The Noble Park Football Club is an Australian rules football club that fields teams in both the seniors and juniors of the Eastern Football League (EFL) in Melbourne. The club is considered one of Victoria's most successful breeding grounds for VFL/AFL players.[1]
| Noble Park Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Names | |||
| Nickname(s) | The Bulls | ||
| 2023 season | |||
| Home-and-away season | 7th of 12 | ||
| Leading goalkicker | Ben Marson (21 goals) | ||
| Best and fairest | Jackson Sketcher | ||
| Club details | |||
| Founded | 1918 | ||
| Colours | Royal Blue Gold | ||
| Competition | Eastern Football League | ||
| President | Grant Connelly | ||
| Coach | Steve Hughes | ||
| Captain(s) | Kyle Martin | ||
| Premierships | Dandenong District Association: 1935, 1941, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953.
Caulfield Oakleigh District League: 1961, 1962. Federal Football League: 1972. (Reserves: 1970, 1972. Under 18s: 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981). South East Suburban Football League: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992. (Reserves: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992. Under 18s: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992). Southern Football League: 1994, 1996, 1997. (Reserves: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999. Under 18's: 1994, 1995). Eastern Football League: 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2022. (Reserves: 2004) (Under 19s: 2016, 2018). | ||
| Ground(s) | Pat Wright Senior Ground | ||
| Uniforms | |||
| |||
| Other information | |||
| Official website | Noble Park Football Club | ||
Due to the club's rich history of Premierships and its contribution to the sport and the community, in 2005, Noble Park was recognised as the only sporting club named by the City of Greater Dandenong, among its 14 sporting heroes' commemorative display.[2]
History
editNoble Park was formed in 1918 and played in the Under 21 competition in the Berwick Association until the end of 1933. The club jumper was black with a yellow sash. From 1934 until 1958, Noble Park played in the Dandenong District Association, winning eight premierships.
In 1959 Noble Park merged with the Harrisfield Football Club and became known as Noble Park-Harrisfield Football Club. The club also changed its jumper to royal blue and white vertical stripes.
In 1961, the club adopted the yellow from the original Noble Park jumper and the blue from the Harrisfield jumper to create the blue and gold vertical striped jumper which was worn for most of their existence. Once again the club was known as the Noble Park Football Club. This was also the year that they joined the Caulfield Oakleigh District League where they won two premierships before joining the Federal Football League in 1964.
In the Federal league, Noble Park won two reserves premierships, five under 18 premierships and one senior premiership between 1964 and 1981.
In 1982, Noble Park joined the South East Suburban Football League winning seven under 18 premierships, seven reserves premierships and six senior premierships before the league merged with the Eastern Suburbs Churches Football Association, creating the Southern Football League in 1993.
In the newly formed SFL, Noble Park won two under 18 premierships, seven reserves premierships and three senior premierships.
At the turn of the millennium, Noble Park transferred to the much stronger Eastern Football League, where they became known as the Bulls and changed their jumper to its current design. The Bulls would have to wait until 2003 to win their first EFL premiership, but would not have to wait as long for their second, as the club went back to back, winning the 2004 premiership. The Bulls reserves team also won a premiership in 2004.
In 2010 and 2011, Noble Park went back to back, winning their third and fourth EFL premierships since joining the league in 2000. In 2013 Noble Park made a surprising entrance into the Grand Final where they lost by a significant margin.
Notable former players
edit| Name | VFL/AFL Club | VFL/AFL Games | Major Football Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Archer | North Melbourne | 311 | 1996 Norm Smith Medal, 1996 & 1999 Premiership Player, North Melbourne Team of the Century, 1996, 1998 and 2002 All-Australian Team |
| Stephen Milne | St Kilda | 275 | Record for most goals kicked at Docklands Stadium, 2002, 2010, 2011 & 2012 St Kilda leading goalkicker |
| Mark Bayes | Sydney | 246 | Named in Sydney Swans Team of the Century, 1989 Bob Skilton Medal |
| Tony Morwood | South Melbourne/Sydney | 229 | Named in South Melb/Sydney's Team of the Century, 1979 & 1982 South Melb/Sydney's leading goalkicker |
| Tim McGrath | North Melbourne, Geelong | 226 | 1992, 1994 & 1995 Grand Final Team, 1998 State of Origin Team |
| Shane Morwood | South Melbourne/Sydney, Collingwood | 212 | 1990 Collingwood Premiership Player, 1989 & 1990 State of Origin Team |
| Brian Mynott | St Kilda | 210 | 1966 Premiership Player |
| Steven Icke | North Melbourne, Melbourne | 198 | 1977 Premiership Player, 1982 Melbourne best and fairest, 1983 & 1984 State of Origin Team |
| Paul Morwood | South Melbourne/Sydney, St Kilda, Collingwood | 170 | 1985 St Kilda best and fairest |
| Jim O'Dea | St Kilda | 167 | |
| Shane Savage | Hawthorn, St Kilda | 163* | 2011 AFL Rising Star nominee |
| Adam Treloar | Greater Western Sydney, Collingwood | 163* | 2016-2017 and 2019 All-Australian Squad |
| James Gwilt | St Kilda, Essendon | 152 | 2010 Grand Final team |
| Bill "Polly" Perkins (Dec.) | Richmond | 148 | 1943 Richmond Premiership Player |
| Darren Millane (Dec.) | Collingwood | 147 | 1990 Premiership Player, 1990 Leigh Matthews Trophy, Collingwood Team of the Century( wing) |
| Adam Ramanauskas | Essendon | 134 | 2000 Premiership Player, 2001 International Rules Series |
| Tory Dickson | Western Bulldogs | 113* | 2016 Premiership Player |
| Kris Barlow | Hawthorn | 102 | 2012 EFL Premiership Coach |
| Darren Bennett | West Coast Eagles & Melbourne | 78 | 1989 & 1990 Melbourne leading goalkicker |
| Barry Beecroft | South Melbourne | 71 | 1977 VFL Premiership Player, 1981 WAFL Premiership Player |
| Max Cole | Fitzroy | 52 | |
| Denis McGrath | North Melbourne | 36 | |
| John Blair | South Melbourne, Fitzroy, St Kilda | 33 | 1982 Grogan Medal |
| David Gallagher | Adelaide, Carlton | 33 | |
| Glen Parker | South Melbourne | 32 | 1970 Michelsen Medal |
| Kevin Shinners | Richmond | 23 | |
| Wayne Lamb | Melbourne, Fitzroy | 21 | |
| Frank Deayton (Dec.) | Melbourne | 17 | |
| Beau Dowler | Hawthorn | 16 | U/18 All-Australian, TAC Cup Team of the Year |
| John Georgiou | St Kilda | 16 | Greek Team of the Century, 1999 J.J. Liston Trophy |
| Craig Jacotine | Collingwood | 16 | 2010 & 2011 EFL Premiership Player |
| Robert Bell (Dec.) | South Melbourne | 15 | |
| Shane Valenti | Melbourne | 15 | 2010 & 2011 J.J Liston Trophy |
| Steven Cummings | St Kilda | 14 | |
| Rick Norman | North Melbourne, Brisbane Bears | 13 | |
| Robert Bell | South Melbourne | 13 | |
| Patrick Foy | Sydney | 7 | |
| Brent Williams | Adelaide | 7 | 1998 West Adelaide Leading goal kicker, U/17 All-Australian |
| Kyle Martin | Collingwood | 6 | 2013 & 2014 Joseph Wren Memorial Trophy, 2012 Frankston (VFL) Best and Fairest |
| Ray Jamieson | South Melbourne | 5 | |
| Bill Norman | Hawthorn | 5 | |
| Peter Weidemann | Collingwood | 5 | |
| Michael Plant | South Melbourne | 4 | |
| Ben Robertson | Carlton | 3 | |
| Will Sangster | Sydney | 2 | |
| Bill Smith | Fitzroy | 2 | |
| Alex Woodward | Hawthorn | 2 | 2014 J.J. Liston Trophy |
| Daniel Donati | Richmond | 1 | 1999 Norm Goss Memorial Medal |
| Peter Maloni | Sydney | 1 | |
| Duncan McGregor | South Melbourne | 1 | |
| Doug Ensor | Nil | N/A | Guinness World Record for most goals in a game (60) |
| Damien Fleming | Nil | N/A | Played 20 test matches & 88 ODI matches for Australia |