Preston Districts Football Club

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Preston Districts Football Club
Names
Full namePreston Districts Football Club
Former name(s)Preston Presbyterian Football Club (1905−1907)
Former nickname(s)Presbys
Club details
Founded1905;119 years ago (1905)
Dissolved1915;109 years ago (1915)
Colours  Red   White
Ground(s) Preston Park
Preston North
Uniforms
Kit body whitecollar.png
Kit body sleeveless.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
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The Preston Districts Football Club, also known as the Preston District Football Club, was an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston. The club was formed in 1905 and competed in the Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA) from 1907 until amalgamating with the Preston Football Club in 1915.

Contents

Preston, now known as the Northern Bullants, competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL) to this day, wearing the red and white colours of Preston District.

History

Early years

Preston Districts was formed in 1905 as the Preston Presbyterian Football Club, nicknamed the Presbys. The club was linked to St. David's Presbyterian Church in David St, Preston. [1]

The club played in the Metropolitan Churches Football Association (MCFA) and was successful both on and off the field, finishing fourth in their debut 1905 season and attracting over 600 people to their first annual meeting. [1]

However, at some point during or after the 1906 season, the club was expelled from the MCFA for unknown reasons. [2] [3]

VJFA

In April 1907, the club changed its name to Preston Districts and entered the Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA). The club became the reserves team for the Preston Football Club, a former VJFA club which had been competing in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) since 1903. [1]

Preston Districts immediately struggled in the VJFA, which was unsurprising as they were relying on fringe players from Preston's senior side, which was itself struggling in the VFA. [1] The club also had a "somewhat dubious reputation", and it was reported that they had gone "within an ace" of being banned from the VJFA in 1907. [3]

The clubs shared tenancy of Preston Park, although the reserves also played matches at a ground called "Preston North". [1] In 1908, the usually amiable relationship between the two clubs deteriorated rapidly, as Preston District sought senior tenancy of Preston Park. [3] The dispute attracted several letters to the Preston Leader , and the status quo eventually remained. [3]

Amalgamation with Preston

Following the conclusion of the 1911 VFA season, in which they finished last with only a single win, Preston entered into a merger with the Northcote Football Club. Northcote became known as the Northcote and Preston Football Club (or simply Northcote-Preston) for the next few years, but it played its games in Northcote, retained Northcote's colours, its team in the VFA continued to be known as Northcote, and the merged entity was considered a continuation of the Northcote Football Club. [4]

Officials from encouraged their players to move, but diverted all the club's trophies and assets to Preston District. The effective takeover left Preston Districts without a reserves alignment to a VFA team (which was required under VJFA rules), and Preston Districts was forced to align with the Essendon Association Football Club. [3] Both clubs retained their name, colours and home ground, although the VJFA dropped the requirement for a reserves alignment in 1913. [3]

Up until 1915, the Preston Districts name had been retained, but the name changed to Preston prior to the start of the 1916 season, something that Preston officials may have always intended in 1912. [3] This effectively meant Preston Districts ceased to exist, replaced by Preston. [1]

VFA return

Preston competed in the VJFA until it was admitted into the VFA for the 1926 season. Despite the official merger with Northcote, which saw Preston cease to exist de jure at the time, the Preston club admitted to the VFA in 1926 was considered a de facto continuation of the previous club. [3]

Seasons

PremiersGrand FinalistMinor premiersFinals appearanceWooden spoon

No coaches, best-and-fairest winners or leading goalkickers for Preston Districts are known. [5]

The 1912 to 1915 seasons overlap with the season records for Preston. [3]

YearLeagueFinishWLDPresidentSecretaryTreasurerCaptainRef
1905 MCFA 4th [2]
1906 MCFA
1907 VJFA 8th5130 [6]
1908 VJFA 9th5130 [7]
1909 VJFA 7th6120 [8]
1910 VJFA
1911 VJFA 9th3150 [9]
1912 VJFA Ralph HuttonJ. DonathGeorgie HendrieGeorge La Franchi
1913 VJFA 5th890J. WilliamsF. PaarmanF. PaarmanGeorge La Franchi [10]
1914 VJFA 6th4101J. R. MillsGeorge M. EatonGeorge M. EatonGeorge La Franchi [11]
1915 VJFA 7th6120J. R. MillsGeorge M. EatonGeorge M. EatonBill Punch [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Preston Districts Football Club". Darebin Libraries. City of Darebin. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Preston Juniors Football Club / Preston District Football Club / Preston Presbyterian Football Club (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Membrey, Brian (28 June 2004). "Where We Come From – A History of the Preston Football Club, 1882 to 2002". GameDay. Archived from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "Football". Weekly Times. Melbourne, VIC. 20 April 1912. p. 22.
  5. ↑ "PRESTON FOOTBALL CLUB". GameDay. Northern Bullants. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "THE FOOTBALL SEASON". Trove. Standard. 28 September 1907. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "The Junior Premiership". Trove. Leader. 12 September 1908. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  8. ↑ "VICTORIAN JUNIOR ASSOCIATION". Trove. The Argus. 6 September 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  9. ↑ "VICTORIAN JUNIOR ASSOCIATION". Trove. The Age. 4 September 1911. p. 13. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  10. ↑ "VICTORIAN JUNIOR ASSOCIATION". Trove. The Argus. 18 August 1913. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "VICTORIAN JUNIOR ASSOCIATION". The Argus. 3 August 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "Footscray wins final". Winner. 22 September 1915. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
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