The Kew Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. The club's men's team currently competes in Division 1 of the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), and the women's team is currently in the Premier Division of the VAFA Women's competition.[2]
| Kew Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Names | ||
| Full name | Kew Football Club[1] | |
| Nickname(s) | Bears | |
| Motto | Vigore Honoreque ("With vigor and honor") | |
| Club details | ||
| Founded | 1876 | |
| Colours | Brown Gold | |
| Ground(s) | J.J. Higgins Reserve | |
| Uniforms | ||
| ||
| Other information | ||
| Official website | kewfc.com | |
History
editEarly years
editKew was founded in 1876 and won its first premiership in 1880 in the second-rate ranks of the Hawthorn District Zone competition.[3] The club entered a first-rate league for the first time in 1889 when it joined the Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA), finishing 20th with two wins and six draws.[4]
The club withdrew during the 1891 season after failing to win a game, and dropped down to the 2nd rate and 3rd rate ranks of the VJFA.[3][5] The club continued in the Association until 1896, when the VJFA mandated that all clubs must play on a fenced oval. As Victoria Park was unfenced, the club withdrew from the VJFA and "reluctantly" went into recess for two years.[3]
In 1899, Kew returned and entered the Suburban Junior Football Association (SJFA). However, in May 1899, Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA) club St Francis Xavier disbanded.[6][7][8] Kew was chosen to fill the vacancy, and it played in the MJFA for the remainder of the season.[9][10][11]
RDFA and VJFA return
editFollowing the 1900 season, Kew left the MJFA.[a] They joined the Reporter District Football Association (RDFA) in 1911, withdrawing mid-season in 1915 because of a loss of players due to World War I enlistments, but resumed when the RDFA returned after the war in 1919.[3]
Kew returned to the VJFA in 1920.[14][15] The club was winless in its return season, but eventually rose up the ladder and finished sixth with 10 wins in 1926.[3] Kew also applied for admittance into the Victorian Football Association (VFA) when Brunswick was temporarily excluded, but although VFA officials were "greatly impressed" with the club's home ground and surroundings, its application was unsuccessful and Brunswick remained in the VFA for the 1927 season.[16][17]
At the time, the VJFA was also transitioning to become a reserves competition for the VFA, and as Kew was not a VFA member, it left the VJFA.[3]
VFL Sub-Districts
editFor the 1927 season, Kew entered the Victorian Football League (VFL) Sub-Districts, and won the premiership in its first year in the competition.[3] Further premierships came in 1929, 1931, 1932, and 1934, and the club ultimately made finals in all but 5 of its 18 seasons in the Sub-Districts.[3]
Kew also had an autonomous reserves team, the Kew Junior Football Club, which was formed in 1922 and won a premiership in the Eastern Suburban Junior Football Association in 1925.[18] The juniors entered the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA, formerly MJFA) in 1926 and was renamed to Kew District Football Club, before joining the Sub-Districts in 1927 and winning premierships in 1928, 1929, and 1930.[3] Kew District joined the Eastern Suburban Football League in 1934 but folded in 1938 after an unsuccessful finals campaign in 1937.[18]
VAFA return
editIn 1949, amid "unruly behaviour" from a majority of other Sub-Districts clubs, Kew left and returned to the MJFA/MAFA, which had been renamed to the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) in 1933.[19] The club was ranked very highly by the VAFA Executive, and was admitted into C Section instead of the lower D Section for its return season.[3]
Kew won the 1949 minor premiership and was set to be automatically promoted to B Section, but after a round 18 victory over East Caulfield, an anonymous caller to VAFA headquarters stated Kew was fielding an ineligible player who had fought as a professional boxer during his army service in World War II. Kew was stripped of the eight games he played in, along with their place in the finals series, and remained in C Section for the 1950 season.[3]
In 1950, Kew were undefeated and won the premiership, earning a promotion to B Section for 1951. The B Section grand final was won in 1953, and Kew entered A Section for the first time in 1954.[5][20]
Further premierships followed in 1962, 1964 (C Section) and 1966 (B Section). However, with the exception of the 1979 (C Section), Kew was unable to find further premiership success.[13] By the 1990s, the club had fallen to D Section for the first time in its history, and fell all the way down to Division 4 (F Section) in 2004.[13]
21st century
editIn 2007, the North Kew Football Club amalgamated with Kew.[21] North Kew was formed in 1932 and had been competing in the Southern Football League (SFL) prior to the merger.[22]
Former Carlton footballer Ian Aitken was appointed Kew senior coach in 2011.[23] He led the club to a three-peat in 2013, 2014 and 2015, before leaving at the end of the 2016 season. Aitken returned in 2019 and remained in the role until the end of the 2023 season.[24]
Kew entered two women's in the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) in 2014. Dwindling squad numbers meant one of the sides withdrew after round 7, while the other able to continue and ended up as runners-up in the grand final.[5] The women's sides entered the Northern Football League (NFL) in 2017, and the VAFA Women's (VAFAW) in 2018.[3]
In August 2021, a Richmond Central player recorded Kew players training (against COVID-19 lockdown rules) at Richmond Central's home ground, Kevin Bartlett Oval, and was also involved in a verbal confrontation with Ian Aitken.[25] Kew said it did not sanction the training session, and the VAFA did not sanction the club, however they did refer Aitken to AFL Victoria.[26]
Seasons
editSource: [27]
| Premiers | Grand Finalist | Minor premiers | Finals appearance | Wooden spoon | Division leading goalkicker | Division best and fairest |
Men's
editSeniors
edit- Although Kew finished third in 2021, no finals series was held as the season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Notes
edit- ^ It is unclear what competition the club competed in for the next 10 years.[5] Kew's website says it was a league called the "Metropolitan Junior Football Association" until 1911, but the MJFA (now VAFA) that Kew was in from 1899−1900 still used that name until 1912.[3][12] The VAFA says Kew "went on to the greener pastures" after 1900.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Current details for ABN 96 904 678 947". ABN Lookup. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Rob Harding on what lays ahead for Kew in season 2024". Herald Sun. 2 April 2024. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "CLUB HISTORY". Kew Football Club. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "1889 – Victorian Junior Football Association". Trove Newspapers. Sportsman (Melbourne, Vic). 9 October 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Kew Football Club (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "A BRIEF HISTORY" (PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ "METROPOLITAN JUNIOR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION". The Age. 22 August 1899. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
South St. Kilda, Leopold disbanded.
- ^ "FOOTBALL". The Age. 23 August 1899.
In today's issue the position of clubs reads that South St. Kilda and Leopold clubs have disbanded. This should read, 'South St. Kilda and St. Francis Xaviers disbanded.' You will notice that Leopold is third on the list of clubs.
- ^ "CLUB HISTORY". Kew Football Club. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
Resuming in 1899 in the Suburban Junior Football Association the club quickly changed competitions after Round 4 when a vacancy occurred in the more senior Metropolitan Junior Football Association (now VAFA) replacing the St Francis Xavier (now Xavier College) club.
- ^ "Football". The Argus. 11 July 1899. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "Football". Trove. The Age. 2 August 1899. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241498857 Football: Amateur Players: Move by Juniors The Herald (Melbourne) 24 April 1912 page 5
- ^ a b c "Kew Football Club". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "VICTORIAN JUNIOR ASSOCIATION". The Argus. 30 August 1920. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "JUNIOR ASSOCIATION". The Argus. 6 September 1920. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Four Clubs Seek Admittance". The Argus. 7 September 1926. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "CLAIMS OF YARRAVILLE AND KEW CLUBS". The Age. 24 August 1926. p. 15. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Kew Juniors Football Club / Kew District Football Club (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ Amateur Association: Change of Name Adopted The Age 25 October 1932 page 10
- ^ "Premier Section Finals Series". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "WHERE IS NORTH KEW?" (PDF). Kew Historical Society. June 2022. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "North Kew Bears". Local Footy Stats. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ Prime, Toby. "VAFA 2018: Kew premiership coach Ian Aitken returns to the Bears". Herald Sun. Progress Leader. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ May, Brayden. "Kew appoints Rob Harding as director of men's footy". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "VAFA calls on AFL Vic to investigate lockdown training session". Herald Sun. Leader Community News. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "VAFA Statement". Victorian Amateur Football Association. 3 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "Kew". Local Footy Stats. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "1889 – Victorian Junior Football Association". Trove Newspapers. Sportsman (Melbourne, Vic). 9 October 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ "1890 – Victorian Junior FA – Ladder". Trove Newspapers. The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic). 4 October 1890. p. 18. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ "1891 – Victorian Junior FA – Final Ladder". Trove Newspapers. Sportsman (Melbourne, Vic). 22 September 1891. p. 6. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ "ASSOCIATION". The Age. 29 August 1921. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Junior Association". Labor Call. 7 September 1922. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Association". The Age. 10 September 1923. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "ASSOCIATION". The Age. 25 August 1924. p. 15. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "The Amateur Footballer Week 23 1987" (PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2024.
- ^ "2016 Premier C". GameDay. VAFA Results Archive. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "Callinan claims Kew's senior coaching role". Victorian Amateur Football Association. 26 October 2016. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ Armistead, Nick (2 October 2018). "Aitken returns to Bear Cave". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 11 April 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
The Kew Football Club sincerely thanks Michael Shmerling for his dedication and service in coaching the senior men's side in season 2018.
- ^ "Australian Football - VAFA Premiership Season (Division 1) - Season 2018".
- ^ "2021 Division 1 Men's". GameDay.
- ^ "2022 Division 1 Men's". GameDay. VAFA Results Archive. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ Cook, Kate (20 October 2023). "Kew FC finds it's man in Bryan 'Jack' Cole". Kew Football Club. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024.