Club History | Mayne Tigers

HISTORY OF MAYNE TIGERS FOOTBALL CLUB

A brief history of the Mayne Football Club provides a clear indication of the tradition that is Mayne and the reason that other clubs in the competition still regard Mayne as one of the teams they like to beat, whatever level the team is playing in.

Colours and names:
From 1925 to 1981, Mayne wore black and gold vertical stripes and their nickname was the Tigers. After incorporation in 1992 the club was known as The Tigers and had a different strip for 2-3 seasons. In 2001 the clubs reverted back to the traditional black and gold vertical stripes and are now known as Mayne Tigers.
Current - colours: black and gold, emblem, Tiger and nickname The Tigers

Premierships:

1927-28, 1930#-31, 1934-35, 1942, 1952, 1958, 1961-62, 1966-67, 1973, 1982, 2014, 2015 and 2016 (18 total)

Medal Winners

Grogan Medal (Best & Fairest): Peter Ives 1978; Greg Hollick 1981; Terry Simmonds 1987
Duncanson Todd Medal (Best & Fairest 2005 to 2013 era) Andrew Housego 2005
Duncanson Medal (Best & Fairest 2014 – 2016 era) Luke Faulkner 2014; Caleb Brown 2015
Duncanson Todd Medal (Best & Fairest 2017 - ) Marcus Dyson 2020

Games Record Holders

Andrew Housego 293
Albert Hadwen 281
Eddie Hadwen 280

Long Serving Administrators, Coaches and Captains

Frank Mallan Patron 20 Years (1988-2007)
Joe A Grogan Patron 19 Years (1932-1936 and 1940-1953)

Russell Ditchburn President 10 Years (2013-2022) Secretary 2 Years (2011-2012) Treasurer 2 Years (2009-2010)
C.H (Father) Deane President 7 Years (1930-1936)
D.L Langsford President 7 Years (1948-1954)

H.E (Mick) Byrne Secretary 16 Years (1942-1957)

Guy Gardner Treasurer 12 Years (2011-2022) Secretary (2010)
Pat Humphrey Smith Treasurer 8 Years (1969-1973 and 1982-1984)
Richard Fell Treasurer 7 Years (2002-2008) President 4 Years (2009-2012) Vice President 9 Years (2013-2021)

Mick Nolan Senior Coach 8 Years (1981-1986 and 1996-1997)
Mitch Ferguson Senior Coach 6 Years (2007-2010 and 2012-2013)

Andrew Housego Club Captain 11 Years (2001-2011)
Clem Ryan Club Captain 8 Years (1930-1937)

Club Best and Fairests

Jack Collings 5 years (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023)

Carl Herbert 4 years (1982,1992,1993,1994)
Andrew Housego 4 years (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009)

Highest Goalkickers

Luke Faulkner 136 goals (2014)
Dale Woodhall 113 goals (1983)

Highest Scores:

Mayne 30.18 (198) vs. Wilston Grange on 30 April 1975 - Queensland State League
Mayne 37.18 (240) vs. Coolangatta on 19 May 2012 - SEQAFL Division 1 Pineapple Cup

Mayne 38.15 (243) vs Moreton Bay on 18 May 2024 - QFA Division 1 Hart Sport Cup
Mayne 45.27 (297) vs Caboolture on 19 July 2014 QFA (Northern Conference)

Grounds:

Pre-World War II, Mayne were based at Perry Park, Mayne and had used the ground since their inaugural year in the league - 1925.
1942-1948 - Mayne were based at Windsor Park Number 2 Oval as the American Armed Forces used Perry Park.
1949 - 1967 Mayne returned to Perry Park and left only after the BCC took the ground for soccer
1968-98 - Mayne played at the Keith Beavis Oval (Windsor Park - Number 2) Windsor, whilst the Juniors used Windsor Park Number 1 from 1983 to 1999. The Juniors moved to Oxenham Park Nundah from 2000.
1961 – 1982 Mayne held a Lease over Vic Walsh Oval (Crosby Park at Albion) which was used primarily by the Juniors during this period.
2001 - 2003 Mayne played at Anderson Oval, Kedron.
2004 - now. Mayne Tigers play at the Enoggera Memorial Park at Mott Street, Enoggera sharing the ground with Everton Park Wolves (juniors)

Timeline and finals appearances:

Mayne was formed in 1924 as a junior club and acquired senior status in 1925. Mayne FC was born out of the Valley Juniors and was a junior club in 1924. The Senior teams were started in the next year and Mayne has existed for 91 years.
1925 - 1926 Mayne gained senior status, but were not very successful in their first and second years in the Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL).
Success was soon to arrive as they appeared in the finals for the next 9 years, winning 6 premierships.
1927 - Grand Final: Mayne 10.9.69 defeated Windsor 7.8.50.
1928 - Grand Final: Mayne 10.10.70 defeated Windsor 3.8.26.
1929 - Grand Final: Windsor 6.12.48 defeated Mayne 6.8.44.
1930 - Grand Final: Mayne 10.5.65 defeated Windsor 7.8.50.
1931 - Grand Final: Mayne 8.14.62 defeated Taringa 5.5.35.
1933 - Grand Final: Windsor 11.8.74 defeated Mayne 8.7.55.
1934 - Grand Final: Mayne 12.9.81 defeated Taringa 7.12.54.
1935 - Grand Final: Mayne 10.12.72 defeated Taringa 5.10.40.
1936 - Grand Final: Windsor 11.10.76 defeated Mayne 6.13.49.
Mayne was disbanded this year after a dispute with the QAFL and were reformed for the 1941 season and continued their tradition of Grand Final appearances, as well as keeping up the fierce rivalry with Windsor.

1941 - Grand Final - Kedron 9.10.64 defeated Mayne 6.6.42.
1942 - Grand Final: Mayne 8.9.57 defeated Western Districts 5.8.38.
1951 - Grand Final: Windsor 11.18.84 defeated Mayne 9.18.72.
1952 - Grand Final: Mayne 12.9.81 defeated Western Districts 11.14.80.

The period from 1958 to 1985 was another golden time for the Mayne Football Club. There were regular Grand Final appearances (14) and another 7 premiership wins. In the years when they did not get to the Grand Final they were invariably in the final series.

1958 - Grand Final: Mayne 13.9.87 defeated Kedron 7.12.54.
1961 - Grand Final: Mayne 13.18.96 defeated Coorparoo 11.14.80.
1962 - Grand Final: Mayne 16.13.109 defeated Coorparoo 9.13.67.
1963 - Grand Final: Coorparoo 18.23.131 defeated Mayne 11.6.72.
1964 - Grand Final: Coorparoo 18.18.126 defeated Mayne 12.21.93.
1965 - Grand Final: Morningside 20.15.135 defeated Mayne 9.8.62.
1966 - Grand Final: Mayne 16.18.114 defeated Western Districts 16.10.106.
1967 - Grand Final: Mayne 9.22.76 defeated Western Districts 5.12.42.
1968 - Grand Final: Coorparoo 18.17.125 defeated Mayne 12.14.86.
1973 - Grand Final: Mayne 12.17.89 defeated Sandgate 6.11.47.
1974 - Grand Final: Sandgate 17.10.112 defeated Mayne 13.11.89.
1975 - Grand Final: Windsor-Zillmere 20.8.128 defeated Mayne 13.16.94.
1982 - Grand Final: Mayne 18.17.125 defeated Morningside 14.11.95.
1985 - Grand Final: Southport 11.8.74 defeated Mayne 10.11.71.

In 1999 the competition was conducted by the Australian Football League of Queensland (AFLQ) and it proved to be a watershed for Mayne as it was their final season after being omitted from the competition illegally for the following year. Mayne sat out of the competition while legal proceedings went slowly ahead.

In 2001 Mayne were reinstated to the top level of the State League following their successful court appeal but were re-instated only 6 weeks before the season started and found it difficult to be competitive - a position that they found themselves in for the next three years.

In another reshuffle in 2004, Mayne and Western Magpies were omitted from the top level of the State League and found themselves in Division 2, alongside some of the teams that provided the best rivalry in former times.

In yet another change to the competition structure with the reinstatement of the QAFL, the club made a conscious decision to play in the level below in QFA North. Six other clubs from the Allied Pickford competition elected to make the same choice and play in the QFA Divisions. This decision has proven to be a sound one with the club enjoying its first season in the new competition in 2014 going through undefeated to achieve premiership success and then follow it up again in 2015 and 2016. The club also achieved the triple premiership success in both seniors and reserves over this amazing period. The competition received yet another restructure in 2017 with Mayne being invited and electing to play in QFA Division 1, essentially the best teams from what was formerly the QFA North and South Divisions.

The second and third decade of the 21st Century has proven to be one of the most successful periods of the club’s history with the Seniors contesting five Grand Finals for four Premierships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2024). The Reserve Grade contested nine Grand Finals for seven Premierships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024) and was in the finals in eleven consecutive years. The Third Grade also recorded a Premiership in 2017.

2014 - Grand Final: Mayne 16.12.108 d Noosa 10.15.75.
2015 - Grand Final: Mayne 13.20.98 d Maroochydore 12.7.79
2016 – Grand Final: Mayne 12.10.82 d Maroochydore 8.14.62
2020 – Grand Final: Noosa 14.15.99 d Mayne 6.8.44

2024 - Grand Final: Mayne 13.7.85 d Coorparoo 8.9.57

Some of the highlights of the Tiger's history

Since its formation in 1924 the Mayne Football Club has taken its supporters on an emotional roller coaster ride which shows no signs of abating. Originally formed as a junior club, Mayne was accorded senior status in 1925 and enter a team in the QANFL where, after spending a couple of seasons finding its feet, it broke through for an inaugural premiership in 1927. Mayne's opponents in the 1927 grand final were Windsor, against whom the fledgling club would develop a strenuous rivalry over the course of the next decade. The rivalry intensified in 1928 when the 2 clubs again confronted one another on grand final day, with Mayne once again emerging victorious.

Windsor took out the 1929 premiership, downing Mayne by 4 points, and the following season spawned a controversy which has never satisfactorily been resolved, and almost certainly now never will. Once again the grand final pitted Mayne against Windsor, with Mayne winning 10.5 (65) to 7.8 (50). However, Windsor officials argued that as their club had finished at the head of the ladder after the home and away rounds they were entitled to challenge Mayne to a final, deciding match. Mayne refused to agree to this, and so some record books show the QANFL premiership for 1930 as being shared between the 2 clubs.

The introduction of the Page-McIntyre system of playing finals in 1931 conveniently eradicated this kind of uncertainty, and Mayne duly won the first true QANFL 'grand final' after beating the recently formed Taringa club by 27 points.

QANFL grand finals during this era were played at Mayne's then home ground of Perry Park, an arrangement that can be assumed to have been to the Tigers' benefit. However, unlike other Queensland clubs of the time Mayne did not rely on outside talent to enable the club to be competitive, relying instead almost exclusively on local recruits. In this context, its achievement of playing off for the premiership in 9 out of 10 seasons between 1927 and 1936 is extraordinary. However, the fact that it depended almost entirely on local talent in a locality where rugby was king perhaps explains why it struggled to field a team in the years leading up the second World War.

In 1941 however, football in the district of Mayne suddenly acquired popularity again, and the newly re-formed Tigers did well to reach the grand final, only to lose out to Kedron. In 1942 the side went one better, but there then followed a decade of mediocrity as the Mayne roller coaster resumed its activities.

Mayne did not contest another grand final until 1951, but old rivals Windsor edged home by 2 straight kicks. A year later, however, in the first premiership decider since 1921 to be played at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, the Tigers held their nerves to overcome Western Districts in the closest QANFL grand final ever, finally winning by a solitary point, 12.9 (81) to 11.14 (80).

Another flag followed in 1958, as Mayne overcame Kedron by 33 points, but it was to be the 1960s which would see the Tigers re-assert themselves as Queensland football's leading club. Between 1961 and 1968 Mayne contested every grand final, winning 4 of them, and although over the course of the entire decade they were strongly challenged by Coorparoo there can be no doubts overall as to their supremacy.

Mayne's achievements since the 1960s have been comparatively meagre, although the side was competitive for most of the 1970s (one flag from three grand finals) and 1980s (another flag, this time from two grand final appearances). It was a Grand Final defeat by Southport in 1985 that proved to be Mayne's last appearance and that was a bitter defeat to swallow, as Southport won with almost the last kick of the game.

However, since the admission to the QAFL of Southport in 1983 and, with the arrival of the Brisbane Bears in 1987, and in turn the AFL competition, domestic football in Queensland has been through a difficult time. The Mayne Football Club has had to adapt to survive and thanks to the efforts of the most loyal of club servants the Tigers are alive and well today.

Mayne in the new century

Mayne last finals appearances were in the early 90s –‘91, ‘92 and ‘93 for the senior team and ‘90 and ‘91 for the Reserves, without achieving the ultimate reward. From there on Mayne was in a steady decline both on and off the field that culminated in the clubhouse closing in 1998 and the move away from Keith Beavis Oval to play at Kedron in the same year.

Five frustrating years were spent playing at Kedron and trying to share facilities with mixed success. Only one year showed promise – 1999 with 6 wins had Mayne poised for finals appearances in the next season. But this was not to be as Mayne chose to stand out for 2000 while pursuing a court case against their proposed demotion to Division 2 football. The result was an out of court settlement in February 2001, reinstatement to Division 1 and then a mad scramble to get a team on the park for the start of the season.

Encouragingly, the Tigers won their first match as Andrew Housego kicked 10 goals. This was one of only 2 wins that year. In the next three seasons it was increasingly obvious that Mayne were not able to match the standard of Division 1 competition and in 2005 took the challenge of going down a Division and playing in the Pineapple Hotel Cup.

In a reasonable first year (2005) Mayne made the finals (final 8 that year for the expanded Division) but did not progress beyond the 1st final played. The Tigers had settled into their new home at Everton in 2004 and have remained there to this day. Playing success was elusive as the Tigers struggled to match the depth that was required in that competition. Steady improvement had been made from 2007 to 2009 but the team was unable to build on this and lapsed again in 2010 and 2011.

The club enjoyed two strong seasons in 2012 and 2013 finishing in sixth place in the Allied Pickford Cup of twelve teams.

Once again, the competition was changed with the ongoing evolution of the modern football market. The reintroduction of the QAFL at the end of the 2013 season was seen as a difficult proposition for the club and the decision was made to compete in the QFA (Northern Conference) for season 2014. The club looked to the future with some optimism with a good mix of experience and youth in the squad and a very experienced committee and football department built up over recent years.

The decision to remain in the QFA Northern Conference has proven to be a sound one with the club enjoying its first season in the new competition going through undefeated to achieve premiership success and then back it up again in 2015 and 2016. The club also achieved the triple premiership success in both seniors and reserves over this amazing period.

2014 - Grand Final: Mayne 16.12.108 d Noosa 10.15.75.
2015 - Grand Final: Mayne 13.20.98 d Maroochydore 12.7.79.
2016 – Grand Final: Mayne 12.10.82 d Maroochydore 8.14.62

At the conclusion of the 2016 season, AFL Queensland announced a new structure for the competition which effectively meant the best clubs from the QFA North and South Conferences competed in a new competition QFA Division 1 for 2017.

The year 2020 was a tumultuous year affected by the worldwide COVID 19 pandemic however the club was very fortunate in Queensland to be able to play a shortened ten round season which was contested by seven clubs. The NEAFL competition was suspended allowing numerous players to return to their home clubs making for an exciting competition. The Tigers made the Grand Final but came up against a well drilled Noosa team who prevailed on the day.

2020 – Grand Final: Noosa 14.15.99 d Mayne 6.8.44

2024 - Grand Final: Mayne 13.7.85 d Coorparoo 8.9.57

The Reserve Grade contested nine Grand Finals for seven Premierships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024) and was in the finals in eleven consecutive years. The Third Grade also recorded a Premiership in 2017.