The Rovers 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 the

Western Australian Football Association The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFA) from 1885 to 1899. The club won the premiership in 1885 and 1891.

History

Rovers began as a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club in 1882 however made the switch to

along with other West Australian clubs in 1885. Rovers were one of four teams that formed the WAFA in 1885 and were invited to compete in the inaugural competition: the others were

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and

Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

. The High School team dropped out two rounds into the season; the remaining teams played a six round season, with Rovers winning three and drawing two of its games to become the inaugural premiers of the WAFA. After several competitive seasons, Rovers won the premiership in 1891. The establishment of electorate football was the beginning of the end, as the club finished second last in 1892 and 1898, and won four wooden spoons between 1893 and 1897, including a winless 1893. After losing the first eight games of 1899, Rovers dropped out of the competition and folded, replaced by First Rate Junior Association side

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

; many players transferred to the new club.Rovers
– FullPointsFooty. Retrieved 5 October 2011.

References

{{WAFL Former West Australian Football League clubs Australian rules football clubs in Western Australia 1885 establishments in Australia 1899 disestablishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1885 Australian rules football clubs disestablished in 1899

History

See also

References