1.
Geelong Football Club
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The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in the city of Geelong, Australia and playing in the Australian Football League. The Cats have been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with three in the AFL era and they have also won nine McClelland Trophies, a record shared with Essendon. The club was formed in 1859, making it the second oldest club in the AFL after Melbourne and one of the oldest football clubs in the world. Geelong participated in the first football competition in Australia and was a club of both the Victorian Football Association in 1877 and the Victorian Football League in 1897. The club first established itself in the VFA by winning seven premierships, the club won a further six premierships by 1963, before enduring a 44-year waiting period until it won its next premiership—an AFL-record 119-point victory in the 2007 AFL Grand Final. Geelong have since won a further two premierships in 2009 and 2011, the clubs home ground is Kardinia Park, currently also known by its sponsorship name Simonds Stadium. However, the club also hosts matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Geelongs traditional guernsey colours are blue and white hoops. The clubs nickname, The Cats, was first used in 1923 after a run of losses prompted a local cartoonist to suggest that the club needed a black cat to bring it good luck, the clubs official team song and anthem is We Are Geelong. Geelong Football Club was formally established at a meeting held in the Victoria Hotel on 18 July 1859, the club contested its first match of Australian rules football against Melbourne at Argyle Square in 1860, which finished as a scoreless draw. In 1863, Geelong travelled to Melbourne to contest the Caledonian Challenge Cup, although the competition was played under compromised rules, Geelong reached the final and defeated Melbourne to become the second winners of the cup. The club continued to contest the cup in the following years, during this time, Tom Wills—one of the founders of Australian football—played exclusively for the club from 1865 until his retirement from football in 1874. Following the formation of the Victorian Football Association in 1877, Geelong joined the association as one of its foundation clubs. The club relocated to Corio Oval as its home ground in time for the 1878 season. In 1924, following the death of VFL and Geelong administrator Charles Brownlow, the first player to win the award was Geelongs Edward Greeves. Having been one of the dominant clubs in the old VFA and it wasnt until 1925 that the club won its first VFL premiership. Geelong followed up with further wins in 1931 and 1937. In 1941, the club was forced to relocate from its Corio Oval base due to the oval being required for training during World War 2
2.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known simply as The G, is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is served by the Richmond railway station, Richmond, and it is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has been in a state of almost constant renewal and it served as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and two Cricket World Cups,1992 and 2015. The annual Boxing Day Test is one of the MCGs most popular events, the stadium fills to capacity for the AFL Grand Final. Concerts and other events are also held at the venue. The MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and was included on the Australian National Heritage List in 2005, journalist Greg Baum called it a shrine, a citadel, a landmark, a totem that symbolises Melbourne to the world. Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club selected the current MCG site in 1853 after previously playing at several grounds around Melbourne, the club’s first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and Latrobe Streets. The area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again and it was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway. The South Melbourne ground was in the path of Victoria’s first steam railway line from Melbourne to Sandridge and this last option, which is now Yarra Park, had been used by Aborigines until 1835. Between 1835 and 1853 it was an agistment area for colonial troopers’ horses, in 1850 it was part of a 200-acre stretch set aside for public recreation extending from Governor La Trobe’s Jolimont Estate to the Yarra River. By 1853 it had become a busy promenade for Melbourne residents, an MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation. That ground was located where the Richmond, or outer, end of the current MCG is now, at the same time the Richmond Cricket Club was given occupancy rights to six acres for another cricket ground on the eastern side of the Government Paddock. At the time of the grant the Government stipulated that the ground was to be used for cricket and cricket only. This condition remained until 1933 when the State Government allowed the MCG’s uses to be broadened to other purposes when not being used for cricket. In 1863 a corridor of land running diagonally across Yarra Park was granted to the Hobson’s Bay Railway, the area closest to the river was also developed for sporting purposes in later years including Olympic venues in 1956. The first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden stand built in 1854. It was during this tour that the MCG hosted the worlds first Test match, in 1881 the original members stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world’s finest cricket facility, was built in its place, the foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on 4 July and the stand opened in December that year
3.
Jimmy Barnes
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James Dixon Swan AO, better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His career both as a performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel has made him one of the most popular. The combination of 14 Australian Top 40 albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums, 1s, gives Barnes the highest number of hit albums of any Australian artist. James Swan was born in Glasgow, Scotland and he arrived in Adelaide, South Australia as a 5-year-old on 21 January 1962 with his parents Jim and Dorothy Swan and siblings John, Dorothy, Linda and Alan. Another sister, Lisa, was born in 1962 and the eventually settled in Elizabeth. His father, Jim Swan, was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan also works as a rock singer, John encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasnt really interested initially. His mother Dorothy soon remarried, to a clerk named Reg Barnes, after her daughter Lisa was teased by a schoolmate about being adopted, Dorothy encouraged her children to change their surname to Barnes. All of them did except for the eldest brother, John and this would later cause confusion about Jimmy Barnes and Swan, many thought them to be half- or stepbrothers. Barnes was raised a Protestant, and considers himself a Buddhist, in September 2009 he revealed that his maternal grandmother was Jewish. Barnes took an apprenticeship in a foundry with the South Australian Railways in 1973 but the love he, Swanee was now playing drums with Fraternity, who had just parted ways with singer Bon Scott. Within a short time the group had changed its name to Cold Chisel, Barnes relationship with the band was often volatile and he left several times, leaving Moss to handle vocal duties until he returned. Progress was slow and Barnes announced he was leaving again in May 1977 to join Swanee in a band called Feather. However, his performance with Cold Chisel went so well that he changed his mind and decided to stay in the band. While in Canberra in November 1979 however, he met Jane Mahoney, Barnes wrote the song Rising Sun about this, which would appear on the album East. The pair married in Sydney on 22 May 1981 and Jane soon gave birth to their first child Mahalia, named after Mahalia Jackson, on 12 July 1982. The singer had never been careful with money and the pressure on him to provide for his young family caused even more tension between him and the rest of Cold Chisel. Despite being hugely successful in Australia, the group had not been able to crack the market internationally. While the 1982 album Circus Animals provided Cold Chisel with its second consecutive No.1 album, at a meeting in August, it was decided that Cold Chisel should split up
4.
2008 AFL Grand Final
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It was the 112th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the Premiers for the 2008 AFL season. The game was the third Grand Final meeting between the two teams in their history, having previously contested in the 1963 and 1989 VFL Grand Finals. The 2008 Grand Final was the first Grand Final contested by two Victorian-based teams since Essendon and Melbourne met in 2000 and it was attended by 100,012 spectators, the first crowd to exceed 100,000 for a VFL/AFL game since the 1986 VFL Grand Final. Geelong entered the match as the favourites to win, however, Hawthorn won by 26 points, earning its 10th Premiership and they were convincing 58-point winners in their Qualifying Final against St Kilda, earning them a weeks rest and a home Preliminary Final. They then defeated the Western Bulldogs by 27 points to qualify for the Grand Final, leading up to the Grand Final Geelong had won its past fifteen games. Hawthorn won its first nine games of the season, and sat atop the AFL ladder at Round 11. They began to lose a few games towards the end of the season and they convincingly beat the Western Bulldogs by 51 points in their Qualifying Final, which earned them a weeks rest and home Preliminary Final, in which they beat St Kilda by 54 points. Hawthorn had won four games in a row leading into the Grand Final and it was the teams first appearance in a Grand Final since winning the 1991 AFL Grand Final. The two teams had met once during the season, in a Friday night game in Round 17. Geelong was missing defending and eventual Leigh Matthews Trophy winner Gary Ablett, Jr. Geelong was the warm favourite to win the Grand Final, with Hawthorn attracting odds of $3.05 for the win at the opening bounce. It was a highly anticipated Grand Final, eliciting memories of the classic 1989 VFL Grand Final played between the same teams, the 2008 decider was telecast by the Seven Network, its first Grand Final telecast since 2001. Included a live performance by Powderfinger of their hit On My Mind, interspersed with a rendition of the AC/DC classic, Its a Long Way to the Top, ian Moss also performed lead guitar notes to the tune of Up There Cazaly. The Australian National Anthem Advance Australia Fair was performed by Amanda Harrison and Lucy Durack, the Grand Final was played in warm conditions under sunny skies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with conditions reaching 27 °C. The first goal of the game was scored by Geelongs Tom Lonergan from a mark, the Hawks opened up a thirteen-point lead with goals from Chance Bateman on the run, Xavier Ellis from a set shot and Jarryd Roughead along the ground from an acute angle. Hawthorn started conceding goals through free kicks, first to Gary Ablett, Jr. then to Max Rooke, Geelong began to completely control play in the midfield, winning the stoppages easily and providing their forwards with plenty of opportunities which they wasted.9. Meanwhile, Hawthorn scored 3.1 for the quarter, with goals to Cyril Rioli, Mark Williams, Hawthorn defender Trent Croad left the field midway through the second quarter with a broken foot. Midfielder Sam Mitchell was reported for making forceful front-on contact on Ablett, Geelong captain Tom Harley was concussed because of a clash of heads with Hawthorns Williams and he left the ground. The same trends continued into the third quarter, with Geelong winning in the midfield
5.
AFL Grand Final
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The winning club of the grand final receives the AFLs premiership cup and the premiership flag. All players in the team receive a gold premiership medallion. Adelaide is the club to have never lost a grand final which it has contested. The concept of a grand final gradually evolved from experimentation by the Victorian Football League in the years of competition following its inception in 1897. During the 19th century, Australian football competition adopted the approach that the team on top of the ladder was declared the premiers. However, the fledgling VFL decided that a series played between the top four teams at the end of the season would generate more interest and gate money. For 1897, the VFL scheduled a round robin tournament whereby the top four played each other once, the winners of these semi finals then met in a final to decide the premiership. The first such final was contested in 1898 between the Essendon Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club at the St Kilda Cricket Ground, which Fitzroy won scoring 5.8 to Essendons 3.5. The new finals system caused problems in 1901 when Geelong finished on top of the ladder but was eliminated when defeated in the semi final. A right of challenge was introduced, giving the team finished on top at the end of the regular season the right to challenge if they lost the semi final or the final. This challenge match came to be called the grand final, the first four grand finals were scattered around various Melbourne venues, one at Albert Park, two at St Kildas Junction Oval and one at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. The selection of the venue could depend on the portion of the demanded by the grounds landlords. The public remained ambivalent to the concept of football until the VFL pulled off a coup in 1902. Previously, the MCG was unavailable to football in the spring months as it was being prepared for the coming cricket season. The original Argus system had been instituted by the VFL in 1901 and this figure was beaten in the 1912 Grand Final when 54,463 saw Essendon defeat South Melbourne. The big finals crowds prompted the MCC to cut down the eleven fifty-year-old elm trees inside the ground and turn the stadium into a bowl, complete with extra stands. The record fell again in the last grand final before World War I, the war had a considerable effect on the impact of the grand final and attendances plummeted. One critic called for the Carlton team to receive the Iron Cross after they defeated Collingwood in the thrilling 1915 Grand Final, ironically dubbed a glorious contest by famous coach Jack Worrall
6.
2010 AFL Grand Final
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The 2010 AFL Grand Final is a series of two Australian rules football contests between the Collingwood Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Together they are considered the 114th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League, the premiership is usually decided by a single match, however, as the first Grand Final ended in a draw, a Grand Final replay was played the following week and was won by Collingwood. Both Grand Finals were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, the first was held on 25 September 2010. The game was attended by 100,016 spectators, the highest crowd for a VFL/AFL game since the 1986 VFL Grand Final, the match ended in a draw, with both teams scoring 68 points. This was the draw in a VFL/AFL Grand Final, the previous two occurring in 1948 and 1977. The premiership was decided by a replay on 2 October 2010. It was attended by 93,853 people, Collingwood defeated St Kilda by 56 points, marking Collingwoods fifteenth VFL/AFL premiership victory and their first since 1990. It was the last Grand Final to be replayed prior to the introduction of extra time, Collingwood entered the 2010 season after having lost its preliminary final in 2009 against eventual premiers Geelong. Collingwood was the best performed side of the home and away season, finishing with a record of 17–4–1 and winning its first Minor Premiership since 1977 and its first McClelland Trophy since 1970. St Kilda entered the season after having won the 2009 minor premiership with the clubs best ever home and away record of 20–2, after winning the first four games of the season, the Saints hit a form slump coinciding with a serious hamstring injury to captain Nick Riewoldt. They would recover to win seven games in a row before Riewoldts return, Collingwood and St Kilda met twice during the 2010 home-and-away season, each team winning once. St Kilda won in Round 3 at Etihad Stadium,10.9 to an inaccurate 4.17, in Round 16 at the MCG, Collingwood was a comfortable winner over St Kilda by the score 15.10 versus 6.16. The teams also met in the first round of the competition which St Kilda won by 1 point. The first final marked the 41st time Collingwood has contested the VFL/AFL Grand Final, the club was attempting to win its fifteenth VFL/AFL premiership, and its first since 1990. It was St Kildas seventh Grand Final appearance, and its second in a row after the loss in 2009, St Kilda was attempting to win its second premiership, the only previous premiership coming in 1966. The matches were the second and third Grand Finals contested by the two clubs, the only previous encounter was the 1966 Grand Final in which St Kilda won its only premiership, winning by a single point 10.14 to 10.13. They had met in a total of nine finals, of which St Kilda has won six, including the last five in a row, the 2010 decider was telecast nationwide by the Seven Network, on their main channel as well as the new high definition digital channel 7mate. The match was also broadcast for the first time in 3D, Seven also televised the AFL Grand Final replay, on 2 October, albeit not in 3D nor in High Definition, as the equipment was being loaned in Sydney for the NRL Grand Final
7.
Australian rules football
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The main way to score points is by kicking the oval-shaped ball between the two tall goal posts. The team with the score by the end of the match wins unless a draw is declared. During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field, the primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled, for example, throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick are awarded possession, possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid. Players can tackle using their hands or use their body to obstruct opponents. The game features frequent physical contests, spectacular marking, fast movement of players and the ball and high scoring. The sports origins can be traced to matches played in Melbourne, Victoria in 1858. Its annual Grand Final is the highest attended club championship event in the world, the sport is also played at amateur level in many countries and in several variations. The games rules are governed by the AFL Commission with the advice of the AFLs Laws of the Game Committee, there is evidence of football being played sporadically in the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century. The earliest such match, held in St Kilda on 15 June, was between Melbourne Grammar and St Kilda Grammar. Born in Australia, Wills played a nascent form of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School in England and his letter is regarded by many historians as giving impetus for the development of a new code of football today known as Australian football. Two weeks later, Wills friend, cricketer Jerry Bryant, posted an advertisement for a match at the Richmond Paddock adjoining the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This was the first of several kickabouts held that year involving members of the Melbourne Cricket Club, including Wills, Bryant, W. J. Hammersley, trees were used as goalposts and play typically lasted an entire afternoon. Without an agreed code of laws, some players were guided by rules they had learned in the British Isles. Another significant milestone in 1858 was a match played under experimental rules between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, held at the Richmond Paddock. This 40-a-side contest, umpired by Wills and Scotch College teacher John Macadam, began on 7 August and it is commemorated with a statue outside the MCG, and the two schools have competed annually ever since in the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, the worlds oldest continuous football competition. Since the early 20th century, it has suggested that Australian football was derived from the Irish sport of Gaelic football
8.
Australian Football League
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The Australian Football League is the pre-eminent professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the governing body. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association, the league currently consists of 18 teams spread over five of Australias six states. Matches have been played in all states and territories of Australia. The AFL season currently consists of a competition, followed by a 23-round regular season. The top eight teams play off in a four-round finals series, culminating in the AFL Grand Final. The winning team in the Grand Final is termed the premiers, the current premiers are the Western Bulldogs. The six clubs invited two more VFA clubs – Carlton and St Kilda – to join the league for its season in 1897. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from the VFA, Port Adelaide was the most successful club of the competition winning three titles during the period along with an earlier victory. In 1925, the VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first, in 1952, the VFL hosted National Day, when all six matches were played outside of Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Brisbane Exhibition Ground, North Hobart Oval, Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn, Footscray became the first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith, the club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. Television coverage began in 1957, with telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games, however, when the VFL found that television was reducing crowds, it decided that no coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961, replays were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted in Melbourne, in 1959, the VFL planned the first purpose built mega-stadium, VFL Park, to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club, which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground. VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland, the VFL Premiership Trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959, essentially the same trophy design has been in use since
9.
Hawthorn Football Club
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The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League. The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL and has won thirteen VFL/AFL premierships and it is renowned as the only club having won premierships in each decade of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. The team play in brown and gold vertically striped guernseys, the clubs Latin motto is spectemur agendo, the English translation being By our deeds let us be known. The Hawks origins are in the inner-eastern Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn and also at Glenferrie Oval, matches, however, have not been played there since 1973. In 2006, Hawthorns training and administration facilities were relocated to Waverley Park in the middle of the major supporter base in Melbournes outer-eastern region. Hawthorns current Victorian Football League affiliate team is the Box Hill Hawks Football Club, the official club history books and many supporters strongly believe that the clubs origins date back to its founding in 1873 at a meeting at the Hawthorne Hotel. Although a Hawthorn Football Club did indeed form at this time – and it is likely that today’s club is actually the third club to carry the name ‘Hawthorn Football Club’. In The Daily Telegraph of 12 May 1883 it is stated that “The Hawthorn Club having disbanded and this club also ceased in 1890. No Hawthorn club existed from 1890 to 1892, a new representative club, called the ‘Hawthorn Football Club’, was formed in 1893. It competed in the Victorian Junior Football Association until 1898, without a ground to play on, however, the club was disbanded in 1899. In March 1902, Alf Kosky formed a club from the various clubs under the banner of Hawthorn Football Club to compete in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association. The club merged with Boroondara in 1905 and adopted Boroondaras colours of a black guernsey with red sash, in 1906 Hawthorn merged with successful junior club the Hawthorn Rovers to form the Hawthorn City Football Club as a result of Glenferrie Oval opening. The club was reformed in 1912, changing to a gold guernsey with a blue V, the council then applied to the Victorian Football Association for inclusion which was granted in 1914 when Hawthorn replaced the disbanded Melbourne City club. The first task for the club was to decide on club colours, their jumper of blue, at a Special General Meeting held on 17 February 1914, a Mr J. Brain proposed brown and gold as the new colours and the motion was carried. The Mayblooms won three games and a draw in their first season in the VFA, the effect of World War I with players enlisting caused the club to finish last in 1915. The VFA then went into recess in 1916 and 1917, upon Hawthorn’s resumption in 1919 it was more competitive winning eight games and finishing sixth out of ten teams. Hawthorn dropped to eighth in 1920 but in 1921 they won seven games, bill Walton was appointed captain-coach of Hawthorn in 1922. He was however refused a clearance by Port Melbourne and as a result spent the season playing for them, twice that season, he had the unusual situation of playing a VFA game against the club that he coached
10.
Essendon Football Club
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
11.
North Melbourne Football Club
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It is based at the Arden Street Oval in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Melbourne, Victoria, but plays its home matches at the nearby Docklands Stadium. The clubs mascot is a kangaroo, and its use dates from the middle of the 20th century. The club is also known as The Shinboners, a term which dates back to its 19th-century abattoir-worker origins. The clubs motto is Victoria amat curam, Latin for Victory Demands Dedication, in two aspects North Melbourne stands second to none. One is the loyalty of its supporters, the other is the determination to carry on, despite its disadvantages. In the face of adversity, which might well have broken the spirit of most men, North Melbourne Football Club originated in the year 1869, when a football team was formed for local cricketers desiring to keep fit over the winter months. Information on the clubs first ever match is limited, but it is known that it took place in Royal Park, the ball used in the match was purchased by a local resident called Tom Jacks, who sold some roofing iron to pay for it. James Henry Gardiner is considered the founder of the club and he continued an active role with North Melbourne until his death in 1921. Regular premiership matches of Australian Football commenced in Victoria in 1870, Although North Melbourne was a part of this, it was classed as a junior club. The Australasian noted them as being one of the best of junior clubs. The club continued to develop, graduating to senior ranks in 1874 finishing 4th, along with the promotion, the club adopted its first uniform of blue and white horizontal stripes. In 1877, the club was re-established as a club under the new name of Hotham. Football took a giant step forward in 1877, with the formation of Victorias first colonial football league, Hotham were prime movers in establishing this league and were afforded a place in light of their previous contributions to Australian Football. The 1880s marked the emergence of the identity we now associate with North today. In 1882, the club amalgamated with the Hotham Cricket Club and moved into the North Melbourne Recreation Reserve, the joint venture was aimed at affecting improvements at the Hotham Cricket Ground, which was the name of the Reserve at the time. Four years later the club adopted the uniform of blue and white vertical stripes at the insistence of the VFA. The third significant development occurred in 1888 with the returning to its original name of the North Melbourne Football Club. This followed the name of the local area reverting from Hotham to North Melbourne, the 1880s saw the club develop a penchant for inter-colonial travel with trips to Tasmania and South Australia
12.
Collingwood Football Club
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The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or less formally the Pies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. This spike in membership registration can mainly be attributed to the winning of the 2010 AFL Premiership and this record was again broken in 2013, with club reaching a new high of 80,000 members. Collingwood is regarded as one of Australias most popular clubs, being the highest attended, Collingwoods home guernsey consists of black and white stripes, matching the colours of an Australian magpie. Throughout its history, the club has developed rivalries with cross-town Melbourne based clubs Carlton, Richmond, Essendon, historically one of the most successful clubs in the league, Collingwood has won 15 VFL/AFL premierships, the third-most of any team. Collingwood has played in a record 43 grand finals, winning 15, the club fields a seconds team in the Victorian Football League and a womens team in the AFL Womens competition. It also owns and operates a team in the National Netball League. The Collingwood Football Club was established on 12 February 1892, Collingwood played its first game in the Victorian Football Association against Carlton on 7 May 1892. The club won the VFA Premiership in 1896, in 1897, Collingwood, along with fellow VFA clubs Fitzroy, Melbourne, St Kilda, Carlton, Essendon, South Melbourne and Geelong split from the VFA and formed the Victorian Football League. Collingwood won its first premiership in 1902, defeating Essendon by 33 points, Collingwood was the most successful club of the 1920s and 1930s, appearing in 13 out of a possible 20 Grand Finals during the period. Collingwood were premiers six times during this time, including four consecutive premierships between 1927 and 1930, a VFL/AFL record, and two premierships in 1935 and 1936. The clubs coach during this period was Jock McHale, who served as coach from 1912 to 1949, Collingwood lost two Grand Finals to Melbourne in this decade, but bounced back to win premierships in 1953 and 1958. Collingwoods 1958 premiership is much cherished by the club as it prevented Melbourne from equalling Collingwoods record four premierships in a row, the 1958 premiership was however to be Collingwoods last for 32 years, as the club was to suffer a string of Grand Final defeats in coming decades. A string of eight Grand Final losses, often by narrow margins, between 1960 and 1981 gave rise to a perception that the club was prone to choking, a phenomenon wittily dubbed Colliwobbles. Whether this perception is accurate remains a subject of debate, however, Lou Richards ceremoniously buried the Colliwobbles at Victoria Park after the clubs 1990 premiership. Collingwood made a return to the finals in 2006, but were defeated by the Western Bulldogs by 41 points, having earned a preliminary final against Geelong, the Pies challenged the eventual premiers, only to fall short by five points. Nathan Buckley would announce his retirement at seasons end after playing just five games in 2007 due to injury, Collingwood finished eighth in 2008 and were assigned an away final against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. After at one point trailing in the match, the Pies went on to end Adelaides season, having defeated the Saints in both their regular season meetings, the Pies lost convincingly, ending their 2008 season. The 2009 season saw Collingwood finish inside the top-four for the first time since 2003, but the season ended abruptly for the Magpies, with an 73-point loss to the Cats
