West Melbourne 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 which played 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 ...

(VFA). Its senior side competed in the VFA from 1878 through 1908, its peak as a club coming after it won the 1906 premiership. After disbanding at the end of the 1908 season, its identity was essentially overtaken by the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

, whose uniform briefly reflected the acquisition in the years following.

History

The West Melbourne Football Club was formed on the evening of 10 April 1874, at the James Watt Hotel on

Spencer Street Spencer Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria. The street was gazetted in 1837 as the westernmost boundary of the Hoddle Grid. Spencer Street is named for John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spenc ...

, with Thomas McPherson appointed its inaugural president. By 1877, it was the premier junior level club in the VFA, and from 1878, West Melbourne began competing in the association as a senior club, remaining there until the end of the 1880 season. The club returned to junior level in 1881. After winning the premiership with an undefeated record in 1898 in the

Victorian Junior Football Association The Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA) was an open age Australian rules football competition and administrative body. It was the first successful junior football competition in Melbourne, and was in existence from 1883 until 1932. For mo ...

, the club returned to senior level in the VFA in 1899, enjoying a longer stint at a higher grade. The club won its first and only senior premiership in 1906 by defeating Footscray in the Grand Final, 7.8 (50) to 5.9 (39). As juniors, the club played at the West Melbourne Recreation Reserve, but it was not up to Association standards; so, upon rejoining the VFA in 1899, the club became based at the North Melbourne Cricket Ground, sharing it with the North Melbourne Football Club. In 1907, the club moved to the

East Melbourne Cricket Ground The East Melbourne Cricket Ground was a grass oval sports venue located at the corner of Wellington Parade and Jolimont Parade, in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Santo Caruso, Marc Fiddian and Jim Main, ''Football Grounds of Melbourne'' (Mel ...

, sharing it with the VFL's Essendon Football Club. At the end of 1907, West Melbourne merged with North Melbourne. The combined club applied to join the

Victorian Football League 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 ...

– although even before they had applied, the merger had been likely owing to West Melbourne's weak financial position, and West Melbourne's eviction from the East Melbourne Cricket Ground after only one year, owing to the

University Football Club Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues", who both compete in the Victorian Ama ...

being leased the ground. The combined North Melbourne/West Melbourne application was rejected by the VFL, and the VFA expelled both clubs for their disloyalty and the merger never formally took place. North Melbourne and West Melbourne both disbanded, but North Melbourne was revived under a new committee shortly afterwards, and wore a red sash on a blue and white guernsey in 1908 to reflect the colours of both North and West Melbourne. At the end of the 1908 season, an independent West Melbourne club was revived under the new name City of Melbourne; it applied for, but was not granted admission to the VFA, and it disbanded. North Melbourne was upset by the move. The red sash representing West Melbourne's history was later dropped from North Melbourne's guernsey.

VFA premierships

* 1906

Notable players

Lou Armstrong Lewis Edward Armstrong (8 February 1885 – 30 August 1926) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Armstrong started his career at West Melbourne and in 1906 was a member of their ...

(Essendon) * George Holden (Fitzroy) * Bill S. Johnson (Essendon) *

Bert Ryan Albert Edward Ryan (3 June 1880 – 29 October 1952) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Ryan was an established player at West Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VF ...

(Essendon) * Jimmy Smith (St Kilda)

References

External links

Shawfactor - West Melbourne Football Club History
{{VFL Former Victorian Football League clubs Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne 1908 disestablishments in Australia Sports clubs disestablished in 1908