It’s been 11 long years, but finally the A’s are back in the men’s Premier League finals! An incredible, come-from-behind 4-4 draw against Doncaster was enough to secure fourth spot on the ladder.

During the mid-80’s we were a strong side, regularly playing finals and Grand Finals, but never quite securing glory, in the mid 90’s we were a powerhouse, led by Ross Harper, the Duff brothers, Ian Bartlett and a host of stars we secured two premierships and continued to be a finals regular including a lost Grand Final in ’99. In 2003 we drew the semi-final, not going through to the Grand Final on ladder position only.

Since then, we’ve had some lean years, superstars of the club have come back and retired, Premiership winning coaches taken the reigns again, all to no avail. We were full of heart, and plenty of talent, but in a strong competition we were regularly playing on the last day of August to stave off relegation, instead of pushing for finals. During this time our girls won State League 2 and went straight into the State League 1 finals series, narrowly losing to eventual premiers Greensborough but our men were never quite there. The last couple of years there has been a feeling of building, our young players have started to get some experience under the belt, we were pushing the best teams in the competition, but just falling short.

This year has been different, a great recruit in England international Tom Pinnegar (unbackable favourite for the best and fairest) has kept us in close games, while Chris Porter and Niels de Jong have provided some firepower up front. Our previously young brigade of Jake MacVean, Patrick Phillips and Chris Coleman have edged up to 100 games or beyond and are taking on greater responsibility as some of the best players in the competition, Steve Campbell and Matt Guest have hit 150 games providing leadership and Mat Higgins and Tyson Priddle are still going strong through games 300 and 250 games respectively providing much needed experience. Add to that an exciting blend of youth with Josh Horton, Harry Dolenc and Mat Huf all being selected in the Victorian Futures Squad, Andrew Scanlon representing Australia at U18 level and our country and Altona boys stepping up with Cale Rout, Tim and Lachy Russell, Benn Henderson, Matt Briscoe, Kieran Symons and John Camilleri all playing their part.

Regardless of the result next week, this has been for the members, supporters, players and off-field team who have passionately driven us back towards the top with a focus on junior development and professionalism while maintaining the family values of our club. Thank-you, and this is just the beginning!