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Official name
Canterbury Football Club
Known as
Canterbury
Formed
1881
Colours
Red, black and yellow
Emblem
Cobras
Affiliation (Current)
Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) 2014–2024
Affiliations (Historical)
Reporter District Football League (RDFL) 1903–1904, 1915–1924; Eastern Suburban Football League (ESFL) 1932–1962; Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) 1963–2008; Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL) 2009–2013
Senior Premierships
Box Hill Reporter District Football League (BHRDFL) - 1920 (1 total); South East Suburban Football League (SESFL) Division One - 1969, 1972 (2 total); Division Two - 1991 (1 total); Southern Football League (SFL) Division Three - 2003 (1 total); Victorian Amateur Football Association Division Four - 2015 (1 total)
Postal Address
18 Cumberland Court, Forest Hill 3131, Victoria
Canterbury commenced the 2009 season in Division Four of the Eastern Football League having previously been members of the Southern Football League since that competition’s inception in 1992. Earlier, the club had two stints (1903-4 and 1915 to 1924) in the Box Hill Reporter District Football League and competed in the Eastern Suburbs Football League and the South East Suburban Football League for many years. The club was actually formed as long ago as 1881 but details of its early activities are patchy. It is known that they claimed a BHRDFL premiership in 1920 thanks to a 1 point grand final defeat of Mitcham. The club had also reached the 1919 premiership decider but Mitcham had prevailed on that occasion. During their time in the SESFL the Cobras twice won Division One premierships, in 1969 and 1972. They were also Division Two premiers in 1991. The club’s sole SFL premiership came in 2003 in Division Three when they trounced Black Rock 17.6 (108) to 7.12 (54) in the grand final.
In 2014 the Cobras crossed from the EFL to the Victorian Amateur Football Association. Starting in the bottom tier, Division Four, they were competitive from the outset, finishing third in their debut season before claiming the 2015 premiership courtesy of an 8.11 (59) to 6.8 (44) grand final defeat of Parkside Devils. This triumph earned the Cobras promotion to Division Three for a 2016 season during which they consolidated, winning eight out of 18 home and away matches to end up in seventh place out of 12 teams. In 2017 they improved slightly, winning 10 games to finish fifth, four points behind fourth placed Westbourne Grammarians but with a superior percentage. A five point loss to Westbourne in round 11 might be said to have cost the Cobras the opportunity to experience finals football. A year later they did get a taste of finals football, but it was brief as they went down by five goals to Emmaus St Leo's in the first semi final.
The 2018 season saw the Cobras marking time in Division Three, when their tally of nine wins from 18 matches left them in seventh place out of 10 teams.
John Devaney - Full Points Publications