article

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies after the black and white striped guernseys worn by the players, is an Australian rules football club, playing in the elite Australian Football League.

The Magpies are known for their passionate supporter base, and have traditionally been the team other fans "love to hate". The national league may have diluted this feeling somewhat, but rivalries with fellow Victorian clubs Carlton, Essendon and Richmond remain fierce.

The club was traditionally known in Melbourne as the "Catholic" club, possibly due to support in the 1920s from the wealthy businessman John Wren, and also due to the support of Irish descendants living in the Collingwood slums in the early years of the 20th century.

Collingwood games have traditionally attracted the largest attendances in Australian football. In 1970, 121,696 spectators watched Carlton defeat Collingwood in the grand final, which is a record attendance for a football game of any code in Australia. Collingwood has the largest membership of the ten Victorian clubs.*

The club's motto is "Floreat Pica", translated from Latin as "May the Magpies flourish".

History

For several years in the late 1880s the idea of a Collingwood Football Club had been raised but nothing had eventuated. Finally a meeting was held in February of 1892 and a large, enthusiastic crowd heralded the formation of what would become the best and most feared football club in Australia. The club would play at Victoria Park in Abbotsford and the council immediately put in place plans to upgrade the ground to the standard of the VFA. It was decided that the municapility needed a football team to compete against Collingwoods neighbour and rival, Fitzroy. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was the premier Australian Rules Football competition in Victoria and Collingwood was accepted into this competition immediately. There were some links to an established junior club, the Britannia Football Club.

The first Collingwood match was played at Victoria Park on May the 7th, 1892 against the Carlton Blues. The new grandstand and players rooms were not yet completed, forcing the players to change at the Yarra Hotel and run up Johnston Street to the ground. A very large crowd of around 16,000 patrons greeted the players. Collingwood lost to Carlton that day but success was not far away as the Magpies defeated Williamstown at Gellibrand Oval 4 goals to 3. (Points were not counted in those days)

The team improved quickly and Collingwood won its first and only VFA premiership in 1896, defeating South Melbourne. At the end of the 1896 season Collingwood and South Melbourne finished exactly equal at the top of the ladder and it was decided that a Grand Final was required to decide the premiership. Collingwood won the first ever VFA Grand Final on October 3rd at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, beating South by 6 goals to 5.

In 1897, Collingwood with fellow VFA clubs Fitzroy, Melbourne, St Kilda, Carlton, Essendon, South Melbourne and Geelong split from the VFA and formed the VFL (Victoria Football League).

Collingwood is notable for holding the greatest run of successive premierships - four in a row from 1927-1930. But equally renowned has been their tendency to lose grand finals since the 1960s. Their 1958 premiership was to be their last for 32 years. The victory in 1958 was an underdog victory, with Collingwood motivated to prevent their opponent Melbourne winning its fourth successive Grand Final. In 1959 and 1960 Melbourne won again, so Collingwood's 1958 victory was essential to protect the club's greatest claim to fame. During this drought, fans remarkably had to endure no less than nine fruitless grand finals (1960, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1977 (drawn, then lost in a replay the following week to North Melbourne), 1979, 1980, 1981), inspiring the term "Colliwobbles" to signify a choking phenomenon (as opposed to "collywobbles", an English word meaning an upset stomach). The 1990 team coached by Leigh Matthews brought relief in a one-sided affair against Essendon.

The team then fell into a state of decline, before being rejuvenated by its new president, Eddie McGuire, who led an on and off field modernisation mission which helped the team to reach the grand final in 2002 and 2003. Ironically, it was Leigh Matthews who coached the Brisbane Lions to victory on both occasions.

Collingwood was one of the last clubs to abandon its traditional stadium, the famous inner-city Victoria Park. Collingwood is now based at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), with some "home" games played at the Telstra Dome. It now also has its headquarters situated in the former Glasshouse Entertainment Centre which is now called "The Lexus Centre". This building is also shared with the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS).

Collingwood was not the only professional Australian football club nicknamed the Magpies. In 1997, the SANFL's Port Adelaide Magpies entered the AFL. The Port Adelaide Magpies chose to change their name to the "Power" and they also abandoned their previous black and white color scheme. However, the Power continues to sponsor a SANFL team, under the traditional name of the Port Adelaide Magpies.

Collingwood continues to be financially viable through the loyal support of its huge following and numerous sponsors. After finishing 2nd in 2002 and 2003 the team fell to 13th and 15th (out of 16) in 2004 and 2005 respectively. This trend has plagued the club since the glory days of pre-World War II VFL football. Since 1958, the club has won only a single VFL/AFL Premiership (the inaugural AFL Premiership in 1990) making them one of the least successful clubs in the modern era. Despite this, the club still has won more individual games, more finals and made more grand-final appearances than any other club.

The noted Australian playwright David Williamson scripted "The Club", a play inspired by the internal politics of Collingwood. A film was made in 1980 and features Collingwood players in speaking and non-speaking roles.

Membership

Year Members Finishing position
199827,09914th
199932,35816th
200028,93215th
200131,4559th
200232,5492nd
200340,4452nd
200441,12813th
200538,61215th
200638,700*

VFL/AFL Premierships

1902, 1903, 1910, 1917, 1919, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1953, 1958, 1990.

Collingwood has won the wooden spoon (finished last) in 1976 and 1999.

Current roster

As of December 13, 2005: Leon Davis
  •   2 Sean Rusling
  •   3 Ryan Lonie
  •   4 Alan Didak
  •   5 Nathan Buckley (captain)
  •   6 Brodie Holland
  •   7 Chad Morrison
  •   8 James Clement (vice captain)
  •   9 Julian Rowe
  • 10 Blake Caracella
  • 11 Shane O'Bree
  • 12 Tristen Walker
  • 13 Dale Thomas
  • 14 Shane Wakelin Chris Egan
    • Rookies:
       

    Captains

    Individual Awards

    Best and Fairest

    See also Copeland Trophy

    Brownlow Medal winners

    Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

    Coleman Medal winners

    Norm Smith Medal winners

    Mark of the Year winners

    Goal of the Year winners

    Notable Records

    • Greatest Winning Margin: 178 points R4, 1979 (VP) - Collingwood 31.21 (207) v St Kilda 3.11 (29)

    Records set by Players

    • Most Goals kicked in a match: Gordon Coventry - 17 goals 4 behinds (R12, 1930, VP)

    • Most Best & Fairests: Nathan Buckley - 6 (1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003)

    • Most Matches as Coach: Jock McHale - 714 (1912-1949)ยน

    • Most Matches as Captain/Acting Captain: Syd Coventry - 153 (1925-1934)

    Team of the Century

    Collingwood announced its team of the century on June 14 1997, celebrating 100 years since the beginning of the VFL. Gavin Brown was added as the 4th interchange player in 2002. *

    Club Jumpers

    • These are the current 2006 jumper designs. The club's current major sponsors are Emirates, Wizard Home Loans and Adidas. The club has worn variations on this black-and-white-stripe design in every league game it has ever played in its 114-year history - the leagues in question being the Victorian Football Association and Victorian Football League (later Australian Football League).
    • http://www.footyjumpers.com/

    See also

    External links


    Australian Football League clubs | Sporting clubs in Melbourne | Sport in Melbourne | Sport in Victoria

     

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Collingwood Football Club".

    Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world