HISTORY

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Mt Gravatt Soccer Club was founded in 1960 and over many years has prioritised the development of junior players.  The club was originally based at the Mt Gravatt Showgrounds but as the popularity of soccer grew the club relocated to more extensive surroundings at Dittmer Park, Klumpp Road.  The concept of a soccer club was originally put forward by the management committee of the Mt Gravatt Youth and Recreation Club and for the first couple of years the club was known as Mountain Rangers before changing to Mt Gravatt Junior Soccer Club in 1962.  In those early years the club concentrated on junior soccer but in 1965 a feeder arrangement was established with the Excelsior Club, based at Stone's Corner and the revamped team won promotion to Queensland Division 3.  In 1966 the name of the senior team was changed from Mt Gravatt Excelsior to Mt Gravatt Soccer Club and a further promotion followed in 1967.

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The most successful period in the club's history was in the early 1980s when the club achieved 4 premiership titles, winning the Queensland State League in 1980 and 1981 and the Brisbane Premier League in 1983 in 1984. One of their premiership successes in 1981 was further consolidated with the club going on to win the Queensland Grand Final and become state champions.

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The club also achieved a number of cup successes at that time winning the President's Trophy in 1981 and again in 1984 and the Golden Circle Trophy in 1986.  However their biggest cup success came a few years later in 1991 when Mt Gravatt lifted the Ampol Cup, the Queensland State cup competition.

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Mt Gravatt Soccer Club entered the National League Cup in 1980 and again in 1981. In 1980 the club won 1–0 away to Brisbane City in the first round but lost 4–2 at home to Brisbane Lions in the second round (the last 16 of the competition).  The following season they departed the competition in the first round after losing 3–1 away to Brisbane City.

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Perhaps the most prestigious match that the club has hosted was the game against the Australian U23 Olympics team in July 1997 which proved a close encounter with the home side going down 2–1.

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Mt Gravatt is affiliated to Football Brisbane and the Australian Futsal Association and is currently one of the larger clubs in Brisbane with over 400 juniors, 160 senior players and 45 women and junior girls.  There are eight Senior Men's teams with Capital 1 League, Capital 1 Reserves League, U18, City League 1, City League 3, City League 5, O'35s and Griffith Hawks in the SEQ League.  The Women compete in the Women's City League competition and the junior players in competitions from Under 6 to Under 16.

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The success of the club's junior section is formidable with 7 Australian internationals, namely Matt McKay, Jade North, Jon McKain, Nathan Coe, Katrina Gorry, Laura Alleway and Alicia Ferguson having been members of the club.

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Honours

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• Queensland Grand Final: 1981 Winners

• Queensland State League: 1980 Winners

• Queensland State League: 1981 Winners

• Brisbane Premier League: 1983 Winners

• Brisbane Premier League: 1984 Winners

• Brisbane Premier Division One: 2005 Winners

• Queensland President's Trophy: 1981 Winners

• Queensland President's Trophy: 1984 Winners

• Queensland Golden Circle Trophy: 1986 Winners

• Queensland Ampol Cup: 1991 Winners

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The First 10 Years

(extracted from the Mt Gravatt Soccer Club Year Book 1969)

 

Early in the year 1960 the management committee of the Mt Gravatt Youth and Recreation Club decided to promote soccer in Mt Gravatt.

 

Charlie Grant, one of the founders of the Youth Club, was given the responsibility of trying to organise a soccer section within the club.

 

Advertisements were placed in the "Truth" and "Southside News" in February, 1960, calling for boys interested to turn up at show grounds.

 

The grand total of three boys arrived on the day at the duly appointed time, Risto Salo, Bob McKenzie and Jim Johnson. Jim, as an eight year old, played in the U14 team to start and then changed to U12 when the second team was formed.

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Three men also arrived and introduced themselves. They were Roy Johnson, Jack Cranney and Noel Brown. It was agreed to pursue the matter further and to turn up the next Sunday morning and in the interim to try and interest more boys.

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Contact was made with schools and announcements made, and on the following Sunday, the four stalwarts turned up again and this time fourteen boys. So the first team was formed and although some heavy defeats were inflicted on the pioneers, they lived to play another day.

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At this stage the club was known as the "Mountain Rangers” and was not changed to Mt Gravatt Junior Soccer Club until 1962. Nineteen sixty-two was the year the club recorded its first Trophy win, when our U15 team won the Redlands Ambulance Day Trophy.

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The club continued to grow and was managed by a handful of willing workers. Mr Charles Grant held the position of Chairman until owing to ill health he declined office. He was then appointed President (Life appointment). Mr A Petersen took over as Chairman of the club starting the year 1964 and holding this position until 1969 when he declined office at the election of officers for our combined Junior and Senior club.

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Mr John Quinn who became President was no newcomer, he had been with the club since the first year and he was the first delegate from Mt Gravatt to Brisbane Junior Soccer Association. He also held the position of Secretary for a number of years.

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Mr Nev Forknall and Mr Jack Cranney were active members with early meetings held at the home of Mr and Mrs Forknall.

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The club gave considerable consideration as to the future of junior players with our club after they reached eighteen years of age. It was decided in 1965 to try and enter senior football, and we were advised by the federation we would have to come in in the sixth division.

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It came to notice that the "Excelsior" Club, based at Stone's Corner, was struggling and it was felt that with an injection of assistance from our club a working arrangement could be made which was subsequently carried out by our representatives, Mr Charlie Grant and Mr John Quinn.

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It was pleasing to note that the club's fourth division team won the Premiership and as a result were promoted to third division in 1966. The secretary that year being Mr Paul Jones.

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1966 - Our first year as an affiliated Club with Mt Gravatt Youth Club, and club members accepted the responsibility of handling their own affairs with enthusiasm.

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The senior team changed name from Mt Gravatt Excelsior to Mt Gravatt Soccer Club. Another first in this year, Mt Gravatt Youth Club entered a team in Ladies competition, made up of young ladies from their basketball and softball teams.

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1967- Clairvaux College came into competition soccer starting with one team and a lot of help from Mt Gravatt Junior Soccer Club. They had five teams playing this year confirming the wisdom of that early assistance. The first news letters were compiled this year with Mr and Mrs Gustavson, Mr Hamilton and Mrs Dickson handling all details.

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During 1967 the club was to lose its founder. Charlie Grant's death occurred in the midst of the season on Saturday, 8th July. After cheering Third division boys on he returned to his car and died at the wheel. It was gratifying to see the third division team of this year promoted to second division. Charlie had made the senior teams his special interest in the latter years.

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Mr Quinn was appointed first life member of the club and presented with a badge early in 1968.

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Owing to the club's growth and the need for promoting soccer a publicity committee was formed in February, 1969, with regular meetings being held. In April, our first field day proved a complete success with under 8A winning their Round Robin Tournament.

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With the combination of senior and junior clubs came a newly elected management committee which met for their first meeting in June 1969.

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Our original player, Jim Johnson, was picked to play in Queensland Colts squad.

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We have finished the first decade of soccer in Mt Gravatt with promising results for the next 10 years.

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