Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons since 1933, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League, based in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest football club in Australia and is one of the oldest in the world. It is also distinguished by the fact that it was members of the club who wrote the rules of their game. Melbourne plays in red and dark blue colours, and its club song is It's a Grand Old Flag. The club was known in its early days as the Fuchsias and later as the Redlegs.

Origins

Some sources claim that the MFC is the oldest professional sporting club in the world. There is no doubt that it was formed just before other clubs in Victoria, such as Geelong. However, the claim of "professionalism" is contentious, as the Victorian Football League did not officially allow professional players until Rule 29 was passed in 1911 and for many years Melbourne was a proudly amateur club.http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/melbourne.htm

Related Topics:
Victoria - Geelong - Victorian Football League - 1911

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The MFC was an offshoot of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC), occupiers of what many consider to be Australia's finest sporting arena the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG, known as "The G"). The group which became the MFC came together informally on August 7,1858 and the club was formally established in 1859. On May 17 that year, at the Parade Hotel in East Melbourne, Tom Wills, W.J. Hammersley and J.B. Thompson (some sources also include Thomas Smith and/or H. C. A. Harrison), wrote the first set of written rules for Australian Rules Football. By 1866, several other clubs had also adopted an updated vesrion of Melbourne's rules. In 1877, the club became a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association. The MFC joined the breakaway Victorian Football League (later Australian Football League) at its formation in 1897, and has been a part of the competition ever since.

Related Topics:
Melbourne Cricket Club - Melbourne Cricket Ground - August 7 - 1858 - 1859 - May 17 - Tom Wills - H. C. A. Harrison - 1866 - Victorian Football Association - Victorian Football League - Australian Football League - 1897

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In 1889 the MFC was reincorporated into the MCC, and for many years the two organisations remained unhappily linked. The MFC's close association with the MCC allowed it to claim the MCG as its home ground and have it access to a wealthy membership base, but Melbourne's reputation as an "establishment" club has not always been an advantage. The MCC members' automatic right to attend all events at the ground, including Demons' games, also means that many potential members have no actual need to so do - thus, Melbourne's membership is currently amongst the lowest in the competition.

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In 1900 Melbourne won its first VFL premiership (traditionally known as "The Flag," although since 1959 it has been complemented annually by a premiership trophy), defeating Fitzroy.

Related Topics:
1900 - Fitzroy

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Melbourne's greatest player of these early years of the VFL was Ivor Warne-Smith, who in 1926 won the club's first Brownlow Medal (the League's annual award for the best and fairest player). In that year Melbourne won its second flag. Warne-Smith won the Brownlow again in 1928.

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