Tom Wills, one of the founders of Australian football, played exclusively for Geelong from 1865 until his retirement from football in 1874. Geelong was thrashed by 61 points, playing its worst game for the entire season. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 reigning premiers. Coach Mark Thompson was widely perceived to be at risk. [89][90], The 2019 season saw Geelong finish on top of the AFL ladder for the first time since 2008. Geelong's traditional guernsey colours are white with navy blue hoops. They have also won ten McClelland Trophies, the most of any AFL/VFL club.[1][3]. XI. Despite dominating in the VFA, Geelong found the premiership harder to win in the VFL. He could assure his hearers that it was one of the happiest moments of his life. Geelong Cats: new president sets ambitious target - The Age [citation needed], 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. A notable recruit would be Steven King, standing at over two metres tall. 2023 Geelong Football Club season - Wikipedia Geelong officials asserted that the game was "not meant to be played like rugby", began to enforce its rule of bouncing the ball at a certain distance (the exact distance is unknown) while carrying it for matches between the two clubs. For many years the Geelong Football Club were known as the Pivotonians, after the city's nickname 'The Pivot'. line, and thrown in at right angles with that line Frank Costa, former Geelong president and philanthropist, dies aged 83 PDF Constitution of Geelong Football Club Limited Part One - Afl [8] A reprint of what were believed in 1923 to have been the Geelong's eleven 1859 rules appeared in the Geelong Advertiser courtesy of Fred Blackham from an old folded card. The club earned a week break and returned for the third weeks clash against Richmond, and won by 89 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. Responding, Mr M. Jacobs, president of the Geelong Football Club, said the good wishes of Richmond were greatly appreciated. Sam Newman played 300 games for Geelong and went on to become a prominent, if controversial, media personality. 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 adapted quickly to Blight's coaching philosophy, and became renowned for kicking high scores. Despite this, club full-forward Larry Donohue became the club's third Coleman Medalist after kicking over 100 goals in 1976. The old free-standing Rooms made way for the larger new stand, which includes a permanent home for the Past Players and a dedicated memorabilia display area. 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 Medallist. However, the club failed to make the finals during Devine's tenure and replaced him as coach with Malcolm Blight. For most of the season on-field performances were lacklustre as the players struggled to adapt. Season 1991 started ominously. Colin stepped down in 1993 as a result of being appointed to the AFL Commission, a role he held until early 2008. The team is composed of both reserves players from the club's primary and rookie AFL lists, and a separately maintained list of players eligible only for VFL matches. The Cats would meet eventual premier, North Melbourne in the first week of the finals, which saw North win by over 10 goals. Several experienced players urged Blight to revert to Geelong's customary geisha style of play. Geelong's score of 15.12 (102) and winning margin of 75 points against Sydney in Round 10 was the club's highest score and biggest win in the AFLW; [33] with the first-half score of 9.6 (60) the highest first-half score in AFLW history. [85] Dangerfield, in his first season at the club, polled a then-record 35 votes to win the 2016 Brownlow Medal. Consistent with the close finish of 1989, Hawthorn won the match by two points. Tony Lockett kicked his nine goals for St Kilda by three-quarter time. The Past Players and Officials Association moved into their new facilities in the Players Stand in June, 2014. [44] 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. Geelong finished the regular season in first position on the ladder, earning the club a second-consecutive McClelland Trophy, its ninth overall. Frank Costa, former Geelong Cats president and philanthropist, dies Geelong Football Club - Wikipedia Our stands could tell a thousand stories of competition, of friendship and loyalty, key milestones, frustration and celebration and of sponsors, partners, members and supporters proudly passing on the legacy of their "special place" from grandparents to grandchildren. Geelong won a memorable preliminary final by five points on their way to their first flag in 44 years. Despite Lord winning the Brownlow Medal and full forward Doug Wade winning the Coleman Medal, Farmer missed multiple games through injury and the club were eliminated in the Preliminary Final. [56], Following Thompson's departure, former Brisbane player Chris Scott was appointed as senior coach of the club. Our Past: Heritage Geelong Cats Foundation It adopted the Laws of Australian Football in the early 1860s after a series of compromises with the Melbourne Football Club. [63] This unexpected loss resulted in some commentators stating that it was the end of Geelong's era of recent success. Geelong had a shaky start to their 2022 campaign, beginning the year with five wins and four losses. Malcolm Blight, dispirited by three Grand Final losses under his tenure, announced his resignation. Graeme Atkinson, 1981, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Australian Rules Football but Couldn't be Bothered Asking", Five Mile Press, History of Australian rules football in Victoria (18531900) The game of the century, dissolution of the AFL reserves competition, Official Website of the Geelong Football Club, "UNEARTHING HISTORY: THE LOST BROWNLOW FILES", https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/sep/23/1989-vfl-grand-final-hawthorn-geelong, Goals scored by Geelong players in 1992 season, Season Scoring Records: Most Points For in a Season, "Geelong and Hawthorn top list of 12 best club drafts in AFL history", "VFL very much alive and kicking big goals", "Matthews still 'feels sick' over 2004 preliminary final", "Cats secure Ottens as frenzied trading ends", "The five best recruiting decisions of the last decade", "Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne to join a long line of Australian sportsmen trying to make the NFL", "Jeff White recalls horrific injuries after being kicked in face by Steven King in 2005", https://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/729891/cats-use-old-tricks, "Dreaded statistical turnaround in the AFL as the kick gets the boot", "Too old, too slow, two flags and counting", "Fremantle star Matthew Pavlich leads the Dockers to victory over Geelong", "The end of Geelong's era finally arrives", "Killing the curse: Hawks snap Cats' hold to make Grand Final", "North Melbourne eliminates Geelong to reach AFL preliminary final against Sydney Swans", "Tough ask for Dockers with Geelong's Simonds Stadium to host its first final", "Fremantle shocks Geelong with 15 point win at Kardinia Park to seal place in preliminary final", "Adelaide Crows' AFL match against Geelong cancelled after Phil Walsh's death, round 14 to go ahead", "Phil Walsh murdered: AFL confirms cancellation of Adelaide v Geelong, rest of Round 14 to go ahead", "2016 preview: Cats recruiting for another flag", "Adelaide Crows confirm Patrick Dangerfield wants to return to Victoria", "AFL trade week: Patrick Dangerfield deal done as Geelong sends Adelaide Dean Gore and draft picks", "Departing Dangerfield exits with best and fairest win", "Geelong hopes to remain contender through elite recruiting, culture, coaching and development", "Joel Corey retires after 276 game career", "Paul Chapman joins Essendon on a one-year deal after trade confirmed with Geelong", "Essendon Bombers sign former Geelong Cat Mathew Stokes for 2016 AFL season", "Geelong triple premiership player Steve Johnson joins GWS Giants on one-year deal", "Geelong Cats vs Sydney Swans: AFL preliminary final as it happened", "Geelong beats Western Bulldogs by 25 points at Kardinia Park", "Dangerfield breaks record to seal Brownlow", "Match report: Crows crush Cats to advance to GF", "Gary Ablett's trade to Geelong sends the AFL great back to family and his football home", "AFL finals: Geelong needs to avoid being a fading September force against Melbourne", "AFL finals: Melbourne Demons beat Geelong Cats to move through to semi-finals", "Cursed Cats? The AFL great rejected claims there was not enough to do in Tasmania as "prehistoric thinking". Colin Carter - Geelong Football Club President Colin Carter AM Director 1987-1993 and since 2008, President since 2011 Member of the Corporate Governance, Finance, Audit and Remuneration Committees Member of the Order of Australia Bachelor of Commerce, MBA Originally from Perth, Colin has been a supporter since Polly Farmer came to Geelong. geelong football club past presidents - solutionsplusonline.com Geelong finished second to Essendon in its inaugural season after a round-robin finals system was used to determine the premier instead of the traditional Grand Final. Tallies of 10 goal against North Melbourne, and 12 against his favourite victim, Richmond, in winning sides. [56], Sources: Club historical data Archived 4 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine and VFLW stats. The historic beginnings of the Geelong Football Club - YouTube The design is said to represent the white seagulls and blue water of Corio Bay. [38], The club once again played in the finals in 2005, defeating Melbourne in an elimination final by 55 points to reach the semi-finals,[39] where they played Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In 1953, Collingwood ended Geelong's record 23-game winning streak in the home and away season, and later defeated them by 12 points in the grand final, denying the Cats a third successive premiership. However, Geelong scored a behind to level the scores. His formal involvement with the game culminated in 12 years as a Director of the Geelong Football Club, including six years as Vice President. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The Geelong Football Club's rich history is all around us. [7][8][9] Geelong won a further three premierships in 2009, 2011 and 2022. He then has a free kick: no player from the opposite side being allowed to come inside the spot marked Geelong Past Players & Officials Club | Former Footballers A week later it seemed 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. In the 2008 Grand Final, Geelong was the heavily backed favourite and had lost only one match for the season, but lost by 26 points; Geelong then won its next eleven matches against Hawthorn over the following five years, under a curse, which was dubbed the "Kennett curse" which was attributed to disrespectful comments made by Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett following the 2008 Grand Final. The club trains here during the season, however it also trains at its alternate training venue, Deakin University's Elite Sport Precinct. The distance between the Goals and the goal post shall be decided upon by the captains of the sides playing The Geelong Football Club is in mourning the passing of past president Frank Costa. PDF Financial Statements 2017 - Afl The move followed the redevelopment of the old Doug Wade stand. [43] The club has also had a team in the second-tier VFL Women's league since 2017. A Black Cat badge made in 1923. ^ Denotes the ladder was split into two conferences. Geelong ultimately won the match by five points. Former president of the Geelong Football Club, businessman and philanthropist Frank Costa has died at the age of 83. The Geelong Football Club is mourning the passing of past president Frank Costa. The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. In 1952, Geelong easily defeated Lou Richards' Collingwood team. Craig Drummond is the new Geelong Football Club president. In 1999 the club won five games straight to open the season. [80] In addition to retirements across this period, some veteran players were not offered new contracts and were either traded or released via free agency to new clubs; this included Paul Chapman, James Kelly and Mathew Stokes all moving to Essendon, James Podsiadly joining Adelaide, as well as Josh Hunt and Steve Johnson both playing for Greater Western Sydney. [1] The club continued to excel over the following twenty years in the VFA, and established itself as one of the dominant clubs in the association by winning a total of seven premierships up to the birth of the (Victorian Football League) (VFL) in 1897.[14]. Tenure Geelong Football Club Limited Director appointed 15 June 2007, and Vice President for five years Experience Bob has been a Director of the Geelong Cats since 2007, Vice President since 2014, chair of the Geelong Cats Honouring the Past Management Committee, a Foundation Member of the Geelong Cats Forever Bequest Club, Chair of the Geelong Bernie Smith's quality was recognised with his win in the 1951 Brownlow Medal. [18][19], Updated: 1 May 2023Source(s): Playing list, Coaching staff. Picture: Peter Ristevski The husband of Bernadette and father of two is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a Chartered Accountant, and last October he became a grandfather to a baby boy. Geelong Football Club: Past Players & Officials | History 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. [citation needed], 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). The Cats have been the VFL/AFL premiers ten times, with four in the AFL era (since 1990) in 2007, 2009, 2011, and most recently, 2022, to be the most successful club over that period (sharing that title with Hawthorn). However, the club won their sixth premiership of the VFL era the following season in 1963. [3], On 6 July 1963 Geelong was comprehensively and unexpectedly beaten by Fitzroy, 9.13 (67) to 3.13 (31) in the 1963 Miracle Match. [40] Sydney would subsequently win the 2005 AFL Grand Final. The Perth-based West Coast won by 28 points to take the first premiership won by a non-Victorian club. The Best and Fairest was won by Paul Couch, who narrowly missed out on winning his second Brownlow Medal. 10.18 PRESIDENT OF THE CLUB 18 11. In 1930, Collingwood defeated Geelong in the grand final making it four flags in-a-row for the Pies. Geelong went on to play for most of its existence in the premier competitions, the first competition, the Caledonian Society Cup, a foundation club of both the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877 and the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1897.,[6] VFL and continues in the elite Australian Football League (AFL). Despite missing the finals during this first season back with the club, Hickey led Geelong to two consecutive premierships in 1951 and 1952to date, the only back-to-back premierships in the club's history.