Australian Football

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KEY FACTS

Official name
Footscray Football Club (trading as Western Bulldogs Football Club)

Known as
Western Bulldogs

Nickname
Bulldogs

Former name
Footscray

Former name date
1997-01-01

Formed
1883 (as Footscray); 1997 (named changed to Western Bulldogs)

Colours
Red, white and blue

Associated clubs
Footscray; Western Bulldogs WFC; Western Bulldogs WFC (VFLW); Footscray U19s

Affiliation (Current)
Australian Football League (AFL) 1925–2024

Affiliation (Historical)
Victorian Football Association (VFA) 1886–1924

Home Ground
Docklands

AFL Premierships
2016 (1 total)

VFL Premierships
1954 (1 total)

VFA Premierships
1898-9-1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-4 (9 total)

Senior Premierships
Championship of Victoria - 1924 (1 total); V/AFL Night Series: 1963-4, 1967, 1970, 2010 (5 total)

Most Games
364 - Brad Johnson (1994-2010)

Most Goals
575 - Simon Beasley (1982-1989)

League Top Goalkickers
J.Collins (84) 1954 & (74) 1957; K.Templeton (118) 1978 & (91) 1979; S.Beasley (105) 1985; B.Hall (80) 2010 (4 winners/6 wins)

Brownlow Medalists
Alan Hopkins 1930; Norm Ware 1941; Peter Box 1956; John Schultz 1960; Gary Dempsey 1975; Kelvin Templeton 1980; Brad Hardie 1985; Tony Liberatore 1990; Scott Wynd 1992; Adam Cooney 2008 (10 total)

Headquarters
417 Barkly St, Footscray, VIC 3011

Postal Address
PO Box 4112 DC, Footscray West, VIC, 3012

Phone: (03) 9680 6100 

Email
godogs@westernbulldogs.com.au

Website
westernbulldogs.com.au

Western Bulldogs



"In actuality, Footscray in the 1950s was gradually assembling its greatest array of talent ever, and an inability to perform under pressure was certainly never an issue for players like Herb Henderson, Jack Collins, Charlie Sutton or Ted Whitten ... Collins, the VFL's top goalkicker in 1954 and 1957, was arguably Footscray's greatest ever full forward; Sutton, although best remembered as a highly accomplished back pocket player, was capable of playing almost anywhere, and indeed jointly topped the club's goalkicking list in 1951. Whitten, of course, was simply incomparable..."

John Devaney extols the virtues of the blue-collar Bulldogs, Footscray - the team of the mighty west.

Read more


1953 Season (V/AFL) Fixture | Player Stats

Top

Footscray's 1953 Fixture

Rnd H&A Club Q1Q2Q3Q4 S R Opponent Q1Q2Q3Q4 S Mgn Grd Date SC
1 A Footscray 2.53.68.69.11 65 WON Carlton 1.53.116.167.18 60 5 PRI Apr 18 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
2 H Footscray 1.33.95.108.13 61 LOST Geelong 5.19.514.815.12 102 -41 WES May 2 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
3 H Footscray 1.36.611.916.15 111 WON Hawthorn 4.25.46.56.6 42 69 WES May 9 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
4 A Footscray 2.56.158.179.21 75 WON Melbourne 0.10.31.44.6 30 45 MCG May 16 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
5 H Footscray 2.25.38.510.6 66 WON Fitzroy 0.00.00.01.0 6 60 WES May 23 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
6 A Footscray 4.36.79.714.9 93 WON St. Kilda 2.34.49.710.9 69 24 JUN May 30 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
7 H Footscray 0.14.14.37.9 51 LOST Collingwood 5.47.67.107.10 52 -1 WES Jun 6 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
8 A Footscray 4.36.78.89.14 68 WON Richmond 3.35.47.88.11 59 9 PUN Jun 13 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
9 H Footscray 0.20.32.55.13 43 LOST South Melbourne 3.25.37.611.6 72 -29 WES Jun 20 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
10 A Footscray 2.12.44.75.12 42 WON North Melbourne 0.00.51.53.7 25 17 ARD Jun 27 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
11 H Footscray 0.31.92.119.15 69 WON Essendon 2.52.77.117.11 53 16 WES Jul 4 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
12 H Footscray 2.25.78.913.12 90 WON Carlton 0.52.85.158.18 66 24 WES Jul 11 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
13 A Footscray 2.15.76.98.10 58 LOST Geelong 3.35.66.1111.12 78 -20 KAR Jul 25 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
14 A Footscray 2.17.57.511.10 76 WON Hawthorn 0.30.53.103.10 28 48 GLE Aug 1 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
15 H Footscray 3.27.312.614.14 98 WON Melbourne 4.14.35.79.7 61 37 WES Aug 8 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
16 A Footscray 4.28.611.1014.14 98 WON Fitzroy 3.14.56.67.11 53 45 BWS Aug 15 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
17 H Footscray 1.13.76.1212.18 90 WON St. Kilda 1.22.24.54.5 29 61 WES Aug 22 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
18 A Footscray 0.02.12.48.7 55 LOST Collingwood 4.45.98.1210.14 74 -19 VIC Aug 29 (Sat, 2:15) Scores
1SF A Footscray 3.73.84.116.13 49 WON Essendon 1.03.74.75.11 41 8 MCG Sep 5 (Sat, 2:30) Scores
PF A Footscray 2.13.44.55.7 37 LOST Geelong 0.62.76.108.15 63 -26 MCG Sep 19 (Sat, 2:30) Scores
Top

1953 Player Stats

Player GP K Avg H Avg D Avg M Avg HO Avg T Avg FF FA G Avg B TS
Abbey, Angus 11 16 16.0         4 2.0         5 0 0 0.0 0 0
Barrett, John 4                             0 0.0    
Beal, Stan 1                             0 0.0    
Box, Peter 19 10 10.0         1 0.5         2 0 3 0.2 0 18
Bryden, Dave 20 8 8.0         6 3.0         3 0 10 0.5 1 61
Collins, Jack 17                             50 2.9    
Donald, Wally 20 15 15.0         3 1.5         2 0 0 0.0 0 0
Duffy, Roger 16 5 5.0         1 0.5         5 1 27 1.7 5 167
Edwards, Arthur 10 9 9.0         6 3.0         3 0 7 0.7 0 42
Egan, Reg 2                             2 1.0    
Gallagher, Jim 17                             0 0.0    
Gilmore, Brian 14             1 1.0         2   15 1.1 0 90
Harper, Roy 16 10 10.0         7 3.5         2 1 11 0.7 1 67
Henderson, Herb 20 10 10.0         6 3.0         1 0 0 0.0 0 0
Henderson, Don 1                             0 0.0    
Jones, Tom 11 13 13.0         9 4.5         1 0 5 0.5 0 30
Kent, Len 2                             0 0.0    
Kerr, John 14 0 0.0         0 0.0         1 0 19 1.4 0 114
King, Jack 8                             0 0.0    
Letcher, Ian 3                             0 0.0    
Martin, Alan 16 16 16.0         1 1.0         2 1 0 0.0 0 0
McCarthy, Ron 17 17 17.0         7 3.5         5 1 0 0.0 0 0
McRae, Frank 4                             0 0.0    
Nuttall, Jack 1                             0 0.0    
Ollington, Lionel 5 7 7.0         2 1.0         5 0 3 0.6 3 21
Porta, Ron 1                             0 0.0    
Reynolds, Doug 4                             1 0.3    
Rogers, Allan 6                             3 0.5    
Ross, Don 20 11 11.0         1 0.5         4 1 1 0.1 1 7
Scanlan, Bill 3                             0 0.0    
Slater, Bob 2                             3 1.5    
Stevens, Harvey 17 18 18.0         5 2.5         6 5 14 0.8 3 87
Stockman, Ron 13 1 1.0         4 2.0         4 0 0 0.0 0 0
Sutton, Charlie 19 15 15.0         2 1.0         9 2 12 0.6 2 74
Templeton, Bob 2                             0 0.0    
Thompson, Norm 2                             0 0.0    
Trusler, Allan 3 13 13.0         7 3.5         4 0 4 1.3 3 27
Warren, Allen 18 11 11.0         4 2.0         4 0 1 0.1 0 6
White, Kevin 4                             0 0.0    
Whitten Snr, Ted 17 18 18.0         11 5.5         7 3 1 0.1 0 6
 

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.