About Hamersley Rovers Soccer Club

18 March 2021 Written by HRSC

Who We Are

Hamersley Rovers Soccer Cub is a multi-cultural club. We encourage respect and equal opportunity for all our members. We value the excellent reputation our club has, both through successes on the field; governance, and in the way we conduct ourselves when dealing with our stakeholders.

We recognise that our club plays an important part in the community. We are your second family; a place for social interaction, for getting involved, for health and fitness, for all.

Our business sponsors are integral members of our family too. We appreciate the importance of promoting our sponsors' businesses to recognise the significant contribution they make to our club.

And finally, success to us means providing the facilities to maximise participation, encourage development and improvement, and ultimately, on-field success.

Inaugruation

Early in 1981, a group of interested parents negotiated with the Local Council in an effort to form a soccer club that could be based at Carine Open Space and provide the children in the area with a chance to play the 'World's Greatest Game'. These interested parents were ably led by Pat and Fred Zammitt and Ian Sycamore.

So, Hamersley Rovers Soccer Club was established in 1981. Fred Zammitt was installed as the founder President. The club's main aim was to 'promote the best interests of soccer'.

Humble Beginnings

In its inaugural year the club fielded only four junior teams and quite often failed to win any games at all. However, from very humble beginnings and from quite primitive facilities, over the following decade, through the hard work and dedication of our members, the club was transformed into major force in the northern suburbs.

From towing a small caravan around and selling a few cool drinks and chocolate bars, by the late 1980's the club had clubrooms, a canteen, bar area, six changing rooms, three flood lights, and the facilities were second to none. The number of players registered at the club also grew, from four junior teams initially to fourteen teams from under 7's to under 16's. From never winning a game we now had teams in the 1st division. From boys who played with us because they could not get a game anywhere else to providing State players to the under 13's, 14's and 15's.

Maintaining Our Philosophy

Through these formative years we have strived to maintain our image as a family-oriented club where everyone is given a fair go and this philosophy has been a major contribution to the success of the club.

Over the years the playing strength and the standard of play has improved dramatically yet we have never lost sight of why we exist - so anyone could come along and enjoy their favourite sport and find a level at which they could compete and enjoy.

Senior Teams

A senior team was formed in 1982 by a few dads whose sons played in the juniors. They were placed in the white league - of the newly formed Soccer Association PASSA.

By 1985 a second social team had been entered and by 1986 HRSC was in the top five teams in the 1st Division PASSA.

The amalgamation of PASSA and the West Australian Amateur Soccer Association in 1987 found Hamersley in the Premier League of WAASSA, which then placed us as one of the top 12 amateur teams in Western Australia. Our reserve side was also formed in compliance with League rules.

HRSC also formed a further two social teams and the older players formed a Veterans side playing in Division 1 WAASSA Veterans League. By 1990, the club had five senior sides.

Amateur League Champions - The Hat-Trick

In 2001, Hamersley Rovers made the appointment of former Perth Glory assistant coach Micky Brennan. As senior coach Micky brought an air of professionalism to the club and under his stewardship HRSC became a major force in amateur soccer in Western Australia. 2001 was the most successful in the clubs history as the senior team reached the pinnacle of amateur soccer by winning the Amateur Premier League for the first time. The title secured with a 3-1 win at home against Spearwood Dalmatinac in front of a large crowd.

To further cement the years success the amateur reserve team won their respective league by a large margin and the Social One team also became league champions with one of the strongest ever social sides assembled. The Reserve Team also reached the Reserve Cup final but lost out to Fremantle United 2-1.

The senior team continued their success in 2002 and 2003 winning a hat-trick of Amateur Premier League titles to confirm their status as the dominant amateur team in the state. Players such as top goal scorer Flavio L'Abbate, captain Neil Burkinshaw and defensive stalwart Gary Elwell were among the clubs stars. Cup success, however, proved elusive. During this era the amateur reserve side again made the cup final, but lost 4-3 to Kwinana United.

Amateur Cup Winners

After a couple of years rebuilding after Micky Brennan retired in 2004, player-coach Kevin Clifford led the amateur team to further silverware in 2007. His youthful side finished fourth in the amateur premier league and made it to the Amateur Cup final. On Sunday 30th September, in front of a crowd of over 500 at Litis Stadium, Hamersley Rovers defeated Fremantle United 2-0. Hamersley had finally won the elusive Amateur Cup.

Further cup success would come a year later as the top amateur teams were invited to participate in the Semi-Professional State Cup. Hamersley did the amateur game proud by making their way to the semi-final, defeating state sides Bayswater City and Fremantle on the way. Their semi-final opponents were State League Champions Sorrento, Hamersley gallantly going down 1-0 in front of a large crowd. The reserve team also tasted success, finally securing the Amateur Reserves Cup at the third time of asking. The First Team also finished as Premier League Runners Up.

Ups and Downs

Following Kevin Cliffords departure to Sorrento as assistant coach at the end of the 2008 season, Hamersley was relegated in 2009 as many of the clubs best players turned to the semi-pro leagues.

During this time the junior and senior sides of the club were moving in seperate directions with the junior club growing as more and more children turned to soccer in WA. Both clubs took the desicion to part ways to strengthen their positions and form seperate commitees and Hamersley Rovers Junior Football Club was born.

Club legend Flavio L'Abbatte took over as coach in 2010 and set about rebuilding the team. Rovers very nearly bounced back at the first time of asking as the team finished 3rd and reached the cup semi-final, being within a minute of beating eventual winners Kingsway Olympic.

Tel Stupple took over the reigns after Flavio stepped down during the 2011 season. Due to a league restructure, 5th place was enough to earn promotion back to the Premire League. Needing to beat Stirling Panthers on the last day of the season to secure the spot, Rovers were 1-0 down with 20 minutes to go. Goals from James Young and Steve Kruit secured the 2-1 win and a return to the top flight after a two year absence.

Challenge Cup Winners

Hamersley had a strong squad for the 2012 season and secured the services of former Bolton Wanderers International Academy coach, Craig Doble. The club played an exciting attacking brand of football and finished runners up in the Premier League. Hamersley was invited to play in the inaugral Interstate Challenge Cup with South Australia, taking on their best Amateur team, International SC. A strong first half perfromance set up a 3-2 win and great exposure for the club.

 

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