Melbourne University Football Club – often known simply as "University" – is an Australian rules football club. High marking is a key skill and spectator attribute of Aussie Rules Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the key skill in Aussie Rules Football Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy is a code of football... This article is about the national league in Australian rules football. ... The Victorian Amateur Football Association is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia consisting purely of amateur players. ... “MCG” redirects here. ... The East Melbourne Cricket Ground (EMCG) was a sports venue vocated in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... High marking is a key skill and spectator attribute of Aussie Rules Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the key skill in Aussie Rules Football Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy is a code of football...

The club achieved prominence by being part of the game's most elite competition in the early 20th century, the Victorian Football League (the forerunner of the Australian Football League). (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... This article is about the national league in Australian rules football. ...

The club is the fourth-oldest club in any code of football in Australia. The title of the worlds oldest football club, or the oldest club in a particular country, is often disputed, or is claimed by several different clubs, across several different codes of football. ... Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

History

University was founded in 1859 by students and graduates of the University of Melbourne. The first report of the university participating in a match was against St Kilda in June 1859. According to ‘Gymnastic’, writing in the sporting newspaper Bell’s Life in Victoria, the ‘long pending match’ finally came off between two teams of 15. University was captained by a player called Phillips and St Kilda emerged the winners, under the method where the first team to score two out of three goals was victorious. Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The University of Melbourne, is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. ...

That same year it played against teams from Albert Park, Carlton, Melbourne, Royal Park and South Yarra. In 1861, University defeated Melbourne to win the first ever trophy for Australian football, instituted as part of the Calendonian Society's Games. The Carlton Football Club is the sixth oldest Australian rules football club and the third oldest club in the Australian Football League. ... The Melbourne Football Club (MFC), nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League, based in Melbourne, Victoria. ...

During the 1870s, the club played in the Second Twenties competition, one level lower than the main competition, the South Yarra Challenge Cup. From 1885 to 1888, University played in the VFA which at the time was the sport's major governing body. Following these years, the club was variously dormant or played in other competitions including the Metropolitan Junior Football Association, the Colleges Football Association and from 1905 to 1907 was a dominant member of the Metropolitan Football Association. // The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... VFA may refer to: Victorian Football Association, an Australian rules football competition established in the 19th Century that was superseded as the elite competition by the 1897 establishment of the Victorian FootbalL League. ...

Australian rules football being played by two women's teams. A Melbourne University player jostles for best position in a marking contest.

On October 4, 1907 the eight founding clubs of the VFL voted unanimously to include University in the league as its ninth team. Richmond Football Club became the 10th team two weeks later. The club's home ground was originally the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, where it was a tennant of the Essendon Football Club. Later the club relocated to the Melbourne Cricket Ground which it also shared, this time with the Melbourne Football Club. Image File history File linksMetadata Women's_marking_contest. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Women's_marking_contest. ... High marking is a key skill and spectator attribute of Aussie Rules Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the key skill in Aussie Rules Football Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy is a code of football... The University of Melbourne, located in Melbourne, in Victoria, is the second oldest university in Australia (the University of Sydney is the oldest). ... A mark is a skill in Australian Rules Football where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League. ... “MCG” redirects here. ... The Melbourne Football Club (MFC), nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League, based in Melbourne, Victoria. ...

The club was nicknamed The Students and The Professors and The Shop. The players wore a black guernsey with a blue "V" and blue collars and cuffs (the same design is still used to this day), black and blue socks and an optional black and blue cap. Players had to have matriculated or hold a higher degree to be eligible to play in the team. It is unique among VFL/AFL clubs in never having any professional (paid) players. The matriculation ceremony at Oxford Matriculation refers to the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by acquiring the required prior qualifications. ...

The club was not particularly successful: it never finished higher than sixth in the 10 team competition, and never played in a finals series. It finished last in the competition from 1911 to 1914, losing its last 51 games in a row. In total, it lost 97 of its 126 games between the 1908 and 1914 seasons. 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

When World War I broke out, many young men enlisted to fight, leaving the club with far too few players. It withdrew from the League before the beginning of the 1915 season, and disbanded. There was no hope of re-forming it after the War as it suffered the highest rate of casualties of the league. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Return to football

In the summer of 1919, after the War, Melbourne University began to rebuild its football involvement. Deciding not to reapply for a position in the VFL, they were instead requested by the VFL to supply two teams to the newly-formed VFL Reserves competition, or the Victorian Junior Football League. These two teams were initially called University A and B, but soon became known as "University Blues" and "University Blacks", respectively (the teams were only officially called the Blues and Blacks in 1930). The Blues contested the 1919 and 1920 VJFL Grand Finals, losing to Collingwood on both occassions; the Blacks moved to the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association in 1920, and the following season, were joined by the Blues. Both contested the 1921 MAFA Grand Final, with the Blacks winning what to date is the only grand final the two teams have contested in the MAFA or VAFA. Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies after the black and white striped guernseys worn by the players, is an Australian rules football club, playing in the elite Australian Football League. ...

Melbourne University students and alumni continue to maintain their involvement in football through the Blues and Blacks. The Melbourne University Football Club is unique in that it only plays under this name in inter-university matches, and its regular weekly competition is provided through its component teams, University Blues and University Blacks. The Blues and Blacks play in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, and have been a perennial power in the highest division of a high-standard amateur competition. An alumn (with a silent n), alum, alumnus, or alumna is a former student of a college, university, or school. ... The Victorian Amateur Football Association is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia consisting purely of amateur players. ...

Whilst the Blacks have won 13 A section flags and the Blues three (with their most recent being in 2004), in the years since the 1980s it has been the Blues that have maintained the club's presence in A Section. Throughout their history, the Blues and Blacks have often played together in A section of the MAFA/VAFA, although the last time this occurred was in 1982, as the Blacks have suffered from a prolonged absence from A section since. In head to head matches, the Blues lead the win tally with 41 wins to the Black's 36 and one draw.

Both teams have consistently been a spawning ground for young players who go on to the AFL. To date 239 MUFC players have played in the VFL/AFL competition. This article is about the national league in Australian rules football. ...

From 1955 until 1996, an additional team was fielded by the club called "University Reds" which competed in the VAFA,with a firsts and reserves team and predominately in the lower sections (the Reds achieved the lofty heights of D Section in 1982, but otherwise played mainly in E or F Section). When the team was discountinued by the club, players and supporters of the team decided to keep the team operating and it continues to this day as Fitzroy Reds.

In 1996, a women's team was formed, but established under its own club structure rather than being part of the MUFC. Named the Melbourne University MUGARS (Melbourne University Girls Aussie Rules Squad), the women's football club currently fields 3 senior teams and 2 under-age teams in the Victorian Women's Football League. The Leagues logo. ...

See also

• Category:University Football Club players
• Adelaide University Football Club
• Sydney University Students AFC

The Adelaide University Football Club is a South Australian based Australian rules football club. ... Formed in 1863, the Sydney University Australian National Football Club is the oldest in New South Wales. ...

External links

• Complete University Player Records
• Victorian Amateur Football Association
• University Blues Home Page
• University Blacks Home Page
• Full Points Footy History of the University Football Club
• University Jumpers on Footyjumpers.com

References

• Kevin Taylor, The Sydney Swans. Allen & Unwin, 1987.
• University Blues Team History
• Black & Blue, The Story of Football at the University of Melbourne. To be published in August 2007.