Carlton Carlton
Carlton first appeared in 1864 for its first match at Royal Park, near the spot where Burke and Wills had set of on their expedition. In the early days of the game it was hard to distinguish opposition teams so Carlton decided to wear an orange cap. Before long blue was added to the uniform and the ‘old dark navy blue’ would dominate the clubs uniform.
The blues were dubbed ‘the wild men of Carlton’ when they played the lilywhites from South Yarra in a challenge Cup match in 1866. Carlton was also called the bulldogs.
In the early days of the game, Carlton and Melbourne were great rivals. In the 1870’s the clubs drew huge crowds of 10,000 people. This rivalry became stronger in 1868 after two Carlton players switched to Melbourne after an internal fight at Carlton. In 1868 several clubs refused to play at Royal Park, Carlton’s home ground. In the old days finding suitable grounds to play football games on was very hard. In 1869 a game between Carlton and South Yarra, at Fawkner Park, was stopped by the park ranger because the players were destroying grazing land.
In 1871, Carlton won the Challenge Cup, losing one game for the year. They also finished on top again in 1873. To add to Carlton’s delight they beat Melbourne four times in this period.
After the Melbourne City Council refused to put a fence around the Royal Park ground, Carlton leased a ground at Madeleine street (now Swanston Street), Carlton. They played there until the end of the 1877 season. The University Council then decided that the ground could not be used for Football and Carlton had to move back to Royal Park, where they played until 1890. From then until 1896, Carlton played on a variety of different grounds.
In the early 1880’s Carlton slumped, but in 1887 the won the Flag. A highlight of 1888 was a match against a touring English Rugby team, 25,000 people attended the game which Carlton won. Carlton were runners-up in 1889-90-91, but from then on they slid down the ladder and finished last in 1896.
The clubs players and administrative strength was harshly criticised, in the press, but Carlton’s reputation, following and it’s new ground at Princes Park, meant that Carlton had to be in the new VFL competition.
In 100 seasons of VFL/AFL football, the lowest Carlton has finished on the ladder is 10th, but in Carlton’s last season of VFA football they finished last.
Carlton has always been known as the Blues or Navy Blues. Before the first world war some newspapers referred to Carlton as the Brewers. An attempt to introduce a Cockatoo after World War Two wasn’t successful.
In Brief
Premierships: 16 (League Record)
Premiership years: 1906-7-8, 1914-15, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981-82, 1987, 1996.
Brownlow Medallists: Bert Deacon (1947), John James (1961), Gordon Collis (1964), Greg Williams (1994).
