North Ringwood Football Club is thrilled to announce former club champ Peter Banfield as Senior Coach from 2016.
After 37 years and a full circle in his playing and coaching career, Peter is returning home to lead our boys.
Peter has a resume to rival any coach in the EFL, bringing decades of high-grade football experience to the Saints.
Peter played 59 North Ringwood Junior games from 1978 to 1981 with the likes of Dean Bailey, Gary O’Donnell and Paul Salmon, then 17 Senior games in 1982 winning the “Most Consistent” award.
In 1983 Peter was picked up by Essendon Football Club as a 19 Year Old, playing in the Essendon Reserves Premiership side that year before eventually playing 11 Senior games between 1983-86.
Peter then moved to Brisbane in 1987, joining the inaugural Brisbane Bears team for their first ever VFL Season, lining up in the Back Pocket, and went on to play 45 games with the Bears between 1987 & 1990.
After Brisbane, Peter played a further four years with West Adelaide in the SANFL from 1990 to 1993, winning the Club’s Best & Fairest in 1991.
After 56 Games with Essendon & Brisbane and 95 games with West Adelaide, Peter retired from playing football.
The next phase in Peter’s footy life was coaching.
Like his playing days, Peter found instant success as a coach, leading ACT club Ainslie to three successive premierships from 1994 to 1996.
In 1995 Peter was chosen as State Representative Coach of Australian Capital Territory Football League.
From 1997 to 2000, Banfield served as an assistant-coach with St Kilda, under Stan Alves and Tim Watson, before a move to Melbourne as an Assistant Coach from 2001-2002 under Neale Daniher.
The next five years saw Banfield coaching in the VFL, first from 2003-2004 with The Bendigo Bombers , making finals in 2004, as well as being the development coach at Essendon, and then from 2005-2007 with the Casey Scorpions Football Club taking them to finals in 2006 and 2007.
In 2008 Peter made the move to Old Scotch in the VAFA’s Premier Division, where he coached for 4 years, taking the side to finals in 2008 & 2009.
Then in 2012 Peter took on the Senior Coaching job at EFL Division 1 club Blackburn, rebuilding a side that lost close to 30 players the year before, taking them to finals in 2014.
Besides the exceptional experience Peter brings to our club, taking all his sides to finals, Peter also brings his experience and knowledge of Division 1 Football in the EFL, and experience and great track record of working with and developing young men, a perfect fit for our young team at North Ringwood.
The North Ringwood Football Club welcomes Peter and his family on board and looks forward to working with him as our club strives for Division 1 success.
A date will be announced shortly for a “Meet the Coach” night.
Exciting times ahead! Go Saints!
Scott Eade
President – North Ringwood Football Club
