The Leopold Football Club was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

club that competed in junior competitions in Melbourne from the late 1890s until 1924. The club was affiliated with Victorian Football League senior club . Despite its name, the club was not based in the

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

suburb of

Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

. The name possibly came from Leopold Street in South Yarra.

History

Leopold first appeared in historical records in 1898, competing in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association. The club won its first MJFA premiership in 1900, going back-to-back with another victory in 1901. At some point around 1904, Leopold had a relationship with the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

. The club won two premierships in a row again in 1910 and 1911. Around 1912, it began to be affiliated with the South Melbourne Football Club, which competed in the Victorian Football League. As South Melbourne was a seniors side, Leopold operated as its juniors team. A fifth premiership was won in 1915, before the impacts of World War I in Australia affected football competitions. The

VFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

introduced a reserves competition in

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, known as the Victorian Junior Football League (VJFL). Leopold contested as South Melbourne's affiliate until the end of the 1924 season. In

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

, the competition was renamed as the VFL seconds, and the South Melbourne Second Eighteen (later known as the South Melbourne reserves) replaced Leopold in the competition.

Notable players

* Bill Hennington (formerly ) * Angus McDonald (formerly )

References

{{AFL reserves Sydney Swans Australian rules football clubs established in 1898 Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne 1898 establishments in Australia 1924 disestablishments in Australia Victorian Amateur Football Association clubs