Australian Football

Old Carey

Over the years, Old Carey Amateur Football Club has faced more than its fair share of difficulties and disappointments, including threats to its very existence, but the club has not only persevered, it has emerged stronger, with some of its most noteworthy achievements coming in recent seasons.

Formed in 1953, Old Carey was one of four clubs to be admitted to the VAFA’s new E Section the following year. The team reached the finals for the first time in 1957, finishing fourth, a result that was repeated two years later. After missing the finals in 1960 the side surged to the head of the premiership ladder in 1961 before confirming its superiority in the finals, culminating in a 13.14 (92) to 8.9 (57) grand final win over Preston. Promotion to D Section followed, and the side continued its fine form to top the ladder once more heading into the finals. Promotion to C Section was duly attained, but the pleasure deriving from this achievement was severely tainted when the team suffered a humiliating loss in the grand final against Fairfield. It was not so much the margin of defeat - 36 points - that caused embarrassment, but the fact that the team only succeeded in troubling the scorers five times. Final scores were Fairfield 7.14 (56) to Old Carey 3.2 (20).

The team’s initial C Section foray lasted just one season, but its recovery after relegation to D Section was swift. After narrowly missing the finals in 1965 it topped the list the following year and fought its way through to a grand final clash with Old Geelong. Once again, however, the promotion champagne had a distinctly vinegary taste as the team from across the bay won easily.

At least this time the side showed both its mettle and talent by adapting well to the faster tempo and elevated standard of football in C Section. In 1967-8-9 the team was competitive without quite managing to finish in the top four, but in 1970 it enjoyed a marvellous season and reached the grand final. True to its recent tendency, however, it produced perhaps its worst performance of the year in losing to UHSOB by 41 points.

During the 1970s Old Carey developed into a solid B Section combination without ever seriously threatening to achieve promotion. The 1980s brought a sharp downturn in fortune which came to a head in 1986 when the club was unable to recruit sufficient players to field both senior and reserve teams. As this was a prerequisite for involvement in the six tier VAFA competition proper, Old Carey found itself consigned to the standalone G Section, which had been introduced specifically for clubs that had trouble fielding more than one team. Instead of wallowing in humiliation and disappointment, Old Carey bit the bullet, and ended up winning the 1986 G Grade flag thanks to a convincing grand final defeat of Monash Whites. Whilst it is true that this achievement did not spell the end of the club’s troubles - it would struggle again for player numbers during the mid-1990s, for instance - in hindsight it can be viewed as a kind of turning point.

Over the past couple of decades the club, nicknamed the Panthers, has gone from strength to strength, with an E White Section premiership in 1998 and, following a steady ascent through the grades, a D1 flag in 2006. Both grand finals were won resoundingly: by 79 points against Kew in 1998, and by 50 points versus Rupertswood in the D1 match. Old Carey’s dominance of D1 Section in 2006 was such that it lost only 3 matches for the season, and its fine form continued in 2007 when it qualified for the C Section finals in third place with a 13-5 record. The side then went on to secure promotion by making it through to the grand final, where it produced a creditable performance to push minor premier Old Camberwell all the way, particularly in the second half, before losing by 16 points. 

The Panthers' most recent senior grade flag was won in 2010 in Premier B thanks to a 19.14 (128) to 14.6 (90) grand final defeat of Old Haileybury. The club's stay in Premier section lasted three seasons. Back in Premier B in 2014 the Panthers made it through to the grand final but were badly beaten by University Blues. Nevertheless, the principal goal of returning to Premier section had been achieved.

Old Carey affirmed their Premier status in 2015 when they won 7 matches and drew 2, but the 2016 season was little short of disastrous as they managed just a solitary win to plummet to the wooden spoon, and with it, needless to say, relegation back to Premier B. Their first season back at that level saw them struggle somewhat, winning 6 of their 18 home and away matches to end up in seventh place on the ten team premiership ladder. A year later, however, they battled their way through to a grand final clash with St. Bernard's, thereby securing promotion to Premier Section for 2019. The less said about the match itself the better though as the Panthers slumped to an embarrassing 83 point defeat.