Prahran Assumption Football Club (), nicknamed The Two 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 based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The club is currently in Division 1 of the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

(VAFA). The nickname ''Two Blues'' comes from the club uniform which has been royal blue and sky blue since the club formed in 1886.

Teams

Prahran fields Senior, Reserves, Club XVIII and junior teams. The senior team was coached in 2006 by Leigh Stafford, who resigned from the coaching role at the end of the season. In 2007 the new coach is Paul Greenham, who has played for Richmond, Port Melbourne & St Kevins. Its sister team is th
Deakin Devils
– a Division 1

Victorian Women's Football League The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, across seven divisions and a total of ove ...

(VWFL) team.

History

A club from Prahran first played as a senior club in the

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

and

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

, playing its games first at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground, then at the Wesley College Ground. After 1887, it amalgamated with the neighbouring

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

, which was based less than a mile away. A new senior Prahran Football Club was established in March 1899, and joined the VFA that season, this time playing at

Toorak Park Toorak Park is a cricket and Australian rules football arena in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale, Victoria, Australia. It is the home ground of the Prahran Football Club and Old Xaverians Football Club of the Victorian Amateur Football Associatio ...

, approximately two miles from St Kilda. It played in the VFA between 1899 and 1994, with the exception of

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, when it competed in the Metropolitan League; this was because the Prahran Council would not lease Toorak Park to Prahran's Seconds team, leaving the club expelled from the Association's requirements for failing to meet its minimum home ground requirements. At the end of 1994, when administration of the VFA was turned over to the

Victorian State Football League The Victorian State Football League is a former Australian rules football governing body. The VSFL was established at the end of 1991 to take over administration of football in Victoria from the Australian Football League, which was now becomi ...

, Prahran left the Association as part of the VSFL's efforts to reduce the size of the VFA and align it with the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

; Prahran's identity was carried on within the TAC Cup from 1995, when the

Central Dragons The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

club moved to Toorak Park and was renamed the Prahran Dragons, a name it carried until the end of 1999. The club continued to exist in an administrative capacity after its departure from the VFA, and continued to operate the Prahran Tabaret – a gambling bar it owns and operates in

Chapel Street Chapel Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, running along the inner suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, St Kilda and St Kilda East. Route Chapel Street is essentially straight and runs for over 4.14 kilometres along an approximat ...

, Prahran – despite having no on-field presence. In 1999, the club merged with Southbank Amateur Football Club in 1999 and joined the

under the stewardship of

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

racing writer Tim Habel. It also re-established its junior arm; and, after commencing with just two junior teams, the club now has eight junior teams and has formed a joint Under 19 team with

Caulfield Football Club Caulfield Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association, VFA from 1965 until 1987 when due to financial difficulties the club folded. History Origins The Camden Town Football Club wa ...

. In 2010, a joint venture with Assumption College was approved and in 2011 the club changed its name to Prahran/Assumption Football Club. Andre Pitts played his 350th game for the club in 2007

Premierships

*VAFA Division 2: **2017 *VAFA Division 3: **2011 *VFA Division 1: **1937 - Prahran: 12.13 - 85 defeated Brunswick: 11.17 - 83 At Toorak Park. **1951 - Prahran: 11.13 - 79 defeated Port Melbourne: 10.10 - 70 At the Junction Oval, St. Kilda. **

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

- Prahran 17.18 - 120 defeated Williamstown: 10.10 -70 At

St Kilda Cricket Ground Junction Oval (also known as the St Kilda Cricket Ground, or the CitiPower Centre due to sponsorship reasons) is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The oval's location near the St Kilda Junc ...

**1973 **1978 *VFA Division 2: **1966, **1987 *Metropolitan League: **1959

League Best & Fairest Awards

* VFA - Recorder Cup **1928 - Frank Smith **1931 -

Bill Koop William Spehr Koop (21 March 1906 – 14 April 1950) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1920s. Koop did not make much of an impact at Carlton in his first three seas ...

**1935 - Les White *VFA - J J Liston Trophy **1993 - Michael Sinni

Club champions / best and fairest

* 1904 – George Brown (best all-round) * 1940 –

Bill Faul William John Faul (8 June 1909 – 14 September 1974) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australia ...

* 1945 – A Gardiner * 1952 – Ian Armstrong

Prahran FC - Team of the Century

*Back:

Vin Crowe Vincent Robert Crowe (born 13 January 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond Football Club, Richmond and Hawthorn Football Club, Hawthorn in the Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL). In 2 ...

, Kerry Foley, Robert Anderson *Half Back:

, Dick Culpin, Ian McGuiness *Centre: Frank Smith, Pat Walsh (c),

Ken Emselle Ken Emselle (born 17 June 1944) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s. His father Richie Emselle also played for Melbourne. A rover, Emselle was a premiership ...

*Half Forward: Wayne Johnston, Bill Morrow, Glenn Dickson *Forward: Barry Pearson, George Hawkins, Les White *Follower: Rod Payne,

Kevin Rose Kevin Rose is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk. He also served as production assistant and co-host at TechTV's ''The Screen Savers''. From 2012 to 2015, he was a venture partner at GV. Earl ...

Ray Harvey Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

(vc) *Interchange: Kim Smith,

Graeme McMahon Graeme McMahon (15 February 1940 – 1 July 2014) was an Australian rules football player and executive, best known as chairman of Essendon Football Club, Essendon from 1997 to 2003. McMahon was born in Essendon, Victoria in 1940. At a young ag ...

, John Townsend,

Ross Thornton Ross Thornton (born 23 October 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the VFL during the 1980s. Thornton originally arrived at Fitzroy in 1975 but was unable to make the seniors so joined VFA club Prahran. ...

, Michael Sinni. *Coach:

Selected in 2003 by - Jack Morgans, Ray Harvey, Charlie Roach and Ray Ryan.

VFL / AFL players

The following well known footballers played with Prahran FC prior to making their senior VFL / AFL debut. View the complete list at the bottom of this page under "Prahran Football Club Players". *1941 - Harold Bray – finished in the top three in the Brownlow Medal three times *1967 - Kevin Sheedy – former coach of

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

and former Richmond player, began his football career with Prahran. *1979 - Wayne Johnston – went on to play in four Premierships for

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 ...

*1980 -

– went onto to play for

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the Vi ...

*1984 -

Graeme Yeats Graeme Yeats (born 21 September 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne Football Club, Melbourne in the Australian Football League, VFL/AFL. A skilful and consistent defender/wingman, Yeats played 182 games with ...

– went on to play 182 games for

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, ...

*1987 -

Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become o ...

– won a

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

and went on to set an

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

record for most consecutive games (244) for

The following footballers played with Prahran FC after playing senior VFL / AFL football, with the year indicating their first season with Prahran. *1951 -

Don Chipp Donald Leslie Chipp, AO (21 August 192528 August 2006) was an Australian politician who was the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats, leading the party from 1977 to 1986. He began his career as a member of the Liberal Party, winning el ...

– Australian Federal politician. A former

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Minister in the Australian government and inaugural leader of the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...

political party. Played in the club's 1951 VFA Premiership team. *1978 -

Sam Kekovich Sam Kekovich (born 11 March 1950) is an Australian media personality, sports commentator, Australian 'Lambassador' and former Australian rules football player. He is well known for his controversial behaviour, both on and off the field, and mo ...

–

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

Premiership player and well known football identity. *1991 - Brian Taylor *2001 -

Tony Free Tony Free (born 27 June 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL/AFL between 1987 and 1996 for the Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team pl ...

– player-coach in 2001 and 2002 after retiring from an illustrious career with the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

including being Captain of the Tigers. Thomas Anthony McLaughlin. Born Belfast, travelled to Australia to complete his professional Football career playing for Prahran 1963-1965

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Former Victorian Football League clubs Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne