The club has a Men's and Women's team which compete in the AFL London Social Division and Conference respectively.[1] They train and play their home fixtures at Peckham Rye.[2] The club is made up of Aussie expatriates as well as non-australians completely new to the sport.
The South East London Giants recently won their first Premiership as their Men's team beat the Wandsworth Demons to take the 2024 AFL London Social Division Premiership.[3]
History
Originally founded as the Dulwich Dragons the club has competed in the AFL London league since 2007. 2012 saw the club start an affiliation with the Greater Western Sydney Giants to become the South East London Giants.[4]
In 2012 the club fielded just one team who competed in the Conference division. The initial season was a tough one for the club with a struggle for numbers on the field and financial pressures leaving it on the verge of being dissolved by the end of the season.
In the early months of 2013 with a complete reorganisation and reboot of the club under new management and a massive push for new recruitment including reaching out to get new players involved who had never heard of the sport before let alone played it. The first preseason training of 2013 saw just six people down at Victoria Park in East London to train in the snow. With a hesitant approval from AFL London, the Giants were given a second chance, this time only competing in the Social division of the league. This season forced the other clubs in the league to reassess the Giants as win followed win and they missed out on a place in the finals by percentage, whilst membership numbers hit a level they had never reached previously.
2014 saw the club determined to hit the ground running. A preseason trip to Sweden to take on the Malmo Giants in a friendly contest was swiftly followed by the Giants hosting and reviving the AFL London Pre-season Cup on our home ground, Peckham Rye. This was the first time in three years that this special one day contest had taken place and the first time the club had taken on the mammoth duty of arranging such a large event. The day was a roaring success with most clubs in the league taking part in the contest and the Giants being praised in the press for putting on such a great event. The home and away season then got under way with the Giants starting with 5 consecutive wins, and undefeated by the half way point of the season.
Following a successful finals' campaign, the Giants qualified for the AFL London Grand Final for the first time in club history,[5] and even received a video message on the eve of the contest from AFL legend and former GWS coach, Kevin Sheedy. The 2014 Grand Final was a hard fought and bitter battle that saw the Giants missing out on the top spot in the final moments of the match by just one point.[6]
2015 saw the club make history on multiple fronts with the unveiling of our new custom made playing kit, fielding men's teams in both the Social and Conference divisions and by being a founding member of the new AFL London Women's league alongside Wimbledon Hawks, Wandsworth Demons and North London Lions, taking Aussie Rules to a wider audience.[7] On April 25th 2015 the South East London Giants hosted North London Lions in the first ever official AFL London Women's Match marching through a banner that read "one small step for the Giants, one giant leap for AFL London".[8]
The Women's team along with the club grew strongly over the next 2 years with the men moving up to the Premiership division and the women having an incredibly strong season in 2017 going all the way to the Grand Final.[9]
After a tough few years with the Global pandemic, 2022 celebrated the 10th year as the Giants. The club celebrated with anniversary training jerseys. In the 2022 season Joe Arthur of the Men's team was awarded the AFL London Men's Social Best and Fairest [10].
In 2023 the Giant's Women's team made the AFL London Conference Grand Final beating Wandsworth Demons and West London Wildcats in the path. They fell short to London Swans on the day [9]. Arthur secured back to back AFL London Best and Fairest awards this time sharing the prize with fellow Giant, Geoff MacKay [11]. During this season the Giants began live streaming their games on their YouTube channel so friends and family from abroad could watch the action from wherever they were in the world.[12] They continue to live stream all their home games with live commentary provided by players.
In March 2024 Peckham Rye hosted the AFL Masters event where UK based masters took on a team visiting from Australia. Over 400 people gathered throughout the day to watch two great matches.[13]
The Giants secured their first premiership flag in 2024 with the Men's Socials side beating the Wandsworth Demons in the Grand Final to take home the cup at Motspur Park. The final score was Demons (6.1) 37 Giants (8.8) 56, with goals kicked from Brett Boyle (2), Geoff McKay, Joe Arthur, Ben Hislop, Matthew Pert, Nathan Brown and Harry Brookes.[3]
Club Ethos
The South East London Giants have a strong emphasis on club culture with their motto of BE.GIANT representing how they support each other both on and off the field.
The club marches in London Pride every year as part of AFL London.
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