History
The Eltham Football Club began playing social matches at nearby Kangaroo Ground, Diamond Creek and Greensborough from around 1904. Phil McGavin was listed as Secretary in 1904.
In 1907, Police Constable "Ike" Stephens convened a meeting with the idea of providing entertainment for the lads and an outlet for their surplus energy. .
Eltham continued to play social games however World War One saw these stop. After the return of the men in 1918-19, Eltham returned to the football field.
In 1920, the Eltham Football Club joined the Heidelberg District Football League. The team travelled by train to Ivanhoe to play their first game. Home games were played at Eltham Park, now called Eltham Lower Park.
In 1922, Eltham joined other nearby clubs Greensborough, Diamond Creek, Templestowe, Warrandyte, and Kangaroo Ground in establishing the Diamond Valley Football League.
Eltham made their first finals appearance in 1928 and won their first premiership in 1930 by defeating Heidelberg.
In 1930, Eltham Central Park was opened, although this was only used by the footballers for training until 1935, when the club formally moved their home games there and this has been the club's home ever since.
In 1935, Eltham defeated Epping in the Grand Final, but Epping lodged a protest over the eligibility of an Eltham player. A tribunal in Melbourne upheld the protest and ordered a replay. Eltham forfeited the replay and Epping was awarded the premiership.
Eltham left the DVFL to play in VFL Sub Districts League for seasons 1936 & 1937 before returning in 1938.
After five consecutive wooden spoons during the early 1960s, the club went through a golden period of four premierships in six seasons between 1969 and 1974.
Eltham Football Club was relegated to the new DVFL Second Division for Season 1981, but quickly responded with the 1982 premiership and subsequent return to the First Division. This began a trend with Eltham "yo-yoing" between the two divisions – six Second Division premierships and five First Division wooden spoons.
The 2002 Second Division premiership was the Panthers last success. After relegation in 2017 the Panthers went into the season strong favourites and won their first 15 games. On a blustery, raining day the seniors gave up a 3/4 time lead to lose on the siren to Lower Plenty. The reserves, coached by 2017 U/19 Premiership winning coach Tom Snell held on in a tough game to defeat Diamond Creek and only their 5th reserves premiership.
Season 2020 was called off due to the COVID19 Pandemic.
Greensborough is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km (11 mi) north-east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Banyule and Shire of Nillumbik local government areas. Greensborough recorded a population of 21,070 at the 2021 census.
Preston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km (5.6 mi) north-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Darebin local government area. Preston recorded a population of 33,790 at the 2021 census.
North Richmond railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines, which are part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the inner-eastern suburb of Richmond, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. North Richmond station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 21 October 1901, with the current station provided in 1981.
Collingwood railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines, which are part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the north-eastern suburb of Abbotsford, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Collingwood is an elevated unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. The station opened on 21 October 1901 and was reconstructed in 1987.
Victoria Park railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines, part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the north-eastern Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford in Victoria, Australia. Victoria Park is an elevated unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 8 May 1888, with the current platforms provided in 1959 and station provided in 1981.
The Hurstbridge line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's seventh longest metropolitan railway line at 36.7 kilometres (22.8 mi). The line runs from Flinders Street Station in central Melbourne to Hurstbridge Station in the north-east, serving 28 stations via Clifton Hill, Heidelberg, Macleod, Greensborough, Eltham and Diamond Creek. The line operates for approximately 19 hours a day with 24 hour service available on Friday and Saturday nights. During peak hour, headways of up to 15 minutes are operated with services every 20–30 minutes during off-peak hours. Trains on the Hurstbridge Line run with a two three-car formations of X'Trapolis 100 trainsets.
The Northern Football Netball League is an Australian sports league based in the Diamond Valley region of suburban Melbourne, Victoria. The league regulates competitions of both sports, Australian rules football and netball in the region.
Templestowe Football Club is an Australian rules football club located in the outer north eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. Currently affiliated with the Eastern Football League, Templestowe Football Club boasts a long and rich history.
The Heidelberg Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Heidelberg, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League.
Macleod Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Rosanna, Victoria, currently competing in Division 1 of the Northern Football League.
Lower Plenty is an Australian rules football club in Montmorency, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League.
The Diamond Creek Football Club is an Australian rules football club located in Diamond Creek – an outer north-eastern suburb of Melbourne.
The Northcote Park Football Club, nicknamed the Cougars, is an Australian rules football club, located 6 km north of Melbourne, in the suburb of Northcote, currently playing in the Northern Football League.
Hurstbridge Football Club is an Australian rules football club located 34 km north east of Melbourne in the township of Hurstbridge. The club currently competes in the Northern Football League.
The Yarra River is a river in southern Victoria, Australia that flows through the city of Melbourne. There are many parklands, including state parks and national parks, that adjoin the river along its 250 km length. Every park listed has walking tracks, smaller parks usually have unsealed paths, while bigger parks will have sealed pathways suitable for walking and cycling. The Yarra River Trail runs along much of the length of the river's lower reaches through Melbourne. Most parks listed have parking available, the quality and quantity of which varies according to the size of the park. Dogs are not permitted in parklands adjoining the river unless otherwise stated in special off-lead areas.
Greensborough Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Greensborough, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football Netball League.
The Evelyn Observer was a weekly newspaper released from 1873 to 1942 in the north-east area of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It was first published on 31 October 1873 from a school house at Kangaroo Ground. Andrew Ross, the district's first school master and hotel-keeper was the Observer's first proprietor, and he enlisted the help of a printer, John Rossiter, who became the first editor. It then operated out of a dedicated building on the top of a hill. After the transfer of the newspaper office to Hurstbridge, the building was purchased by the Eltham Shire Council.
Grant Wilmot was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
