Australian Football

University Blues

Football is known to have been played on an organised basis at Melbourne University at least as early as 1859, which is when the University Football Club was formed. Over the years the club competed at various times in the Metropolitan Junior/Amateur Football Association, the Victorian Football Association, the Victorian Football League, and the VFL junior competition, precursor of the reserves. It was runner-up to Collingwood in the VFL juniors in 1919 and 1920, at which time it was also fielding a team - University B - in the MAFA. In 1921, University’s VFL team crossed to the MAFA, where it was originally known as University A before assuming its current name of University Blues in 1928; the B team meanwhile was re-christened University Blacks the same year. Despite this implied hierarchy, players were equitably distributed between the two sides during this period, and throughout the 1920s there was little to choose between them in terms of standard.

In terms of premierships won, however, it was a different matter, with the Blacks going top on four occasions whereas the Blues, despite being perennially competitive, proved unable to take that vital final step. In 1932 the Blues finished last in A Section, heralding both demotion to B Section and, rubbing salt into the wound, a significant alteration in the player allocation policy. From 1933 the best twenty-five players at the University would be allocated to the Blacks, in a bid to bolster their chances of procuring an A Section flag. The Blues meanwhile would have to be content with picking up the residue, making extrication from the mire of B Section all the harder.

Despite having effectively been reduced to the status of a reserves side, the Blues performed creditably in B Section, earning promotion at the third time of asking thanks to a 37 point grand final loss to Teachers College. Unfortunately, with the Blacks having gone premier in A Section the same year, there was a reluctance to revert to the egalitarian player allocation system that had operated prior to the Blues’ relegation. Discussions were held, but the system eventually agreed on remained heavily weighted in favour of the Blacks. 

As a result, not surprisingly, Blues’ resumption at the top level was short-lived, and indeed within two seasons it had plummeted to C Section. A grand final loss against Old Xaverians promptly restored the side’s B Section status, but given that the Blacks were simultaneously embarking on the most concerted spell of dominance in Association history this was not a particularly happy time to be a Blue.

The status quo was maintained for four seasons following football’s resumption after world war two, but when Blues finally managed to clamber back to A Section in 1949 it was a cue for a serious re-evaluation of the player allocation process. Although seemingly hardly anyone remembered - or, in the case of the Blacks, would admit to remembering - the ‘equal strength’ policy under which the University’s two teams had operated until 1932, the Blues ultimately succeeded in bringing about its restoration, and they were not slow in reaping the benefits. In 1950 they reached the A Section finals, ultimately coming fourth, and the following year they ended up one place higher, whilst simultaneously achieving the major psychological fillip of finishing above the Blacks on the ladder for the first time in twenty years.

Having contested four grand finals without success, University Blues finally broke through for a premiership in 1952 thanks to a resounding 20.10 (130) to 8.16 (64) A Section grand final win over Ormond. That this was by some measure the finest Blues side yet to take the field was emphasised when it went on to make the next two grand finals as well, although Old Melburnians proved too strong on both of these occasions. Among the many fine players in this great Blues combination were full forward Duncan Anderson, who topped the A Section goal kicking list every year from 1950 to 1954, amassing 466 goals in the process, captain-coach Geoff Sinclair, future Melbourne star Geoff Tunbridge, and VAFA interstate representatives Alby Twigg and John Jolley.

University Blues performed solidly in A Section for much of the rest of the decade, but with the exception of an ignominious 11 goal loss to Collegians in the 1957 grand final never came within touching distance of another premiership. All that changed in the first season of the new decade, however. After a worrying start which yielded three consecutive losses Blues worked up a significant head of steam which encompassed ten straight wins at one stage and culminated in a 9.10 (64) to 8.6 (54) grand final defeat of Old Melburnians. Coached by Andy Brannan, and with Jack Tully as captain, the Blues’ class of 1960 probably lacked the all-round brilliance of the 1952 premiership side, but in terms of determination, fortitude and team spirit it could scarcely have been bettered. In centre half back Ian Hayden, winner of the 1960 Woodrow Medal, it also boasted one of the finest defenders in amateur football. Two years later, Hayden crossed to Richmond in the VFL, where he was used mainly in the forward lines. However, after 30 games and 42 goals in three seasons his highly promising career was wrecked by injury.

As chance would have it, the Blues’ fortunes went into decline at roughly the same time, and when they next contested a grand final in 1967 it was in B Section. Having lost both of their previous grand final encounters at this level the incentive to win was immense, and so, it transpired was their eventual margin of victory over a North Melbourne Christian Brothers College Old Boys side that might well - albeit unconsciously - have been satisfied with having achieved promotion for the fourth successive season. Blues, capably coached by Les Hughson and skippered by Graham Jobling, won in the end by what at the time was a record margin for a B Section grand final of 80 points, 23.12 (150) to 9.16 (70).

With the likes of Jobling, Bill Sykes, Barry Church, Ken Scarfe and Jim Sharp to the fore at various times, Blues developed into a force to be reckoned with in A Section. In 1971, coached by Barry Johnston, they fielded what was arguably the strongest team in their history up to that point, only to be undone at the final hurdle by a combination of their own waywardness in front of goal and a more doggedly determined opponent in Ormond. When the two grand final contestants had met a fortnight earlier in the second semi final they had combined to produce what was widely acclaimed at the time as one of the greatest games of amateur football ever witnessed in Melbourne. Blues had won on that occasion by 14 points, and in doing so had handled both their opponents and the inclement weather with consummate assurance, but when presented with similar conditions on grand final day they inexplicably faltered, managing just 4 goals from 20 scoring shots to go under by 22 points. It was a herald of tough times to follow: after missing the finals in 1972 and 1973, the side endured the worst season in its history in 1974 to nose-dive to B Section without winning a match.

Rather than brooding over this setback, Blues showed commendable determination to turn things around in the space of just twelve months. The only disappointing factor in its surge to promotion was its failure to endorse its flag favouritism in the grand final clash with a De La Salle Old Collegians side that it had beaten in both home and away encounters plus the second semi final. Anyone witnessing the way in which Blues ran all over a ragged looking De La outfit in the closing stages of that second semi final would have given long odds on the chances of there being a reversal of fortune on grand final day, but that is precisely what occurred. After a closely fought first three terms, De La Salle was irrepressible in the last, and eventually won by a similar margin - 38 points compared with 41 - as it had by lost a fortnight earlier.

Having their premiership aspirations ruined by this particular opponent was something to which the Blues would all too soon become accustomed. In both 1979 and 1980 they entered the finals as warm flag favourites, only to succumb at the final hurdle to the men in blue and gold. After the latter defeat, the club’s misery was compounded when the VAFA found it guilty of having fielded an ineligible player during the season, and it was controversially demoted to B Section. However, Blues immediately proved they were an A Section side in all but name by bouncing straight back on the strength of an impressive all round season culminating in a highly impressive 18.12 (120) to 11.14 (80) thumping of a strong Collegians combination. Two years later there was a sense of déja-vu after the side entered the finals as minor premiers, and popular favourites to lift the flag, only to lose the match that mattered most against - inevitably - De La Salle Old Collegians.

The remainder of the 1980s saw the Blues holding their own in A Section, but only once more - in 1989 - did they contest the finals. The nineties began disastrously, however, as the side succumbed to relegation to B Section in 1991, and in 1992 only just avoided slipping into C Section for the first time in more than half a century.

Action to address the decline was taken swiftly, and proved enormously effective. Led by new coach Grant Williams, a former player with the club, the Blues consolidated in 1993, before earning promotion the following year after a hard fought 8 point grand final loss to Old Trinity Grammarians. The 1995 season brought the club’s seventeenth senior grand final appearance, and their tenth in A Section, but an Old Xaverians side that would go on to prove itself one of the most accomplished in VAFA history proved too strong.

The 1995 grand final loss was the Blues’ eighth such reversal in A Section and their thirteenth all told. There would be no further senior grade grand final appearances during the twentieth century, but the side remained in A Section, and continued to perform creditably. This was also a highly successful period for the club’s reserves and under nineteens, who between them won a total of five premierships between 1994 and 1999.

Blues commenced the new century in sound shape both on and off the field, and the club continues to be very much at the forefront of the amateur game. On the field, the undoubted highlight of recent years came in 2004 when the seniors, reserves and Club XVIII side all went top in A Section, the last two as undefeated champions. The senior team, with John Kanis as coach, lost only twice during the home and away rounds to finish as minor premier before comfortably accounting for St. Bernard’s Old Collegians in both the second semi final and the grand final. Quinton Gleeson’s Woodrow Medal - the fourth by a University Blues player - was icing on the cake.

In 2005, the Blues seniors again reached the grand final, only to lose by 9 points to Old Xaverians. The side continued to perform well in 2006, winning 12 out of 18 home and away matches to qualify for the finals in third place. The first semi final brought victory over Old Scotch, but in the preliminary final Blues surrendered a 2 goal three quarter time advantage to succumb by 27 points to Old Xaverians.

Following that, the 2007 and 2009 seasons also ended at the preliminary final stage, suggesting either that the side was not quite good enough, or was on the verge of that decisive ultimate breakthrough. The Blues again made the finals in 2011, only to stumble at the first hurdle, while in 2012 they finished well off the pace after managing just 6 wins for the season. Worse was soon to follow, for in 2013 the Blues succumbed to relegation to Premier B, despite the fact that their win/loss record (6-11-1) was marginally better than the previous year.

The return to Premier section football was gratifyingly swift. In 2014 the Blues lost only 3 times all season en route to an emphatic premiership. Their grand final clash with Old Carey was fairly closely contested until half time, at which stage the Blues enjoyed a 14 point advantage. However, during the third and fourth quarters University Blues assumed almost total control, adding 13.15 to 5.2 to win easily, 20.22 (142) to 10.7 (67).

The Blues have spent the last four seasons playing Premier level football and doing well. They reached the preliminary final in each of their first three years, losing to Old Xaverians in both 2015 and 2016 and Collegians in 2017. This was followed by a slight dip in fortune in 2018 when they finished one place adrift of the top four. Overall then the signs are positive and a return to Premier level premiership success in the near future should surprise no-one.