Ballarat Football Club

Ballarat
Names
Full nameBallarat Football Netball Club, Inc.[1]
Nickname(s)Swans
Motto"Et Nos Unum Sumus" (We Are One)
Club details
Founded20 May 1860
Colours  Red   White
CompetitionBallarat Football League
PresidentKarl Drever
CoachChris Maple
Captain(s)Will Garner
PremiershipsBFL (19): 1897, 1898, 1908, 1923, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1962, 1971, 1988, 2008
Ground(s)Alfredton Recreation Reserve (1994–present)
Former ground(s)City Oval (1906–93)
Uniforms
Seniors
Junior Swans
Junior Storm
Other information
Official websiteballaratfnc.com.au

The Ballarat Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Swans is an Australian rules football and netball club. The football squad currently competes in the Ballarat Football League in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.

The club was established on 20 May 1860, making it the 3rd oldest continually operating football club in Australia, behind Melbourne (May 1859) and Geelong (July 1859).

History

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Ballarat Football Club in 1889

Calls for the club's formation date as far back as May 1860.[2] One of the first recorded football matches played in the district was a match on 5 May 1860 with the members of the Ballarat Athletic Club splitting into two sides of six to play at the Copenhagen Grounds.[3] The Ballarat Athletic Club was instrumental in early matches including the town of Little Bendigo at the Ballarat Cricket Ground[4] though the match was cancelled due to inclement weather.[5] The Ballarat Star had been lobbying the local community for a club of its own. Ballarat Football Club was incorporated on 20 May 1860.[citation needed]

Among its first big opponents was the Geelong Football Club in 1862 which was captained by H. C. A. Harrison. The Ballaratians captained by Alexander Greenfield travelled by train to Geelong lost the match.[6][7][8][9]

Its first President and Captain was Lieutenant Colonel Alexander M. Greenfield. Its senior best and fairest award is named after Alexander Greenfield.

The club hosted the touring British footballers in 1888, with the third quarter of the match played in a snow storm.[10]

Ballarat played their home matches at City Oval in Ballarat for 88 years,[11] then moved to their current location at Alfredton Recreation Reserve in 1994. Ballarat's senior guernsey is white with Red 'V'.

Ballarat was a provincial member of the Victorian Football Association from 1878[12] until 1896,[13] taking part in the Association's administration and competing regularly against Melbourne-based VFA clubs. The club was also a founding member of the Ballarat Football Association in 1893. In 1955 the club officially applied to join the VFL. Although the application was referred to a special sub-committee that was to meet and make a recommendation, there is no evidence that the application was ever acted on by the league.[14]

Ballarat Football Netball Club's junior program has produced recent AFL players Drew Petrie, twins Nathan & Mitch Brown, brothers Brad & Matt Crouch and AFLW player Sophie Van De Heuvel.

Club identity

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Guernsey

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The senior jumper is white with a red V. The club senior team wore red & white vertical stripes between season 2010 and 2018, however reverted to the traditional red V from season 2019.

From season 2019 the junior 'Swans' division of the club have worn the red and white vertical stripes, and the junior 'Storm' division have worn red and white horizontal hoops. Both junior jumpers have historical significance as being designs worn by Ballarat FC during the 1800s.

Song

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The club song is known as "Cheer, Cheer The Red and The White" and is to the tune of the Victory March, the fight song of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana, USA. The words are:

Cheer, cheer the red and the white,
Honour the name by day and by night,
Lift that noble banner high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
Whether the odds be great or small,
Ballarat will go and win overall,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onwards to victory!

Mascot

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The club's mascot is the angry swan.

Home ground

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Since the start of the 1994 season Ballarat have played their home games at the Alfredton Recreation Reserve, in the western suburb of Alfredton. From 1906 to 1993, Ballarat played their home matches at the City Oval, beside Lake Wendouree, where they were co-tenants with Redan. The move to Alfredton was a strategic one based on the growing population of Alfredton and the opportunity to join its junior division, who had been playing at Alfredton since 1984.

Football Premierships

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Ballarat Football League

  • Senior Football (19)
    • 1897, 1898, 1908, 1923, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1962, 1971, 1988, 2008
  • Under 15’s:
    • 2005

League Best & Fairest winners

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Senior Football
  • Ballarat Football League - George McKenzie Memorial Medal
    • 1933 - W.T. "Webber" Jackson.[15] (Tied with the winner on 13 votes each, but in 2010, the Ballarat FNL awarded three retrospective best and fairest medals who originally polled the same number of votes as the winner, but finished second in the award, on the countback system, except for the 1933 "winner", W.T. "Webber" Jackson), whose family have never received a retrospective medal.
    • 1935 - W.T. "Webber" Jackson[16]
  • Ballarat Football League - Ballarat Courier Gold Medal
  • Ballarat Football League - Henderson Medal
    • 1972 - Peter Merriman
    • 1974 - Brendan Mahar
    • 1977 - Don Discher
    • 1985 - Don Discher
    • 2014 - Shane Hutchinson

Leading BFL Goal Kicker

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Senior Football - Tony Lockett Medalists
  • 1927 - Dave Duff 113
  • 1928 - Dave Duff 91
  • 1929 - Dave Duff 96
  • 1930 - Harry Cooper 95
  • 1934 - G Anderson 72
  • 1936 - Max Wheeler 108
  • 1957 - Robert Brannigan 47
  • 1972 - Greg Brown 72
  • 1986 - Phil Taglaibue 84
  • 2019 - Andrew Hooper 41

VFL/AFL players

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Matt Crouch, from the Adelaide Crows played his junior football with the Ballarat FC

Club records

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Most Senior Games: Paul Nicholls 248

Most Senior Goals: Max Wheeler 359 (1935-1939)

Most Goals in a Game: Max Wheeler 17 v Ballarat CYMS (1938)[18][19]

Most Goals in a Senior Season: Dave Duff 113 (1927)

Most Greenfield Trophies (Senior B&F's): Don Discher x 6 (1977, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991) Ashley Baker x 6 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012)

Most Years as Coach: Len Templar 15 years (1958-1967, 1970–1972, 1977–1978)

Most Years as Captain: Harry Kaighan 8 years (1921 – 1928)

Most Years as Club President: Matt Glover 21 years (1948 – 1968)

Most Years as Club Secretary: J. Shannon 18 Years (1914 – 1931)

Most Years as Club Treasurer: E. R. Bodycomb 26 years (1897 – 1922)

Bibliography

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History of Football in the Ballarat District (2008) by John Stoward - ISBN 978-0-9805929-0-0

References

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  1. ^ "Ballarat Football Netball Club". Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  2. ^ "News and Notes". The Star. Vol. V, no. 122. Victoria, Australia. 23 May 1860. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Pedestrianism". Bell's Life In Victoria And Sporting Chronicle. Vol. 5, no. 174. Victoria, Australia. 5 May 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Advertising". The Star. Vol. V, no. 122. Victoria, Australia. 23 May 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "About the Present Condition of the Colony". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 4, 354. Victoria, Australia. 26 May 1860. p. 6. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Football". Bell's Life In Victoria And Sporting Chronicle. Vol. 7, no. 283. Victoria, Australia. 7 June 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Advertising". The Star. Vol. VII, no. 166. Victoria, Australia. 14 July 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Football Match—Ballarat v Geelong". The Star. Vol. VII, no. 172. Victoria, Australia. 21 July 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Social". The Star. Vol. VII, no. 175. Victoria, Australia. 24 July 1862. p. 1 (Supplement to the Star.). Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Football - Ballarat v. England". The Ballarat Star. Ballarat: National Library of Australia. 23 July 1888. p. 4. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Ballarat FNC - Football History" (PDF). Herald Sun newspaper. Herald Sun. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  12. ^ "News and notes". The Ballarat Star. Ballarat, VIC. 26 April 1878. p. 2.
  13. ^ "Ballarat Football Club". The Ballarat Star. Ballarat, VIC. 10 April 1897. p. 4.
  14. ^ "Ballarat Applies to Enter VFL". Argus. 14 July 1955.
  15. ^ "1933 - Brief News". The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, Vic). 9 September 1933. p. 27. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  16. ^ "1935 - George McKenzie Medal". The Horsham Times (Vic). 3 September 1935. p. 2. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  17. ^ "1950 - Country Football". Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954). 30 August 1930. p. 15. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  18. ^ "1938 - Country Football Matches". The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, Vic). 1 August 1938. p. 34. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  19. ^ "1938 - Ballarat". The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 1 August 1938. p. 15. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
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