The Clarence Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Southern Football League, based in Bellerive, Tasmania. Before 1947, they existed as Bellerive Football Club.
The Club play their home games at Ninja Stadium (formerly Bellerive Oval And Blundstone Arena), Hobart's Test Cricket ground, they share the facilities with Tasmania's cricket team, the Tasmanian Tigers.
History Clarence joined the Tasmanian Football League in 1947 on a two-year probationary period from the Southern District Football Association, later being granted permanent status on 7 August 1950, and continued to participate in the league until it was disbanded in December 2000.
They then joined the Southern Football League and participated until the end of the 2008 season whereby the club opted to join the newly reformed Tasmanian State League from 2009 and have won the first two premiership titles on offer since joining the competition and only in the 2015 season missed out on the finals.
After the news of the introduction of the Tasmania Devils, the Tasmanian State League disbanded after the 2024 season to focus on the VFL Program. Clarence would rejoin the Southern Football League at the beginning of the 2025 season. The Southern Football League Premier League featured the remaining southern-based Tasmanian State League teams, Glenorchy, Kingborough, Lauderdale and North Hobart. Brighton would also be promoted from the Southern Football League Regional League to create a 6 team competition.
Clarence entered the 2025 season widely regarded as underdogs. Shockingly the Roos would only lose 5 games and finish the season in second position. Clarence would face Lauderdale in the First Final, but would be narrowly defeated by 14 points, the closest they had come to beating the Bombers all season. In the Preliminary Final the Roos would face another youthful team in North Hobart, they would defeat them by 34 points led by an inspiring performance from vice captain Oscar Paprotny. Resulting in the Roos first Grand Final appearance in 15 years. They would face Lauderdale, a team they had not beaten all season and many considered the overwhelming favourite. Clarence however would defeat Lauderdale by 39 points, claiming their first premiership since 2010.
Club details Home ground – Ninja Stadium (formerly Bellerive Oval & Blundstone Arena) Established – 1884 (as Bellerive Football Club) Playing colours – Red and white (Maroon and white until 1979) Emblem – Kangaroos Club theme song – "Clarence are the team to beat, I sing to you!" (Tune: "The Battle Hymn of the Republic") Affiliations – Various junior competitions including the SDFA (1884–1946) TANFL/TFL/TSL (1947–2000, 2009–2024), SFL (2001–2008, 2025-present)
Honours
Club Tasmanian Football League Premiers (11): 1970, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2010 Runners-up (6): 1962, 1969, 1971, 1985, 1995, 1998 Southern Football League Premiers (5): 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2025 Runners-up (2): 2005, 2007
Individual William Leitch Medallists (Best and fairest player – TFL senior football) 1949 – Hamish Yaxley 1960 – Stuart Spencer 1967 – J.Richmond and Stuart Spencer 1968 – Bob Lucas 1976 – Trevor Sorrell 1989 – Scott Wade 1991 – Gary Williamson 1995 – Danny Noonan 1996 – Danny Noonan 1999 – Matthew Jones 2025 – Josh Green
Tassie Medallists (Best and fairest player – TSL senior football from 2009) 2010 – Brett Geappen
George Watt Medallists (Best and fairest player – TFL reserves football) 1957 – B. Burn (tied) 1974 – P. Smith
V. A. Geard Medallists (Best and fairest player – TFL thirds football) 1957 – Russell Newell 1965 – Royce Hart 1973 – P. Smith 1979 – M. Kruene
D. R. Plaister Medallists (Best and fairest player – TFL fourths football) 1978 – T. Carter 1984 – Brendan Mayne 1990 – Steven Old
Dolphin Medallists (Best and fairest player – NFL Shield) 1989 – Scott Wade
Lefroy Medallists (Best and fairest player – Tasmanian team) 1956 – J.Golding 1957 – S. Spencer (tied) 1960 – S. Spencer 1981 – Rod Hughes (tied) 1988 – Billy Picken 1989 – Scott Wade 2012 – Brady Jones 2016 – Jake Cox
All-Australian team members 1958 – S. Spencer
Club record score: TFL: 38.16 (244) vs Devonport 4.4 (28) on 14 August 1999 at Bellerive Oval SFL: 41.23 (269) vs Brighton 5.4 (34) on 7 May 2005 at Bellerive Oval
Club games record holder: 315 – Scott McCallum from 1989 to 2007 314 – Gavin Cooney from 1989 to 2006 and 2009
Attendance records Record home attendance: Bellerive Oval 5,157 – Clarence v New Norfolk on 6 June 1970 at Bellerive Oval
Record roster match attendance: all time 8,480 – Clarence v Glenorchy on 4 April 2011 at KGV Oval
Record TANFL/TFL finals attendance: 24,968 – Clarence v Glenorchy on 22 September 1979 for the TANFL Grand Final at North Hobart Oval
Record SFL Premier League finals attendance: 7,149 – Clarence v Glenorchy – 2006 SFL Premier League Grand Final at North Hobart Oval.
Current playing list
Notable players There is a list of past and present Clarence players who have played at AFL/VFL:
Colin Alexander (Collingwood and Brisbane Bears) Daniel Archer (St Kilda) Jack Bennett (1920–1997) (Carlton) Arthur Budd (1945–2012) (South Melbourne) Ian Callinan (Adelaide) Terry Cashion (1921–2011) (South Melbourne) John Chivers (Richmond) David Donato (Fitzroy) Robert Dutton (Carlton and Hawthorn) Bert Edwards (1914–1995) (Richmond) Josh Green (Brisbane Lions and Essendon) Graeme Hatcher (Essendon) Paul Holdsworth (Sydney Swans) Graham Hunnibell (Melbourne) Noel Leary (Melbourne) Royce Hart (Richmond)
Bob Lynch (Fitzroy) Rod MacPherson (Footscray and Brisbane Bears) Stephen MacPherson (Footscray) Terry Mayne (1950–1983) (Geelong) Danny Noonan (Brisbane Bears) Eric Pascoe (Carlton) Bradley Plain (Essendon, Collingwood and North Melbourne) John Richmond (Richmond) Jack Riewoldt (Richmond) Justin Sherman (Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs) Stuart Spencer (1932–2011) (Melbourne) Scott Sutcliffe (Melbourne and Richmond) Cameron Thurley (Geelong and Kangaroos) Scott Wade (Hawthorn) Jeromey Webberley (Richmond) Michael Young (Carlton and Melbourne)
References
External links
Official website