Text Box: The Pirates - originally known as the Liverpool Pirates - were founded in 1985 for inclusion in the 1986 N.S.W.G.F.L. season. They were founded by Dan Cole who guided the team through the tough early seasons until 1990. Here is some trivia from the 1986 season - The Pirates 1986 team was made up of 8 one-year veterans who left the Fairfield Argonauts, and 19 first-year rookies. The first Pirates Offensive scheme run by Coach Cole was known as the Multi-Flex Power Veer, and consisted of a Veer Backfield, a Wide Receiver, a Tight End, and a Wing Back The first victory for the fledgling Club was a 14-6 win over the Hills District Eagles, the game played at Castle Hill R.S.L. Club. The Quarterback in that game was Coach Cole who was filling in for injured QB, Garry Wilson. The Pirates finished the 1986 Season with a 1 - 9 record. The first Pirates Rushing Touchdown was scored by Running Back, Fabrizio Corona. The first Pirates Touchdown Pass was caught by Wing Back, David Aguilera, on a pass thrown by Garry Wilson. From the 1987 season - The first Pirates Field Goal was kicked by Quarterback, Garry Wilson, in the first game of the 1987 season. The kick helped defeat the Fairfield Argonauts 9-7. The first Interception returned for a Touchdown was a 70 yard return by Cornerback, Paul Hunter, against the Hills District Eagles...it was also the Pirates first Defensive TD. The first Pirate Offensive Lineman to score a Touchdown was Branko Ignjatovic, who scored on a Tackle Eligible play against the Blacktown Vikings. The Pirates finished the 1987 Season with a 5 - 5 record. From the 1988 season - The Pirates first Tied game was a 14-14 contest against the Northwestern Rebels. Garry Wilson set a then Club Record for Points Scoring by rushing for 10 Touchdowns in 10 games. He also threw 11 TD passes, and had 886 yards on Punts. Running Back, Terry Guider, became the first Pirate to rush for over 100 yards in a game, and the first Pirate to rush for more than 1000 yards in a single season (the only 1000 yard Rusher in the League that season.) Terry Guider was also the first Pirate to rush for over 200 yards in a game. Late in the 1988 season (and on the morning after his Wedding!) Terry ran wild in a surprise upset win over the Sydney University Lions 48-6. That win helped put the Pirates into the Playoffs for the first time. Lineman, David King, was named Defensive Lineman of the Year by the League. Dan Cole was awarded Coach of the Year honours, and named as the Head Coach for the NSW State Team. The Pirates had 11 Players selected to the NSW State team. The Pirates finished the 1988 Season with a 5 - 6 - 1 record and were AAA West Champions. From the 1989 season - The 1989 season was the worst ever in terms of Pirate injuries. During the course of the season almost half of the registered players were sidelined with major injury problems. The worst injury was a hip dislocation suffered by Tight End, Mark King, in a game against the Hills District Eagles. Mark spent 5 weeks in traction after what appeared to be a routine catch and tackle. Playing both ways was a fact of life for the 1989 Pirates. The team completed the second half of the season with only 14 players due to injuries. In order to satisfy the League ruling regarding a minimum number of players for a game, Running Back, Andrew Marsh, suited up with his leg in a plaster cast just to get the head count over 15 so that an appeal to the Officials for special permission could be made to start each game. The Officials were happy. To ensure that the Pirates had eleven men on the field they simply counted the 3 or 4 who were standing on the sideline! Linebacker, Mick Schweitzer, was forced into duty as a Running Back in a 1989 game against the Bondi Raiders due to the Clubs mounting injury toll. His efforts impressed his team-mates (and the Raiders) so much that he became the starting Fullback for the 1990 season where he rushed for just under 1000 yards in 9 games, including a record-setting 272 yards against the Sutherland Seahawks. Here is some trivia from the early to mid 90s - 1991 was a low point in Pirate History. Coach Cole had retired and only 13 players from the previous years roster had returned. Not surprisingly, the Pirates finished the year with an 0-9 Win-Loss record. Whats worse is that they only scored a total of 19 points and conceded 319. The 1992 season was much improved, and it was in a game against the Wollongong TAFE Mustangs that year that a couple of new Pirates, but wily veterans, made their mark. Linebacker, Steve Jordan, filled in at Running Back due to injuries to other players. He promptly set a Team Record (since broken) for the Most Points Scored in a Single Game when he rushed 22 times for 200 yards, including three TDs and two 2 Point conversions for a total of 22 points. His partner in the backfield that day was John Pongrac, who also scored three TDs from 14 rushing attempts for 92 yards. For the record, the Pirates won the game 44-6. Wide Receiver, Pierre Le Masson, must have liked something about playing against the Northwestern Rebels. In 1992 he scored 4 TDs all season...two each in two games against the Rebels. The first encounter was the 1992 Charity Bowl where Le Masson caught 2 passes for 188 yards and 2 TDs, the second was a Regular Season encounter where he caught 2 passes for 129 yards and 2 TDs, one of them for 93 yards which is still Team Record. In 1993 the Pirates accepted an invitation to join the Premier State Gridiron League. The PSGL was a break-away League that included the Bondi Raiders, L.U.S.C. Argonauts, Newcastle Cobras, South East Sydney Jets, and Wollongong College Mustangs. In the final Regular Season game of the 1993 season against the L.U.S.C. Argonauts, and with the clock winding down, players grabbed the chance to fulfil a fantasy and play in any position they chose. Rookie Wide Receiver, Mark Rawlings, decided to play Defensive Back and promptly set a Club record for an Interception Return when he picked off an Argonauts 2 Point conversion attempt in the Pirates end zone and raced 102 yards for a Safety. The best block during Rawlings return was made by Argonauts Head Coach, Doug Ringhoff, who stepped onto the field and deliberately blocked his own player as Rawlings ran by. The player who received the block? Former G.A. and Gridiron NSW President, Michael Ryan. In 1994 rookie Running Back, Kyle Parker, set a Club Regular Season record and became the first player in the PSGL to break the 1000 yard rushing barrier. Kyles 1008 yards on 174 attempts eclipsed the previous Regular Season record of 1001 yards on 185 carries set by Terry Guider in 1988. Only a broken ankle in the first half of the Regular Season finale stopped Kyle from adding to his great achievement. In a game against the Bondi Raiders during the 1995 season, Running Back, Scott Fitzgerald, became the first Pirate player to run the football, catch a pass, and throw a completed pass all in the same game. He also played Centre on Kicking teams because of his ability to long-snap. By the seasons end Scott had played in EVERY position on the field for the Pirates apart from Punter and Place Kicker. Talk about versatile! 1995 was a career year for Strong Safety/Place Kicker, Damien Hitchens. He not only kicked the most Field Goals in a season (9), but batted down the most passes in the season (12) and in a single game (3), intercepted 5 passes for 40 yards, recovered a fumble and returned it 38 yards for a TD, kicked 5 of 6 PATs, and was third in the Club tackle count with a career high of 60. In only his second year with the Club, and playing in a new position, Linebacker, Mick Smith, set Club records for tackles made in a season (126), tackles made in a game (22), and fumbles recovered in a game (3). Add to this his 3 interceptions, 4 batted passes, and 3 QB sacks, and its easy to see why Mick was the Clubs Defensive MVP in 1995. Here is some trivia from the mid to late 90s - Records tumbled in a 1996 game against U.W.S. Macarthur when the Pirates went on a rampage to win by a score of 99-0. In all, 11 TDs, 13 PATs, 1 Two Point Conversion, and 3 Interception Returns for scores made up a point scoring spree that will never be beaten. The Pirates have had three home venues in their history. Powell Reserve on Hoxton Park Road was the first, but the Pirates were forced to move in 1991 due to the installation of a BMX track which took up most of the field. The second was McGirr Park Island...literally an island in the midst of Liverpool formed by a creek and tidal causeway. The Club moved from McGirr in 1997 because the field became inaccessible after every rain when water flooded the causeway. The third and current field is Craik Park at Austral. The Pirates have also had three Head Coaches in their history. Dan Cole was the first, from the Clubs inaugural year in 1986 to the end of the 1990 season. Dan De Lacey had one year at the helm in 1991. In 1992 the Club was coached by a committee of active players before Ian Taylor took over from 1993 to 1997. Dan Cole assumed the role again for the majority of 1998 but work commitments forced him to step down, and Ian Taylor resumed the role from that point on. The NSWGFL and PSGL (Premier State Gridiron League) were reunited in 1996, and between 1996 and 1999 the Pirates were THE dominant team, at least when it came to Regular Season performances. The Pirates had a 21-3-1 record (0.860). By comparison, the Sydney University Lions had a winning percentage of 0.712, while the Bondi Raiders were a surprising 0.500 during that time. Things were remarkably different during the Playoffs though. The Pirates only managed 1 win from 6 attempts (0.167) while the Raiders were a perfect 6 from 6, including consecutive Championships in 1998 and 1999. The Pirates recorded their first ever win against the A.C.T. Astros in a nail-biting game in September of 1999. Damien Hitchens kicked a 52 yard Field Goal with 12 seconds left on the clock to give the Pirates a 3-0 victory. It was Hitchens first Field Goal attempt of the season! In 1999, Andrew Doyle became the first Pirate player to catch at least one pass in every game in a season. In fact, Andrew caught a pass in every game dating back to November 1998. Andrew finished the 1999 season with 23 receptions for 286 yards. A game against the Wollongong College Mustangs at the end of the 1999 season marked the Pirates 150th All-Time game. The Pirates 28-0 win in the game also secured the Clubs first Minor Premiership. The Pirates produced a written, bound Yearbook from 1992 to 2001, and it contained a wealth of statistics and information about the Club and the season. Typically running close to 100 pages, the printed version was dropped in favour of an electronic disc-based version in 2002.