The history of the Geelong Football Club, began in 1859 in the city of Geelong, Australia, is significant as the club is the oldest AFL club, is believed to be the fourth oldest football club in Australia and one of the oldest in the world and one of the most successful.Official Website of the Geelong Football Club GFC History Retrieved on 10 June 2007. Initially playing under its own rules, some of which, notably, were permanently introduced into Australian Football. It adopted the Laws of Australian Football in the early 1860s after a series of compromises with the Melbourne Football Club.
Geelong went on to play for most of its existence in the premier competitions, the first competition, the Caledonian Society Cup, a foundation club of both the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877 and the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1897.,Rodgers, Stephen (1983) Every Game Ever Played p. i. Melbourne: Lloyd O'Neil VFL and continues in the elite Australian Football League (AFL). The Cats have been the VFL/AFL premiers ten times, with four in the AFL era (since 1990). They have also won ten McClelland Trophies, the most of any AFL/VFL club.AFL Tables Finishing Summary 1897–2006.
With four premierships since the league changed its name to the AFL in 1990, Geelong is the second most successful team since that time.
Many of the club's official records before 1920 have disappeared.
Origins Records of football matches in Geelong date to 1858. The Geelong Advertiser appears to indicate that Geelong had Saturday football teams regularly "hacked shins" in March 1859. In April 1859 local teetotaler Mr. William "Stitt" Jenkins (of Liverpool, England and Melbourne) who had been working in Geelong from 1853 educating local youths made repeated calls to form an athletic club to play football on Saturday afternoons in April and May of that year. The formation of the Melbourne Football Club in May 1859 appears to have spurred the Pivotonians to incorporate a club of their own.
The Geelong Football Club was formally established at a meeting held in the Victoria Hotel on 18 July 1859.
Historian Graeme Atkinson considers it likely that Geelong's rules were drawn up prior to the establishment of both Geelong and Melbourne Football Club's and that club's rules being drafted on 17 May 1859.Graeme Atkinson, 1981, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Australian Rules Football but Couldn't be Bothered Asking", Five Mile Press Rules allegedly used by the Geelong Football Club in 1859 were originally written down by hand. A reprint of what were believed in 1923 to have been the Geelong's eleven 1859 rules appeared in the Geelong Advertiser courtesy of Fred Blackham from an old folded card. These reprinted rules, which appeared to differ only slightly from Melbourne Football Club's rules, notably do not mention a requirement to bounce the ball which was to feature early in Geelong's rules, however the scrimmage rule showed more influence of rugby football than Melbourne's rules.
The club contested its first interclub match against Melbourne at Argyle Square in 1860, which finished as a scoreless draw. The two clubs fostered a strong early rivalry. Mangan (1992) states that Geelong introduced the running bounce due to an ongoing dispute between the two clubs which came to a head during a match in 1862. Melbourne members familiar with the rugby rules were regularly flaunting their own rules of not running with the ball (particularly H. C. A. Harrison but also Tom Wills) carrying it great distances while not being penalised by the umpires. The rules at the time were written in such a way as it could be interpreted by the umpire that the players were allowed sufficient time (to continue to run) for as long as they needed to prepare an effective kick, that is, virtually indefinitely. Geelong officials asserted that the game was "not meant to be played like rugby", began to enforce its rule of bouncing the ball at a certain distance (the exact distance is unknown) while carrying it for matches between the two clubs. This rule was later standardised in Victoria in 1866.
1860s: Regular competition In 1863, Geelong travelled to Melbourne to contest the Caledonian Challenge Cup. Although the competition was played under compromised rules, Geelong reached the final and defeated Melbourne to become the second winners of the cup, before defeating two challengers to win the cup permanently in 1864.
Tom Wills, one of the founders of Australian football, played exclusively for Geelong from 1865 until his retirement from football in 1874. As Geelong's captain, he pioneered the Australian football tactic of flooding.
Geelong played most of its early home games at the Argyle Square, situated between Aberdeen Street and Pakington Street. However, in 1881 the club was evicted from the ground by the private owner who ploughed up the paddock because the club had neglected to pay its rent.THE CLUBS. The Complete History of Every Club in the VFL/AFL; Garrie Hutchinson, John Ross, et al.; 1988, Viking, Melbourne. Page 190
VFA success (1877–96)
Following the formation of the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877, Geelong joined the association as one of its foundation clubs. The club relocated to Corio Oval as its main home ground in time for the 1878 season, coinciding with the club's first VFA premiership in the VFA's second season. The club continued to excel over the following twenty years in the VFA, and established itself as one of the dominant clubs in the association by winning a total of seven premierships up to the birth of the (Victorian Football League) (VFL) in 1897.
In 1884, the club merged with the Geelong Cricket Club to form the Geelong Cricket and Football Club. This affiliation would continue until the 1950s.
Geelong was the only non-Melbourne-based team to regularly play matches against metropolitan teams. Notable was Geelong's success in the "Match of the Century" in 1886. This late season match in the VFA between two previously undefeated teams, Geelong and South Melbourne, stimulated unprecedented public interest. It was alleged that saboteurs attempted to destroy one of the special trains carrying Geelong supporters to the match in South Melbourne. Following the victory team was an impromptu public parade in South Melbourne.
Dawn of the VFL era (1897–1924)
Geelong helped form the new VFL with other foundation clubs, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda.
For many years the Geelong Football Club were known as the Pivotonians, after the city's nickname 'The Pivot'. Seagulls was also an earlier nickname. The dark blue and white hooped uniform still worn today represents the blue water of Corio Bay and the white seagulls so numerous in the Bay. Geelong was nicknamed the 'Cats' in 1923 after a run of losses prompted a local cartoonist to suggest that the club needed a black cat to bring it good luck.
Despite dominating in the VFA, Geelong found the premiership harder to win in the VFL. Geelong performed poorly early on in the 1923 season. In the lead-up to the club's Round 9 clash against favourites Carlton, the Herald Sun published a depiction of the match by cartoonist Sam Wells, featuring a black cat wandering onto the field to give Geelong good luck. Credit was given to the cat when Geelong recorded an upset win. Geelong captain Bert Rankin liked the analogy and suggested the club adopt "the Cats" nickname, even recruiting key position forward Lloyd Hagger, a talented artist, to design a cat that was made into badges for the players to wear on their lapels. Geelong have been known as the 'Cats' ever since.
In 1924, following the death of VFL and Geelong administrator Charles Brownlow, the league named its award for the best and fairest player in a season the Brownlow Medal. The first player to win the award was Geelong's Edward Greeves. Having been one of the dominant clubs in the old VFA, Geelong struggled to maintain the same level of success during its early years in the VFL.
Grand Final success (1925–1937)
It wasn't until 1925 that the club won its first VFL premiership. Geelong followed up with further premiership wins in 1931 and 1937. The 1937 Grand Final is widely regarded as a game of the highest quality, remembered for its long and accurate kicking and high marking. During this era the "Coulter Law" discouraged club administrators from poaching players from each other's clubs. For many footballers who were seldom more than semi-professional sportsmen, match payments supplemented Great Depression-hit wages.
The impact of World War II (1938–1948)
In 1941, the club was forced to relocate from its Corio Oval base due to the oval being required for military training during World War II. During this time, the club decided to set base at the more centrally located Kardinia Park in South Geelong. Geelong experienced a notably lean period during the 1940s, as World War II wartime restrictions prohibited traveling. As a result, players transferred over to other clubs and forced Geelong into recess during 1942 and 1943.
Return to glory (1949–1959) + 1951 VFL Grand Final G B Total Geelong 11 15 81 10 10 70 Venue (attendance) Melbourne Cricket Ground (84,109)
In 1949, the club's former premiership captain Reg Hickey was appointed as coach for the third time. Despite missing the finals during this first season back with the club, Hickey led Geelong to two consecutive premierships in 1951 and 1952—to date, the only back-to-back premierships in the club's history. Bernie Smith became the club's second Brownlow Medalist in 1951, a year during which the club also signed the Ford Motor Company as a corporate sponsor.
Geelong won the 1951 Premiership under memorable circumstances. Essendon was favoured to win the third of a hat-trick of premierships. However, in the final round of the home and away season Essendon's champion full forward, John Coleman retaliated against Carlton full back, Harry Caspar and was reported and later suspended for four weeks. He therefore was unable to play in the grand final. Bob Davis acknowledges the possibility that had Coleman played, Essendon may well have won, given that Geelong had no true match for him, as Coleman was simply too skilled.
+ 1952 VFL Grand Final G B Total Geelong 13 8 86 5 10 40 Venue (attendance) Melbourne Cricket Ground (82,890)
To celebrate its good fortune, Geelong buried a toy bomber in the Kardinia Park turf. This comical ceremony was inspired by the rumour that Geelong's premiership players of 1937 had buried a magpie in the middle of the ground after their premiership win over Collingwood that year. Players of note in this golden era include Bob Davis, Leo Turner (father of future star, Michael Turner), Peter Pianto, Fred Flanagan, and Bernie Smith. Bernie Smith's quality was recognised with his win in the 1951 Brownlow Medal. In 1952, Geelong easily defeated Lou Richards' Collingwood team. To celebrate the win, the next day the players buried another dead magpie in the middle of Kardinia Park. In 1953, Collingwood defeated Geelong in the Grand Final.
In 1956, Geelong recruited Billy Goggin, Geelong's greatest rover, who also coached Geelong in the 1980s.
Following the conclusion of the 1959 season, Hickey retired as coach and was succeeded by Bob Davis, a dual premiership player from the club's successful 1951 and 1952 period.
Rebuilding and modest success (1960–1970) Before the 1962 season, Davis helped Geelong recruit ruckman Graham "Polly" Farmer from East Perth to partner Billy Goggin and Alistair Lord in the midfield. Despite Lord winning the Brownlow Medal and full forward Doug Wade winning the Coleman Medal, Farmer missed multiple games through injury and the club were eliminated in the Preliminary Final. However, the club won their sixth premiership of the VFL era the following season in 1963.