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. The club originally represented the suburb of Carlton in Melbourne's inner north, and its nickname is the Blues, which comes from the navy blue colour which it has traditionally worn in its playing uniform. It is based at Princes Park in Carlton, and played its home matches there throughout most of its history, but currently plays its home matches at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Carlton has historically been one of the AFL's most successful clubs, having won sixteen senior premierships throughout its history, equal with Essendon as the most of any club.

Club history

Carlton has had a long and successful history, and is one of the most successful clubs in the VFL/AFL. Together with fierce rivals Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond, Carlton is considered one of the league's "Big Four" clubs, and enjoys a healthy rivalry with all three others.^[1]

Early history

The Carlton Football Club was formed in July 1864. In the early days, Carlton became particularly strong and having grown a large supporter base became a fierce rival to the Melbourne Football Club in early competition including the Caledonian Challenge Cup, which it dominated in the 1870s. In 1877, Carlton became one of the foundation clubs of the Victorian Football Association, and was a comfortable winner of the premiership in the competition's inaugural season.^[2]

Carlton was one of first clubs to have a player worthy of the superstar tag: champion player George Coulthard, who played for Carlton between 1876 and 1882, and was noted by The Australasian as 'The grandest player of the day'. He died of tuberculosis in 1883, aged 27.

The club won one more VFA premiership, in 1887, but after that, particularly during the 1890s, the club went from one of the strongest clubs in the Association to one of the weaker, both on-field and off-field. In spite of this, the club was invited to join the breakaway Victorian Football League competition in 1897.^[3] The club continued to struggle in early seasons of the new competition, and did not finish above second-last in its first five seasons.

Jack Worrall to World War I

Carlton's fortunes improved significantly in 1902. The Board elected the highly respected former Fitzroy footballer and Australian test cricketer Jack Worrall, then the secretary of the Carlton Cricket Club, to the same position at the football club. As secretary, Worrall slowly took over the managing of the players, in what is now recognised as the first official coaching role in the VFL. Under Worrall's guidance in the latter part of the 1902 season, Carlton's on-field performances improved,^[4] and in 1903 he led Carlton the finals for the first time. Carlton built a strong reputation and financial position, and was able to convince many great players to shift to the club from other clubs, or even (in the case of Mick Grace) out of retirement. Worrall led the club to its first three VFL premierships, won consecutively, in 1906, 1907 and 1908. Carlton became the first club in the VFL to win three premierships in a row, and its win-loss record of 19–1 in the 1908 season (including finals) was a record which stood for more than ninety years.^{N 1}

Following these premierships, Carlton went through a tumultuous period off-field. Some players had become frustrated by low payments and hard training standards, and responded by refusing to train or even play matches. The club removed Worrall from the coaching role (he retained the role of secretary), and after significant changes at board level after the 1909 season, Worrall left the club altogether. Many players who had supported Worrall left the club at the end of the season. Then, in 1910, several players were suspected of having taken bribes to fix matches, with two players (Alex Lang and Doug Fraser) both found guilty and suspended for 99 matches.^[2] Despite this backdrop, Carlton continued its strong on-field form, reaching the 1909 and 1910 Grand Finals, but losing both.^[4]

Carlton fell out of the finals in 1913, but returned in 1914 under coach Norm Clark, and with many inexperienced players, to win back-to-back premierships in 1914 and 1915 VFL seasons. Most football around the country was suspended during the height of World War I, but Carlton continued to compete in a VFL which featured, at its fewest, only four clubs. Altogether, between Jack Worrall's first Grand Final in 1904 and the peak of World War I in 1916, Carlton won five premierships and contested nine Grand Finals for one of the most successful times in the club's history. The only success which eluded the club was the Championship of Australia; Carlton contested the championship three times (1907, 1908 and 1914), with its South Australian opponents victorious on all three occasions.

Between the wars

Through the 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s, Carlton maintained a strong on-field presence. The club was a frequent finalist, contesting fourteen finals series between the wars. However, premiership success did not follow, and the club contested only three Grand Finals for just one premiership during this period, and endured the longest premiership drought (23 years) in the club's history.^[5] The drought was broken with the club's sixth VFL premiership in 1938, when former Subiaco and South Melbourne champion Brighton Diggins was recruited by the club to serve as captain-coach.

On-field, Carlton's inter-war period was highlighted by two of its greatest goalkickers: in the 1920s, Horrie Clover (396 goals in 147 games), and in the 1930s, Harry "Soapy" Vallence (722 goals in 204 games), both of which were Carlton career records at the time.

1941 to 1964

The VFL continued to operate through World War II. With the retirement of Diggins, Carlton secured the services of former Richmond coach Percy Bentley, who coached the club for fifteen seasons. Carlton continued to finish in or near the finals without premiership success through the war, before winning the premiership in 1945, one month after peace. In a remarkable season, Carlton languished with a record of 3–6 after nine weeks, but won ten of the remaining eleven home-and-away matches to finish fourth; Carlton then comfortably beat North Melbourne in the first semi-final, overcame a 28-point deficit in the final quarter to beat Collingwood in the preliminary final, then beat South Melbourne in the notoriously brutal and violent Bloodbath Grand Final.^[6]

Carlton contested two more Grand Finals in the 1940s, both against Essendon, winning the 1947 Grand Final by a single point, and being comfortably beaten in 1949.^[6] Thereafter followed what was Carlton's weakest on-field period since Worrall's appointment in 1902, with the club reaching the finals only four times between 1950 and 1964. Finishing tenth out of twelve and winning only five matches, 1964 was Carlton's worst VFL season to date.^[5]

Ron Barassi to 1973

A change of president at the end of 1964 heralded the most successful period in the Carlton Football Club's history. Between 1967 and 1988, Carlton missed the finals only three times, contested ten Grand Finals, and won seven premierships.^[5]

The period of success began when George Harris replaced Lew Holmes as president of the club, after the 1964 season. Harris then signed Melbourne legend Ron Barassi serve as coach from 1965. Barassi was a six-time premiership player and two-time premiership captain at Melbourne during its most successful era, and at the age of 28 was still one of the biggest names in the game. His shift to Carlton remains one of the biggest player transfers in the game's history.^[7]

Under Barassi, Carlton reached three consecutive Grand Finals between 1968 and 1970, resulting in two premierships: 1968 against Essendon and 1970 against traditional rivals Collingwood. The 1970 Grand Final remains one of the most famous matches in football history. Played in front of an enduring record crowd of 121,696, Collingwood dominated early to lead by 44 points at half time, but Carlton kicked seven goals in fifteen minutes after half time to narrow the margin to only three points; after a close final quarter, Carlton won its tenth VFL premiership with a ten point victory. Carlton won its first and second Championship of Australia titles in 1968 and 1970, beating the SANFL's Sturt Football Club in both seasons.^[7]

Carlton missed the finals in 1971, and Barassi left the club at the end of the season, but Carlton returned to prominence the following year, and contested back-to-back Grand Finals. Both matches were against Richmond, with Carlton recording a high-scoring victory in 1972, and losing a rough, physical encounter in 1973.^[7]

Of the legendary players from the Barassi era, none was more important than John Nicholls, who captained all three premierships and took over as captain-coach upon Barassi's departure. Nicholls, a ruckman and forward, had played at Carlton since 1957, and he and Graham Farmer (who played with Geelong and in the WAFL during the same era) are regarded as the greatest ruckmen in the league's history.^[8] Midfielders Sergio Silvagni and Adrian Gallagher, half-forward Robert Walls, and ruckman Percy Jones were also prominent throughout the Barassi era, and in 1970, Alex Jesaulenko became the first (and to date, only) Carlton forward to kick 100 goals in a season.

1975 to 1982

Carlton continued to play finals through the 1970s without premiership success, and went through several coaches in a short period of time: Nicholls (until 1975), Ian Thorogood (1976–1977), Ian Stewart (for only three matches in 1978), and Alex Jesaulenko as playing coach after Stewart's departure.^[7] It was not until 1979 that Carlton again reached the Grand Final, defeating Collingwood by five points in a close match best remembered for the late goal kicked by Ken Sheldon, after Wayne Harmes tapped the ball into the goalsquare from the boundary line.

After the 1979 season, there was off-field instability at the board level. Ian Rice replaced George Harris as president,^{N 2} and many of Harris' supporters left the club, including Jesaulenko, who went to St Kilda. Percy Jones replaced Jesaulenko as coach in 1980, before Hawthorn coach David Parkin was recruited in 1981, Carlton's sixth coach in eight seasons.^[7]

Despite the off-field troubles, Carlton continued to thrive on-field, and Parkin led the team to back-to-back premierships in 1981 and 1982, with victories in the Grand Finals against Collingwood and Richmond respectively. With its fourteenth premiership in 1982, Carlton overtook Collingwood to become the most successful club in the league's history, based on premierships won – a position it has held either outright or jointly with Essendon since.^[7]

Starring on-field during this period for Carlton was Bruce Doull, regarded as one of the best half-back flankers in the history of the league. Wayne Johnston was a prominent ruckman/forward, and Carlton had great success recruiting high profile Western Australian footballers to the club, including Mike Fitzpatrick, Ken Hunter and Peter Bosustow.

1983 to 2001

In 1983, John Elliott took over the presidency from Ian Rice. On-field, the club endured three consecutive unsuccessful finals campaigns under Parkin before he was replaced by Robert Walls in 1986. Also in 1986, Carlton lured three of South Australia's top young players to the club: Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley and Peter Motley. The club reached the next two Grand Finals, losing in 1986 and winning in 1987, both times against Hawthorn. Kernahan went on to become the club's longest serving captain and leading career goalkicker (738 goals), and Bradley became the club games record holder (375 games); Motley's career was unfortunately cut short by a non-fatal car accident in 1987. Carlton had also recruited Stephen Silvagni (son of Sergio) in 1985, who is now recognised as one of the greatest fullbacks of all-time, and secured the league's star player Greg Williams in a trade in 1992.

David Parkin returned to coach the club from 1991 until 2000, and Carlton was a mainstay of the finals throughout most of this time. In 1995, Carlton became the first team to win twenty matches in a home-and-away season (finishing with a record of 20–2), and won the Grand Final against Geelong to claim its sixteenth premiership. Carlton reached two other Grand Finals during the 1990s, losing to Essendon in 1993 and to the Kangaroos in 1999; in 1999, Carlton had come from sixth on the home-and-away ladder to qualify for the Grand Final, famously beating its rival Essendon (the minor premiers) by one point in the preliminary final.^[7]

2000s

In 2002, Carlton swiftly fell from being one of the most successful clubs, both on-field and off-field, to one of the least successful. The club had been much slower than others to embrace the AFL Draft as a means for recruitment, so when its champion players from the 1990s began to retire in the early 2000s, on-field performances fell away quickly, and in 2002, the club won the wooden spoon for the first time in its VFL/AFL history. At the same time, the club was starting to struggle financially, due to unwise investments under John Elliott – most significantly, building a new grandstand at Princes Park during the 1990s, at a time when other clubs were finding it more profitable to play at the higher-capacity central venues.^[9] Then, at the end of 2002, it was revealed that Carlton had been systematically cheating the league salary cap during the early 2000s. The scandal resulted in the loss of draft picks and a fine of almost one million dollars, which exacerbated the club's poor on-field and off-field positions. The club's professional reputation was also severly damaged.^[10]

In the immediate fall-out from 2002, president John Elliott was removed, and was replaced with Docklands Stadium CEO Ian Collins. Under Collins, the club shifted its home stadium from Princes Park to Docklands, with the final match played at Princes Park in 2005. Additionally, coach Wayne Brittain was sacked, and replaced with Kangaroos coach Denis Pagan. On-field performances did not improve under Pagan, and overall the club won three wooden spoons and finished in the bottom two five times between 2002–2007.^[5]

Carlton's overall position began to improve in 2007, when businessman Richard Pratt,^[11], Steven Icke^[12] and Collingwood's Greg Swann^[13] came to the club as president, general manager of football operations, and CEO respectively, to stabilise the club's off-field position. Pagan was sacked as coach mid-season after a string of heavy defeats, and was replaced by former club captain Brett Ratten. Then, prior to the 2008 season, Carlton was able to secure a trade for West Coast's Chris Judd, one of the league's best midfielders, to join the club as captain. The time spent at the bottom of the ladder also allowed Carlton to secure three No. 1 draft picks – Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer – who have helped the club's on-field position. Carlton returned to the finals in 2009, and has participated in finals each year since, but without premiership success.^[5]

Club Symbols

Guernsey

The current Carlton guernsey is plain navy blue, emblazoned with a white CFC monogram (which stands for "Carlton Football Club") on the front, and white numbers on the back. Other than changes to the font of the monogram, this has been Carlton's guernsey continually since 1909.^[14] The club has worn navy blue in its uniform since 1871, when colour of the team's caps was changed from orange/yellow.^[15]

The team wears navy blue shorts in home games, and white shorts in away games. Since 2011, Carlton's clash guernsey has been sky blue with navy blue monogram, side-panels and numbers, and worn with sky blue shorts and navy blue socks. The club's clash socks are navy blue with a white hoop.^[16]

Nickname

Since the addition of navy blue to the playing uniform in 1871, the club has been known almost universally as the Blues, Dark Blues or Navy Blues. ^[15]

Prior to 1871, when the uniform was predominantly chamois, the club was known informally as the Butchers. After World War II, the club briefly considered changing its nickname to the Cockatoos, but this never formally eventuated;^[15] even so, the push was serious enough that newspaper cartoons depicting a Carlton cockatoo were printed around that time.^[17]

Club song

Carlton's club song is We Are the Navy Blues. The song is sung to the tune of the chorus of Lily of Laguna by Leslie Stuart.

Home ground

The club's traditional home ground is Princes Park (currently known as Visy Park), located in North Carlton. After struggling to find a permanent home venue during its time in the VFA, Carlton established Princes Park as its home venue when it joined the VFL in 1897.^[2] The club played home matches at Princes Park every year between 1897-2005. It was the last of the "suburban home grounds"^{N 3} to be used in AFL competition.

Since 2005, Carlton's official home ground has been Docklands Stadium (currently known as Etihad Stadium). However, home matches expecting to draw large crowds are usually played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which has a much higher capacity; this has been the case since the 1990s. Carlton continues to use Princes Park as its training and administrative base.

VFL affiliation

Since 2003, the Carlton Football Club has been affiliated with the Northern Blues Football Club in the Victorian Football League. The Northern Blues, formerly known as the Preston Bullants and Northern Bullants before becoming the Blues in 2012, are based in the northern suburb of Preston, but also play several home games at Visy Park. Under the affiliation, reserves players for Carlton play VFL football with the Northern Blues.

Club honour board

Carlton's Team of the Century

Four emergencies were also named: (1) Laurie Kerr, (2) Bob Chitty, (3) Horrie Clover and (4) Rod McGregor. The five players with an asterisk(*) are also members of the AFL Team of the Century – the largest number of any AFL club.

Current playing staff

The Carlton team is currently coached by former club captain and premiership player Brett Ratten. Ratten has been the full time senior coach since the 2008 season, after serving as caretaker for the final six matches of 2007 after the dismissal of Denis Pagan. Carlton's current captain is dual-Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd, who has served as captain since coming to the club from West Coast at the end of the 2007 season.

Playing Squad and Coaching Panel as of 29 November 2011:

Corporate and administration

Board of directors

President – Stephen Kernahan

Vice Presidents – Richard Newton, Jeannie Pratt

Board Members – Marcus Clarke, Zac Fried, Raphael Geminder, Adrian Gleeson, Mark Harrison, Greg Lee, Mark LoGiudice, Stephen Moulton, Ari Suss

Chief Executive Officers

CEOs since 1980.

The club had 43,214 members in 2011.^[20]

Records and achievements

Club records

Premierships

See Carlton Football Club premierships

VFL/AFL finishing positions (1897–present)

Individual awards

Individual records

VFL/AFL Match records

• Most goals in a game: 13 by Horrie Clover vs. St. Kilda in 1921
• Highest score: 30.30 (210) vs. Hawthorn on 12 April 1969
• Lowest score: 0.6 (6) vs. Collingwood on 4 June 1898
• Greatest winning margin: 140 points vs. St. Kilda on 8 April 1985
• Greatest losing margin: 124 points vs. Kangaroos on 31 August 2003
• Highest losing score: 22.13 (145) v North Melbourne on 15 April 1985
• Lowest winning score: 3.6 (24) v South Melbourne on 24 June 1899
• Record attendance (home and away game): 91,571, 21 July 2000 at MCG v Essendon
• Record attendance (finals match): 121,696, Grand Final, 26 September 1970 v Collingwood.

See also

• Wikipedia listing of Carlton players
• List of Carlton Football Club coaches
• Sport in Australia
• Sport in Victoria

Footnotes

1.^ Specifically, Carlton's 19–1 record set a record for the best win-loss percentage across a full season, including finals, which stood until Essendon broke it in the 2000 AFL season with a record of 24–1. The record was matched twice before it was broken: by Collingwood in 1929, and Essendon in 1950.^[26]

2.^ Harris had served two tenures as Carlton president: from 1965–1974, then from 1978–1979.

3.^ The "suburban grounds" is a collective term generally understood to mean all venues in Melbourne, except for the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Docklands Stadium and Waverley Park.

References

External links

• Official Website of the Carlton Football Club
• "Around the Grounds" – Web Documentary – Princes Park
• Blueseum – History of the Carlton Football Club
• BigFooty's Carlton AFL Football Club discussion forum
• Can You Smell What the Blues are Cooking Carlton Membership Slogan 2010