Geelong Cats

Geelong Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Geelong, a city to the south-west of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Known as the "Cats", Geelong competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The Geelong Cats' team colours are navy blue and white, which feature on the home kit in alternating horizontal stripes. The club plays its home matches between the GMHBA Stadium and Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

📜 Geelong Cats History

Founded in 1859, Geelong is the second-oldest side in the AFL, behind only Melbourne, which was established one year prior. As well as being one of the oldest sides in the league, Geelong is also one of the most successful, having won 10 premierships across the last century; only 6 AFL sides have won more premierships.

So old is Geelong Football Club, that its earliest matches were played within fundamentally different rules than those currently employed by the AFL; the early game was even more physical than today, and used an amalgamation of rules compiled by everyone from Victoria natives to migrant workers.

By the mid-1800's, Geelong players were competing in organised events, and the club became a dominant force in Australian rules football by the end of the century, having been a founding member of both the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and Victorian Football League (VFL), antecedent leagues to the AFL.

Geelong's first premiership then came in 1925, just 2 years after suggestions the team needed a black cat to break a spell of bad luck had contributed to the team's feline nickname. The quick turnaround in fortunes was soon consolidated with a grand final appearance in 1930, and 2 further premierships in 1931 and 1937.

The Cats then won back-to-back premierships in 1951 and 1952, won the minor premiership and reached the grand final in 1953, and won another minor premiership in 1954. Following another premiership in 1963, however, Geelong had to wait over 4 decades for its next; the club's victory over Port Adelaide in 2007 broke a 44-year duck, and a 4-match grand final losing streak, which had seen the side lose-out in 1989, 1992, 1994, and 1995. Geelong's 8th and 9th premierships were then secured in 2009 and 2011, before a short wait for the 10th, which came in the 2022 season.