Carlton Football Club | Blues |
The Carlton Football Club is acknowledged as one of Australia's pre-eminent sporting institutions.
It is also one of the world's oldest, having been founded in 1864 when a group of prominent Carltonians first convened at the University Hotel on Lygon Street.
Known to the multitudes as "The Mighty Blues", Carlton is synonymous with success. Its illustrious history is punctuated with Premiership glory - 16 Grand Final victories in all - since its acceptance into the newly-established Victorian Football League (now Australian Football League) way back in 1897.
The Club's $20million state-of-the-art training facility, headquartered at Ikon Park (formerly Princes Park), is where the legendary Carlton captain John Gardiner, in proposing a toast to officially open the ground in 1897, boldly and rightly declared "We're here to stay".
That sacred field in old Carlton town served some of the greatest-ever exponents of the great Australian game - amongst them Victoria's most decorated player John Nicholls, the club's most capped competitor Craig Bradley and League football's longest on-field leader Stephen Kernahan.
The Carlton Football Club is the 3rd oldest club in the A.F.L and were the first premiers of the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877.
Carlton's nickname the 'Blues' comes from the navy blue colour of its uniform. Carlton has traditionally been in the top 2 most powerful clubs boasting a winning record over the other clubs including rivals Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond.
Many memorable battles have been contested against them, most notably in a thriller in the 1947 Grand Final when Carlton beat Essendon by one point, in 1968 they beat Essendon to win by 3 points. In the Grand Final of 1972, Carlton defeated Richmond in a goal kicking spree that saw 50 goals kicked - the highest number of goals ever kicked in a Grand Final.
Thomas Wills, grandson of a convict and educated at England's famous Rugby school, strongly advocated the formation of "foot-ball"clubs to promote the maintenance of fitness levels for the cricket season. The cricket clubs of the colony of Victoria took up Wills' advice, with the Carlton Cricket Club meeting in 1864 to form a football club for its flannelled fools.
See below for official and unofficial club web links.
❊ Venue | Location ❊
Ikon Park [ view ]400 Royal Parade Carlton North Victoria 3054 View Map
Telephone: (03) 9387 1400
❊ Web Links ❊
➼ Carlton Football Club | Blues
➼ www.carltonfc.com.au
➼ www.talkingcarlton.com
➼ www.facebook.com/OfficialCarltonFC
❊ Also See... ❊
➼ Ikon Park
➼ Princes Park
Disclaimer: Check with the venue (web links) before making plans, travelling or buying tickets.
Accessibility: Contact the venue for accessibility information.
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