North Melbourne

North Melbourne Football Club, referred to as simply North Melbourne or sometimes just North, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). North Melbourne plays the majority of its home matches at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, though since 2012 some home fixtures have also been played at the Blundstone Arena in Tasmania. The club's home colours are blue and white.

📜 North Melbourne History

Founded in 1869, North Melbourne is among the oldest football clubs of any code in the world, and is the fourth oldest team still playing in the AFL. Despite the club's history, it was not among the group of 8 which broke away from the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1896 to form the Victorian Football League (VFL). North Melbourne was not then perceived to be as strong a team as the other 8, due to its failure to win a VFA premiership and its relative lack of financial clout.

North Melbourne continued to compete in the VFA, and the club soon remedied its lack of premierships, winning back-to-back titles in 1903 and 1904, and further premierships in 1910, 1914, 1915, and 1918. The club was then admitted to the VFL in 1925. In 1949 North Melbourne won the minor premiership, and in 1950 reached its first grand final, though it lost to local rivals Essendon, 13.14 (92) to 7.12 (54).

It wasn't until 1974 that North Melbourne - known since 1950 as the "Kangaroos" - would contest another grand final, this time losing to a dominant Richmond side. It was however only the first of 5 consecutive grand final appearances that North would make in the 1970's: North Melbourne's first premiership came in 1975, and the second in 1977, with a losing grand final appearance sandwiched in between, and another loss in 1978.

In 1996, just under 20 years since the club's last triumph, North Melbourne won its third premiership, and added a fourth shortly after, in 1999.