The Hahndorf Soccer Club was founded in 1979 by Richard Jones with teams from under 8's through to under 12's competing at St Michael's School in the inaugural season of the Adelaide Hills Junior Soccer Association (AHJSA).
In the years since that time the Hahndorf Soccer Club has grown to become the strongest of the junior clubs in the hills competition, winning the Association Cup, League Titles and AHJSA Carnival more times in every age group than any other club.
From these humble beginnings as a junior club, we now field teams from under 8's to under 17's in the AHJSA Open Competition, three teams (under 11's, under 14's and under 17's) in the AHJSA ‘G’ (Girls) League, Firsts and Reserves in the South Australian Amateur League Saturday 2nd Division and a ‘C’ Grade side in the Saturday 4th Division.
The Magpies inaugural senior team competed in its first season
in 1995 under the enthusiastic direction of David Parr. In a tough
initiation the Club finished second bottom that year but was
inspirationally led on the field by Doug Montgomery with 7 goals
and 7 points in the League Best & Fairest count. Montgomery later
went on to Captain the Hills Hawks State League side.
Among those original Magpies were Peter Allen and Graham Phillips. Graham is still playing in our Reserve team 13 seasons later while Peter continued to pull on the Black & White stripes for a decade before retiring at the end of 2005.
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Rick Dew took over the reigns in 1996, and a new look Magpies finished 4th - unbeaten for 14 games and suffering only one loss on the road. Notable League results included a 4-0 win against Adelaide Monarchs at Regency Park and a 2-2 draw with eventual League Winners Metro Knights at Klemzig after being 2-0 down at half time. These were the same Metro Knights that went onto become MetroStars and win the FFSA State Title.
The Club’s first major trophy also came in 1996 – Hahndorf’s First Team the best of 86 amateur clubs in SA finishing 2-1 winners over Fulham Utd in the final of the ‘Advertiser Newsfront Cup’ at Grange.
In 1997 Dew guided Hahndorf to 3rd spot in the League with a memorable double over Adelaide Monarchs, a historic 3-0 victory against Stirling at Bradwood Park , and a nail biting victory over St Peters coming with a last minute Tony Carter header.
Bob McIntyre took over the reigns in the Senior Coaching position for the 1998 season and Hahndorf was able to maintain its growing stature at the top end of the Second Division table, being promoted to the First Division for season 1999. A fair achievement by any standard after only 4 seasons of senior competition! To get there the Magpies nearly doubled their number of goals scored from previous year. A 6-0 win over Strathalbyn and a massive 8-2 thrashing of Murray Bridge helping lift the tally. Hahndorf also recorded another morale boosting victory over Stirling in the Adelaide Hills derby at Bradwood Park.
In 2000 season, The Club scored a record 72 goals and finished Division 2 runners up for the second time with a 1-1 draw against Olympic at Pine Avenue on the last day of season. Hahndorf had beaten Olympic 4-1 at Port Adelaide earlier in the season.
The 2nd Division in 2002 proved to be a fiercely contested competition. An exciting last round victory over Cougars resulted in only goal difference separating Hahndorf and Stirling at the top of the table after 18 League Rounds. Once again the title eluded the Magpies. The 39 league points were a new record for the club, and a 12-0 victory over Mt Barker also a record for the league.
Although 2003 promised to be a tough year from the outset with the return to the 1st Division, Hodgskin's Magpies began the season positively - encouraged by a number of quality recruits to the club during a strong pre-season, and aiming for a top half of the table finish. Unfortunately this early optimism failed to translate to points on the park and the Club was relegated in the last game of the year.
Bob McIntyre was back in the top job in 2004 and the Club started firm favorites to win the Second Division. Competition proved to be tighter than expected however, and after upset losses to Southern Breakers and Adelaide Monarchs, it appeared that a first Championship and indeed even promotion might again elude the Club. However McIntyre's men rallied and took full points from the final five rounds scoring 17 goals in the process and restoring some pride with a 5-2 hiding of Southern Breakers in the season's return match.
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1996 Newsfront Cup Winners
BACK: Rick Dew (Coach), Peter Rathjen, Bob Edwards, Ron Hasson, Stuart Thomas, Griffen Kettle, Tim Lynn, Andy Craig, Graham Phillips. FRONT: Simon McIntyre, Finch Cowlam, Jim Simpson, Robbie Green, Phil Stevens, Peter Allen

Tony Carter in action
2003 Rossi Medal Winner
SAASL Saturday Division 1 Best Player

2004 SAASL Champions
BACK: Bob McIntyre (Coach), Finch Cowlam, Nick Briggs, Terry Kent, Peter Allen, Ashley Parr, Stuart Thomas, Andy Hampel. MIDDLE: Paul Fender, Tony Carter, Simon McIntyre. FRONT: David Grant, Aaron Amos, Royston Dutton, Alex Perez
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Hahndorf celebrated the Club's first ever title win with a week to spare. Celebrations continued on to the Club's well supported end of season family trip to Barmera, and also brought news of the retirements from the First Team of Tony Carter, Peter Allen and Terry Kent.

Number 1 Ticket Holder Dennis Dew keeps a watchful eye on proceedings at Pine Ave
In 2005 Allen took on the unenviable task of player-coach with an ill-prepared Magpies next foray into the top flight. Despite his best efforts limited personnel meant Hahndorf were always going to struggle to be competitive and the Club remained firmly rooted at the bottom of the table throughout the season.
The year wasn't without it's highlights however, Hills Hawk and former Hahndorf junior Matthew Norris returned to the Club and won the First Team Best & Fairest in his first season back. Long time midfield stalwart and 2005 Captain Aaron Amos received a fitting farewell on announcing his retirement collecting the Player's Player award.
The Club was also able to field a third senior side, 'The Super C's' for the first time, ablely captained and co-ordinated by Wayne Forrester.
2007 has proven to be a successful but frustrating season. Although the seniors narrowly missed promotion, finishing in third position two points behind second, they dominted the teams below them with some big scorelines. The only team not defeated by The Magpies were runaway champions Adeliade Villa. The Reserves went one better and finished in second spot, handing champions Villa their only loss of the season and going undefeated for the entire second round. The club fielded a second C team for the first time captain-coached by Gary Wonnacot.
Go you Magpies! |