helicopter
All Australian
- Banned
- #1
By Ben Waterworth
[FONT=Arial,sans-serif]What emotions run through your head when you see or hear the name Vermont?[/FONT]
Respect? Jealousy? Fear?
If you know anything about the Eastern Football League, you either love the Eagles or hate them.
The thought of heading to Tarara Road sends shivers down the spine of the club’s rivals. The trophy room is as glitzed as Melbourne’s finest cocktail lounge.
Statistically, the Eagles soar above any other EFL club. The numbers are scary: 19 EFL premierships, nine consecutive Grand Finals (1993-2001), 22 consecutive years in finals (1988-2009), 61 consecutive victories (Round 2, 1988 to Round 3, 1991).
But out of all the eras of dominance, the 1990’s was perhaps the club’s finest decade.
The senior side lost just 24 of its 199 games played over those 10 years. Seven of those victories were premierships (1990-91, 93-95 and 97-98).
‘It’s an amazing stat,’ former Vermont star Todd Power said.
‘When I think back now, I reckon I was only involved in 15-20 losses.
‘Vermont was always the hunted, but I can think of so many stages where we were down and somehow found a way to win. That was the big difference – losing just wasn’t accepted at Vermont.’
Eagles secretary Lee Bidstrup: ‘I never expected to win that often, but we continued to do so. People have asked me “what was the secret”? Truth is, I don’t know.’
However Bidstrup, who has been involved with Vermont since the early 1960’s, thinks player chemistry was a huge reason behind the success.
‘We had some great junior players that came through at the time, who became the backbone of those great sides,’ he said.
‘Mentally, they were just really strong footballers, who loved contests and just wanted to play.’
Power, who played 210 games for the Eagles before crossing over to The Basin, says the teams he played in were incredibly team-orientated, despite an array of star players.
'Sometimes teams have to rely on certain players to win games. At Vermont, it was all shared,’ Power said.
‘Whether they were new recruits, guys playing their first game or senior blokes, whenever you looked around at your teammates, you just knew everything would take care of itself as long as you did your role.
‘You always knew how much history and success there was behind the jumper you put on or the song you sang after a win.’
While Vermont was a powerhouse on the field, it was just as strong and stable off it.
‘There’s a culture down at Vermont that is simply awesome,’ Power said.
‘People at other clubs don’t realise how much support Vermont has behind the scenes. They have awesome sponsorship and 15 to 20 committee members, whereas other clubs may have only five or six.’
Bidstrup: 'People thought we had a vault full of cash, but that’s not true. We did it because our admin was strong and we continued to have really good people running the place.’
Even to this day, Bidstrup cannot believe what the club achieved.
‘We did something I thought we’d never do,’ he said.
‘Each premiership was hard to believe and every one of them was special. But you never believed it happened.
‘It gives you great satisfaction to achieve things like that. It just didn’t feel real, but when it went down into the record books, we knew no one could take it all away from us.’
Will we ever see winning streaks and premierships like it again in the EFL?
Begs the question has there been a more successful team in Victoria or Australia wide??
[FONT=Arial,sans-serif]What emotions run through your head when you see or hear the name Vermont?[/FONT]
Respect? Jealousy? Fear?
If you know anything about the Eastern Football League, you either love the Eagles or hate them.
The thought of heading to Tarara Road sends shivers down the spine of the club’s rivals. The trophy room is as glitzed as Melbourne’s finest cocktail lounge.
Statistically, the Eagles soar above any other EFL club. The numbers are scary: 19 EFL premierships, nine consecutive Grand Finals (1993-2001), 22 consecutive years in finals (1988-2009), 61 consecutive victories (Round 2, 1988 to Round 3, 1991).
But out of all the eras of dominance, the 1990’s was perhaps the club’s finest decade.
The senior side lost just 24 of its 199 games played over those 10 years. Seven of those victories were premierships (1990-91, 93-95 and 97-98).
‘It’s an amazing stat,’ former Vermont star Todd Power said.
‘When I think back now, I reckon I was only involved in 15-20 losses.
‘Vermont was always the hunted, but I can think of so many stages where we were down and somehow found a way to win. That was the big difference – losing just wasn’t accepted at Vermont.’
Eagles secretary Lee Bidstrup: ‘I never expected to win that often, but we continued to do so. People have asked me “what was the secret”? Truth is, I don’t know.’
However Bidstrup, who has been involved with Vermont since the early 1960’s, thinks player chemistry was a huge reason behind the success.
‘We had some great junior players that came through at the time, who became the backbone of those great sides,’ he said.
‘Mentally, they were just really strong footballers, who loved contests and just wanted to play.’
Power, who played 210 games for the Eagles before crossing over to The Basin, says the teams he played in were incredibly team-orientated, despite an array of star players.
'Sometimes teams have to rely on certain players to win games. At Vermont, it was all shared,’ Power said.
‘Whether they were new recruits, guys playing their first game or senior blokes, whenever you looked around at your teammates, you just knew everything would take care of itself as long as you did your role.
‘You always knew how much history and success there was behind the jumper you put on or the song you sang after a win.’
While Vermont was a powerhouse on the field, it was just as strong and stable off it.
‘There’s a culture down at Vermont that is simply awesome,’ Power said.
‘People at other clubs don’t realise how much support Vermont has behind the scenes. They have awesome sponsorship and 15 to 20 committee members, whereas other clubs may have only five or six.’
Bidstrup: 'People thought we had a vault full of cash, but that’s not true. We did it because our admin was strong and we continued to have really good people running the place.’
Even to this day, Bidstrup cannot believe what the club achieved.
‘We did something I thought we’d never do,’ he said.
‘Each premiership was hard to believe and every one of them was special. But you never believed it happened.
‘It gives you great satisfaction to achieve things like that. It just didn’t feel real, but when it went down into the record books, we knew no one could take it all away from us.’
Will we ever see winning streaks and premierships like it again in the EFL?
Begs the question has there been a more successful team in Victoria or Australia wide??
