A precursor club was the West Torrens Football Club that was founded in 1878 and dissolved in 1887. This club was unrelated to the Eagles. The modern club was formed in 1897 to compete in the SANFL. In its 93-year history, West Torrens won only four premierships; conversely, however, they only slumped to the wooden spoon on five occasions, evidence that they were generally quite competitive.. Despite their relative lack of team success, winning only four SANFL Premierships and one Night Premiership in their history, West Torrens boasted some of the best individual players ever to play Australian rules football. Players such as 1946 and 1947 Magarey Medallist, 1953 All-Australian and 1953 premiership captain Bob Hank, triple Magarey Medal winner, 1956 All-Australian and '53 premiership playerLindsay Head and former Australian Test cricketerNeil Hawke were all star players for the club. The club reached the finals for the last time in 1980 and by 1982 there were calls for West Torrens to merge with another club. In 1990, with the imminent entry of the South Australian-based Adelaide Crows into the nationalAustralian Football League, it was decided that West Torrens and Woodville would amalgamate. In an apt moment, Woodville and West Torrens were drawn to play each other in their respective final games. The two sides merged after the completion of the 1990 season and have since participated in the SANFL as the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles.
SANFL Under 17's premierships: 3 - 1953, 1954, 1957
* 1983 SANFL Escort Cup Grand Final played at West Torrens home ground Thebarton Oval. The Eagles defeated South Adelaide in the last SANFL Night Grand Final to be played at a suburban ground. Magarey Medallists
Tom MacKenzie
Dave Low
John Karney *
Max Pontifex
Bob Hank
Lindsay Head
* In 1998 John Karney, along with Charlie Adams and Wat Scott was retrospectively awarded the 1921 Magarey Medal after he was originally in a four way tie with only South Adelaide's 1919 and 1920 Medal winner Dan Moriarty awarded the 1921 Medal. SANFL leading goalkickers
John Willis: 85 goals
Geoff Kingston: 78 goals
Club colours and emblems
Blue and Gold
Home grounds
Jubilee Oval
Hindmarsh Oval
Thebarton Oval
Football Park
Famous players
Bob Hank: The dual Magarey Medallist captained West Torrens for nine seasons and was Club Best & Fairest a record nine times. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Neil Hawke: The Test cricketer was also a star player with West Torrens following his clearance from Port Adelaide
Lindsay Head: The three time Magarey Medallist is also club game record holder with 327 games. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Bruce Lindsay: Captained West Torrens for seven seasons. At 29 was a member of the inaugural Adelaide Crows squad for the 1991 AFL season.
Bob Shearman: Went on to captain the Sturt Football Club and play in several of their premiership sides. Challenge trophy between Sturt and Woodville-West Torrens Eagles is named after him.
Neville Roberts: aka "Rocky" Roberts who wore a protective skull cap after an injury, before transferring to Norwood
Kym Dillon: Also a breakfast radio announcer and Sports reporter/announcer for Channel 9 Adelaide.
Steven Stretch: One of many SANFL players who were recruited into the VFL in the 1980s, playing for Melbourne and Fitzroy.
Matthew Rendell: A 200 cm / 102 kg ruckman who played 79 games for West Torrens before playing 164 games for the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFL and winning two best and fairests in 1982/83. He played a further 13 games for Brisbane Lions after the merger between the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy. Matthew's two brothers Tim and Steven also played for West Torrens.
Peter Kelly: A former captain who played over 150 games for the Eagles during the 1970s.
Club records
South Australian Premiers: 4 - 1924, 1933, 1945, 1953
SANFL Night Premiers : 1 - 1983
Record Attendance at Thebarton Oval: 20,832 v Norwood in 1962
