The Hampton Rovers Premiership Reunion function on Saturday evening was a great night with members of the previous four senior premierships in attendance, including 9 from 1951.
Around 100 people were in attendance for the 2011 Past & Present Players evening and the atmosphere was lifted even further as a result of the Rovers massive upset win over Caulfield Grammarians earlier in the day.
The evening was mainly to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the 2001 C section flag and 1951 A section flag, but also recognised the 1995 D section and 1998 C section premiership sides.
Dave Mather who relived some of the memories of the historic 1951 A section premiership the clubs one and only flag in the first division. It was great to see so many members of the team in attendance with nine available to come along on the night.
Following that was the 2001 premiership success with coach Norm Goss, assistant coach Sam Holt and captain Steve Anderson all having a chat about the clubs last senior premiership. There were plenty of laughs had.
Current Rovers coach and then 1998 senior coach Russell Barnes spoke about the 1998 Grand Final win over Beaumaris with captain Matt McKellar. The night concluded with the 1995 premiership with coach Don Scarlett and captain Chip Le Grand having a chat about that great day when the Rovers broke a massive premiership drought. They said the flag really was for the club rather than exclusively for the players as it lifted everyone, turned over a new leaf and was the beginning of a new and successful era.
A replay of the 2001 Grand Final against Old Essendon at Elsternwick Park was shown on the tele, bringing back same great memories.
All-in-all, a great night for the club reliving some of our great history, and we look forward to the Past & Present Players night next year.
To stay informed of such functions, become a member of the newly launched Old Roverians – www.roverians.com.au
