volunteers: 35 28 - 20.0% TOTAL: 1,398 1,450 3.7% A fantastic result on the membership sales in 2019 compared to our 2018 results. We have managed to

maintain our status as the stand-alone Club with the most members.

We implemented various membership activities and strategies to build on our membership tally, and that

success has translated in the above numbers.

We ask you all to get behind the Blue and Gold and sign up as many family and friends as possible.

Club Events A successful result for our results throughout 2019. The club saw a couple of sellout President Functions and record numbers in attendance for our Presentation Night and Women’s Lunch. Volunteer Appreciation Night - The Club held a Volunteer Appreciation Night on Monday 19th March, whereby the Club recognised and thanked the many volunteers who give up their time to assist throughout the year in various roles. Family Day/Jumper Presentation – This year the Club worked with Williamstown Juniors Football Club and Williamstown CY’s to put together a family day for the community at Bayside P-12 College. This event saw our players engage with the kids by assisting with a handball target, jumping castle and also the canteen/BBQ. In the afternoon our new VFL and VFLW players were presented with their guernsey by children from Willi Juniors.

22

1980’s Team of the Decade – In late June we held our 1980’s Team of the Decade at Seaview Williamstown to highlight and acknowledge the achievements of our players from the 80’s. Guests enjoyed a three course meal, catered by the Greenery and were entertained by videos and stories from the 80’s. Sponsors Night – In July we held our annual Sponsor’s Night - inviting Major, Signage and Player Sponsors. Also in attendance were Board Directors, the VFL and VFLW playing lists, coaching and support staff. Steve Wallis was our guest speaker, who shared an insightful story about his business journey following his football career. The night provided our players the opportunity to network with our corporate partners and help them shape their future careers. Women’s Lunch – As always, our Women’s Lunch in 2019 was a success. Guests enjoyed an afternoon of pampering and entertainment through guest speakers Shelley Ware, Tammy Van Wisse and Aleisha Newman.On offer was an afternoon of pampering, including champagne on arrival, mini massages from our Sponsor – Lavanya SPA, make-up application and products on sale from Grace & Willow. Raffle Prizes were won throughout the day – which were generously donated by many local Williamstown businesses. Mid-Year Celebration - We held our annual mid-Year Celebration in July with 142 guests in attendance. From the feedback received, it’s safe to say it was a successful night enjoyed by all those in attendance! The Greenery catering did a fantastic job with the catering. On offer were canapés on arrival, , main and dessert, which was enjoyed by all. The live band had almost everyone on their feet, dancing along to their tunes at each of their sets. We also hired a photo booth to further add to the entertainment aspect of the night, which was a hit. Presentation Night - A total of 219 guests attended our Presentation Night, which was a highly entertaining evening for all guests, as we officially reflected and said goodbye to season 2019. There was much to celebrate, with Megan Williamson winning the best and fairest for our VFLW team and Leigh Masters taking home the VFL team best and fairest. We also saw Nick Meese, Nick Sing, Sam Dunell, Maurice Thurston, Michael Ranger and Dianne Ward receive their life membership. Warmest regards

Jacinta Evans

Marketing Operations Manager

23

SPONSORSHIP REPORT

With a mindset of building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships with our

commercial partners, I’m pleased to report that commercial sales increased

significantly in 2019 on the previous year.

Thank you to all commercial partners for your investment in the Williamstown

Football Club. It was a big year on many levels, and it was great to have you

sharing the journey with us.

Highlights included:

- The announcement of a 3 year partnership with Downer LTD, as ground naming rights partner

- The introduction of ‘content sponsorships’ across our online and digital platforms

- An increase in social media engagement of 15%

- A 24% increase in Downer Oval ground signage

- 500,000+ Channel 7 viewers watched Williamstown FC games in 2019

We are proud to work with and be supported by our commercial partners. The Williamstown Football Club

is able to create a unique opportunity to increase brand recognition to a state-wide audience, while also

connecting more intimately with club members, supporters, and the local Hobsons Bay community.

David Bye

Business Development Manager

24

COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

2019 has been a fantastic year on the media and communications front. The club has continued to enhance its following on the main three social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) through innovative and creative content to maximise our brand exposure. Our weekly match reports and post-game interviews were

always popular along with several club-related news articles, while our player feature stories with veteran Sam Dunell, VFLW gun Aliesha Newman and emerging star Ruby Tripodi were also a hit. Getting to know our players’ back stories is something we will aim to continue next season. We also sent out our weekly newsletter to inform members of all things club news, upcoming events, merchandise offerings, player milestones and our community involvements. We will strive to continue to ensure our fans are frequently kept up to date with all the happenings at the club in 2020. Our match day coverage of both our VFL and VFLW programs were well received, particularly through our Instagram stories. We made an effort to take our fans behind the scenes of a match day with short, up-close videos of our players to give our audience an experience that would make them feel like they were present at the ground. With our VFLW side now preparing for their third season in the competition under the reigns of new and exciting premiership-winning coach Penny Cula-Reid and the continued success of our VFL program, our social media numbers should continue to grow.

The club is well ahead of any other stand-alone VFL club when it comes to social following and we have taken over some AFL affiliated teams, such as Footscray, Sandringham, Casey, Geelong and North Melbourne on different channels. But in 2020, we want to see these numbers surge even higher. With new initiatives and strategies on the horizon for more fan engagement, we expect this trend to continue:

Oct’ 31, 2016 Oct 31’, 2017 Oct 31’, 2018 Oct 31’, 2019

Facebook 8,475 10,474 11,810 12,806

Twitter 5,380 8,139 8,544 9,062

Instagram 4,103 5,636 6,340 8,816

25

While our website has been used to great effect in 2019, we will look to give our site a facelift to give our fans a more engaging, user-friendly digital experience. Corey Kennedy, who moved on from his position mid-year, did a fantastic job for the club as its Digital Content Producer. I look forward to continuing to build on his work and maximising the club’s exposure through effective, creative communication techniques in 2020 and beyond.

Jarryd Barca

Media Coordinator

26

MAJOR SPONSORS

27

2019 SPONSORS

Major Partners Digital Partners

Downer LTD MC Labour

Werribee/Western Automotive Group ATR Automotive

Hocking Stuart Trade Institute of Victoria

Hellenic Hotel

Werribee MG Player

Corporate Partners ACFS Port Logistics

Titan Plumbing Services Altitude Recruitment

Port of Melbourne Australian Dairy Park Pty Ltd

Total Containers B Burke Constructions

NAB Carol Utber

West Suburban Taxis Concept Logistics

CGR Contech Engineering Pty Ltd

Porters Covertite Pty Ltd

Elastoplast Craig Jackson

KFC Cyclehosts

Concept Logistics Dig Design

Explorers Early Learning Drake Developments

MPT Group Electract Pty Ltd

Ascot Vale Leisure Centre First Option Bank

Routley’s Geraldine McHarg

Scoreboard Partner Hobsons Bay Psychology

Nelson Brothers Hotel Agencies Pty Ltd

Ground Signage Partners Hunter French Real Estate

Able Industries Industrial Electrical services

CHARTI Jacob Hoffman

Del-Re National Jetpets

Hobsons Bay Dental Jnjhunt Plumbing

Jims Self Storage Jodi Martin

Lavanya Kealba Pharmacy

Mancini Made Kevin Purcell

Seneca King Island Fisheries Pty Ltd

Orbit Logistics Laurie Dilks

Shipman King Mandy Drew

Hobsons Bay Psychology Michael Chahwan

Rhuarc’s Pet Supplies Michael Crawford Funerals

Merit Manufacturing Mirmic Plumbing

Civilex MLM Electrical Contractors Pty Ltd

Seagulls Laundromat Nick Braddon

Sweeney Noel Navarro

Tick Tok O2 Finance Pty Ltd

Uniting Age Well Osteo Sports Network

Paul’s Customs & Forwarding

Performance HR

28

Psychology on Parade

QHSC Inc

QSR Australia

Quay Developments Pty Ltd

Railway Hotel

Rosewood Farm Boarding Cattery

SEIVA

Signature Engraving

Skywatch Australia

Steam Packet Hotel

Taurus Financial Consulting

Thirteen Three Clothing

Tick Tok

Tip Top Butchers

TWM Imports Pty Ltd

Visual Exposure Pty Ltd

Yield Finance Group

29

TREASURER’S REPORT

I am pleased to announce an audited Profit Before Tax of $221,831 for

the financial year ending 31 October 2019. This was a decrease of

$188,059 on last year’s Profit Before Tax of $409,890.

Whilst there has been a decrease in Profit before Tax, the following

should be noted –

• A contribution of $275k in investment income from the future fund investment portfolio. This is

an increase of $182k on previous year.

• Increase of Caroline Springs contribution of $127k

• An increase in Sponsorship income of $61k

• Improved contribution from memberships $10k

• Transfer Fees received from AFL $9k

• Improved contribution from merchandise $8k

• Improved contribution from events $5k

offset by –

• Lower net contribution of Seaview Events Centre of $135k

• Increase in football expense by $120k, including VFL Women’s program $52k,

coaches/trainers/players across the Club of $68k

• Reduced net gaming contribution from Seagulls Nest of $102k

• Employee benefit expenses of $67k

• Administrative costs of $61k

• Net reduction of grants $31k

• Reduction in match day takings $27k

• Consultants of $25k for venue master plan

• Reduction in VFL Prize Money $13k

• Reduction in fundraising of $9k

It is important to note that the club has been advised that the 10 Year entitlement for gaming machines

will cost an estimated $3.3m in 2022 compared to the $363k for the current 10-year period. This will

obviously have a material adverse impact on cashflows going forward and needs to be closely managed.

The investment portfolio was valued at $3.175m as at 31 October 2019. This represented an increase of

$525k compared to last year which was primarily due to -

• An additional cash investment of $250k

• Dividends of $135k

• Realised gains of $140k

The Investment Portfolio managed by JB Were returned a healthy 10.86% during the financial year

compared to a target of 5.77%. As previously stated, the objective of the portfolio is to return a target of

4% higher than CPI over the long term.

The club also has $500k on Term Deposit

30

Total capital expenditure for the year was $343k. This was represented by -

• Investment in Seagulls Nest on new gaming machines $133k

• Seagulls Nest plant and equipment of $13k

• Bayside College surface upgrade of $27k

• Downer Oval upgrades of $161k including behind the goal nets and cameras, scoreboard and

capital works

• IT equipment of $9k

A copy of the Statement of Comprehensive Income, Statement of Financial Position and Statement of

Cash Flows is attached. A full copy of the audited financial results is available for inspection at the club

offices.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Jodie Martin and fellow board members on the

Finance Committee during the course of the year including Clint Rippon, Michael Howlett and Kim

Kershaw.

Ben Kane

Chair of Finance Sub Committee

31

LIFE MEMBERS

Surname First Name Surname First Name Surname FiFirst Name Atkin Max Pearman Bob Barnes Ken Hannebery Tony Percy Robert Beitzel Eric Harding Rob Poole Ernie Bergin Peter Higgins Merryl Quinn Les Bindless George Hill Bill Ranger Michael Bird Graham Hobbs Merv Raffle John Callahan Gerry Hore Rickman Ian Carr Ed Hosking Des Rigg Chris Cashill Ian Hough Adam Round Barry Charleston Jack Howell Phyllis Russell Tom Clifton John Howlett Andrew Shanks Julian Clough Graham Jeremiah Garry Sing Nick Colquhoun Colin Jeremiah Judi Short Graeme Cravino Matt John Paul Slevison Rick Crocker Graeme Johnson Brett Smith Ray Curry Brendan Jolley Ben Stretton David Davies Ben Kennedy Graeme Swann Rex Davies Lauraine Kent Len Swann Greg Davis Bruce Kerr Peter Thurston Maurie Delre Danny Kershaw Kim Taylor Laurie Dooley Bill Layton Margaret Tweedly Greg Dooley Janet Lloyd Brad Tweedly Valma Dooley Merryl Lockwood Cameron Utber Carol Drew Gerard Major Alice Utber David Drew Mandy Martin John Ward Di Dunell Sam McGowan Tom Walters Adam Dullard Tony Meese Nick West Troy Dunscombe Dawn McTaggart Brett Wheeler Lyn Everett Max Moloney Ray Wheeler Terry Fanning John Monti Trevor Whittington John Fotheringham Mark Moran Jami Williams Rod

Gething Sid Munday Max Williams Ron

Ghazi Saade Murphy Glenn Wilson June

Gilani Dr Manu Murphy Berryl

Gotch Brad O'Sullivan Bernadette

Gotch Michelle O'Toole James Gould Brett Owen Alun Greive John Pastore Tony

32

DECEASED LIFE MEMBERS

33

34

35

Location: Point Gellibrand, 71 Morris Street, Williamstown

Phone: (03) 9391 0309 Fax: (03) 9391 5497

Email: admin@williamstownfc.com.au

Website: http://www.williamstownfc.com.au

Twitter: @williamstownfc

Facebook: /williamstownfc

Instagram: @williamstownfc