Port Melbourne | ||
---|---|---|
Names | ||
Full name | Port Melbourne Football Club | |
Nickname(s) | Borough, Port | |
2023 season | ||
Home-and-away season | 15th | |
Club details | ||
Founded | 1874 | |
Colours | Blue Red | |
Competition | VFL: Senior men VFLW: Senior women | |
President | Michael Shulman | |
CEO | Paul Malcolm | |
Coach | Adam Skrobalak | |
Captain(s) | Harvey Hooper | |
Premierships | VFA/VFL (Div 1) (17) VFLW (1) | |
Ground(s) | North Port Oval (10,000) | |
Uniforms | ||
| ||
Other information | ||
Official website | portmelbournefc.com.au |
The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football Association/League (VFL) since 1886 and the VFLW since 2021.
Port Melbourne is the most successful club in the VFA/VFL/VFLW, having won 18 senior premierships - 17 senior first division men's premierships - three more than its nearest rival Williamstown, and the club secured its inaugural VFLW premiership and 18th overall in 2023. Beyond these premierships, the club has been a men's first division grand finalist on a further 21 occasions bringing their total grand final appearances to a remarkable 38 in their 137 years in the competition. Port Melbourne is also the only VFA/VFL Club never to have been relegated to the second division. The club has maintained a fiercely independent and stand-alone status, without being in a formal reserves affiliation with a club from the Australian Football League (AFL), for all but five years of its history.
Consequently Port Melbourne is considered one of the strongest Victorian-based football clubs that does not compete in the AFL. The club has fielded a women's team in the VFL Women's (VFLW) competition since 2021, and in the past it has fielded premiership-winning teams in the now-defunct VFL Reserves and Development leagues.
The Port Melbourne Football Club joined the senior ranks Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1886, its inaugural team formed in large part from members of the powerful nearby South Melbourne Football Club which had dominated metropolitan football in 1885. [1] The club has played in every VFA/VFL season since that time. In 1897, Port Melbourne was left out of the group of eight clubs which formed the breakaway VFL competition, despite having regularly been about the sixth- or seventh- best performing team onfield. Historian Terry Keenan theorised that the likeliest reason for Port Melbourne's exclusion was the reputation for the poor behaviour that its players and spectators had developed over the previous decade; its rivalry with and proximity to South Melbourne and the fact that Port Melbourne had supported the gate equalisation measures which the breakaway clubs were trying to escape were also speculated to have contributed to the decision. [2]
The club, and the suburb of Port Melbourne in general, were heavily associated with wharf labourers and the union movement. During a 1928 waterfront strike in Melbourne, a wharf labourer protesting the use of scab labour was shot by police; as a result, the club banned any police from playing with them. The policy remained in place until the late 1950s. [3]
Port Melbourne went on to become one of the strongest clubs in the VFA, and today still attracts some of the biggest crowds to its games. The club had very strong links with the Port Melbourne community, arguably the strongest community relationship within the VFA; local juniors often held stronger aspirations to play for Port Melbourne than for the VFL's South Melbourne – which by the 1950s was perennially struggling and to which the Port Melbourne area was zoned – and even players as highly decorated as Brownlow Medallists Peter Bedford and Bob Skilton returned to play with Port Melbourne after their VFL careers. [4] Over the twenty-eight seasons from 1961 until 1988 that the VFA was partitioned into two divisions, Port Melbourne played every season in the first division – a distinction shared only with the Sandringham.
Traditionally, Port Melbourne's greatest rivals are the Williamstown Seagulls and the Sandringham Zebras. All three teams continue to play in the VFL to this day. Prior to the original breakaway of the VFL from the VFA in 1897, Port Melbourne's greatest rival was South Melbourne. [2]
Since the AFL reserves competition merged with the Victorian Football League in 2000, Port Melbourne has been involved in two affiliations: with the Sydney Swans (2001–2002), and with the Kangaroos (2003–2005); since 2006, Port Melbourne has existed as a stand-alone VFL club. The club has fielded a team in the VFL Women's competition since 2021.
In under-age football, Port Melbourne has been affiliated with the Oakleigh Chargers NAB League team since the 1999 season, [5] and the Chargers adopted Port Melbourne's colours as part of the affiliation. Port Melbourne had previously been affiliated with the Geelong Falcons (1996–1998), [6] and in 1995 was part of a three-way affiliation which saw it share the Calder Cannons and Western Jets with Williamstown and Coburg. [7]
The club's onfield nickname is the Borough or Boroughs, one of the more unusual nicknames in the sport, coming from the club's location in what was once the Borough of Port Melbourne. The name stuck, even after the area was upgraded to the status of town in 1893, and eventually city in 1919. [8] [9]
The Port Melbourne Football Club's guernsey is royal blue with red vertical stripes.
The club song is sung to the tune of "You're a Grand Old Flag".
In 2011, Port Melbourne completed a perfect season, winning all eighteen home-and-away games, then three finals matches, culminating in a 56-point win against Williamstown in the Grand Final. [10] It was the first perfect season in the VFA/VFL first division since 1918. [11]
The Port Melbourne team of the century was selected in August 2003:
B: | Stan Plumridge | Joe Garbutt | Vic Aanensen |
HB: | David King | Bob Kelsey | Bob Withers |
C: | Bill Swan | Peter Bedford | Billy McGee |
HF: | Rob Freyer | Ted Freyer | Brian Walsh |
F: | Bob Bonnett | Fred Cook | Tommy Lahiff |
Foll: | Frank Johnson | Graeme Anderson | Bill Findlay |
Int: | David Holt | Reg Murray | Norm Goss Jr. |
Bill Bedford | Carl Bowen | Gary Brice | |
Coach: | Gary Brice |
Premierships | |||
Competition | Level | Wins | Years Won |
---|---|---|---|
Victorian Football League | Seniors | 17 | 1897, 1901, 1922, 1940, 1941, 1947, 1953, 1964, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 2011, 2017 |
VFL Women's | Seniors | 1 | 2023 |
VFA/VFL Reserves | Division 1 | 14 | 1944, 1949, 1951, 1959, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1980, 1996, 2004 |
VFA/VFL Thirds | Division 1 | 2 | 1952, 1993 |
Other titles and honours | |||
Centenary Cup | Seniors | 1 | 1977 |
Finishing positions | |||
Victorian Football League | Minor premiership | 20 | 1941, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1987, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2014 |
Grand Finalists | 21 | 1902, 1923, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1945, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1965, 1967, 1987, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012 | |
Wooden spoons | 3 | 1909, 1936, 2006 |
Placings (1945–64) | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 |
Placement | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
Placings (1965–84) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Year | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 |
Placement | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
Placings (1985-04) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Year | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
Placement | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Placings (2005–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Year | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Placement | 5 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
Port Melbourne have fielded a VFL Women's team since 2021, in affiliation with the Richmond Football Club. They have won one premiership as of 2024.
Port Melbourne VFLW honour roll | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Final position | Coach | Captain | Best and fairest | Leading goal kicker | |||
2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
2021 | 3rd | Lachlan Harris | Melissa Kuys | Claire Dyett | Emily Harley (14) | |||
2022 | 10th | Sean Buncle | Claire Dyett/Melissa Kuys | Kaitlyn O'Keefe | Sophie Locke (6) | |||
2023 | Premiers | Sean Buncle | Claire Dyett | Lauren Caruso | Emily Harley (9) | |||
2024 | TBC | Sean Buncle | Olivia Barton |
The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed the Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne. The club currently competes in the men's Victorian Football League and VFL Women's competitions.
The 1931 Victorian Football Association season was the 53rd season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Oakleigh Football Club, after it defeated Northcote by three points in the Grand Final on 26 September. It was the club's second VFA premiership, achieved in only its third season of senior competition, and it was Oakleigh's second premiership in a row.
The 1942 Victorian Football Association season was not played owing to World War II, which was at its peak at the time.
The 1944 Victorian Football Association season was not played owing to World War II, which was at its peak at the time. It was the last of three seasons which were cancelled during World War II.
The 1945 Victorian Football Association season was the 64th season of the Australian rules football competition, and it was the first season played since the Association went into recess during World War II. The premiership was won by the Williamstown Football Club, which defeated Port Melbourne by 37 points in the Grand Final on 6 October. It was the club's fourth VFA premiership.
The 1946 Victorian Football Association season was the 65th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Sandringham Football Club, which defeated Camberwell by seven points in the Grand Final on 5 October. It was the first premiership in the club's history.
The 1947 Victorian Football Association season was the 66th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, which defeated Sandringham by 31 points in the Grand Final on 4 October. It was the sixth premiership in the club's history.
The 1949 Victorian Football Association season was the 68th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Williamstown Football Club, which defeated Oakleigh by three points in the Grand Final on 1 October. It was the fifth premiership won by the club.
The 1951 Victorian Football Association season was the 70th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Prahran Football Club, after it defeated Port Melbourne by nine points in the Grand Final on 6 October. It was Prahran's second VFA premiership.
The 1953 Victorian Football Association season was the 72nd season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, after it defeated Yarraville by 60 points in the Grand Final on 3 October. It was Port Melbourne's seventh VFA premiership, and it was the only premiership that the club won during a sequence of eight consecutive Grand Finals played from 1950 until 1957, and five consecutive minor premierships won from 1951 until 1955.
The 1959 Victorian Football Association season was the 78th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Williamstown Football Club after it defeated Coburg in the Grand Final on 10 October by 35 points. It was Williamstown's tenth premiership, taking it past Footscray to become the club with the most premierships won in VFA history, a title it held until it was passed by Port Melbourne in 1976; it was also the fifth of five premierships won in six seasons between 1954 and 1959, and the club's fourth consecutive minor premiership.
The 1960 Victorian Football Association season was the 79th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Oakleigh Football Club, after it defeated Sandringham in the Grand Final on 1 October by 60 points. It was Oakleigh's fifth premiership.
The 1966 Victorian Football Association season was the 85th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the sixth season of its second division. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, after it defeated Waverley in the Grand Final on 25 September by 43 points; it was Port Melbourne's ninth premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by Prahran.
The 1970 Victorian Football Association season was the 89th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the tenth season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Prahran Football Club, marking the club's third Division 1 premiership; it defeated Williamstown, which qualified for the Grand Final in its first season after promotion to Division 1, on 20 September by 50 points. The Division 2 premiership was won by Coburg, in its second season since being relegated from Division 1.
The 1973 Victorian Football Association season was the 92nd season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 13th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Prahran Football Club, after it came from fourth on the ladder to defeat Oakleigh in the Grand Final on 23 September by 35 points; it was Prahran's fourth Division 1 premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by Caulfield; it was the first and only premiership in either division won by the club after its move from Brighton to Caulfield in 1962.
The 1979 Victorian Football Association season was the 98th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 19th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Coburg Football Club, after it defeated Geelong West in the Grand Final on 23 September by eight points; it was Coburg's fourth Division 1 premiership, and its first since 1928, ending a 51-year Division 1 premiership drought. The Division 2 premiership was won by Camberwell; it was the first premiership in either division ever won by the club since its admission to the Association in 1926, 53 years earlier.
The 1993 Victorian Football Association season was the 112th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Werribee Football Club, after it defeated Port Melbourne in the grand final on 19 September by 42 points; it was the first and, as of 2018, only premiership won by the club in either division.
The 1994 Victorian Football Association season was the 113th season of the Australian rules football competition; and, it was the final season contested under the administration of the Association as an independent body, before control of the competition was ceded to the Victorian State Football League at the end of the year. The premiership was won by the Sandringham Football Club, after it defeated Box Hill in the grand final on 25 September by nine points; it was the fifth premiership won by the club.
The Australian rules football schism (1938–1949) was a period of division in the rules and governance of Australian rules football, primarily in the sport's traditional heartland of Melbourne, and to lesser extents in North West Tasmania and parts of regional Victoria. The schism existed primarily between Melbourne's pre-eminent league, the Victorian Football League (VFL), and its secondary league, the Victorian Football Association (VFA). In the context of VFA history, this period is often referred to as the throw-pass era.