The Hampton Rovers Amateur Football Club is a proud community club with an even prouder history, dating back to 1918 (the club proper was established in 1929). The club has grown over the years and now caters for boys and girls from Auskick and Under 8s in the SMJFL through to senior football in the VAFA for men and women. The club boasts great facilities at two home grounds and a great name in the community and football circles. The club celebrated its 90th birthday in 2019 and is surging towards its centenary season in 2029.
Facts & Figures
Club Established: 1929
Joined the VAFA: 1933
Senior Premierships: 9
Reserve Premierships: 9
Under 19 Premierships: 11
Junior Premierships (U11-17): 54
Junior Lightning Premierships (U8-U10): 17
Senior Teams affiliated: VAFA (2026 Premier C)
Junior Teams affiliated: SMJFL
Total teams in 2025: 31 (5 Snr, 26 Jnr)
Total players in 2025: 788 (188 Snr, 600 Jnr)
Auskick participants in 2025: 200
Club Structure
The Hampton Rovers Football Club has adopted a ‘one-club’ structure whereby the Seniors & Juniors are in fact a single club. There are two committees: Senior Committee who are responsible for the senior section of the club and a Junior Committee who are responsible for the junior section (U8-U17). Above the two committees is a Board of Management who deal with top-level issues and ensure both committees work together to benefit the club as a whole.
Facilities
Hampton Rovers Football Club boasts great facilities across two home grounds. The club’s main ground, Boss James Reserve, features a great playing surface, the Wright-Scarlett Pavilion which received a multi-million dollar renovation in 2024/25 and features a large social room and licensed bar, players gym, lights suitable for night matches and a LED scoreboard. The smaller Castlefield Reserve is the secondary home ground and features a new pavilion with unisex facilities and lights suitable for junior night matches.
Home Grounds
BOSS JAMES RESERVE
Corner David Street & Bluff Road, HAMPTON, VIC 3188
Teams: Seniors, Reserves, Thirds, U19, U14 – U17, Auskick
Facilities include: Large social rooms with 150+ seating capacity, fully licensed bar, ladies/men’s toilets, player change rooms with unisex bathrooms, medical room, fully equipped Gym, ground lighting (four 30m towers, 150+ lux for night matches), two sealed car parks with additional parking on hill surrounding ground, canteen/kitchen.
CASTLEFIELD RESERVE
71 Ludstone Street, HAMPTON, VIC 3188
Teams: Senior Women’s, Thirds, U8 – U13
Facilities include: Player change rooms with unisex bathrooms, ground lighting suitable for junior night matches, canteen, toilets, car park.
The Jumper
The traditional Hampton Rovers Football Club jumper is Green on the lower half and gold yoke on the upper. The club’s official supplier for senior team jumpers is Puma.
Club Song
Oh we do like to be beside the seaside,
Oh we do like to be beside the sea,
Down at Hampton there’s a football team,
The boys all wear the Gold and the Green,
So lets give a cheer for Hampton Rovers,
For this years Premiers we will be,
Though it’s not quite in the bag,
We’ve got our eyes upon the flag,
Beside the seaside, beside the sea.
Listen to the Hampton Rovers Football Club song here.
Player Development
As one club, a player can transition from Auskick right through to senior football and beyond. The Rovers has its own Auskick program where 7 & 8 year-old’s can learn the basics of Australian Rules Football. From there, boys and girls can move onto the Under 8’s and develop their skills through the junior ranks, right through to playing senior football in the VAFA. Players can follow in the footsteps of previous Rovers AFL players can play at the Sandringham Dragons before nominating for the Draft. The club also has a close relationship with local VFL club Sandringham Zebras.
AFL Players
The club has had numerous AFL/VFL players over the years. St Kilda champion Ross Smith is arguably Hampton Rovers most well known player, winning the Brownlow medal in 1967 as well as captaining the club and Victoria. In 2026, the Rovers boast seven former players on AFL lists. View our AFL players.
In the Community
The Hampton Rovers Football Club is a Bayside community club. As well as getting involved in the local community, the club also supports a number of charities. Since 2007, the Rovers have regularly held annual functions raising funds for numerous charities and each year, the club also supports The Salvation Army with players collecting donations throughout Hampton. To date, the club has helped raise over $250,000 for the Salvo’s.
Website
Hampton Rovers were the first VAFA, and one of the first non-AFL clubs, to have a club website. The site began in 1998 and continues to set the benchmark for local clubs. The site has always received large traffic numbers and the club also has a strong presence on social media. In 2017, the club introduced a separate juniors website to improve communication for the junior section of the club. The club re-launched its website again in 2026 – developed by CV Media.