Melbourne University Football Club
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| Full name | Melbourne University Football Club |
| Nickname | The Students/ The Professors |
| Strip | Black with a blue vee |
| Founded | 1859 |
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| League | Victorian Football League, Victorian Amateur Football Association |
| First season | 1908 (VFL) |
| Ground | Melbourne Cricket Ground, East Melbourne Cricket Ground, |
| Club song | ' |
| President/Chair | |
| Coach | |
| Captain | |
| ' | |
Melbourne University Football Club – often known simply as "University" – is an Australian rules football club.
The club achieved prominence by being part of the game's most elite competition in the early 20th century, the Victorian Football League (the forerunner of the Australian Football League).
The club is the fourth-oldest club in any code of football in Australia.
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[edit] History
University was founded in 1859 by students and graduates of the University of Melbourne. That same year it played in the inaugural Challenge Cup, against teams from Albert Park, Carlton, Melbourne, Royal Park and South Yarra.
During the 1870s, the club played in the Second Twenties competition, one level lower than the main competition, the South Yarra Challenge Cup.
On October 4, 1907 the eight founding clubs of the VFL voted unanimously to include University in the league as its ninth team. Richmond Football Club became the 10th team two weeks later. The club's home ground was originally the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, where it was a tennant of the Essendon Football Club. Later the club relocated to the Melbourne Cricket Ground which it also shared, this time with the Melbourne Football Club.
The club was nicknamed The Students and The Professors. The players wore a black guernsey with a blue "V" and blue collars and cuffs, black and blue socks and an optional black and blue cap. Players had to have matriculated or hold a higher degree to be eligible to play in the team. It is unique among VFL/AFL clubs in never having any professional (paid) players.
The club was not particularly successful: it never finished higher than sixth in the 10 team competition, and never played in a finals series. It finished last in the competition from 1911 to 1914, losing its last 51 games in a row. In total, it lost 97 of its 126 games between the 1908 and 1914 seasons.
When World War I broke out, many young men enlisted to fight, leaving the club with far too few players. It withdrew from the League before the beginning of the 1915 season, and disbanded. There was no hope of re-forming it after the War as it suffered the highest rate of casualties of the league.
[edit] Return to football
In the summer of 1919, after the War, Melbourne University began to rebuild its football involvement. Deciding not to reapply for a position in the VFL, they were instead requested by the VFL to supply two teams to the newly-formed VFL Reserves competition. These two teams were initially called University A and B, but soon became known as "University Blue" and "University Black", respectively. The Blue team contested the 1920 VFL Reserves Grand Final, losing to Collingwood; the following season, both teams joined the Melbourne Amateur Football Association, and both contested the 1921 MAFA Grand Final.
Melbourne University students and alumni continue to maintain their involvement in football through these two clubs. The Blues play in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, and have been a perennial power in the highest division of a high-standard amateur competition. They were the premiers in 2004 and have consistently been a spawning ground for young players who go on to the AFL. Unlike American universities, however, support from the University itself is restricted to the provision of a ground and a subsidy for affiliation fees.
[edit] See also
- Category:University Football Club players
- Adelaide University Football Club
- Sydney University Students AFC
[edit] External links
- Complete University Player Records
- Victorian Amateur Football Association
- University Blues Home Page
- University Blacks Home Page
- Full Points Footy History of the University Football Club
- University Jumpers on Footyjumpers.com
[edit] References
- Kevin Taylor, The Sydney Swans. Allen & Unwin, 1987.
- University Blues Team History
| Clubs in the Australian Football League |
| Adelaide | Brisbane | Carlton | Collingwood | Essendon | Fremantle | Geelong | Hawthorn Melbourne | North Melbourne | Port Adelaide | Richmond | St. Kilda | Sydney | West Coast | Western Bulldogs Former clubs: Brisbane Bears | Fitzroy | University |
