The Mawson Lakes Football Club is a not for profit community based football club that is affiliated with the South Australian Amateur Football League.
St. Paul's College at Grand Junction Road, Gilles Plains, was formed in 1958 by the Christian Brothers. It was established to serve the needs of the families in the new north-eastern suburbs, replacing St. Lawrence's, Ovingham where the Brothers had worked for 53 years.
The College first formed an old scholar's team in 1978 playing in the Adelaide & Suburban Association before joining the SAAFL in 1980.
Its residency was brief because at the end of the 1982 season it was broke and suffering from membership malaise.
In 1993 a new breed of former St. Paulians emerged led by youthful captain and organizer Ben Trussell and an enthusiastic committee, and in its first season earned the Club its first taste of a Grand Final. The Club rose to Division 4 in 2001 but then suffered a loss of players and fielded just one team in 2002 and 2003. However, in 2003, the club again tasted success with an undefeated season to claim the Division 10 Premiership. In 2004 the Club once again fielded two teams, now made up primarily of old scholars.
In 2006, club champion, Brad Horsell took over the senior coaching reins and brought instant on field success. A lackluster finals campaign would be the club's downfall and see an end to the 2006 season.
In 2008 former full forward and the club's first 100 goal in a season player, Craig Manuel, took over as senior coach. With this appointment came new ideas and a different direction for the club. We shared in mixed success on the field and a heavy injury toll dictated our season. We only just missed the finals in 2008.
The end of 2008 came the start of what possibly could be a revolution at our club. With the drive from Geoff Riddle, who had been appointed Senior Coach for the 2009 season after serving a three year apprenticeship as reserves coach, the club made the move from traditional home at St Paul's College to the newly vacated facilities at Mawson Lakes, former home of the disbanded Kaurna Eagles.
New players, new facilities and a fresh vibrant feel this is the start of something exciting. With a solid pre season and flying start to the minor round St Paul's Old Scholars Football Club is on its way to both on and off field success.
The end of the 2009 season saw a call from members at the Annual General Meeting to examine the possibility of a name change to drop the St Pauls Old Scholars and incorporate Mawson Lakes into the name.
The board met to discuss this prospect and subsequently agreed to make this change. A Special General Meeting was called to put the proposal to the members to which was unanimously voted in favor of the change. The club was deemed Mawson Lakes Football Club.
The club is now diverse in its members and we are no longer a club dominated by Old Scholars from St Paul's College. Over the last five years, but more importantly this year, we have managed to acquire the services of footballers from other SAAFL clubs, HFL clubs and retired players who had given up on the idea of playing football but were willing to come out of retirement and play for a reinvigorated MLFC.
Our players have been vital in establishing the move to Mawson Lakes. The out of hours commitment both on and off the field have been immensely important and our success off the field could not have been achieved without their support.
We are a club with a strong social structure. We all enjoy each other's company. We strive for the best on the field and then to have the best time when we are off the field. It is always a safe and welcoming club to be associated with.
2011 has seen the introduction of a third team, we are now fielding A, B and C grade sides with the possibility of a D grade in 2012.
