Since the turn of the century George Town has enjoyed consistent success, but such was not always the case. Formed in 1927, the club did not claim a senior grade premiership until thirty years later. Mind you, as breakthrough premierships go, George Town’s of 1957 was pretty emphatic, as its 7.5 (47) to 4.4 (28) grand final defeat of Lilydale came as the culmination to an unbeaten season, the only one ever achieved in the entire history of the East Tamar Football Association. Not long after the grand final, George Town met and defeated West Tamar Football Association premiers Beauty Point in the Kerrison Shield play-off to determine the premier team of the whole Tamar Valley.
Over the ensuing quarter of a century, George Town amassed an impressive collection of senior flags in both the ETFA and the Tamar Football Association, which was formed in 1970 when the East and West Tamar competitions merged. On commencing in the TFA, George Town adopted the Saints emblem it still uses today. Prior to 1970, the club had been known for many years as the Seagulls.
The TFA was only in existence for fifteen seasons, and the Saint contested the senior grand final in ten of them. Their final tally of six senior premierships made them easily the competition’s most successful club.
In 1984, as the TFA was embarking on its last ever season, George Town commenced a three year stint in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association, followed by three years in the Northern Tasmanian Football League. In 1990 the club transferred to the Northern Division of the Tasmanian Amateur Football League, the competition which in due course would metamorphose into today’s NTFA (not to be confused with the former competition of that name which had disbanded in 1986).
After reaching grand finals in their third and fourth seasons in the amateurs, the Saints’ fortunes dipped, and they did not re-emerge as a force until after the turn of the century. Between 2001 and 2009 they contested every senior grade division one grand final, and emerged victorious from the last eight in one of the most sustained periods of success enjoyed by any team, anywhere and at any time.
