Ballarat | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Names | ||||
Full name | Ballarat Football Netball Club, Inc. [1] | |||
Nickname(s) | Swans | |||
Motto | "Et Nos Unum Sumus" (We Are One) | |||
Club details | ||||
Founded | 20 May 1860 | |||
Colours | Red White | |||
Competition | Ballarat Football League | |||
President | Karl Drever | |||
Coach | Chris Maple | |||
Captain(s) | Will Garner | |||
Premierships | BFL (19): 1897, 1898, 1908, 1923, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1962, 1971, 1988, 2008 | |||
Ground(s) | Alfredton Recreation Reserve (1994–present) | |||
Former ground(s) | City Oval (1906–93) | |||
Uniforms | ||||
| ||||
Other information | ||||
Official website | ballaratfnc.com.au |
The Ballarat Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Swans is an Australian rules football and netball club. The football squad currently competes in the Ballarat Football League in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.
The club was established on 20 May 1860, making it the 3rd oldest continually operating football club in Australia, behind Melbourne (May 1859) and Geelong (July 1859).
Calls for the club's formation date as far back as May 1860. [2] One of the first recorded football matches played in the district was a match on 5 May 1860 with the members of the Ballarat Athletic Club splitting into two sides of six to play at the Copenhagen Grounds. [3] The Ballarat Athletic Club was instrumental in early matches including the town of Little Bendigo at the Ballarat Cricket Ground [4] though the match was cancelled due to inclement weather. [5] The Ballarat Star had been lobbying the local community for a club of its own. Ballarat Football Club was incorporated on 20 May 1860.[ citation needed ]
Among its first big opponents was the Geelong Football Club in 1862 which was captained by H. C. A. Harrison. The Ballaratians captained by Alexander Greenfield travelled by train to Geelong lost the match. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Its first President and Captain was Lieutenant Colonel Alexander M. Greenfield. Its senior best and fairest award is named after Alexander Greenfield.
Ballarat played their home matches at City Oval in Ballarat for 88 years, then moved to their current location at Alfredton Recreation Reserve in 1994. Ballarat's senior guernsey is white with Red 'V'.
Ballarat was a provincial member of the Victorian Football Association from 1878 [10] until 1896, [11] taking part in the Association's administration and competing regularly against Melbourne-based VFA clubs. The club was also a founding member of the Ballarat Football Association in 1893. In 1955 the club officially applied to join the VFL. Although the application was referred to a special sub-committee that was to meet and make a recommendation, there is no evidence that the application was ever acted on by the league. [12]
Ballarat Football Netball Club's junior program has produced recent AFL players Drew Petrie, twins Nathan & Mitch Brown, brothers Brad & Matt Crouch and AFLW player Sophie Van De Heuvel.
The senior jumper is white with a red V. The club senior team wore red & white vertical stripes between season 2010 and 2018, however reverted to the traditional red V from season 2019.
From season 2019 the junior 'Swans' division of the club have worn the red and white vertical stripes, and the junior 'Storm' division have worn red and white horizontal hoops. Both junior jumpers have historical significance as being designs worn by Ballarat FC during the 1800s.
The club song is known as "Cheer, Cheer The Red and The White" and is to the tune of the Victory March , the fight song of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana, USA. The words are:
The club's mascot is the angry swan.
Since the start of the 1994 season Ballarat have played their home games at the Alfredton Recreation Reserve, in the western suburb of Alfredton. From 1906 to 1993, Ballarat played their home matches at the City Oval, beside Lake Wendouree, where they were co-tenants with Redan. The move to Alfredton was a strategic one based on the growing population of Alfredton and the opportunity to join its junior division, who had been playing at Alfredton since 1984.
Most Senior Games: Paul Nicholls 248
Most Senior Goals: Max Wheeler 359 (1935-1939)
Most Goals in a Game: Max Wheeler 17 (1938)
Most Goals in a Senior Season: D. Duff 113 (1927)
Most Greenfield Trophies (Senior B&F's): Don Discher x 6 (1977, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991) Ashley Baker x 6 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012)
Most Years as Coach: Len Templar 15 years (1958-1967, 1970–1972, 1977–1978)
Most Years as Captain: Harry Kaighan 8 years (1921 – 1928)
Most Years as Club President: Matt Glover 21 years (1948 – 1968)
Most Years as Club Secretary: J. Shannon 18 Years (1914 – 1931)
Most Years as Club Treasurer: E. R. Bodycomb 26 years (1897 – 1922)
History of Football in the Ballarat District (2008) by John Stoward - ISBN 978-0-9805929-0-0
Anthony Howard Lockett is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "Plugger", he is considered one of the greatest full-forwards and players in the game's history.
Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues", who both compete in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) in the William Buck Premier Division.
The 1897 VFL season was the inaugural season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the new highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 8 May until 4 September, and comprised a 14-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
The 1907 VFL season was the eleventh season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 27 April until 21 September, and comprised a 17-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
Women's Australian rules football, is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game.
AFL Victoria Country is an Australian rules football governing body with jurisdiction over the state of Victoria outside metropolitan Melbourne on behalf of AFL Victoria. As well as administering and promoting the code in the regions, it often arbitrates disputes in areas such as player clearances and club movements between country leagues, and may also be called upon as a higher authority of appeal. The organisation was formed as a result of a merger between Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) and AFL Victoria in November 2012.
Australian rules football in Victoria is the most watched and second most participated code of football. Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s and grew quickly to dominate the sport, which it continues to. Victoria has more than double the number of players of any other state in Australia accounting for approximately 42% of all Australian players in 2023 and continues to grow strongly. Only Soccer in Victoria has more football participants, though the code's growth in Victoria has made up much ground lost to that code over previous decades such that they have now a similar number of players. The sport is governed by AFL Victoria based in Melbourne. The national governing body, the AFL Commission is also based in Melbourne.
Ballarat railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Ballarat, and opened on 11 April 1862 as Ballarat West. It was renamed Ballarat in 1865.
Australian rules football began its evolution in Melbourne, Australia about 1858. The origins of Australian football before 1858 are still the subject of much debate, as there were a multitude of football games in Britain, Europe, Ireland and Australia whose rules influenced the early football games played in Melbourne.
A push in the back is a free kick awarded in Australian rules football against a player who illegally tackles or interferes with a player from behind when contesting possession.
Australian rules football was first organised in Victoria in 1859 when its rules were codified by the Melbourne Football Club.
The 1877 Victorian Football Association season was the first in which the Australian rules football competition in Victoria was run under a properly constituted administrative body. The Association was formed with the view to governing the sport via a collective body, made up of delegates representing the clubs. It was the second such body to have been formed; the South Australian National Football League having been formed just 17 days prior to the VFA.
The 1886 Victorian Football Association season was the 10th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Geelong Football Club. It was the club's seventh VFA premiership, and the last won by its senior team.
The Wimmera Football League is a major Australian rules country league based in Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns in the Wimmera region: the regional centres along the Western Highway from Ararat to Nhill as well as Minyip-Murtoa and Warracknabeal.
The Geelong Baseball Association (GBA), is an Australian baseball association and league based in Geelong, Victoria.
The 1876 Victorian football season was an Australian rules football competition played during the winter of 1876. The season consisted of matches between metropolitan and provincial football clubs in the colony of Victoria. The premier metropolitan club was Melbourne, and the premier provincial club was Barwon.
The 1875 Victorian football season was an Australian rules football competition played during the winter of 1875. The season consisted of matches between metropolitan and provincial football clubs in the colony of Victoria. The premier metropolitan club was Carlton, and the premier provincial club was Geelong.
The Bungaree Football & Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club from Bungaree, Victoria which competes in the Central Highlands Football League. The Demons are one of the founding members of the CHFL and most widely recognised through their best export, former St Kilda captain, Victorian representative and media personality Danny Frawley. The Demons play their home games at the Bungaree Recreation Reserve which underwent a full redevelopment in 2012, with the changeroom facility being named the Danny Frawley Pavilion.
The Clunes Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and Netball club that are based in the former goldrush town of Clunes, Victoria. The footballers play in the Central Highlands Football League and the netballers play in the Central Highlands Netball League, while both leagues are separate entities they are synchronise with each other for the fixtures and finals.