Southern Saints
Australian rules football club
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Southern Saints was the name of an Australian rules football club that played in the VFL Women's (VFLW), the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. It was affiliated with both the St Kilda Football Club, which competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the Sandringham Football Club, which competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
| Southern Saints | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Names | ||
| Full name | Sandringham Football Club | |
| Nickname(s) | Saints, Sainters | |
| 2024 season | ||
| Home-and-away season | 13th | |
| Club details | ||
| Founded | October 2017 | |
| Dissolved | 1 November 2024 | |
| Colours | Red White Black | |
| Competition | VFL Women's | |
| Coach | Michelle 'Alpha' Densley[1] | |
| Uniforms | ||
| ||
| Other information | ||
| Official website | sandringhamfc.com.au | |
The club competed in the VFLW from 2019 until its brand was consolidated with Sandringham at the end of the 2024 season.[2]
History
The Southern Saints entered the VFLW in 2018, after the Seaford Football Club left the competition and had its licence transferred to the St Kilda Football Club.[2]
In its first season, the club had an agreement with the Frankston Football Club. It finished 8th on the ladder at the end of the season.[3]
In 2019, St Kilda and its VFL affiliate, Sandringham, co-managed the club. After St Kilda entered the AFL Women's competition in 2020, Sandringham took over the Southern Saints team licence and full responsibility for the commercial and operational management of the team.[4][5]
The club's best season came in 2022, when it finished fifth on the home-and-away ladder. They lost in the grand final to Essendon, going down by 35 points.[6]
On 28 October 2024, Sandringham announced that the Southern Saints would be known as the Sandringham Zebras (as of 1 November 2024), consolidating both identities under the one club for the 2025 season.[7][8]
Seasons
| Premiers | Grand Finalist | Minor premiers | Finals appearance | Wooden spoon | VFLW leading goalkicker | Lambert–Pearce Medal |
| Year | League | Finish | W | L | D | Coach | Captain | Best and fairest | Leading goalkicker | Goals | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | VFLW | 8th | 5 | 9 | 0 | ||||||
| 2019 | VFLW | 2nd | 11 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 2020 | VFLW | (No season) | (No season) | ||||||||
| 2021 | VFLW | 6th | 7 | 7 | 0 | Dale Robinson | Frankie Hocking | Tara Bohanna[9] | 19 | [10] | |
| 2022 | VFLW | 5th | 9 | 4 | 1 | Dale Robinson | Deanna Jolliffe[11] | Olivia Flanagan[12] | 10 | [13] | |
| 2023 | VFLW | 7th | 8 | 6 | 0 | Michelle 'Alpha' Densley | Ali Hynes; Tayla Kearns |
Gabriella De Angelis[14] | 10 | [15] | |
| 2024 | VFLW | 13th | 4 | 10 | 0 | Michelle 'Alpha' Densley | Chloe Hunt[16] | 18 | [17] | ||