Princetown is a small coastal village 14 kilometres east of Port Campbell south western Victoria, located on the Great Ocean Road.
Its original general store, was also a post office and for many years supplied daily papers when it was run by Mrs Till. Today, the town hosts a tavern bar which is also a pizza and fish n’ chip café in part. Princetown offers a choice of accommodation from camping to hostel stays; each spreading along the narrow strip on top of the hill, providing a fabulous look out over the estuary of Latrobe Creek and the Gellibrand River. The Gellibrand River area has also supported generations of social practices since its European settlement in the early 1800s. This includes recreational and commercial fishers, campers, walkers and picnickers, township residents, rural landholders, agricultural activities, school group tours and more.
Princetown was named after the Prince of Wales on his visit to Australia.
As a hamlet, Princetown in the 1800’s included churches, a tennis court and a school, none of which has survived to this day. Similarly, a swing bridge crossed the Gellibrand River so that farming residents and school children on the Old Coach Road east of the village could cross the river each day. The Old Coach Road ran along the south coast for Cobb & Co coaches to the Rivernook Guest house with its passengers, also providing access to beaches and the mouth of the Gellibrand River. The original reserve was built at the top of sand dunes and on a protected flattened area made perfect by the locals. This recreational oval was used for many years, with cricket being one of the first community based sports to be held there. One of the first games ever played was between the Rivernook team and Princetown in the summer of 1897, which saw Princetown as the winners.
This same year, the Victorian Football League (VFL) was formed; a short time after the game of Aussie Rules commenced in Melbourne in 1859.
The Princetown locals played their games on this oval for many years and were very unhappy when they were forced to move because of the National Park being initiated along the coast. By the 1980s the main games consisting of a seniors, reserves and under 17s team, were played on the the new oval named the Princetown Recreational Reserve. The oval was built on the river flats between the Gellibrand River mouth and the estuary, after a new bridge erected crossing the Gellibrand River. The Heytesbury league was formed in 1969 which incorporated vibrant teams throughout the areas of Princetown, Port Campbell, Timboon, Scots Creek, Simpson and Heytesbury. However, this changed in the mid 1980s when the reserve team was left shining after an array of wins, thanks to its mixture of talents and shared coaching between Jack Neale and John Rowe who was also Captain.
The ‘Towner’s’ (Princetown) entered the 1987 grand final as the favourites after being the previous years premieres. Princetown was on the top of the ladder in ‘87 after the 18 games with 15 wins and 3 losses.
It was reported that Princetown were the favourites because of the abilities and height of Darren Blain and Jamie Loveday in the ruck, backed by the nifty ball getting ability of Phillip Ayres (cousin of Gary Ayres of the Hawthorn fame) and Darren Hislop darting around the centre. With these guys on the team, winning was a certainty. The team won each quarter with a final tally of 17 goals 15 behinds to 6 goals 4 behinds at the final siren. The Princeton Reserve team members were: 1-B. Oldham,2-J.Loveday, 4-B.Nicholson, 6-T.Murrihy, 7- P. Rowe C/C, 9 -S.Fulton.11- S. Bacon, 12-D.Blain, 14-R.Barry,15-L.Gass, 16- J. McReady, 18-R. Benson,20-G.Hannegraf, 24-P.Ayres,32-A. Duynhoven,33-P.Dunhoven, 39- G. Cook, 40-A.Ferrari, 44-G.Richardson, 47-D- Fulton, 52-T.McKenzie, 64-K.Robertson,70-B.Mason,72-D.Hislop,77-B.Bruce.
Sadly with the dwindling of dairy farming, families were forced to sell their properties to neighbours, inevitably creating declines in the Heytesbury and Princetown population. This has meant that four of the teams were unable to get enough members to field teams of their own.
Now, there are only two teams left from the Heytesbury league that have included the remaining Princetown members. Timboon now plays with teams near Warrnambool and Simpson plays with teams in the Colac League. Excitingly, 2010 saw two players from the area enter the AFL, while another two Princetown residents travelled to be players in Timboon and later at the Geelong Falcons. Ben Cunnington, son of senior Princetown player Allan Cunnington joined North Melbourne and has proven himself worthy as a dynamite player. Luke Thompson went to Adelaide, but his family has remained in Princetown due to work commitments. Ben’s father, Allan Cunnington was an excellent on ball player along with his uncle Brian Edney, playing for years in the seniors team at Princetown as had Ben’s grandfather, Peter Edney . Princetown Football club supports many families giving them their sports ‘fix’, just as many families have supported it through the functions arranged by the social club. One of the supporters willingly doing some of the more mundane jobs is John (Toddy) Todd. His roles include mowing the grass, cleaning the football club’s facilities, running the canteen each home game and also being the trainer to all teams since 1980.
Princetown is still popular as a visitor destination, as millions drive along the Great Ocean Roadand and touch down on Princetown soil to view the infamous stacks at the 12 Apostles.
Memories of this area will never be erased whether it is from football clubs, members or visitors. Princetown still fields a very competitive cricket team which plays on the oval for its home games each summer at the Princetown Recreation Reserve keeping the 1897 spirit alive.
