Our History.
A Brief History Of Our Club The Surrey Hills and East Camberwell Football Clubs came together as one in late 1994 and played their first season together as Surrey Park Football Club in the Southern Football League (SFL) in 1995.Prior to coming together both Surrey Hills and East Camberwell had proud and rich histories. Our origins stretch way back to 1887 when the Surrey Hills Football Club was first founded.
Today we remember and honor the histories, the traditions and successes of both our founding clubs as we strive to create our own. Surrey Park was SFL 3rd Division runner-up in 1999, delivering reserve grade premierships in 1996, 1999 and 2000 and a Colts premiership in 1999, before joining the Eastern Football League (EFL) in 2002 and delivering a reserve grade premiership in 2004 and 2019, 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, the Senior Men’s won the Division Four EFNL Premiership.
The Women’s program was reformed in 2021, and by 2023 had played off in the Division Two Grand Final, finishing runners-up for the year.
Surrey Hills Football Club Surrey Hills first played in 1888 against a number clubs across Melbourne including Riversdale, Fitzroy Rovers, North Brunswick, South Park, Marylebone, La Mascotte, South Yarra-Waverley, Kew, Camberwell, Fitzroy Imperial and South Melbourne Alberts.In the early 1890’s a number of local clubs found it difficult to field teams and in 1893 or 1894 Mitcham, Box Hill and Surrey Hills Football Clubs merged to form Nunawading Football Club, playing in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA) a fore-runner of the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).
Mitcham and Box Hill broke away and reformed few years later in 1896 but Surrey Hills continued to play as Nunawading purportedly until 1907. Notwithstanding this, Surrey Hills did play a team representing The Argus, a prominent Melbourne newspaper of the day, on 23rd July 1904 at the Surrey Hills ground defeating The Argus team in a close match by three points.Surrey Hills reformed and played in the Box Hill Reporter District Football League, winning their first premiership in 1927. In 1928 they joined the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA) again a fore-runner of the VAFA and were narrowly defeated in the Grand Final that same year.
They continued to play in the MAFA until 1933 when they joined the Eastern Suburban Football League (ESFL) delivering a premiership in 1937 and playing in the league up until at least 1954.In 1951 Box Hill Football Club made its debut in the Victorian Football Association and in the mid to late 1950’s (certainly from 1956 – 1958) Surrey Hills and Box Hill established a relationship whereby players not selected in the Box Hill side would play for Surrey Hills in the Croydon-Ferntree Gully Football League (CFGFL) competition a fore-runner of the Eastern Football League (EFL).
After the relationship finished it is believed Surrey Hills continued in the CFGFL until around 1965.It is believed that Surrey Hills joined the Eastern Districts Football League (EDFL) a fore-runner of the Eastern Football League (EFL) in 1965 winning the Division 2 reserve grade premiership in that year. In 1966 Surrey Hills was defeated in the Division 2 Grand Final before tasting success in 1967 winning both the senior and reserve grade Division 2 premierships. A Division 1 reserve grade premiership was delivered in 1970 before another senior Division 2 premiership in 1987 and a senior Division 4 premiership in 1992.
East Camberwell Football Club East Camberwell first played in the CYMS Football League way back in 1946 winning their first senior premiership in 1952, with further premierships in 1956, 1958 and 1959. At some stage it is believed they joined the YCW Football League winning a reserve grade premiership in 1966, before joining the Eastern Suburban Churches Football Association (ESCFA).East Camberwell delivered an ESCFA reserve C Grade premiership in 1973, a senior and reserve ESCFA C Grade premiership in 1982 and a further senior premiership in 1990 before joining the SFL in 1993. Please note that we have many gaps in our club records - we invite and welcome corrections, anecdotes and photographs relating to the history of Surrey Park, Surrey Hills and East Camberwell Football Clubs.