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Club History
Seniors History
Morningside has been a member of Brisbane's elite football competition for over half a century but it took some time for the club to find its feet in the big time. Formed in 1950, the club did not qualify to participate in a finals series for seventeen years, but it was home nevertheless to a number of high quality players. Noel McGuinness, an automatic interstate team selection who won Grogan Medals in 1953 and 1954 and fell short by a single vote in 1955, was arguably the pick of these, but Brian Grienke, Keith Farnsworth, Henry Maguire and Terry Devery were other players of considerable quality.
Major round involvement finally arrived in 1963 but the Panthers bowed out in the preliminary final, as they did again the following year. In 1965, however, the club at last came of age, annihilating Mayne in the grand final at the Gabba by 73 points.
An era of supremacy seemingly beckoned but it was not to be. In fact, the Panthers failed even to contest the finals again for another five seasons.
The 1970s was a barren decade at Morningside, at least in terms of premiership success. However, the club continued to produce and attract high quality players, like former Central District spearhead Gary Jones who topped the QAFL goalkicking list for three successive seasons (1974-5-6), another ex-South Australian in the form of 1974 Grogan Medallist Jeff Ebert, and numerous others, such as John Waddington, Ron Thomas and Barry Denny.
During the 1980s the club did at least begin to contest the finals on a regular basis, but runners-up finishes in 1982, 1983 and 1984 were the closest it came to securing that elusive flag.
The 1990s began much the same way as the side succumbed to an all powerful Southport combination in the 1990 grand final. Morningside's perennial failure to break through for a premiership led to the club being dubbed 'the Collingwood of the north' or, even more bitingly, 'the Morningsliders'. Thankfully, a premiership in 1991 finally silenced the snipers.
Juniors History
Just as the Seniors have been a traditionally strong club, the Morningside Juniors have a long history of sustained high performance. The last few years has seen the club steadily build on its participation levels through excellent development programmes. Morningside is the largest junior club in Queensland. The growth rates confirm the club’s strong development plan and ongoing potential. It is also noted that the inner suburban demographics suggest that Morningside is well placed to capture the ongoing population growth of the inner Brisbane Southside.
Junior Club Team Success
The club has a strong history of team performance with many premierships having been won in across all age groups in both he Youth boys and girls AFL competitions.
Junior Club Individual Successes
Morningside Juniors has been extremely successful in developing football talent; our the most noted successes are Michael Voss (Brisbane Lions Brownlow Medalist & Premiership Captain). In most years Morningside will have several players playing with AFL teams across the country.
In local football we regularly produced many Junior Qld State players. Morningside players continue to be well represented in Brisbane regional representative teams. We are extremely proud of the attitude of the Morningside boys in these teams and they epitomise the dedication and discipline we are trying to instill into our young players as they tackle life in general and also their football ambitions.
