Geelong Football Club
Encyclopedia
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football
club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League
(AFL). The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers
nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also won nine McClelland Trophies
, a record it shares with Essendon
. Geelong is the most successful club since the AFL began in 1990, with three premierships and seven grand final appearances.
Formed in 1859, Geelong is the second oldest club in the AFL after Melbourne
and one of the oldest football club
s in the world. Along with its AFL team, the club also fields a stand-alone team in the Victoria Football league (VFL).
The club participated in the first football competition in Australia, winning the second season in 1863, was a foundation Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League
(VFL) in 1897.
An early VFL powerhouse with six premierships up to 1963, Geelong developed a reputation as an under-achieving club. Despite playing in five losing Grand Finals
, four between 1989–1995, its fans waited 44 years until it won another premiership—an AFL-record 119-point victory in the 2007 AFL Grand Final
. Despite recording the most successful home and away season in the game's history, the club went one win short of back-to-back premierships in losing the 2008 AFL Grand Final
, but won the 2009 Grand Final
against St Kilda.
Geelong holds a number of league records including the longest winning streak in AFL/VFL history (23 games); the highest score recorded in a single game (37.17 (239) against Brisbane in 1992); the highest-ever aggregate season total for points scored (3,334 points in 1992); the record for restricting an opponent to the lowest ever score in a game (St Kilda 0.1 (1) in 1899); the most consecutive 100-point victories (3 games in a row, in 1989); the longest winning streak in interstate games (12 games) and achieved the longest home ground winning streak in VFL/AFL history—29 games straight at Simonds Stadium (also known as Kardinia Park). It is the only team to have had nine players selected in a single All-Australian team (2007). In 2009, Geelong became the only club to win more than 18 games in three successive seasons (2007–2009). They are also the only club in the league to have never finished lower than 12th position (which has only been possible since the league's expansion in 1987).
The club's home is the 31,000-seat football stadium Kardinia Park (currently also known by its sponsorship name as "Skilled Stadium"). However the club also hosts home matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
and Docklands Stadium (currently also known by its sponsorship name as "Etihad Stadium"). The club's traditional guernsey
colours are white guernseys with navy blue hoops, white shorts and navy and white hooped socks and the team song is "We Are Geelong". The club's nickname, the "Cats", was first used 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.
The Geelong Football Club was formally established at a meeting held in the Victoria Hotel on 18 July 1859. It is the third oldest Australian Rules football club (after the Melbourne Football Club
and the Castlemaine Football Club
). The club is one of the oldest football clubs in the world, however many of its official records before 1920 have disappeared.
Geelong travelled to Melbourne to become the second winner of the Caledonian Challenge Cup in 1863, played under compromise rules. The club contested the final in 1867 and 1869.
Geelong played most of its early home games at the Argyle Square, situated between Aberdeen Street and Pakington Street. However, in 1878 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.
for the 1878 season – the year the club won its first VFA premiership in only the second VFA season.
The Geelong Football Club was among the most powerful in the VFA (Victorian Football Association), winning seven VFA premierships up to the birth of the VFL (Victorian Football League
) in 1897. Geelong was the only non-Melbourne-based team at a time when a trip from Geelong to Melbourne involved quite an arduous journey. Notable was Geelong's success in "The Match of the Century" in 1886. This first grand final 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. The victorious Geelong team were treated to an impromptu public parade in the enemy territory of South Melbourne.
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. Soon after, during a match a black cat ventured on to the ground. Geelong won that match, breaking the losing streak. It was decided that cats were indeed good luck . Geelong has ever since been known as the Cats.
Despite dominating in the VFA, Geelong found the premiership harder to win in the VFL. In 1897, the inaugural season of the VFL, no grand final was played, but instead a round-robin finals system. Essendon won all three of its games, while Geelong lost to Essendon during this series. As a result, Geelong finished second in the inaugural season, a good start to the new league.
Geelong finally won its first VFL premiership in 1925, being the first club outside of Melbourne to achieve this.
The VFL/AFL's award for the fairest and best player in a season is named after Charles Brownlow
, a Geelong and VFL administrator who died in early 1924. Fittingly, in 1924, the first player to win the award was Geelong's champion, Edward Greeves
. Greeves attained a second and third place in votes for the award in later seasons, emphasizing his skill and sportsmanship.
-hit wages.
to the more centrally located Kardinia Park in South Geelong
. Geelong experienced a lean period in the 1940s. World War II wartime restrictions prohibited travel in 1942 and 1943 even for the purposes of playing football. Geelong had always been particularly subject to what Geoffrey Blainey
, a notable Australian historian, author of A Game of Our Own, and Geelong supporter, termed the "tyranny of distance". Despite these handicaps, at war's end the club recruited many players who represented the club during its most successful era in the early 1950s.
, Geelong won two consecutive premiership flags of 1951 and 1952. In 1951 the Ford Motor Company
signed on as a corporate sponsor of the Geelong Football Club. This relationship has persisted to the present day.
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.
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.
At the end of 1959, Reg Hickey
decided to retire as coach, making way for Bob Davis, a star in the 51–52 Premierships.
from East Perth. At Geelong's first practice match, a crowd of 20,000 attended just to witness his legendary skills.
In 1962, another of Geelong's star players, Alistair Lord
won the Brownlow Medal playing in the centre. His twin, Stewart Lord
also played with the club and has been credited as the main reason his brother won the award given their similarities in appearance, both played significant roles in the club's premiership win. High expectations of success were somewhat disappointed in 1962. Graham Farmer
injured his knee three times during the season, causing him to miss crucial games. However, as Farmer's and Goggin's partnership developed from 1963 onwards, their teamwork at ruck duels inspired admiration and envy. These two players spearheaded the club's next premiership in 1963.
In 1963, Geelong played Hawthorn four times. Early in the season the clubs played a draw. However, in the final round of the season, the semi finals and the grand final (the only instance of a team playing three matches in a row against one other team – Hawthorn does not have that claim as it played Melbourne in the intervening Preliminary Final), Geelong defeated John Kennedy's Hawthorn (the Hawks). Captained by Fred Wooller
, Geelong clearly distinguished itself as the team of 1963 with an easy 49 point win. A dead hawk joined two magpies and a toy bomber under the Kardinia Park turf.
Frustratingly for supporters of the Club, 1963 was the last time that Geelong enjoyed premiership success until 2007.
At the beginning of 1964, Geelong recruited John "Sammy" Newman
as a ruckman from Geelong Grammar School
. In an interview with Lou Richards on Channel 7's World of Sport
, Bob Davis predicted that Newman would enjoy a stellar career. Sam Newman
played 300 games for Geelong and went on to become a prominent, if controversial, media personality.
Geelong played in finals in every year between 1962 and 1969. Graham Farmer succeeded Fred Wooller as captain in 1965, leading the club until the end of 1967. In 1966, the Geelong Board decided to declare the coaching position open. Applications were sought but Bob Davis declined to reapply. The Board chose Peter Pianto as Davis' replacement. Pianto coached Geelong to the 1967 Grand Final. Geelong narrowly lost this match by nine points to Richmond. Graham Farmer played his 101st and final match for Geelong on this day.
, Richmond
, Hawthorn and North Melbourne
. Unlike these clubs, Geelong recruited poorly and/or could not afford to recruit quality footballers. During the 1970s footballers increasingly came to view the game as a profession rather than a pastime. Richer and more entrepreneurial clubs outbidded clubs like Geelong for talented and dedicated players. Coaches Graham Farmer and Rodney Olsson
failed to develop successful teams. Geelong finished fourth in the 1976 season. The club won its only final of the 1970s by defeating fifth-placed Footscray. Geelong lost to North Melbourne in the second week of the finals. In 1978 Geelong finished fifth, only to lose to Carlton in the first week of the finals. One of the few noteworthy players was Larry Donohue
, who in 1976 kicked over 100 goals to lead the VFL goal kicking. 1978 yielded him 95 goals.
In 1980, coached by Billy Goggin, Geelong finished on top of the ladder at the home and away season. Geelong defeated Richmond once during the season but could not do it again in the first week of the finals. Geelong played Collingwood in the Preliminary Final for the right to play Richmond in the Grand Final and lost the match.
In 1981 Geelong's finals campaign inflicted more heartbreak. Geelong beat Collingwood in the Qualifying Final but lost to Carlton in the Second Semi-Final. Geelong were beaten by Collingwood by the narrow margin of seven points when they clashed again in the Preliminary Final.
In 1982 the club collapsed on-field, missing the finals. The board sacked Billy Goggin. Richmond premiership coach Tom Hafey
took over in 1983. However, the club did not improve under Hafey. Geelong failed to play in the finals during Hafey's tenure. One bright moment during the Hafey years was the recruitment of former Hawthorn player Gary Ablett from Myrtleford for the 1984 season. In his first season, Ablett won his only Best and Fairest for the club, an early indication of Ablett's football genius.
The most notable incident for the club in 1985 was when Hawthorn legend Leigh Matthews
swung his arm at ruck-rover Neville Bruns
' jaw and broke it. The incident received huge media coverage. Matthews was charged by police. Although the law courts did not punish Matthews, the VFL suspended his playing permit for one month.
The club also recruited future champion midfielder and dual Brownlow Medallist, Greg Williams and another future Brownlow Medallist and three-time club champion, Paul Couch
. Due to a lack of on-field improvement during his tenure as coach, Tom Hafey was sacked at the end of the 1985 season. Hafey was soon afterwards appointed coach of the Sydney Swans
. Three players followed him to Sydney: David Bolton
, Bernard Toohey
, and Greg Williams. Williams' decision was to prove a wise one, netting him two Brownlow Medals (while at Sydney and then Carlton), a Premiership Medallion (with Carlton) and a Norm Smith Medal (with Carlton).
In 1986, John Devine
, a member of the 1963 Premiership team, was appointed as coach. Under Devine, the club recruited Barry Stoneham
, Garry Hocking
, Mark Bairstow
and Billy Brownless
. Geelong's recruiters demonstrated that they had adapted to the new system of the player salary cap introduced in 1985 and the AFL Draft
introduced in 1986. However, the club missed the finals during Devine's tenure. In 1986, as a sign of things to come, Paul Couch
won the first of his three club best-and-fairest awards. In 1987 Geelong missed the finals.
In the pre-season of 1988, in a foretaste of approaching frustrations, Geelong contested with Hawthorn for the pre-season cup, the National-Panasonic Cup
. Geelong lost by two points despite being in control for much of the match. Geelong underperformed in the main competition, finishing tenth. The board sacked John Devine as coach.
In 1989 Geelong signed North Melbourne champion Malcolm Blight
to coach the club. Blight's new approach had mixed results. Geelong once again contested the National-Panasonic pre-season grand final, this time against Melbourne. Once again the Cats lost.
Adapting quickly to Blight's coaching philosophy, Geelong kicked high scores. During the 1989 season, Geelong were the only club to win by 100 points for three weeks in a row, defeating lowly clubs Richmond, St Kilda and the Brisbane Bears
. Gavin Exell
had a productive season, kicking 61 goals during the home-and-away season, narrowly pipping team-mate Gary Ablett, who kicked 60.
Ablett's notable goalkicking feats of the year included 14 goals against Richmond, 10 against Brisbane and seven against Collingwood (where he gained 38 possessions on the wing in the wet). In this match against Collingwood, Gary Ablett also kicked the Goal of the Year
.
Geelong finished third at the completion of the home-and-away season and met Essendon in the qualifying finals in the first week. Geelong's lack of finals experience was telling as Essendon ended a three year losing streak to Geelong, thrashing them by 76 points. Gary Ablett and Shane Hamilton
each kicked three goals.
Geelong then met Melbourne in the semifinals. The previous week, Essendon had assigned "taggers" to Geelong's midfielders, Paul Couch
and Mark Bairstow
. This move worked to great effect, nullifying both. Melbourne coach John Northey
did the same. However, his move was considered so predictable by Malcolm Blight
that he benched both Couch and Bairstow for the first quarter, throwing Melbourne's plans into disarray. The result saw Geelong easily defeat Melbourne by over 10 goals. Gary Ablett kicked seven goals as well as taking one of the marks of the year over Melbourne's Steven Febey
.
The preliminary finals saw a rematch between Geelong and Essendon at VFL Park. Early on, it appeared that Essendon would repeat their win of two weeks prior. However, Geelong soon got back on track and began to kick goals. Gary Ablett continued his good form, kicking eight goals and constructing many more. The result saw Geelong cause a 170 point turnaround from a fortnight before, to comprehensively defeat Essendon by 94 points, to go into the club's first grand final since 1967.
The grand final proved to be an epic battle. At the opening bounce, Mark Yeates
, retaliating to an incident caused by Dermott Brereton
in Round 6, bumped Brereton to try and take the match winner out of the game, breaking Brereton's ribs. During this period, Ablett had managed to mark and kick the opening goal of the match. Brereton was ordered off the ground, but refused and instead rested in the pocket. Brereton took a mark shortly after and goaled, leading Hawthorn to a 40 point quarter-time lead. Hawthorn coach Alan Jeans commented at the time that Brereton's courage was "inspirational".
Geelong won the second quarter by two points and the third quarter by one point. The final quarter proved frantic, as Geelong managed to get within six points of the tiring and wounded Hawks, before the siren sounded. Gary Ablett was awarded the Norm Smith Medal
for a best on ground performance in kicking nine goals and one behind to equal Collingwood's Gordon Coventry
’s goalkicking record in a grand final. His second quarter goal and third quarter marks were two of his notable highlights of the day.
To cap a remarkable season, Paul Couch
won the Brownlow Medal
by two votes from Hawthorn's John Platten
.
Geelong failed in 1990 to reproduce the exciting brand of attacking football of 1989.
Season 1991 started ominously. On the eve of the season, Gary Ablett retired for odd reasons. Nevertheless, Geelong won some games. Ablett returned mid-season to the club. The club finished third at the end of the home and away season. The final against 4th placed St Kilda was a memorable one. Tony Lockett
kicked his nine goals for St Kilda by three-quarter time. Billy Brownless, kicked eight goals. The Cats managed to win by seven points. Ablett was suspended for elbowing St Kilda's Nathan Burke
, and missed the rest of the season due to suspension.
Over the next two weeks, Geelong met Hawthorn and the West Coast Eagles
, both losses for the club. Consistent with the close finish of 1989, Hawthorn won the match by two points. The loss against the Eagles was by fifteen points.
In 1992 Geelong returned to the spectacular form of three seasons previous. Against the Brisbane Bears
at Carrara
the club kicked a VFL/AFL record score of 37 goals 17 behinds (239 points). This record score still stands. Gary Ablett Sr. and Billy Brownless both kicked more than 70 goals for the season to form a potent forward-line combination. Geelong finished the regular season on top of the ladder, eclipsing their previous record for total points scored in a home-and-away season (2916 in 1989) and increased it to 3057 points.
After beating Footscray
in the qualifying final by 61 points, Geelong lost the 2nd semi final to West Coast Eagles
by 38 points, then beat Footscray again in the preliminary final by 64 points. The Cats again squared off against the power of the West Coast Eagles
in the Grand Final and got off to a wonderful start, at one stage during the second quarter leading by four goals. However, in the second half West Coast's Peter Matera ran riot, booting five goals and earning himself the Norm Smith Medal
as best on ground. The Perth-based West Coast won by 28 points to take the first premiership won by a non-Victorian club.
In 1993 the Geelong once again underachieved as Malcolm Blight experimented with more defensive tactics. For most of the season on-field performances were lacklustre as the players struggled to adapt. It was not until late in the season when Geelong reverted to its all-out attacking style of play. Several experienced players urged Blight to revert to Geelong's customary geisha style of play. Blight agreed and Geelong began to play like champions again. Frustratingly, Geelong narrowly missed the finals on percentage.
In 1993 Blight decided to play Gary Ablett at Full Forward permanently. The move paid handsome dividends, as Ablett reached the second fastest century in VFL/AFL history. Ablett's most notable performances of this year included 11 goals against Melbourne, 14 against Essendon and 10 against the Adelaide Crows – all in losing sides. Tallies of 10 goal against North Melbourne, and 12 against his favourite victim, Richmond, in winning sides.
1994 proved to be a hard year for the club. The club had a good home-and-away season to finish fourth. Gary Ablett topped the goalkicking for the year easily, kicking 129 goals (including the finals) and winning his second consecutive John Coleman Medal.
The club met fifth placed Footscray in the first week of the finals. The match proved a nailbiter, with an after-the-siren kick and goal by Billy Brownless giving the club a five-point win.
A week later Geelong had no hope of beating Carlton
, who had finished 2nd after the home and away season, given that their three best midfielders; Garry Hocking
, Paul Couch
and Mark Bairstow
were not playing through injury. However, with several young players and second-tier midfielders, along with six goals from Gary Ablett, Geelong defeated Carlton by 33 points.
Geelong met North Melbourne in the Preliminary Final in a match which proved even more nailbiting than their match with Footscray 2 weeks prior. North Melbourne started well, but Geelong dominated the second and third quarters to lead by six goals in the third quarter. A fine feat given that Geelong's target all season, Gary Ablett was being beaten by North Melbourne's full back, Mick Martyn. However, North Melbourne came back strongly in the last quarter and took the lead late in the match. However, Geelong scored a behind to level the scores. With 25 seconds left and a boundary throw-in, the ball came to ground and Martyn cleared, only for the ball to be marked by Leigh Colbert
. Colbert then kicked long, where ruckman John Barnes
dropped the mark, allowing Leigh Tudor
, a former North Melbourne player to swoop, and kick the ball over Martyn's head to land in the hand of Gary Ablett. As Ablett walked back to take his kick, the siren went, and Ablett kicked the winning goal, propelling Geelong to its third Grand Final in seven years.
Geelong once again played West Coast for the premiership. Unlike two seasons ago, Geelong proved no match against an Eagles outfit superior to its 1992 premiership team, losing by 80 points. Billy Brownless stood out with a fantastic mark in the second quarter, as well as four goals.
Malcolm Blight
, dispirited by three Grand Final losses under his tenure, announced his resignation. His assistant Gary Ayres
took over the job. Ayres immediately took action, sacking both Steven Hocking
(on 199 games) and former captain Mark Bairstow
. 1994 saw another best-and-fairest win to Garry Hocking, who also won 20 votes in the Brownlow Medal to finish third to eventual winner Greg Williams on 30 votes and Peter Matera on 28 votes.
1995 saw the club improve. The club was highly consistent, its biggest losing margin being less than 20 points, and never losing two matches in a row – the only club to do so for the year. The club finished second on the ladder to Carlton. Gary Ablett once again won the Coleman Medal
and kicked over 100 goals for the third year in a row.
In the finals the club met 7th placed Footscray and won by 82 points. The club earned a week break and returned for the third weeks clash against Richmond, and won by 78 points and so for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time in seven years, Geelong played for the premiership, this time against Carlton, who had only lost two games for the year.
The match was hard to tip, as many saw Geelong a definite chance given that the two sides met once during the year, which saw Carlton win by three points. Geelong was thrashed by 61 points, playing its worst game for the entire season. Gary Ablett played his worst game for years, blanketed by Carlton's Stephen Silvagni
. To add insult to injury, former Geelong player Greg Williams, now a superstar at Carlton, was named best on ground with his five goals.
A notable rookie of this year would be Brenton Sanderson
, who would play over 200 games by the end of career, retiring at the end of 2005, and be recognised with selection into the Geelong Hall of Fame. The Best and Fairest was won by Paul Couch
, who narrowly missed out on winning his second Brownlow Medal
.
In 1996 the club would experience an unsuccessful year, finishing seventh at the end of the home and away season. Gary Ablett would be suspended for four weeks after round 2, which resulted in a rapid decline in his quality. He would kick his 1000th career goal against Fremantle.
The cats would meet eventual premier, North Melbourne in the first week of the finals, which saw North win by over 10 goals. Garry Hocking
would once again win the Best and Fairest award, and miss out on the Brownlow Medal by a vote in the process. A notable recruit would be Steven King
, standing at over two metres tall.
In 1997 Geelong faced a season with no dependence on ageing superstars, Paul Couch
and Gary Ablett. By mid season, Couch would retire on 259 games. Gary Ablett would not play a senior game ever again for the club after injuring his knee in the reserves. The club would start the season well, challenging Carlton to the 1997 Pre-season Premiership, the Ansett Australia Cup. However, identically to 1995, Geelong capitulated, allowing Carlton another piece of silverware.
The club finished second on the ladder. The club met North Melbourne in a "home" final at the MCG at Night. North Melbourne, on its actual home ground beat Geelong by 18 points. Geelong then travelled to Adelaide and lost the game by eight points after the umpire failed to pay a courageous Leigh Colbert mark late in the game with Geelong narrowly hanging on to a lead, exiting by losing both finals.
1998 was a season best forgotten. The club finished 12th, its lowest finish for over 40 years. A notable recruit for Geelong came in the form of Matthew Scarlett
, son of former player, John. Geelong took full advantage of the Father-Son Rule
. This concession allowed sons of ex-players to nominate for their fathers' clubs, thus exempting them from being chosen by any other club in the national draft.
In 1999 the club won five games straight to open the season. However, the club then lost its next 9 to finish the season with 10 wins and tenth position.
The roller-coaster season saw coach Gary Ayres
quit to take the job at Adelaide, which ironically was available after Malcolm Blight
quit, almost identical to when Ayres took over Geelong in 1995. Mark Thompson was appointed coach. At the end of this season, Geelong traded Leigh Colbert
for North Melbourne premiership player, Cameron Mooney
.
announced his retirement after this game, ending a career spanning over 240 games.
, Jimmy Bartel
, James Kelly and Joel Corey
were notable recruits. Veteran Brenton Sanderson
won the Best and Fairest in 2001, Steven King
in 2002 (who was in that year appointed club captain) and Matthew Scarlett
in 2003.
(known as the Wizard Home Loans Cup), where they met St Kilda in the grand final. Geelong led for much of the match, but St Kilda finished strongly to win by 22 points. The season proved fruitful as the club finished fourth at the end of the home and away season. The club met eventual premier, Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium
/Football Park in Adelaide
, historically Geelong's worst ground in terms of wins. Port reaffirmed their superiority at the venue to win by 55 points.
Geelong soldiered on however and met Essendon at the MCG
, winning by ten points despite leading by over six goals at three quarter time. Geelong then met Brisbane
, the premiers of 2001–2003. The Cats dominated the first half but it was clear the club lacked a target up forward. In the second half, Brisbane took control and steadied enough to win by a small margin of nine points. Post season, Geelong signed Nathan Ablett
to play AFL football for Geelong. Another major signing was disgruntled Richmond big-man Brad Ottens
, recruited to counter Geelong's lack of forward line height. Cameron Ling
capped off a fine season by winning his first Best and Fairest after finishing runner up in the previous two counts.
's attempted kick of the ball in mid air, accidentally making contact with Melbourne ruckman Jeff White
, smashing his face, which required surgery.
The next week the club met Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground
(SCG) where the Cats led for the majority of the match. A four goal lead at three quarter time in a low scoring match saw Geelong in a strong position. A stunning final term performance by Sydney's Nick Davis
that saw him kick four goals including the winning snap three seconds before the siren denied Geelong victory. Sydney later went on to become the 2005 Premiers. This was Brenton Sanderson
's final game. Joel Corey
won his first Best and Fairest.
Season 2006 began promisingly, but ended with criticism by club members of the performance of the club. Geelong beat Adelaide to claim the pre-season NAB Cup. Big wins at home against the Brisbane Lions
and Kangaroos
in the first two rounds fuelled optimism. However, Geelong began to underperform, losing some close encounters and suffering some humiliating defeats. In the final game of the year, the Cats were soundly beaten by Hawthorn
for the second time. Geelong finished tenth on the ladder with ten wins and a draw. Responding to member anger, the Board ordered a comprehensive review of all aspects of the administration of the club and of the club's personnel. Coach Mark Thompson was widely perceived to be at risk. However, the review accepted that Thompson should continue as coach. The Board opted for stability over the uncertainty of radical personnel change. Thompson was publicly outraged by the ordeal which he considered poorly handled.
.
Geelong proceeded to defeat the Kangaroos and Collingwood in their qualifying and preliminary finals respectively, the latter being a close game with Collingwood threatening victory late in the match. Geelong ultimately won the match by five points.
These two victories ensured Geelong a place in the 2007 AFL Grand Final
against Port Adelaide, which Geelong won by a record margin of 119 points. Geelong scored 24 goals and 19 points for a total of 163 points, compared to the six goals and eight points scored by Port Adelaide for a total of 44 points. Steve Johnson was awarded the Norm Smith Medal
after being judged the best player in the match, providing Geelong with just their second Norm Smith Medal
list. Cameron Mooney
scored the highest number of goals with five, and a total of 11 Geelong players scored at least one goal, with five of those players scoring two goals or more. The win was Geelong's first premeriship since 1963, and broke the club's 44-season premiership drought.
Geelong's dominance continued in 2008, with the club having a regular season record of 21 wins and one loss to become the best-performing team in the home-and-away season since Essendon in 2000. The club's sole loss occurred in Round 9 with an 86 point deficit against Collingwood. Geelong finished the regular season in first position on the ladder, earning the club a second-consecutive McClelland Trophy, its ninth overall. Geelong then proceeded to win its qualifying and preliminary finals in succession, earning a place in the 2008 AFL Grand Final
against Hawthorn and the chance for a second-consecutive premiership. However, Geelong failed to capitalise on its performance during the season, losing the grand final by a margin of 26 points.
Geelong's season began strongly in 2009, with the club winning the 2009 NAB Cup
and managing a successive run of victories for the opening 13 rounds of the season. The winning streak was broken when Geelong were defeated by St Kilda in Round 14 by six points. Geelong managed to defeat the reigning premiers, Hawthorn, in the two clubs' second meeting of the season in Round 17. The match was notable with Geelong successfully completing a comeback from a 28-point deficit at three-quarter time to record a victory when an after-the-siren kick
Jimmy Bartel
scored a point and resulted in a win. Despite not placing first on the ladder at any point during the regular season, Geelong managed a regular-season record of 18 wins and four losses, which was the first time a team had won 18 or more matches in the VFL or AFL's regular season for three consecutive seasons. After qualifying for the 2009 AFL finals series
, Geelong proceeded to win its qualifying and preliminary finals in succession, earning a place in the 2009 AFL Grand Final
against St Kilda. Geelong were victorious, defeating St Kilda by 12 points.
This victory marked the first time since 1984 that a grand final had been won by a team which had been trailing at all breaks. The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Paul Chapman, after gathering 26 possessions and scoring three goals, including the goal which effectively won the match for Geelong.
In addition to the premierships and Norm Smith Medallists, this era of success for the Geelong Football Club was capped by supplying Brownlow Medallists (Bartel and Gary Ablett, Jr.
in 2007 and 2009 respectively). Between 2007 and 2009, Geelong players received 13 individual selections in All-Australian teams over the three seasons, including a record nine selections in the 2007 team
. Other individual successes include Ablett winning the Leigh Matthews Trophy
as the AFL Players Association
(AFLPA) Most Valuable Player
on a record three occasions and for a record three consecutive seasons from 2007 to 2009.
At the start of 2011, Geelong was all but written off, after coach Mark Thompson left at the end of the 2010 season and the move of Gary Ablett Jr to the Gold Coast Suns. Despite an aging player list and a first year coach in Chris Scott, Geelong managed to beat the reigning premiers, Collingwood, in the two home and away matches that they played against each other. Geelong were the only team to beat Collingwood in the 2011 season and finished second on the ladder behind Collingwood. On 1 October 2011, Geelong and Collingwood played at the MCG for the 2011 AFL Grand Final
. With the lead changing a number of times during the game, Geelong gained the lead in the third quarter and did not relinquish it for the rest of the game, with Collingwood failing to score a goal in the last quarter. Jimmy Bartel of Geelong was awarded the Norm Smith medal for the best on ground.
. Their name is the Geelong VFL Football Club
.
.
The team have worn various away guernseys since 1998, all featuring the club's logo and traditional colours.
" from Carmen
. The lyrics were written by former premiership player John Watts
. Only the first verse is used at matches and by the team after a victory. The song currently used by the club was recorded by the Fable Singers in 1972.
Notes
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(AFL). The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also won nine McClelland Trophies
McClelland Trophy
The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy, currently awarded to the minor premiers in the Australian Football League each year...
, a record it shares with Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
. Geelong is the most successful club since the AFL began in 1990, with three premierships and seven grand final appearances.
Formed in 1859, Geelong is the second oldest club in the AFL after Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
and one of the oldest football club
Oldest football club
The history of the formation of the oldest football clubs is of interest to sport historians in tracing the origins of the modern codes of football from casual pastime to early organised competition and mainstream sport. Many early clubs did not use the word "football" in their name...
s in the world. Along with its AFL team, the club also fields a stand-alone team in the Victoria Football league (VFL).
The club participated in the first football competition in Australia, winning the second season in 1863, was a foundation Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(VFL) in 1897.
An early VFL powerhouse with six premierships up to 1963, Geelong developed a reputation as an under-achieving club. Despite playing in five losing Grand Finals
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...
, four between 1989–1995, its fans waited 44 years until it won another premiership—an AFL-record 119-point victory in the 2007 AFL Grand Final
2007 AFL Grand Final
The 2007 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2007. It was the 111th annual Grand Final of the VFL/AFL, staged to determine the...
. Despite recording the most successful home and away season in the game's history, the club went one win short of back-to-back premierships in losing the 2008 AFL Grand Final
2008 AFL Grand Final
The 2008 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on the 27th of September 2008...
, but won the 2009 Grand Final
2009 AFL Grand Final
The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009...
against St Kilda.
Geelong holds a number of league records including the longest winning streak in AFL/VFL history (23 games); the highest score recorded in a single game (37.17 (239) against Brisbane in 1992); the highest-ever aggregate season total for points scored (3,334 points in 1992); the record for restricting an opponent to the lowest ever score in a game (St Kilda 0.1 (1) in 1899); the most consecutive 100-point victories (3 games in a row, in 1989); the longest winning streak in interstate games (12 games) and achieved the longest home ground winning streak in VFL/AFL history—29 games straight at Simonds Stadium (also known as Kardinia Park). It is the only team to have had nine players selected in a single All-Australian team (2007). In 2009, Geelong became the only club to win more than 18 games in three successive seasons (2007–2009). They are also the only club in the league to have never finished lower than 12th position (which has only been possible since the league's expansion in 1987).
The club's home is the 31,000-seat football stadium Kardinia Park (currently also known by its sponsorship name as "Skilled Stadium"). However the club also hosts home matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
and Docklands Stadium (currently also known by its sponsorship name as "Etihad Stadium"). The club's traditional guernsey
Guernsey (clothing)
A guernsey, or gansey, is a seaman's knitted woollen sweater, similar to a jersey, which originated in the Channel Island of the same name.-Origins:...
colours are white guernseys with navy blue hoops, white shorts and navy and white hooped socks and the team song is "We Are Geelong". The club's nickname, the "Cats", was first used 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.
Origins
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
and the Castlemaine Football Club
Castlemaine Football Club
Castlemaine Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia and is currently a member of the Bendigo Football League.The club is notable for several reasons...
). The club is one of the oldest football clubs in the world, however many of its official records before 1920 have disappeared.
Geelong travelled to Melbourne to become the second winner of the Caledonian Challenge Cup in 1863, played under compromise rules. The club contested the final in 1867 and 1869.
Geelong played most of its early home games at the Argyle Square, situated between Aberdeen Street and Pakington Street. However, in 1878 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.
VFA powerhouse
Geelong moved to Corio OvalCorio Oval
Corio Oval was an Australian rules football ground, located in Geelong, Victoria and used by the Geelong Football Club in the VFL from 1897 to 1941. Located in the Eastern Gardens, the oval was served by trams from 1930 when the line was extended....
for the 1878 season – the year the club won its first VFA premiership in only the second VFA season.
The Geelong Football Club was among the most powerful in the VFA (Victorian Football Association), winning seven VFA premierships up to the birth of the VFL (Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
) in 1897. Geelong was the only non-Melbourne-based team at a time when a trip from Geelong to Melbourne involved quite an arduous journey. Notable was Geelong's success in "The Match of the Century" in 1886. This first grand final 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. The victorious Geelong team were treated to an impromptu public parade in the enemy territory of South Melbourne.
VFL foundation club
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
Corio Bay
Corio Bay is one of numerous bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay.-Name:...
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. Soon after, during a match a black cat ventured on to the ground. Geelong won that match, breaking the losing streak. It was decided that cats were indeed good luck . Geelong has ever since been known as the Cats.
Despite dominating in the VFA, Geelong found the premiership harder to win in the VFL. In 1897, the inaugural season of the VFL, no grand final was played, but instead a round-robin finals system. Essendon won all three of its games, while Geelong lost to Essendon during this series. As a result, Geelong finished second in the inaugural season, a good start to the new league.
1920s
The VFL/AFL's award for the fairest and best player in a season is named after Charles Brownlow
Chas Brownlow
Charles "Chas" Brownlow was an Australian rules football administrator in the Victorian Football League.He went to the Geelong College for his schooling....
, a Geelong and VFL administrator who died in early 1924. Fittingly, in 1924, the first player to win the award was Geelong's champion, Edward Greeves
Edward Greeves
Edward Goderich "Carji" Greeves, Junior was an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League...
. Greeves attained a second and third place in votes for the award in later seasons, emphasizing his skill and sportsmanship.
1930s
Geelong followed up on its 1925 Premiership with 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 others' clubs. For many footballers who were seldom more than semi-professional sportsmen, match payments supplemented Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-hit wages.
1940s
In 1941, the club moved from Corio OvalCorio Oval
Corio Oval was an Australian rules football ground, located in Geelong, Victoria and used by the Geelong Football Club in the VFL from 1897 to 1941. Located in the Eastern Gardens, the oval was served by trams from 1930 when the line was extended....
to the more centrally located Kardinia Park in South Geelong
South Geelong, Victoria
South Geelong, also referred to as Geelong South, is a residential and industrial southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The suburb is adjacent to the Geelong central business district, with the Barwon River forming the suburb's southern border...
. Geelong experienced a lean period in the 1940s. World War II wartime restrictions prohibited travel in 1942 and 1943 even for the purposes of playing football. Geelong had always been particularly subject to what Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...
, a notable Australian historian, author of A Game of Our Own, and Geelong supporter, termed the "tyranny of distance". Despite these handicaps, at war's end the club recruited many players who represented the club during its most successful era in the early 1950s.
1950s
In the 1950s, Geelong flourished. Led by Geelong's greatest coach (officially named at Geelong's Team of the Century 2000) Reg HickeyReg Hickey
Reg Hickey was a player, and later coach, of the Geelong Football Club. Between 1926 and 1959 he led the club to four premierships....
, Geelong won two consecutive premiership flags of 1951 and 1952. In 1951 the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
signed on as a corporate sponsor of the Geelong Football Club. This relationship has persisted to the present day.
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.
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
Leo Turner
Leo Turner was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Victorian Football League . He was named in 2001 as a wingman in the club's official 'Team of the Century' with his son Michael named in the same position.Turner was a left footer and had made his debut with Geelong in 1947...
(father of future star, Michael Turner
Michael Turner (Australian rules footballer)
Michael Turner is a former Australian rules footballer who played 245 games for the Geelong Football Club in the VFL from 1974 to 1988....
), Peter Pianto
Peter Pianto
Peter Pianto was an Australian rules footballer and coach with Geelong in the VFL.Pianto played as a rover and was a premiership player with Geelong in 1951 and 1952...
, Fred Flanagan
Fred Flanagan
Fred Flanagan is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League .Flanagan was a gifted centre half-forward from Swan Hill who was a magnificent mark and kick...
, and Bernie Smith
Bernie Smith
Bernard Keith "Bernie" Smith was an Australian rules footballer in the South Australian National Football League and VFL, who is perhaps best remembered as one of the greatest back pockets in the history of the game.-SANFL career:Smith commenced his career with West Adelaide in the SANFL as a 16...
.
Bernie Smith's quality was recognised with his win in the 1951 Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
. In 1952, Geelong easily defeated Lou Richards
Lou Richards
Lewis Thomas Charles "Lou" Richards is a retired Australian rules footballer, who played 250 games with the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League between 1941 and 1955...
' 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.
At the end of 1959, Reg Hickey
Reg Hickey
Reg Hickey was a player, and later coach, of the Geelong Football Club. Between 1926 and 1959 he led the club to four premierships....
decided to retire as coach, making way for Bob Davis, a star in the 51–52 Premierships.
1960s
Geelong's most notable recruitment coup ever was the transfer of perhaps the greatest ruckman of all time, Graham "Polly" FarmerGraham Farmer
Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer, MBE is a retired Australian rules football player and coach. Born in Western Australia, he joined the East Perth Football Club as a ruckman in 1953, where he won several awards and contributed to the team winning three premierships...
from East Perth. At Geelong's first practice match, a crowd of 20,000 attended just to witness his legendary skills.
In 1962, another of Geelong's star players, Alistair Lord
Alistair Lord
Alistair Lord is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong during the late 1950s to the mid 1960s.Lord played as a centreman and debuted in 1959. He won the Brownlow Medal in 1962 comfortably as well as the Carji Greeves Medal, averaging 30 disposals a game for the year...
won the Brownlow Medal playing in the centre. His twin, Stewart Lord
Stewart Lord
Stewart Lord is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL during the early 1960s. He is the twin brother of Brownlow Medal winning teammate Alistair Lord....
also played with the club and has been credited as the main reason his brother won the award given their similarities in appearance, both played significant roles in the club's premiership win. High expectations of success were somewhat disappointed in 1962. Graham Farmer
Graham Farmer
Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer, MBE is a retired Australian rules football player and coach. Born in Western Australia, he joined the East Perth Football Club as a ruckman in 1953, where he won several awards and contributed to the team winning three premierships...
injured his knee three times during the season, causing him to miss crucial games. However, as Farmer's and Goggin's partnership developed from 1963 onwards, their teamwork at ruck duels inspired admiration and envy. These two players spearheaded the club's next premiership in 1963.
| 1963 VFL Grand Final 1963 VFL Grand Final The 1963 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 5 October 1963. It was the 67th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the... |
G | B | Total | |
| Geelong | 15 | 19 | 109 | |
| Hawthorn Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys... |
8 | 12 | 60 | |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light... |
Crowd: 101,452 | |||
In 1963, Geelong played Hawthorn four times. Early in the season the clubs played a draw. However, in the final round of the season, the semi finals and the grand final (the only instance of a team playing three matches in a row against one other team – Hawthorn does not have that claim as it played Melbourne in the intervening Preliminary Final), Geelong defeated John Kennedy's Hawthorn (the Hawks). Captained by Fred Wooller
Fred Wooller
Fred Wooller is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL.Recruited from Bacchus Marsh, Wooller started his career as a full forward and topped Geelong's goalkicking with 56 goals in 1957, his tally being the equal second highest in the league for that season...
, Geelong clearly distinguished itself as the team of 1963 with an easy 49 point win. A dead hawk joined two magpies and a toy bomber under the Kardinia Park turf.
Frustratingly for supporters of the Club, 1963 was the last time that Geelong enjoyed premiership success until 2007.
At the beginning of 1964, Geelong recruited John "Sammy" Newman
Sam Newman
John Noel William "Sam" Newman is a retired Australian rules football player and current television personality. He is a featured presenter on the AFL version of The Footy Show.-VFL career:...
as a ruckman from Geelong Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located at Corio, on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay....
. In an interview with Lou Richards on Channel 7's World of Sport
World of Sport (Australian TV series)
World of Sport was an Australian sports program that was broadcast live by HSV 7 in Melbourne from 1959 to 1987 on Sundays between 11am and 2pm...
, Bob Davis predicted that Newman would enjoy a stellar career. Sam Newman
Sam Newman
John Noel William "Sam" Newman is a retired Australian rules football player and current television personality. He is a featured presenter on the AFL version of The Footy Show.-VFL career:...
played 300 games for Geelong and went on to become a prominent, if controversial, media personality.
Geelong played in finals in every year between 1962 and 1969. Graham Farmer succeeded Fred Wooller as captain in 1965, leading the club until the end of 1967. In 1966, the Geelong Board decided to declare the coaching position open. Applications were sought but Bob Davis declined to reapply. The Board chose Peter Pianto as Davis' replacement. Pianto coached Geelong to the 1967 Grand Final. Geelong narrowly lost this match by nine points to Richmond. Graham Farmer played his 101st and final match for Geelong on this day.
1970s
The 1970s Geelong Football Club achieved mediocre results. The club fell behind the progressive clubs of the 1970s, notably CarltonCarlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
, Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
, Hawthorn and North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
. Unlike these clubs, Geelong recruited poorly and/or could not afford to recruit quality footballers. During the 1970s footballers increasingly came to view the game as a profession rather than a pastime. Richer and more entrepreneurial clubs outbidded clubs like Geelong for talented and dedicated players. Coaches Graham Farmer and Rodney Olsson
Rodney Olsson
Rodney Olsson is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who played with Hawthorn in the VFL during the 1960s.Olsson was a ruck-rover for Hawthorn but when he started his career he played as a half forward as well as on the half back flanks...
failed to develop successful teams. Geelong finished fourth in the 1976 season. The club won its only final of the 1970s by defeating fifth-placed Footscray. Geelong lost to North Melbourne in the second week of the finals. In 1978 Geelong finished fifth, only to lose to Carlton in the first week of the finals. One of the few noteworthy players was Larry Donohue
Larry Donohue
Larry Donohue is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club from 1973. He was recruited from the Thomson Football Club. He won the Coleman Medal in 1976 after kicking 99 goals.- References :...
, who in 1976 kicked over 100 goals to lead the VFL goal kicking. 1978 yielded him 95 goals.
1980s
During the 1980s Geelong recruited well but underperformed on the field.In 1980, coached by Billy Goggin, Geelong finished on top of the ladder at the home and away season. Geelong defeated Richmond once during the season but could not do it again in the first week of the finals. Geelong played Collingwood in the Preliminary Final for the right to play Richmond in the Grand Final and lost the match.
In 1981 Geelong's finals campaign inflicted more heartbreak. Geelong beat Collingwood in the Qualifying Final but lost to Carlton in the Second Semi-Final. Geelong were beaten by Collingwood by the narrow margin of seven points when they clashed again in the Preliminary Final.
In 1982 the club collapsed on-field, missing the finals. The board sacked Billy Goggin. Richmond premiership coach Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey
Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey is a former Australian rules football Victorian Football League player and coach. Hafey played for Richmond between 1953 and 1958, and coached four clubs—Richmond, Collingwood, Geelong and Sydney—between 1966 and 1988, leading teams to a total of four premierships...
took over in 1983. However, the club did not improve under Hafey. Geelong failed to play in the finals during Hafey's tenure. One bright moment during the Hafey years was the recruitment of former Hawthorn player Gary Ablett from Myrtleford for the 1984 season. In his first season, Ablett won his only Best and Fairest for the club, an early indication of Ablett's football genius.
The most notable incident for the club in 1985 was when Hawthorn legend Leigh Matthews
Leigh Matthews
Leigh Raymond "Lethal Leigh" Matthews AM is a former player and coach of Australian rules football. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League from 1969 to 1985, coached Collingwood from 1986–1995, and coached the Brisbane Lions from 1999 to 2008...
swung his arm at ruck-rover Neville Bruns
Neville Bruns
Neville Bruns is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian/Australian Football League for Geelong Football Club. He wore the number 19 during his tenure at the club and played often in the wing and rover positions. From 1978–1992 he played 223 games and kicked 174 goals...
' jaw and broke it. The incident received huge media coverage. Matthews was charged by police. Although the law courts did not punish Matthews, the VFL suspended his playing permit for one month.
The club also recruited future champion midfielder and dual Brownlow Medallist, Greg Williams and another future Brownlow Medallist and three-time club champion, Paul Couch
Paul Couch
Paul Couch is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Australian Football League.Prior to playing with Geelong, Couch initially tried out with Fitzroy, but was rejected for being too slow....
. Due to a lack of on-field improvement during his tenure as coach, Tom Hafey was sacked at the end of the 1985 season. Hafey was soon afterwards appointed coach of the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
. Three players followed him to Sydney: David Bolton
David Bolton (Australian footballer)
David Bolton is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong and Sydney in the Victorian/Australian Football League ....
, Bernard Toohey
Bernard Toohey
Bernard Toohey is a former Australian rules footballer who played during the 1980s and early 1990s as a defender.Toohey started his career in 1981 with the Geelong Football Club, with whom he played for five years. He then moved north to Sydney and earned All-Australian selection in 1987...
, and Greg Williams. Williams' decision was to prove a wise one, netting him two Brownlow Medals (while at Sydney and then Carlton), a Premiership Medallion (with Carlton) and a Norm Smith Medal (with Carlton).
In 1986, John Devine
John Devine (Australian rules footballer)
John Devine is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL during the 1960s, and Tasmanian Football League side North Hobart between 1967 & 1973....
, a member of the 1963 Premiership team, was appointed as coach. Under Devine, the club recruited Barry Stoneham
Barry Stoneham
Barry Stoneham is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club between 1986 and 2000.Originally from St Joseph's, Stoneham appeared 241 times for Geelong in the AFL and kicked 223 goals....
, Garry Hocking
Garry Hocking
Garry Andrew "Buddha" Hocking , is a former Australian rules footballer and currently an assistant coach with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League.-Early Years:...
, Mark Bairstow
Mark bairstow
Mark Bairstow is a former Australian rules footballer who played in both the Australian Football League and the West Australian Football League .-WAFL career:...
and Billy Brownless
Billy Brownless
Anthony William "Billy" Brownless is a former Australian rules footballer with the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League and media personality.- Football career :...
. Geelong's recruiters demonstrated that they had adapted to the new system of the player salary cap introduced in 1985 and the AFL Draft
AFL Draft
The AFL Draft is the annual draft of new unsigned players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.-History:...
introduced in 1986. However, the club missed the finals during Devine's tenure. In 1986, as a sign of things to come, Paul Couch
Paul Couch
Paul Couch is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Australian Football League.Prior to playing with Geelong, Couch initially tried out with Fitzroy, but was rejected for being too slow....
won the first of his three club best-and-fairest awards. In 1987 Geelong missed the finals.
In the pre-season of 1988, in a foretaste of approaching frustrations, Geelong contested with Hawthorn for the pre-season cup, the National-Panasonic Cup
National-Panasonic Cup
The National-Panasonic Cup was the Victorian Football League's night football competition between 1987 to 1989. It was preceded by the Channel 7/CUB Cup and was succeeded by the Fosters Cup ....
. Geelong lost by two points despite being in control for much of the match. Geelong underperformed in the main competition, finishing tenth. The board sacked John Devine as coach.
In 1989 Geelong signed North Melbourne champion Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...
to coach the club. Blight's new approach had mixed results. Geelong once again contested the National-Panasonic pre-season grand final, this time against Melbourne. Once again the Cats lost.
Adapting quickly to Blight's coaching philosophy, Geelong kicked high scores. During the 1989 season, Geelong were the only club to win by 100 points for three weeks in a row, defeating lowly clubs Richmond, St Kilda and the Brisbane Bears
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
. Gavin Exell
Gavin Exell
Gavin Exell is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and Fitzroy in the VFL/AFL.Exell started his career at Carlton where he played reserves football but after being unable to break into the seniors he joined Geelong. He played as a forward and when Gary Ablett was not...
had a productive season, kicking 61 goals during the home-and-away season, narrowly pipping team-mate Gary Ablett, who kicked 60.
Ablett's notable goalkicking feats of the year included 14 goals against Richmond, 10 against Brisbane and seven against Collingwood (where he gained 38 possessions on the wing in the wet). In this match against Collingwood, Gary Ablett also kicked the Goal of the Year
Goal of the Year (Australia)
The Goal of the Year is a competition for the best goals kicked in the VFL/AFL during that season. It is run in conjunction with the Mark of the Year competition and is currently sponsored by Panasonic. The award is also known as the Phil Manassa Medal....
.
Geelong finished third at the completion of the home-and-away season and met Essendon in the qualifying finals in the first week. Geelong's lack of finals experience was telling as Essendon ended a three year losing streak to Geelong, thrashing them by 76 points. Gary Ablett and Shane Hamilton
Shane Hamilton
Shane Hamilton is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and the Brisbane Bears in the VFL/AFL.Hamilton was only 17 when he made his league debut for Geelong and in just his third game kicked 7 goals 4 against Sydney at the SCG...
each kicked three goals.
Geelong then met Melbourne in the semifinals. The previous week, Essendon had assigned "taggers" to Geelong's midfielders, Paul Couch
Paul Couch
Paul Couch is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Australian Football League.Prior to playing with Geelong, Couch initially tried out with Fitzroy, but was rejected for being too slow....
and Mark Bairstow
Mark bairstow
Mark Bairstow is a former Australian rules footballer who played in both the Australian Football League and the West Australian Football League .-WAFL career:...
. This move worked to great effect, nullifying both. Melbourne coach John Northey
John Northey
John "Swooper" Northey is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played from 1963 to 1970 with the Richmond Football Club....
did the same. However, his move was considered so predictable by Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...
that he benched both Couch and Bairstow for the first quarter, throwing Melbourne's plans into disarray. The result saw Geelong easily defeat Melbourne by over 10 goals. Gary Ablett kicked seven goals as well as taking one of the marks of the year over Melbourne's Steven Febey
Steven Febey
Steven Febey in Devonport is a former Australian rules football player for the Melbourne Football Club. He is the twin brother of Matthew Febey who he played beside for most of his career....
.
The preliminary finals saw a rematch between Geelong and Essendon at VFL Park. Early on, it appeared that Essendon would repeat their win of two weeks prior. However, Geelong soon got back on track and began to kick goals. Gary Ablett continued his good form, kicking eight goals and constructing many more. The result saw Geelong cause a 170 point turnaround from a fortnight before, to comprehensively defeat Essendon by 94 points, to go into the club's first grand final since 1967.
The grand final proved to be an epic battle. At the opening bounce, Mark Yeates
Mark Yeates (Australian rules footballer)
Mark Yeates is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League during the 1980s....
, retaliating to an incident caused by Dermott Brereton
Dermott Brereton
Dermott Hugh Brereton is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent , he is known for his aggressive style of play. Brereton kicked 464 goals and played in five Premierships for during...
in Round 6, bumped Brereton to try and take the match winner out of the game, breaking Brereton's ribs. During this period, Ablett had managed to mark and kick the opening goal of the match. Brereton was ordered off the ground, but refused and instead rested in the pocket. Brereton took a mark shortly after and goaled, leading Hawthorn to a 40 point quarter-time lead. Hawthorn coach Alan Jeans commented at the time that Brereton's courage was "inspirational".
Geelong won the second quarter by two points and the third quarter by one point. The final quarter proved frantic, as Geelong managed to get within six points of the tiring and wounded Hawks, before the siren sounded. Gary Ablett was awarded the Norm Smith Medal
Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in the AFL Grand Final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match.-History:The Norm Smith Medal is named after former Melbourne player and coach, Norm Smith...
for a best on ground performance in kicking nine goals and one behind to equal Collingwood's Gordon Coventry
Gordon Coventry
Gordon "Nuts" Coventry was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League . With 1,299 goals over 18 seasons, Coventry remains one of the greatest full forwards the game has ever seen...
’s goalkicking record in a grand final. His second quarter goal and third quarter marks were two of his notable highlights of the day.
To cap a remarkable season, Paul Couch
Paul Couch
Paul Couch is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Australian Football League.Prior to playing with Geelong, Couch initially tried out with Fitzroy, but was rejected for being too slow....
won the Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
by two votes from Hawthorn's John Platten
John Platten
John Patrick "The Rat" Platten is a former Australian rules footballer. With his unruly tangle of curls he was a distinctive figure on the field with tremendous tenacity and the ability to accumulate possessions week after week.-Career:Platten began his career with the Central District Bulldogs...
.
1990s
The decade of the 1990s was another era of disappointed expectations. By the end of the 1990s Geelong Football Club was in crisis, deep in debt and with a depleted player list.Geelong failed in 1990 to reproduce the exciting brand of attacking football of 1989.
Season 1991 started ominously. On the eve of the season, Gary Ablett retired for odd reasons. Nevertheless, Geelong won some games. Ablett returned mid-season to the club. The club finished third at the end of the home and away season. The final against 4th placed St Kilda was a memorable one. Tony Lockett
Tony Lockett
Anthony Howard "Tony" Lockett is a former Australian rules football player. Lockett is the highest goal scorer in the history of the VFL/AFL with 1,360 goals in a career of 281 games, that commenced in 1983 with the St Kilda Football Club, and finished in 2002 with the Sydney Swans...
kicked his nine goals for St Kilda by three-quarter time. Billy Brownless, kicked eight goals. The Cats managed to win by seven points. Ablett was suspended for elbowing St Kilda's Nathan Burke
Nathan Burke
Nathan Burke is a former Australian rules footballer.He was a tough rover who always backed himself in a contest and was one of the most courageous footballers to play for the St Kilda Football Club. He set the club record for most number of games at his retirement, with 323 games which was broken...
, and missed the rest of the season due to suspension.
Over the next two weeks, Geelong met Hawthorn and the West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
, both losses for the club. Consistent with the close finish of 1989, Hawthorn won the match by two points. The loss against the Eagles was by fifteen points.
In 1992 Geelong returned to the spectacular form of three seasons previous. Against the Brisbane Bears
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
at Carrara
Carrara Stadium
Carrara Stadium is a sporting venue on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara....
the club kicked a VFL/AFL record score of 37 goals 17 behinds (239 points). This record score still stands. Gary Ablett Sr. and Billy Brownless both kicked more than 70 goals for the season to form a potent forward-line combination. Geelong finished the regular season on top of the ladder, eclipsing their previous record for total points scored in a home-and-away season (2916 in 1989) and increased it to 3057 points.
After beating Footscray
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
in the qualifying final by 61 points, Geelong lost the 2nd semi final to West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
by 38 points, then beat Footscray again in the preliminary final by 64 points. The Cats again squared off against the power of the West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
in the Grand Final and got off to a wonderful start, at one stage during the second quarter leading by four goals. However, in the second half West Coast's Peter Matera ran riot, booting five goals and earning himself the Norm Smith Medal
Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in the AFL Grand Final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match.-History:The Norm Smith Medal is named after former Melbourne player and coach, Norm Smith...
as best on ground. The Perth-based West Coast won by 28 points to take the first premiership won by a non-Victorian club.
In 1993 the Geelong once again underachieved as Malcolm Blight experimented with more defensive tactics. For most of the season on-field performances were lacklustre as the players struggled to adapt. It was not until late in the season when Geelong reverted to its all-out attacking style of play. Several experienced players urged Blight to revert to Geelong's customary geisha style of play. Blight agreed and Geelong began to play like champions again. Frustratingly, Geelong narrowly missed the finals on percentage.
In 1993 Blight decided to play Gary Ablett at Full Forward permanently. The move paid handsome dividends, as Ablett reached the second fastest century in VFL/AFL history. Ablett's most notable performances of this year included 11 goals against Melbourne, 14 against Essendon and 10 against the Adelaide Crows – all in losing sides. Tallies of 10 goal against North Melbourne, and 12 against his favourite victim, Richmond, in winning sides.
1994 proved to be a hard year for the club. The club had a good home-and-away season to finish fourth. Gary Ablett topped the goalkicking for the year easily, kicking 129 goals (including the finals) and winning his second consecutive John Coleman Medal.
The club met fifth placed Footscray in the first week of the finals. The match proved a nailbiter, with an after-the-siren kick and goal by Billy Brownless giving the club a five-point win.
A week later Geelong had no hope of beating Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
, who had finished 2nd after the home and away season, given that their three best midfielders; Garry Hocking
Garry Hocking
Garry Andrew "Buddha" Hocking , is a former Australian rules footballer and currently an assistant coach with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League.-Early Years:...
, Paul Couch
Paul Couch
Paul Couch is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Australian Football League.Prior to playing with Geelong, Couch initially tried out with Fitzroy, but was rejected for being too slow....
and Mark Bairstow
Mark bairstow
Mark Bairstow is a former Australian rules footballer who played in both the Australian Football League and the West Australian Football League .-WAFL career:...
were not playing through injury. However, with several young players and second-tier midfielders, along with six goals from Gary Ablett, Geelong defeated Carlton by 33 points.
Geelong met North Melbourne in the Preliminary Final in a match which proved even more nailbiting than their match with Footscray 2 weeks prior. North Melbourne started well, but Geelong dominated the second and third quarters to lead by six goals in the third quarter. A fine feat given that Geelong's target all season, Gary Ablett was being beaten by North Melbourne's full back, Mick Martyn. However, North Melbourne came back strongly in the last quarter and took the lead late in the match. However, Geelong scored a behind to level the scores. With 25 seconds left and a boundary throw-in, the ball came to ground and Martyn cleared, only for the ball to be marked by Leigh Colbert
Leigh Colbert
Leigh Colbert is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club and the Kangaroos in the Australian Football League .-1993–1999: Geelong:...
. Colbert then kicked long, where ruckman John Barnes
John Barnes (Australian rules footballer)
John Barnes is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.-Playing career:Barnes' VFL/AFL career included two State of Origin games for Victoria.-Early career – from Essendon to Geelong:...
dropped the mark, allowing Leigh Tudor
Leigh Tudor
Leigh Tudor was an Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne and Geelong football clubs and is currently an assistant coach for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League .-AFL career:...
, a former North Melbourne player to swoop, and kick the ball over Martyn's head to land in the hand of Gary Ablett. As Ablett walked back to take his kick, the siren went, and Ablett kicked the winning goal, propelling Geelong to its third Grand Final in seven years.
Geelong once again played West Coast for the premiership. Unlike two seasons ago, Geelong proved no match against an Eagles outfit superior to its 1992 premiership team, losing by 80 points. Billy Brownless stood out with a fantastic mark in the second quarter, as well as four goals.
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...
, dispirited by three Grand Final losses under his tenure, announced his resignation. His assistant Gary Ayres
Gary Ayres
Gary Ayres is a former Australian rules footballer for the Hawthorn Football Club and currently the senior coach for the Port Melbourne Football Club in the Victoria Football League.-Playing career:...
took over the job. Ayres immediately took action, sacking both Steven Hocking
Steven Hocking
Steven Hocking is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL/AFL. He is the elder brother of former Geelong captain Garry....
(on 199 games) and former captain Mark Bairstow
Mark bairstow
Mark Bairstow is a former Australian rules footballer who played in both the Australian Football League and the West Australian Football League .-WAFL career:...
. 1994 saw another best-and-fairest win to Garry Hocking, who also won 20 votes in the Brownlow Medal to finish third to eventual winner Greg Williams on 30 votes and Peter Matera on 28 votes.
1995 saw the club improve. The club was highly consistent, its biggest losing margin being less than 20 points, and never losing two matches in a row – the only club to do so for the year. The club finished second on the ladder to Carlton. Gary Ablett once again won the Coleman Medal
Coleman Medal
The Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to the Australian Football League player who kicks the most goals in regular-season matches in that year...
and kicked over 100 goals for the third year in a row.
In the finals the club met 7th placed Footscray and won by 82 points. The club earned a week break and returned for the third weeks clash against Richmond, and won by 78 points and so for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time in seven years, Geelong played for the premiership, this time against Carlton, who had only lost two games for the year.
The match was hard to tip, as many saw Geelong a definite chance given that the two sides met once during the year, which saw Carlton win by three points. Geelong was thrashed by 61 points, playing its worst game for the entire season. Gary Ablett played his worst game for years, blanketed by Carlton's Stephen Silvagni
Stephen Silvagni
Stephen Silvagni is a former Australian rules footballer for the Carlton Football Club.During his long VFL/AFL career, from his debut in 1985, until his retirement in 2001, he gained the reputation as one of the greatest ever full-backs to play the game and was named as full-back in the AFL Team...
. To add insult to injury, former Geelong player Greg Williams, now a superstar at Carlton, was named best on ground with his five goals.
A notable rookie of this year would be Brenton Sanderson
Brenton Sanderson
Brenton Sanderson is a former Australian rules footballer and the senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League .-Early career:...
, who would play over 200 games by the end of career, retiring at the end of 2005, and be recognised with selection into the Geelong Hall of Fame. The Best and Fairest was won by Paul Couch
Paul Couch
Paul Couch is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Australian Football League.Prior to playing with Geelong, Couch initially tried out with Fitzroy, but was rejected for being too slow....
, who narrowly missed out on winning his second Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
.
In 1996 the club would experience an unsuccessful year, finishing seventh at the end of the home and away season. Gary Ablett would be suspended for four weeks after round 2, which resulted in a rapid decline in his quality. He would kick his 1000th career goal against Fremantle.
The cats would meet eventual premier, North Melbourne in the first week of the finals, which saw North win by over 10 goals. Garry Hocking
Garry Hocking
Garry Andrew "Buddha" Hocking , is a former Australian rules footballer and currently an assistant coach with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League.-Early Years:...
would once again win the Best and Fairest award, and miss out on the Brownlow Medal by a vote in the process. A notable recruit would be Steven King
Steven King (footballer)
Steven King is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and St Kilda in the Australian Football League .- Geelong :...
, standing at over two metres tall.
In 1997 Geelong faced a season with no dependence on ageing superstars, Paul Couch
Paul Couch
Paul Couch is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Australian Football League.Prior to playing with Geelong, Couch initially tried out with Fitzroy, but was rejected for being too slow....
and Gary Ablett. By mid season, Couch would retire on 259 games. Gary Ablett would not play a senior game ever again for the club after injuring his knee in the reserves. The club would start the season well, challenging Carlton to the 1997 Pre-season Premiership, the Ansett Australia Cup. However, identically to 1995, Geelong capitulated, allowing Carlton another piece of silverware.
The club finished second on the ladder. The club met North Melbourne in a "home" final at the MCG at Night. North Melbourne, on its actual home ground beat Geelong by 18 points. Geelong then travelled to Adelaide and lost the game by eight points after the umpire failed to pay a courageous Leigh Colbert mark late in the game with Geelong narrowly hanging on to a lead, exiting by losing both finals.
1998 was a season best forgotten. The club finished 12th, its lowest finish for over 40 years. A notable recruit for Geelong came in the form of Matthew Scarlett
Matthew Scarlett
Matthew Scarlett is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League . A fullback, tall and weighing , Scarlett is the eldest son of former Geelong footballer John Scarlett....
, son of former player, John. Geelong took full advantage of the Father-Son Rule
Father-son rule
The father-son rule is a rule that allows clubs to select the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the team in Australian rules football, most notably the Australian Football League...
. This concession allowed sons of ex-players to nominate for their fathers' clubs, thus exempting them from being chosen by any other club in the national draft.
In 1999 the club won five games straight to open the season. However, the club then lost its next 9 to finish the season with 10 wins and tenth position.
The roller-coaster season saw coach Gary Ayres
Gary Ayres
Gary Ayres is a former Australian rules footballer for the Hawthorn Football Club and currently the senior coach for the Port Melbourne Football Club in the Victoria Football League.-Playing career:...
quit to take the job at Adelaide, which ironically was available after Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...
quit, almost identical to when Ayres took over Geelong in 1995. Mark Thompson was appointed coach. At the end of this season, Geelong traded Leigh Colbert
Leigh Colbert
Leigh Colbert is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club and the Kangaroos in the Australian Football League .-1993–1999: Geelong:...
for North Melbourne premiership player, Cameron Mooney
Cameron Mooney
Cameron Mooney was an Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Geelong Football Clubs in the Australian Football League...
.
2000
Season 2000 started well, with Geelong winning its first three matches. By the end of the home and away season Geelong finished fifth and met eighth placed Hawthorn in the first finals match ever played at Docklands Stadium, the AFL's state-of-the-art facility. Hawthorn won by nine points. Barry StonehamBarry Stoneham
Barry Stoneham is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club between 1986 and 2000.Originally from St Joseph's, Stoneham appeared 241 times for Geelong in the AFL and kicked 223 goals....
announced his retirement after this game, ending a career spanning over 240 games.
2001–2003
2001–2003 saw a lean period for the club where finals were not realised for three years – finishing twelfth, ninth and twelfth respectively. However, during this time the club recruited well. Current players such as Paul Chapman, Gary Ablett, Jr.Gary Ablett, Jr.
Gary Ablett, Jr. is a professional Australian rules football player and current captain of the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
, Jimmy Bartel
Jimmy Bartel
James 'Jimmy' Bartel is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League . A midfielder at and , Bartel is a Brownlow Medallist, two-time All-Australian, and was part of the Cats' AFL premiership-winning teams in 2007, 2009 and 2011, being named the...
, James Kelly and Joel Corey
Joel Corey
Joel Corey is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League . A midfielder, tall and weighing , Corey is able to contribute inside or outside while on the ball....
were notable recruits. Veteran Brenton Sanderson
Brenton Sanderson
Brenton Sanderson is a former Australian rules footballer and the senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League .-Early career:...
won the Best and Fairest in 2001, Steven King
Steven King (footballer)
Steven King is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and St Kilda in the Australian Football League .- Geelong :...
in 2002 (who was in that year appointed club captain) and Matthew Scarlett
Matthew Scarlett
Matthew Scarlett is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League . A fullback, tall and weighing , Scarlett is the eldest son of former Geelong footballer John Scarlett....
in 2003.
2004
In 2004 Geelong challenged for the pre-season premiershipAustralian Football League pre-season competition
The Australian Football League pre-season competition, which is known at present as the NAB Cup, is a competition held before the beginning of the Australian Football League premiership season...
(known as the Wizard Home Loans Cup), where they met St Kilda in the grand final. Geelong led for much of the match, but St Kilda finished strongly to win by 22 points. The season proved fruitful as the club finished fourth at the end of the home and away season. The club met eventual premier, Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium
AAMI Stadium
Football Park is an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia...
/Football Park in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, historically Geelong's worst ground in terms of wins. Port reaffirmed their superiority at the venue to win by 55 points.
Geelong soldiered on however and met Essendon at the MCG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
, winning by ten points despite leading by over six goals at three quarter time. Geelong then met Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, the premiers of 2001–2003. The Cats dominated the first half but it was clear the club lacked a target up forward. In the second half, Brisbane took control and steadied enough to win by a small margin of nine points. Post season, Geelong signed Nathan Ablett
Nathan Ablett
Nathan Ablett is an Australian rules footballer who played for Gold Coast and Geelong in the Australian Football League...
to play AFL football for Geelong. Another major signing was disgruntled Richmond big-man Brad Ottens
Brad Ottens
Brad "Otto" Ottens is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League .-Richmond: 1998–2004:...
, recruited to counter Geelong's lack of forward line height. Cameron Ling
Cameron Ling
Cameron Ling is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League...
capped off a fine season by winning his first Best and Fairest after finishing runner up in the previous two counts.
2005
The club started very well, before hitting a slump mid-season as injuries took their toll. By the end of the season, Geelong finished sixth and played seventh placed Melbourne. Geelong thrashed Melbourne by 55 points in a match remembered for Steven KingSteven King (footballer)
Steven King is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and St Kilda in the Australian Football League .- Geelong :...
's attempted kick of the ball in mid air, accidentally making contact with Melbourne ruckman Jeff White
Jeff White
Jeffrey Newman "Jeff" White is an Australian rules footballer who had a distinguished career in the Australian Football League spanning 14 years. He played most recently and notably for the Melbourne Football Club, following a move from the Fremantle Dockers at the end of 1997...
, smashing his face, which required surgery.
The next week the club met Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
(SCG) where the Cats led for the majority of the match. A four goal lead at three quarter time in a low scoring match saw Geelong in a strong position. A stunning final term performance by Sydney's Nick Davis
Nick Davis (footballer)
Nick Davis is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and the Sydney Swans in the AFL.- Collingwood:...
that saw him kick four goals including the winning snap three seconds before the siren denied Geelong victory. Sydney later went on to become the 2005 Premiers. This was Brenton Sanderson
Brenton Sanderson
Brenton Sanderson is a former Australian rules footballer and the senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League .-Early career:...
's final game. Joel Corey
Joel Corey
Joel Corey is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League . A midfielder, tall and weighing , Corey is able to contribute inside or outside while on the ball....
won his first Best and Fairest.
2006
| 2006 NAB Cup 2006 NAB Cup The 2006 NAB Cup was held across Australia between 24 February and 18 March. The NAB Cup was won by Geelong who defeated Adelaide in the Grand Final of the knock-out pre-season competition.- Prize money :... Grand Final |
SG Super Goal A Super Goal is an innovation used in the Australian Football League's pre-season competition in the sport of Australian rules football.The Super Goal was introduced before the 2003 Wizard Cup, and is awarded nine points instead of the regulation six. For a goal on the run to be considered a Super... |
G | B | Total |
| Adelaide | 1 | 10 | 15 | 84 |
| Geelong | 3 | 10 | 5 | 92 |
| Venue: AAMI Stadium AAMI Stadium Football Park is an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia... , Adelaide |
Crowd: 30,707 | |||
Season 2006 began promisingly, but ended with criticism by club members of the performance of the club. Geelong beat Adelaide to claim the pre-season NAB Cup. Big wins at home against the Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
and Kangaroos
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
in the first two rounds fuelled optimism. However, Geelong began to underperform, losing some close encounters and suffering some humiliating defeats. In the final game of the year, the Cats were soundly beaten by Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
for the second time. Geelong finished tenth on the ladder with ten wins and a draw. Responding to member anger, the Board ordered a comprehensive review of all aspects of the administration of the club and of the club's personnel. Coach Mark Thompson was widely perceived to be at risk. However, the review accepted that Thompson should continue as coach. The Board opted for stability over the uncertainty of radical personnel change. Thompson was publicly outraged by the ordeal which he considered poorly handled.
2007–2011: Premiership era
It appeared Geelong would repeat the outcome of the previous season after five rounds of the 2007 season, where Geelong was positioned tenth on the ladder with two wins and three losses, with the latest loss being against the Kangaroos at Skilled Stadium. Following this unexpected loss at their home ground, player Paul Chapman publicly criticised the club's culture, expressing frustration at the lack of team mentality present with many of the players, and urging the club as a whole to change this underachieving culture for the better. Chapman's criticisms, which followed a similar assessment from coach Mark Thompson, led to a group discussion involving all of the club's playing and coaching staff, and produced frank assessments of both individuals and the club in general. This session proved to be a catalyst for the club to begin a transformation of the club's culture, and resulted in a 157-point defeat of Richmond, with Geelong's score of 222 points the club's third-highest overall. This was the beginning of a winning-streak where the club won 15 games in succession before losing to the second-placed Port Adelaide in round 21. Geelong then succeeded in winning their remaining match of the regular season, where they finished three games clear of Port Adelaide in first position on the ladder, earning the club their first McLelland Trophy since 1992, and qualification for the season's finals series2007 AFL finals series
- The finals system :The system is a final eight system. This system is different to the McIntyre Final Eight System, which was previously used by the AFL, and is currently used by the National Rugby League....
.
Geelong proceeded to defeat the Kangaroos and Collingwood in their qualifying and preliminary finals respectively, the latter being a close game with Collingwood threatening victory late in the match. Geelong ultimately won the match by five points.
| 2007 AFL Grand Final 2007 AFL Grand Final The 2007 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2007. It was the 111th annual Grand Final of the VFL/AFL, staged to determine the... |
G | B | Total |
| Geelong | 24 | 19 | 163 |
| Port Adelaide Port Adelaide Football Club The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League... |
6 | 8 | 44 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light... |
Crowd: 97,302 | ||
These two victories ensured Geelong a place in the 2007 AFL Grand Final
2007 AFL Grand Final
The 2007 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2007. It was the 111th annual Grand Final of the VFL/AFL, staged to determine the...
against Port Adelaide, which Geelong won by a record margin of 119 points. Geelong scored 24 goals and 19 points for a total of 163 points, compared to the six goals and eight points scored by Port Adelaide for a total of 44 points. Steve Johnson was awarded the Norm Smith Medal
Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in the AFL Grand Final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match.-History:The Norm Smith Medal is named after former Melbourne player and coach, Norm Smith...
after being judged the best player in the match, providing Geelong with just their second Norm Smith Medal
Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in the AFL Grand Final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match.-History:The Norm Smith Medal is named after former Melbourne player and coach, Norm Smith...
list. Cameron Mooney
Cameron Mooney
Cameron Mooney was an Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Geelong Football Clubs in the Australian Football League...
scored the highest number of goals with five, and a total of 11 Geelong players scored at least one goal, with five of those players scoring two goals or more. The win was Geelong's first premeriship since 1963, and broke the club's 44-season premiership drought.
Geelong's dominance continued in 2008, with the club having a regular season record of 21 wins and one loss to become the best-performing team in the home-and-away season since Essendon in 2000. The club's sole loss occurred in Round 9 with an 86 point deficit against Collingwood. Geelong finished the regular season in first position on the ladder, earning the club a second-consecutive McClelland Trophy, its ninth overall. Geelong then proceeded to win its qualifying and preliminary finals in succession, earning a place in the 2008 AFL Grand Final
2008 AFL Grand Final
The 2008 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on the 27th of September 2008...
against Hawthorn and the chance for a second-consecutive premiership. However, Geelong failed to capitalise on its performance during the season, losing the grand final by a margin of 26 points.
| 2009 AFL Grand Final 2009 AFL Grand Final The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009... |
G | B | Total |
| St Kilda | 9 | 14 | 68 |
| Geelong | 12 | 8 | 80 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light... |
Crowd: 99,251 | ||
Geelong's season began strongly in 2009, with the club winning the 2009 NAB Cup
2009 NAB Cup
The 2009 NAB Cup is the Australian Football League pre-season competition that was played before the Australian Football League's 2009 Premiership season begins. It culminated with the Final on 13 March 2009 played between Geelong and Collingwood and was won by Geelong...
and managing a successive run of victories for the opening 13 rounds of the season. The winning streak was broken when Geelong were defeated by St Kilda in Round 14 by six points. Geelong managed to defeat the reigning premiers, Hawthorn, in the two clubs' second meeting of the season in Round 17. The match was notable with Geelong successfully completing a comeback from a 28-point deficit at three-quarter time to record a victory when an after-the-siren kick
After the siren kicks in Australian rules football
In Australian rules football, if a player takes a mark or is awarded a free kick before or as the siren sounds, the player is allowed to take the kick...
Jimmy Bartel
Jimmy Bartel
James 'Jimmy' Bartel is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League . A midfielder at and , Bartel is a Brownlow Medallist, two-time All-Australian, and was part of the Cats' AFL premiership-winning teams in 2007, 2009 and 2011, being named the...
scored a point and resulted in a win. Despite not placing first on the ladder at any point during the regular season, Geelong managed a regular-season record of 18 wins and four losses, which was the first time a team had won 18 or more matches in the VFL or AFL's regular season for three consecutive seasons. After qualifying for the 2009 AFL finals series
2009 AFL finals series
The Australian Football League's 2009 finals series determined the top eight final positions of the 2009 AFL season over four weekends in September 2009, culminating with the 113th AFL/VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009...
, Geelong proceeded to win its qualifying and preliminary finals in succession, earning a place in the 2009 AFL Grand Final
2009 AFL Grand Final
The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009...
against St Kilda. Geelong were victorious, defeating St Kilda by 12 points.
In addition to the premierships and Norm Smith Medallists, this era of success for the Geelong Football Club was capped by supplying Brownlow Medallists (Bartel and Gary Ablett, Jr.
Gary Ablett, Jr.
Gary Ablett, Jr. is a professional Australian rules football player and current captain of the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
in 2007 and 2009 respectively). Between 2007 and 2009, Geelong players received 13 individual selections in All-Australian teams over the three seasons, including a record nine selections in the 2007 team
2007 All-Australian Team
The 2007 Australian rules football All-Australian selection committee will provide the 40 leading players of the year in their playing positions at the conclusion of the home and away season before announcing the final 22 at a later date during the All Australian Presentation Dinner...
. Other individual successes include Ablett winning the Leigh Matthews Trophy
Leigh Matthews Trophy
The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. It is named in honour of Leigh Matthews, who won the first MVP award in 1982, when the league was still known as the Victorian Football League...
as the AFL Players Association
AFL Players Association
The AFL Players Association, or AFLPA, is the representative body for all current and past professional Australian Football League players....
(AFLPA) Most Valuable Player
Leigh Matthews Trophy
The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. It is named in honour of Leigh Matthews, who won the first MVP award in 1982, when the league was still known as the Victorian Football League...
on a record three occasions and for a record three consecutive seasons from 2007 to 2009.
| 2011 AFL Grand Final 2011 AFL Grand Final The 2011 Australian Football League Grand Final was an Australian rules football match, played to determine the premiers of the 2011 season. It was contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Geelong Football Club.... |
G | B | Total |
| Collingwood Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
12 | 9 | 81 |
| Geelong | 18 | 11 | 119 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light... |
Crowd: 99,537 | ||
At the start of 2011, Geelong was all but written off, after coach Mark Thompson left at the end of the 2010 season and the move of Gary Ablett Jr to the Gold Coast Suns. Despite an aging player list and a first year coach in Chris Scott, Geelong managed to beat the reigning premiers, Collingwood, in the two home and away matches that they played against each other. Geelong were the only team to beat Collingwood in the 2011 season and finished second on the ladder behind Collingwood. On 1 October 2011, Geelong and Collingwood played at the MCG for the 2011 AFL Grand Final
2011 AFL Grand Final
The 2011 Australian Football League Grand Final was an Australian rules football match, played to determine the premiers of the 2011 season. It was contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Geelong Football Club....
. With the lead changing a number of times during the game, Geelong gained the lead in the third quarter and did not relinquish it for the rest of the game, with Collingwood failing to score a goal in the last quarter. Jimmy Bartel of Geelong was awarded the Norm Smith medal for the best on ground.
VFL
The club also has a sister team that plays in the Victorian Football LeagueVictorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
. Their name is the Geelong VFL Football Club
Geelong VFL Football Club
Geelong VFL Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is an Australian rules football team that plays in the Victorian Football League. Their sister team, Geelong Football Club, plays in the Australian Football League...
.
Guernsey
Geelong's traditional navy blue and white hooped guernsey has been worn since the club's inception in the mid 1800s. The design is said to represent the white seagulls and blue water of Corio BayCorio Bay
Corio Bay is one of numerous bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay.-Name:...
.
The team have worn various away guernseys since 1998, all featuring the club's logo and traditional colours.
Song
"We Are Geelong" is the song sung after a game won by the Geelong Football Club. It is sung to the tune of "ToreadorToreador Song
The Toreador Song is one of the most famous arias from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. Sung by the matador Escamillo, it describes various situations in the ring, the cheering of the crowds and the fame that comes with victory.-Text:-In popular culture:* The song is mocked during the "I lost my...
" from Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
. The lyrics were written by former premiership player John Watts
John Watts (Australian rules footballer)
John Albert Watts is a retired Australian rules football player and former radio broadcaster.-Personal life:...
. Only the first verse is used at matches and by the team after a victory. The song currently used by the club was recorded by the Fable Singers in 1972.
- We are Geelong, the greatest team of all
- We are Geelong; we’re always on the ball
- We play the game as it should be played
- At home or far away
- Our banners fly high, from dawn to dark
- Down at Kardinia Park
- So! Stand up and fight, remember our tradition
- Stand up and fight, it’s always our ambition
- Throughout the game to fight with all our might
- Because we’re the mighty blue and white
- And when the ball is bounced, to the final bell
- Stand up and fight like hell
Membership base
| Season | Members | Change from previous season | Finishing position | Average home match crowds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 1984 VFL season Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1984.-Awards:* The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Peter Moore of Melbourne.* The Coleman Medal was awarded to Bernie Quinlan of Fitzroy.... |
7709 | — | 6th | 20,577 |
| 1985 1985 VFL season The 89th Victorian Football League Premiership season commenced in March 1985 and concluded on 28 September 1985 with Essendon winning their second consecutive Premiership in their third consecutive Grand Final battle with Hawthorn... |
7718 | 9 (+0.12%) | 6th | 19,463 |
| 1986 1986 VFL season Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1986.- Awards :* The Brownlow Medal was awarded to both Greg Williams of the Sydney Swans and Robert "Dipper" DiPierdomenico of the Hawthorn Hawks... |
6985 | 733 (−9.50%) | 9th | 15,319 |
| 1987 1987 VFL season Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1987.-Night Series: defeated 8.10 to 8.6 in the Final at Waverley Park.-Leading goalkickers:... |
6981 | 4 (−0.06%) | 6th | 20,462 |
| 1988 1988 VFL season The 92nd Victorian Football League Premiership Season commenced in April 1988 and concluded on 24 September 1988, with Hawthorn winning their seventh Premiership in their sixth consecutive Grand Final appearance.-Night Series:... |
9667 | 2686 (+38.48%) | 9th | 20,790 |
| 1989 1989 VFL season -Notable events:* In Round 13, horrendous conditions at Windy Hill saw Essendon and Footscray play the lowest scoring game since the 1927 Grand Final, with the teams combining for only 6.15 .... |
7760 | 1907 (−19.73%) | 2nd | 29,296 |
| 1990 1990 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1990.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 154... |
15,087 | 7327 (+94.42%) | 10th | 24,711 |
| 1991 1991 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1991.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:... |
11,356 | 3731 (−24.73%) | 3rd | 23,525 |
| 1992 1992 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1992. The AFL Grand Final this year was won by the West Coast Eagles, who became the first non-Victorian club to win a Premiership.-Ladder:... |
13,535 | 2179 (+19.19%) | 2nd | 27,698 |
| 1993 1993 AFL season -Ladder:All teams played 20 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. Each team also had two byes. An additional 7 games were played during the finals series.-Awards:*The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Gavin Wanganeen of .... |
15,500 | 1965 (+14.52%) | 7th | 26,920 |
| 1994 1994 AFL season -Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. An additional 9 games were played during the finals series. It was the first season that the AFL implemented a top 8 team finals series... |
14,312 | 1188 (−7.66%) | 2nd | 26,461 |
| 1995 1995 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1995.-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:*This was the first ANZAC Day clash held between Collingwood and Essendon which famously ended in a draw.-Round 5:-Round 6:... |
15,922 | 1610 (+11.25%) | 2nd | 25,317 |
| 1996 1996 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1996.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Lighting Premiership:... |
17,346 | 1424 (+8.94%) | 7th | 25,161 |
| 1997 1997 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1997.The Port Adelaide Power joined the competition.The Brisbane Lions also joined the competition after the merger of the and .... |
18,858 | 1512 (+8.72%) | 2nd | 28,324 |
| 1998 | 19,971 | 1113 (+5.90%) | 12th | 28,371 |
| 1999 | 21,032 | 1061 (+5.31%) | 11th | 24,840 |
| 2000 | 25,595 | 4563 (+21.70%) | 5th | 27,729 |
| 2001 2001 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2001.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:Port Adelaide defeated Brisbane Lions 17.9 to 3.8 in the Final.... |
25,420 | 175 (−0.68%) | 12th | 27,093 |
| 2002 2002 AFL season -Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:-Round 5 :-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 176... |
23,756 | 1664 (−6.55%) | 9th | 27,040 |
| 2003 2003 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2003.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:... |
24,017 | 261 (+1.10%) | 12th | 25,971 |
| 2004 2004 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2004.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Wizard Home Loans Cup:The Wizard Home Loans Cup Final saw St... |
25,021 | 1004 (+4.18%) | 4th | 25,747 |
| 2005 2005 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2005.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:... |
30,821 | 5800 (+23.18%) | 5th | 27,783 |
| 2006 2006 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2006.-National Cup: 3.10.5 defeated 1.10.15 in the 2006 NAB Cup Final... |
32,290 | 1469 (+4.77%) | 10th | 27,428 |
| 2007 2007 AFL season The 2007 AFL Season was the 111th season of the Australian Football League, the highest-level professional Australian rules football league in Australia... |
30,169 | 2121 (−6.57%) | 1st | 31,547 |
| 2008 2008 AFL season -Round 1 :-Round 2:-Round 3 :-Round 4:-Round 5:-Round 6 :-Round 7:-AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match:-Round 8:... |
36,850 | 6681 (+22.15%) | 2nd | 29,474 |
| 2009 2009 AFL season -Round 1 :-Round 2:-Round 3 :-Round 4:-Round 5 :-Round 6:-Round 7:-Round 8:-Round 9 :-Round 10:... |
37,129 | 279 (+0.75%) | 1st | 32,132 |
| 2010 2010 AFL season -Premiership season:The draw for the 2010 AFL Premiership Season is not a random selection of matches, but rather is planned by the AFL. It is intended to produce a balanced draw while also providing the fans and television networks with blockbuster games. In a competition with 16 teams and 22... |
40,358 | 3,229 | 3rd | 39,129 |
| 2011 2011 AFL season The 2011 Australian Football League season was the 115th season of the Australian rules football competition. It was the debut year for , and was scheduled to be the only season to be played with 17 teams... |
39,343 | 1,015 | 1st | - |
Administrative positions
- President: Colin CarterColin CarterColin A. Carter is Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis. His research/teaching interests include international trade, futures markets, and commodity markets....
(2011 – present) - CEO: Brian CookBrian Cook (football administrator)Brian Cook is a former Australian rules football player who is now administrator, currently Chief executive officer of the Geelong Football Club.-Playing and coaching career:...
(1999 – present) - General Manager Football: Neil BalmeNeil BalmeNeil Allen Balme is a former Australian rules football player who played in the VFL between 1969 and 1979 for the Richmond Football Club.-Playing career:...
- Board members:
- Vice-president: Gareth AndrewsGareth AndrewsGareth Andrews is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong and Richmond in the Victorian Football League .Andrews attended Geelong College; and, as a schoolboy, he had a strong mark but awkward kicking style...
- Director: Nicholas Carr
- Director: Colin Carter (1987–1993; July 2008 – present)
- Director: Bob Gartland
- Director: Alistair Hamblin (December 2004 – present) (also Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee)
- Director: Hugh Seward
- Director: Diana Taylor
- Vice-president: Gareth Andrews
Team awards
- VFL/AFL: 9 (19251925 VFL Grand FinalThe 1925 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 10 October 1925. It was the 29th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...
, 19311931 VFL Grand FinalThe 1931 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 10 October 1931. It was the 35th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the...
, 19371937 VFL Grand FinalThe 1937 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1937. It was the 41st annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...
, 19511951 VFL Grand FinalThe 1951 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 1951. It was the 55th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for...
, 19521952 VFL Grand FinalThe 1952 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 1952. It was the 56th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers...
, 19631963 VFL Grand FinalThe 1963 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 5 October 1963. It was the 67th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the...
, 20072007 AFL Grand FinalThe 2007 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2007. It was the 111th annual Grand Final of the VFL/AFL, staged to determine the...
, 20092009 AFL Grand FinalThe 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009...
, 20112011 AFL Grand FinalThe 2011 Australian Football League Grand Final was an Australian rules football match, played to determine the premiers of the 2011 season. It was contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Geelong Football Club....
) - Victorian Football Association: 7 (1878, 1879, 1880, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886)
- Reserves: 15 (1923, 1924, 1930, 1937, 1938, 1948, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982, 2002, 2007)
- Under 19s: 1 (1962)
- Night Series/Pre-Season Premierships
- Night Series: 1 (1961)
- Pre-Season: 2 (2006, 2009)
- McClelland TrophyMcClelland TrophyThe McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy, currently awarded to the minor premiers in the Australian Football League each year...
: 9 (1952, 1954, 1962, 1963, 1980, 1981, 1992, 2007, 2008)
- Challenge CupChallenge Cup (Australia)The Challenge Cup was a football competition played in Melbourne, Australia between 1862 and the 1870s under a number of different club rules including the Melbourne Rules ....
: 1 (1863)
Head-to-head record
| Club | Overall record | Finals record1 | Grand Final record | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Drawn | Total | Win % | Won | Lost | Drawn | Total | Win % | Won | Lost | Total | Win % | |
| 15 | 15 | 0 | 30 | 50.00 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | — | — | — | — | |
| 10 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 70.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 9 | 13 | 0 | 22 | 40.91 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | — | — | — | — | |
| 92 | 116 | 2 | 210 | 44.29 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 45.83 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| 92 | 126 | 1 | 219 | 42.24 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 22 | 50.00 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 66.67 | |
| 91 | 112 | 5 | 208 | 44.95 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 38.46 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 | |
| 103 | 79 | 1 | 183 | 56.56 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — | — | — | — | |
| 20 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 74.07 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 77 | 67 | 1 | 145 | 53.45 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 33.33 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 33.33 | |
| 122 | 83 | 2 | 207 | 59.42 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 71.43 | — | — | — | — | |
| 91 | 58 | 1 | 150 | 61.00 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 33.33 | — | — | — | — | |
| 14 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 63.04 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 50.00 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 | |
| 96 | 85 | 3 | 184 | 52.99 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 22.22 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 50.00 | |
| 123 | 83 | 0 | 206 | 59.71 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 80.00 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 | |
| 115 | 93 | 0 | 208 | 55.29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | — | — | — | — | |
| 20 | 21 | 1 | 42 | 48.81 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| 92 | 55 | 2 | 149 | 62.42 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 80.00 | — | — | — | — | |
| Totals | 1190 | 1031 | 21 | 2242 | 53.55 | 46 | 57 | 1 | 104 | 44.71 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 52.94 |
Notes
- 1 – includes Grand Finals
Match records
- Highest score: Round 7, 1992 (CarraraCarrara StadiumCarrara Stadium is a sporting venue on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara....
) – Geelong 37.17 (239) v Brisbane BearsBrisbane BearsThe Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
11.9 (75) - Lowest score: Round 3, 1899 (Corio OvalCorio OvalCorio Oval was an Australian rules football ground, located in Geelong, Victoria and used by the Geelong Football Club in the VFL from 1897 to 1941. Located in the Eastern Gardens, the oval was served by trams from 1930 when the line was extended....
) – Geelong 0.8 (8) v FitzroyFitzroy Football ClubThe Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
4.8 (32) - Lowest score since 1919: Round 5, 1919 (Corio Oval) – Geelong 0.18 (18) v St. KildaSt. Kilda Football ClubThe St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the sport's premier league....
6.10 (46)- Since 1920: Round 12, 1971 (Moorabbin OvalMoorabbin OvalMoorabbin Oval, also known by its sponsorship name of Linen House Oval, is an Australian Rules Football ground in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at Linton Street in the suburb of Moorabbin....
) – Geelong 3.3 (21) v St. KildaSt. Kilda Football ClubThe St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the sport's premier league....
14.15 (99)
- Since 1920: Round 12, 1971 (Moorabbin Oval
- Highest losing score: Round 6, 1989 (Princes Park) – Geelong 25.13 (163) v HawthornHawthorn Football ClubThe Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
26.15 (171) - Lowest winning score: Round 6, 1897 (Corio Oval) – Geelong 1.9 (15) v MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
0.10 (10) - Lowest winning score since 1919: Round 1, 1965 (KP) – Geelong 5.5 (35) v Footscray 5.3 (33)
- Biggest winning margin: 186 points Round 19, 2011 (KP) – Geelong 37.11 (233) v MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
7.5 (47) - Biggest losing margin: 135 points Round 21, 1986 (PP) – Geelong 13.12 (90) v HawthornHawthorn Football ClubThe Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
35.15 (225) - Record attendance (home and away game): 88,115, Round 9, 2010 (MCGMcGJoseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
) v CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... - Record attendance (finals match): 109,396, Grand Final1967 VFL Grand FinalThe 1967 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 23 September 1967. It was the 71st annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...
, 1967 (MCG) v RichmondRichmond Football ClubThe Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
Current coaching staff
- Senior Coach: Chris Scott
- Assistant Coaches:
- Blake CaracellaBlake CaracellaBlake Caracella is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League .-Essendon career:Selected by Essendon in the 1995 National Draft at pick 10, Caracella finally debuted with the Bombers in 1997...
- Dale Amos
- Nigel LappinNigel LappinNigel Lappin is a former professional Australian rules footballer.Lappin was born in Corowa, New South Wales, but grew up in Chiltern, Victoria and was drafted to play for the Brisbane Bears in the Australian Football League in 1993, playing his first AFL game the following year...
- James RahillyJames RahillyJames Rahilly is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Australian Football League .Rahilly played his early football at South Warrnambool but was recruited from the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup...
- VFL Coach: Matthew KnightsMatthew KnightsMatthew Knights is a former Australian rules football player, having played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 to 2002. He went on to a coaching career, most notably as head coach of the Essendon Football Club from 2008 to 2010...
Officials
- President: Colin Carter
- Vice President: Gareth AndrewsGareth AndrewsGareth Andrews is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong and Richmond in the Victorian Football League .Andrews attended Geelong College; and, as a schoolboy, he had a strong mark but awkward kicking style...
- Directors:
- Nicholas Carr
- Bob Gartland
- Alistair Hamblin
- Hugh Seward
- Diana Taylor
- Chief Executive Officer: Brian CookBrian CookBrian Joshua Cook is an American professional basketball player. Cook was drafted out of the University of Illinois with the 24th pick of the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers...
- General Manager – Football: Neil BalmeNeil BalmeNeil Allen Balme is a former Australian rules football player who played in the VFL between 1969 and 1979 for the Richmond Football Club.-Playing career:...
- General Manager – Media & Public Relations: Kevin Diggerson
- General Manager – People & Culture: Rosie King
- General Manager – Commercial Operations: David Lever
- General Manager – Finance & Administration: Rob Threlfall
- Football Operations Manager: Steven HockingSteven HockingSteven Hocking is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL/AFL. He is the elder brother of former Geelong captain Garry....
Notable players
- Gary Ablett, Sr. (member of the AFL team of the century, Australian Football Hall of FameAustralian Football Hall of FameThe Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...
inductee) - Gary Ablett, Jr.Gary Ablett, Jr.Gary Ablett, Jr. is a professional Australian rules football player and current captain of the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
(Brownlow Medallist, Triple AFL MVP, Dual Premiership Player) - Billy BrownlessBilly BrownlessAnthony William "Billy" Brownless is a former Australian rules footballer with the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League and media personality.- Football career :...
(current media personality, played in 5 losing Grand Finals) - Charles 'Chas' BrownlowChas BrownlowCharles "Chas" Brownlow was an Australian rules football administrator in the Victorian Football League.He went to the Geelong College for his schooling....
(player and VFL president for which the Brownlow MedalBrownlow MedalThe Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
is named, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee) - Damian DrumDamian DrumDamian Kevin Drum is the Nationals member for Northern Victoria Region in the Victorian parliament, Australia. He is also a former Australian rules footballer and coach, most notably as senior coach of the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League from 1999 to 2001. He turned to...
(player, and current politician) - Graham "Polly" FarmerGraham FarmerGraham Vivian "Polly" Farmer, MBE is a retired Australian rules football player and coach. Born in Western Australia, he joined the East Perth Football Club as a ruckman in 1953, where he won several awards and contributed to the team winning three premierships...
(player, captain and coach, member of the AFL team of the century, official LegendAustralian Football Hall of FameThe Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...
of Australian rules football) - Ben Graham (player, captain and current NFL footballer)
- Edward GreevesEdward GreevesEdward Goderich "Carji" Greeves, Junior was an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League...
(inaugural Brownlow Medalist) - Garry HockingGarry HockingGarry Andrew "Buddha" Hocking , is a former Australian rules footballer and currently an assistant coach with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League.-Early Years:...
(player, captain, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee) - Reg HickeyReg HickeyReg Hickey was a player, and later coach, of the Geelong Football Club. Between 1926 and 1959 he led the club to four premierships....
(player, captain and coach, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee) - Mark "Jacko" Jackson (player, singer, actor and boxer)
- Sam NewmanSam NewmanJohn Noel William "Sam" Newman is a retired Australian rules football player and current television personality. He is a featured presenter on the AFL version of The Footy Show.-VFL career:...
(player, captain and current media personality, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee) - Bernie SmithBernie SmithBernard Keith "Bernie" Smith was an Australian rules footballer in the South Australian National Football League and VFL, who is perhaps best remembered as one of the greatest back pockets in the history of the game.-SANFL career:Smith commenced his career with West Adelaide in the SANFL as a 16...
(member of the AFL team of the century, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee) - Alec Boswell TimmsAlec Boswell TimmsAlec Boswell Timms was an Australian-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Edinburgh Wanderers and Edinburgh University. Timms played international rugby for Scotland and was selected for the British Isles team on its 1899 tour of Australia.-Personal history:Timms was...
, later became a noted rugby union player for and the British and Irish LionsBritish and Irish LionsThe British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales... - Neil TreziseNeil TreziseNeil Benjamin Trezise was an footballer in the VFL and Australian Labor Party politician, of Cornish descent.-Football career:...
(former player, coach and politician) - Doug WadeDoug WadeDouglas Graeme Wade is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club....
(member of the top 5 all time VFL/AFL goalkickers, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee)
See also
- Sport in AustraliaSport in AustraliaAustralia has a long sporting history dating back to the mid 1800s. By the 1920s, a number of sports were being played by both men and women, including cricket, badminton, judo, swimming, tennis, netball, lacrosse, golf, hockey and various codes of football....
- Sport in VictoriaSport in VictoriaThe state of Victoria, Australia, is known for its sporting culture. The Victorian capital, Melbourne is often referred to as the sporting capital of the world....
- List of Geelong Football Club players, captains and coaches
External links
- Official website of the Geelong Football Club
- Official AFL website
- The Cattery – Unofficial Geelong Football Club website
- "Around the Grounds" – Web documentary – Kardinia Park
- Geelong Football Club Honour Roll – list of all Presidents, captains, coaches and Best & Fairest winners since 1879.