The Newcastle City Australian Football Club, nicknamed the ''Blues'', is 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 is based in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and currently competes in the

AFL Hunter Central Coast The AFL Hunter Central Coast is an Australian rules football competition in the Newcastle, Hunter Region and Central Coast regions of New South Wales. The Black Diamond Australian Football league was formed in 2000 and ran until the end of t ...

league. The club is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in the AFLHCC.

Club history

Australian rules football was first introduced to the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

gold miners John, Jim and George Duguid in the early 1880s with the first clubs being Newcastle City, Northumberland, Wallsend & Plattsburg,

Singleton Singleton may refer to: Sciences, technology Mathematics * Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element * Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing * Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance o ...

and Lambton. Matches between clubs were privately organised between clubs. But despite the game's promising start in terms of gaining a foothold within the region the sport had died out due to lack of players and support due to the decline of coalmines in Newcastle and the effects of the depression at the time in the mid 1890s. The sport would be revived for a short time before dying off again on and off but it wasn't until 1948 after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, that Australian rules was there to stay with the Newcastle Australian Football League being founded with inaugural clubs Waratah, Mayfield, Broadmeadow and Newcastle City. The

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

gave Newcastle City permission to use the uniform identical to their own club kit. The club won its first NAFL premiership in 1950, and again three years later in 1953. The 1960s was one of the most successful eras for Newcastle City, winning six premierships during the decade with four in a row from 1963 to 1966, with the 1964 season seeing the Blues go through undefeated. Another six more premierships came in the 1970s with 1973 being another undefeated year for the club. However, the 1980s only saw one premiership in 1981, and a 14 year premiership drought followed until Newcastle City won their last NAFL premiership in 1995. Following the merger between the Newcastle and Central Coast leagues to form the

Black Diamond Australian Football League The AFL Hunter Central Coast is an Australian rules football competition in the Newcastle, Hunter Region and Central Coast regions of New South Wales. The Black Diamond Australian Football league was formed in 2000 and ran until the end of t ...

in 2000, Newcastle City didn't find their feet within the new competition until 2003 when they captured the flag that year by beating the Cardiff Hawks by 42 points. The two sides met again three years later in a Grand Final but ultimately it would be the Hawks who would prevail. Another Grand Final loss followed in 2007, losing by 23 points to

Killarney Vale Killarney Vale is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located approximately 5 kilometres south of The Entrance. It is part of the local government area. The Entrance – Long Jetty hospital is located in Kill ...

. However the following season of 2008 saw another premiership win for the Blues, beating Cardiff by 37 points, and going on to win another three premierships in a row. Newcastle City missed out on the big dance in 2012 but went on to beat Terrigal-Avoca in the 2013 decider with more flags to follow in 2016 and 2018. Newcastle City played in the 2019 and 2020 grand finals going down on both occasions to Terrigal Avoca. With a total of 24 premierships, Newcastle City are the most successful club in the AFLHCC. Newcastle City has produced an

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

player, Sarah Halvorsen (

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

Premierships

* 2008

* 2009

* 2010

* 2011

* 2013

* 2016

* 2018

References

External links

* {{Black Diamond Australian Football League clubs 1883 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1883 Australian rules football clubs in New South Wales Sport in Newcastle, New South Wales