Albert Park Football Club

For the early Australian rules football club from the 1860s and 1870s, see Albert Park Football Club (VFA).

Albert Park Football Club
Names
Full name	Albert Park Football and Netball Club [1]
Nickname(s)	Falcons
Former nickname(s)	Zedders, Rats
2024 season
After finals	VAFA : N/A VAFAW : 3rd
Home-and-away season	VAFA: 7th VAFAW: 3rd [2]
Leading goalkicker	VAFA: Jack Lee (29) VAFAW: Johannah Griffin (29)
Best and fairest	VAFA: Henry Olive [3] VAFAW: Johannah Griffin [3]
Club details
Founded	1954;71 years ago (1954)
Colours	Red   Blue
Competition	VAFA : Division 3 VAFAW : Division 4
President	Enver Krasnic [4]
Coach	VAFA: Jack Amies VAFAW: Anthony DeJong [5]
Captain(s)	VAFA: Alex 'Alby' Evans & Alastair Lupo [6] [7] VAFAW: Emma Calvert & Jessica Newitt [8] [9]
Ground(s)	Oval 20, Beaurepaire Pavilion, Albert Park
Uniforms
Home

The Albert Park Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. The club currently holds the record for longest senior premiership drought in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), winning just three reserves grand finals since it was founded in 1954. ^[4]

As of 2024, Albert Park's men's team competes in Division 3 of the VAFA, while the women's team is in Division 3 of the VAFA Women's (VAFAW)

History

Early years

Colours of ANZ Bank

Albert Park was founded in 1954 as the ANZ Bank Football Club, nicknamed the Zedders. The club was founded by sports-minded officers at the head office of ANZ Bank, who negotiated a place in the VAFA's E Section, with the club's first home ground located at Yarra Bend Park in Fairfield. ^[10] The club initially was composed entirely of players who worked at the bank, and former Richmond and Hawthorn footballer Andy Brannan served as the inaugural coach. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

The Zedders made their first grand final in 1958, although they lost to St Kilda CBC Old Boys by 13 points. ^[14] They were promoted for the first time to D Section in 1959, but were relegated back down to E Section after only a single win in 1966. ^[10] The club won its first premiership in 1969 with a 12-point victory over Brunswick in the reserves grand final. ^[10]

ES&A and National Bank

The ES&A Bank Football Club was formed in 1932 and entered the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA, now VAFA) the same year. ^[15] Likewise, the National Bank Football Club was also formed in 1932 and also entered the MAFA the same year. ^[16] The clubs were linked to the English, Scottish & Australian Bank and National Australia Bank respectively. ^[10]

In 1936, the clubs entered into a brief merger and competed as ES&A−National Bank until the end of the 1937 season. ^[17] After World War II ended, the administration of both banks issues a directive to reform the clubs, with ES&A returning in 1952 and National Bank returning in 1954. ^{[10] [18]}

National Bank continued competing until it disbanded at the end of the 1979 season. ^[19]

Merger and new name

At the end of the 1969 season, ES&A Bank was absorbed by ANZ Bank, which was followed by the banks themselves merging in October 1970. ^{[10] [20]} ANZ Bank won its second reserves premiership in 1974, defeating Old Geelong in E Section. ^{[10] [21]} The club made its second senior grand final in 1991, but were defeated by Elsternwick by 10 points. ^[22]

In 1991, ANZ Bank faced rival club Elsternwick in the F Section grand final. ^[23] Although they were "so heavily favoured to win that they hired marquees", Elsternwick won by ten points. ^{[23] [24]}

Ahead of the 1996 season, the club decided to change its name to the ANZ Albert Park Football Club, nicknamed the Rats. ^[10] The decision was made amid difficulty in fielding teams, increasing interest from the local community in Albert Park and ANZ Bank withdrawing support. ^[10]

The club removed any reference to ANZ Bank from its name in 1999 and became known simply as "Albert Park", nicknamed the "Falcons" (although the "Rats" nickname lasted informally for several years). ^{[10] [25]} The club was runners-up in the F Section grand final later that year, going down to Eley Park by 14 points. ^{[26] [27]}

Albert Park's most recent premiership, as of 2024, was in 2002, when they defeated Werribee in the D4 Section reserves grand final. ^{[4] [28]}

The club introduced its first netball teams in 2015. ^[29]

Club song

Current song

The club's song is sung to the tune of Victory March , the same as the song of the Sydney Swans. ^[30]

Cheer, Cheer the Red and the Blue

We'll keep on fighting all the game through

Soaring to Success we fly

Shake down the thunder from the sky

Whether the odds are great or be small

The Falcs from the Park will win overall

While our loyal falcs are marching

Onwards to victory

ANZ Albert Park song

The club used similar lyrics and the same tune when it was known as ANZ Albert Park. ^[10]

Cheer, cheer the red and the blue

We'll give our best the whole game through

Lift that noble banner high

Shake down the thunder from the sky

Whether the odds be great or small

The rats from the park will win over all

While the loyal sons are marching

Onwards to victory

ANZ Bank song

ANZ Bank's club song was sung to an unknown tune. ^[10]

Beat them all, beat them all

The bigger the harder they fall

We'll beat the high teams and we'll beat the low

We'll beat the lot of them cause they all know

That we’re going to "D" Grade next year

And there's not a team we will fear

We'll thrash our opponents and then have our moments

So drink up your beer down them all

ES&A Bank song

ES&A Bank's club song was sung to the tune of George M. Cohan's 1906 song "You're a Grand Old Flag", and was the same song that the Melbourne Football Club uses. ^[10]

We are the red and green forever

The team of the ES&A

We're out just for recreation

To pass the time away

We'll fight for honour and for glory

And to victory for our team

Should old acquaintance be forgotten

Keep your eyes on the red and the green

References

1. "Albert Park Football and Netball Club". City of Port Phillip. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
2. "Division 4 Women's 2024". PlayHQ. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
3. "2024 Awards". Albert Park Falcons Football & Netball Club. 6 October 2024. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
4. "Albert Park Football Club". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
5. "We are delighted to announce Anthony DeJong will be taking on the role as our 2025 women's coach!". Albert Park Falcons Football & Netball Club. 20 October 2024. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
6. "Our next re-signing celebration is for 2023 seniors co-captain, Alex 'Alby' Evans". Facebook. Albert Park Falcons Football & Netball Club. 26 February 2024. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
7. "Thrilled to announce a few key players re-signing for 2024". Facebook. Albert Park Falcons Football & Netball Club. 20 February 2024. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
8. "We are celebrating another impressive milestone this week with one of our founding women's players hitting the big 50". Facebook. Albert Park Falcons Football & Netball Club. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
9. "This is AMAZING!". Facebook. Albert Park Falcons Football & Netball Club. 20 September 2023. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
10. "ANZ ES&A FOOTBALL CLUB HISTORY". ANZ Retired Officers' Club. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
11. Armistead, Nick (30 October 2018). "The emergence of Albert Park FC". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
12. Pavlou, Anna (18 October 2018). "Almanac Footy History: The Zedders, ES&A and the emergence of Albert Park FC". The Footy Almanac. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
13. Whalley, Jeffrey (29 August 2024). "From "Zedders" to "Falcons" – 70 years of the ANZ football club". ANZ Bank. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
14. "Division 2 Men's Grand Finals". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
15. "ES&A Bank Football Club (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 21 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
16. "National Bank Football Club (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
17. "ES&A-National Bank Football Club (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
18. "A BRIEF HISTORY" (PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. 9 April 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
19. "The Amateur Footballer Week 1 1980" (PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. 1 January 1980. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
20. "Advertising". Papua New Guinea Post-courier . International, Australia. 1 October 1970. p. 8.
21. "Reserve Grade Premiers". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
22. "The Amateur Footballer, Week 22, 1991". Issuu. VAFA Media. 14 September 1991. p. 32. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
23. Daffey, Paul (7 July 2010). "Taking on opponent No.142, the Wickers show they have tickers". The Age. Archived from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
24. "The Amateur Footballer, Week 22, 1991". Issuu. VAFA Media. 14 September 1991. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
25. "The Amateur Footballer, Week 11, 2000". Issuu. VAFA Media. 17 June 2000. p. 40. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
26. "Eley Park Football Club (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
27. "Division 4 Men's Grand Finals". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 27 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
28. "The Amateur Footballer, Week 22, 2002". Issuu. VAFA Media. 21–22 September 2002. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
29. "History". Albert Park Football & Netball Club. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
30. "Albert Park Football & Netball Club Song". Albert Park Football & Netball Club. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.

External links

• Club history from the ANZ Retired Officers' Club (archived on 29 September 2024)