Monash Blues Football Club

The Monash Blues Football Club is an Australian rules football club that represents Monash University in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).^[5]

Monash Blues Football Club
Names
Full name	Monash University Blues Football Club[1][2]
Former name(s)	Monash University Football Club (1961−1963)
Nickname(s)	Blues, Ashes, Ashers
2024 season
Home-and-away season	VAFA: 9th VAFAW: 10th
Leading goalkicker	VAFA: Nicholas Darling (22)[3] VAFAW: Clare Konstanty (8)[4]
Best and fairest	VAFA: TBC VAFAW: TBC
Club details
Founded	1961; 63 years ago (1961)
Colours	Turquoise   Silver   Gold
Coach	VAFA: Dylan Cousins VAFAW: Shane Chapman
Premierships	VAFA (5) 1962 1987 1996 2003 2022 VAFAW (1) 2023
Ground(s)	Frearson Oval
Other information
Official website	monashblues.com.au

The club was formed in 1961 as Monash University, changing its name to the Blues when the Monash Whites joined the VAFA in 1964. In 2001, the two teams merged, and the Whites now compete as the Blues' Club XVIII team.

As of 2024, the club's men's team competes in the Premier C division of the VAFA, while the women's team is in the Premier Division of the VAFA Women's (VAFAW).

History

Monash University Football Club was formed in 1961, shortly after Monash University opened on 13 March of that year. Whilst too late to be accepted into a local competition for the 1961 season, the club played internal matches, as well as matches against teams from Newman College, Ormond College and Burwood Teachers' College. In 1962, the club entered the VAFA, going undefeated and winning the E Section premiership in its inaugural season.^[6][7]

1967 marked the beginning of the club's most successful decade, including two periods in A Section. The club was first in the highest division from 1969 until 1973, with its best finishing position in fifth place in 1970.^[8]

After being relegated, the club made the 1974 B Section grand final and, although they lost to Old Trinity, immediately returned to A Section.^[9] The club avoided relegation in 1975, but finished last in 1976 and was sent back to B Section, beginning a period of decline for the Blues.^[8]

The Blues lost the 1986 D Section grand final to Balaclava, but finally won its second senior premiership in 1987 with a 25-point victory over Kew in the C Section grand final.^[8][10][11] Further senior premierships came in 1996 and 2003.^[12][13]

The club established a women's team in 2016 and it entered the inaugural VAFAW season in Development Division 1 in 2017.^[14]

In 2022, the Blues won their first women's premiership, defeating Collegians by three points in the VAFAW reserves grand final.^[15] One month later, the club's senior men's team won its fifth premiership with a 21-point victory over Old Geelong in Premier C.^[16]

Monash Whites

Monash Whites Football Club
Names
Full name	Monash Whites Football Club
Nickname(s)	Whites, Ashes, Ashers
Club details
Founded	1964 (as a team) 1980 (separate entity)
Dissolved	2001 (remerged)
Colours	Turquoise   Silver
Premierships	VAFA (2) 1975 1998
Other information
Official website	mwfc.net.au

Monash University established a second team in 1964, the Monash Whites, which entered F Section. However, after just two seasons, the Whites (along with F Section itself) went into recess for five years.^[17]

The Whites were replaced by a junior side in 1966, but as numbers continued to grow, the Whites were revived in 1971 in the reformed F Section.^[18] The first Whites premiership came in 1972, winning the F Section reserves grand final. A senior premiership came in 1975, defeating Heatherton in the F Section grand final.^[19]

Despite the premiership, the Whites struggled in E Section in 1976, winning only four games and being relegated back to F Section for the 1977 season.^[18]

At the end of the 1979 VAFA season, the Blues and the Whites split, with the Monash Whites Football Club being established as a separate entity.^[18]

The Whites' end-of-season review in 1980 wrote:

"The start of the season began in reality at the end of the 1979 season when there was a big push from a lot of quarters to have the Whites thrown out of the VAFA. The first push came in the form of the Monash Blues; who in their wisdom decided it would be for the betterment of all concerned if the Whites did no longer exist. We were blamed for all sorts of things as well as the Blues bad showing during the year. So, the Blues thought, they had the right to decide where 40 odd players would not be playing in 1980."

The club struggled on its own, unable to win a premiership post-split until 1998, when they defeated Kew by 11 points in Club XVIII Section 2.^[20]

In 2000, the Blues and Whites merged. The Whites played its final game as a separate club in the first Club XVIII semi-final, before merging and becoming the Blues' Club XVIII team at the start of the 2001 season.^[18][21]

Seasons

Source: ^[22]

Premiers

Grand Finalist

Minor premiers

Finals appearance

Wooden spoon

Division best and fairest

Division leading goalkicker

Men's

Seniors

Year	League	Division	Finish	W	L	D	Coach	Captain	Best and fairest	Leading goalkicker	Ref
1961	N/A	(Exhibition matches only)
1962	VAFA	E Section	1st				Peter Longney	Peter Longney	Peter Longney
1963	VAFA	D Section	2nd				Lloyd Middleton	Peter Longney	Peter Robinson
1964	VAFA	C Section	7th				Lloyd Middleton	Peter Robinson	Peter Robinson	Peter McDonald	50
1965	VAFA	C Section	4th				Lloyd Middleton	Paul White	Colin Bell
1966	VAFA	C Section	8th				Lloyd Middleton	Mick Myers	Rod Evans
1967	VAFA	C Section	2nd				Clyde Laidlaw	Peter Rattray	Jack Bray
1968	VAFA	B Section	2nd				Clyde Laidlaw	Peter Rattray	David Hone
1969	VAFA	A Section	8th				Sam Birtles	Peter Rattray	Jeff Thomas
1970	VAFA	A Section	5th				Sam Birtles	Nich Rogers	Stuart Galbraith
1971	VAFA	A Section	6th				Sam Birtles	Phil Knight	Stuart Galbraith
1972	VAFA	A Section	8th				Clyde Laidlaw	Phil Knight	David Wilson
1973	VAFA	A Section	9th				Clyde Laidlaw	Ross Booth	Ross Booth
1974	VAFA	B Section	2nd	16	2	0	Gary Rasmussen	Ross Booth	Ross Booth	C. Moore	68	[23]
1975	VAFA	A Section	8th				Bill Harding	Mike Sweetland	Peter Golding
1976	VAFA	A Section	10th				Bill Harding	John Syme	Dave Bickford
1977	VAFA	B Section	8th				Daryl Cranch	Roger Olds	Bruce Anderson
1978	VAFA	B Section	6th				Jeff Thomas	Dave Bickford	Roger Olds
1979	VAFA	B Section	7th				Stuart Schneider	Bruce Anderson	Garry Black
1980	VAFA	B Section	8th				Stuart Schneider	Roger Olds	Barry McKenzie
1981	VAFA	B Section	8th				Denis Flett	Barry McKenzie	Mark Kershaw
1982	VAFA	B Section	5th				Denis Flett	Mick Rodger	Craig Lovel
1983	VAFA	B Section	8th				Denis Flett	Peter Bergin	David Petrie
1984	VAFA	B Section	10th				Ian Edney	Peter Bergin	Anthony Loorham
1985	VAFA	C Section	9th				Brian Ford	Peter Bergin	Chris Deighton
1986	VAFA	D Section	2nd				Brian Ford	Ivan Sest; Peter Forbes	Peter Forbes
1987	VAFA	C Section	1st	14	4	0	Brian Ford	Peter Forbes	John Quin			[24]
1988	VAFA	B Section	5th				Brian Ford	Andrew McGregor	John Quin
1989	VAFA	B Section	7th				Brian Ford	Jamie Sturgess	Jamie Sturgess
1990	VAFA	B Section	10th				Trevor Read	Jamie Sturgess	Anthony Quin
1991	VAFA	C Section	2nd				Brian Ford	Jamie Sturgess	Barry Seaton
1992	VAFA	B Section	9th				Brian Ford	Andrew McGregor	Ian Kohler
1993	VAFA	C Section	7th				Brian Ford	Andrew McGregor	Greg Hipwell
1994	VAFA	C Section	6th				Brian Ford	Dan Carman	Adrian Barker
1995	VAFA	C Section	9th				Brian Ford	Dan Carman	Greg Hipwell
1996	VAFA	D Section	1st				Dave Rogers	Greg Hipwell	Greg Hipwell
1997	VAFA	C Section	9th				Dave Rogers	Tony Kiers; Jeremy Smith	Dave Rogers
1998	VAFA	D Section	5th				Dave Rogers	Jeremy Smith	Julian Smith
1999	VAFA	D Section	3rd				Dave Rogers	John Caldwell	Sam McGee
2000	VAFA	D1 Section	3rd				Dave Rogers	Julian Smith	Sam McGee
2001	VAFA	D1 Section	8th				Dave Rogers; Tim Powell	Julian Smith	Liam Holloway
2002	VAFA	D1 Section	8th	7	11	0	Tim Powell	Liam Holloway	George Smyth
2003	VAFA	D1 Section	1st				Tim Powell	Liam Holloway; Julian Smith	Julian Smith
2004	VAFA	C Section	3rd				John Edgar	Liam Holloway; Julian Smith	George Smyth
2005	VAFA	C Section	7th	7	11	0	John Edgar	Julian Smith	Michael Davidson			[25]
2006	VAFA	C Section	7th	7	10	1	Andrew McGregor	Julian Smith	Aaron Williams			[26]
2007	VAFA	C Section	8th	4	13	1	Andrew McGregor	George Smyth	George Smyth
2008	VAFA	C Section	7th	8	10	0	Andrew McGregor	Andrew Hickey; Aaron Williams	Michael Davidson
2009	VAFA	C Section	10th	3	15	0	Bruce Waldron	Brendan Waldron	Tim McKenzie			[27]
2010	VAFA	Division 1	2nd				Tim Powell	Jordan Bell; George Smyth	George Smyth
2011	VAFA	Premier C	8th	6	10	2	Tim Powell	George Smyth	Joel Bartram
2012	VAFA	Premier C	9th	3	15	0	Tim Powell	Jordan Bell; George Smyth	Andrew Hickey
2013	VAFA	Premier C	4th	13	5	0	Hayden Stanton	Sam Baring	Andrew Young
2014	VAFA	Premier C	4th	13	5	0	Hayden Stanton	Sam Baring	Tim McKenzie
2015	VAFA	Premier C	2nd	15	3	0	Paul Groves	Sam Baring	Maddison Hardiman
2016	VAFA	Premier B	4th	11	7	0	Paul Groves	Sam Baring	Maddison Hardiman
2017	VAFA	Premier B	4th	10	8	0	Mark Passador	Andrew Young; Maddison Hardiman	Joe Harrison
2018	VAFA	Premier B	8th	4	14	0	Mark Passador	Maddison Hardiman	Nicholas Argento			[28]
2019	VAFA	Premier B	10th	4	14	0	Mark Passador	Keegan Mason	MacGregor Cameron
2020	VAFA	Premier C	(No season)	Mark Passador	Keegan Mason	(No season)
2021	VAFA	Premier C	1st	10	1	0	Mark Passador	Joe Cosgriff; Daniel Easson	Daniel Easson			[29]
2022	VAFA	Premier C	1st	18	2	0	Mark Passador	Joe Cosgriff; Daniel Easson	MacGregor Cameron	Nicholas Darling	69
2023	VAFA	Premier B	10th	1	17	0	Dylan Cousins	Daniel Easson	Daniel Easson	James Flett	24	[30]
2024	VAFA	Premier C	9th	2	16	0	Dylan Cousins	Charles Cosgriff		Nicholas Darling	22

• Although the Monash Blues finished first in 2021, no finals series was held as the season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• The following players won the Division Best & Fairest Award but did not win the Club's Best & Fairest in the same year: 1986 D Section Andrew McGregor; 1991 C Section Jamie Sturgess; 1999 D Section A. Anderson; 2005 C Section George Smyth; 2021 Premier C MacGregor Cameron.

Women's

Seniors

Year	League	Division	Finish	W	L	D	Coach	Captain	Best and fairest	Leading goalkicker	Ref
2016	N/A	(Exhibition match only)	Ian Mills	(Exhibition match only)
2017	VAFAW	Division 1	7th	4	10	0	Ian Mills	Ella Stephenson	Xanthea Dewez	Molly McFarlane	23	[31]
2018	VAFAW	Prem B Blue	3rd	9	4	1	Ian Mills	Ella Stephenson	Xanthea Dewez	Ella Stephenson	22
2019	VAFAW	Premier B	3rd	8	4	0	Ian Mills	Ella Stephenson	Xanthea Dewez	Ella Stephenson	36
2020	VAFAW	Premier B	(No season)	Ian Mills	Ella Stephenson	(No season)
2021	VAFAW	Premier B	5th	4	6	0	Ian Mills	Ella Stephenson	Ainslee Elliott	Ella Stephenson	14
2022	VAFAW	Premier B	8th	2	12	0	Shane Chapman	Ella Stephenson; Ainslee Elliott	Ainslee Elliott; Emily Conroy	Emma Draffin; Stacey Barbagallo	6
2023	VAFAW	Premier B	1st	15	2	1	Shane Chapman	Ainslee Elliott	Ainslee Elliott	Molly McFarlane	24
2024	VAFAW	Premier	10th	2	16	0	Shane Chapman	Alicia Myers		Clare Konstanty	8

References

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