Carlton Football Club

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Carlton Football Club

Names
Full name	Carlton Football Club
Motto	Mens Sana In Corpore Sano
Season 2008
Top Goalkicker	Brendan Fevola(99 goals)
Best & Fairest	Chris Judd
Club Details
Founded	1864
Colours	Navy Blue
Competition	Australian Football League
Chairman	Stephen Kernahan
Coach	Brett Ratten
Captain(s)	Chris Judd
Ground(s)	Telstra Dome (Capacity: 56,000)
	Visy Park (Capacity: 28,000)
	MCG (Capacity: 100,000)
Other information
Official website	www.carltonfc.com.au

Carlton Football Club, nicknamed The Blues, is the third oldest club in the Australian Football League and one of the oldest Australian rules football clubs. They were the first premiers of any Australian rules competition in 1877,^[1] and share the most premierships of any VFL/AFL club.^[2] The club originally represented the inner city Melbourne area of Carlton and its nickname comes from the navy blue colour of its uniform. Also on its uniform is the club's insignia which consists of three alphabetical letters – CFC superimposed on each other.

Club history

Recent history

Former Carlton Logo

The development of the game becoming a national league has impacted on Victorian-based clubs and the consequential success of interstate clubs have had an impact on Carlton's current success record.

Changes within the rules of the national competition meant that Carlton and other Victorian teams cannot, as easily, recruit the best players from across Australia because many non-Victorian players can now be recruited by home-town clubs. The recruiting mechanism of all such players is now part of the draft pick process.^[3] In addition all teams are confronted by the rules of the salary cap which is designed to limit the funds spent of players in any given season, in an attempt to create a level playing field. Prior to the salary cap, rich Victorian clubs such as Carlton were able to attract prospective players to the club by offering more money than the less successful clubs.

In the year of its last premiership in 1995, Carlton set a new AFL/VFL record by losing only two games for the entire season having been beaten by the Sydney Swans and St. Kilda.^[4] This record stood until 2000 when rivals Essendon went through the entire season losing only one game against the Western Bulldogs.^[5] Carlton went on to defeat Geelong comfortably in the 1995 Grand Final, with Stephen Kernahan kicking 5 goals.

In 2002 the club was in great turmoil. Off-field the club had mounting financial losses and accounting irregularities which ultimately caused the club president John Elliott to resign from office and the subsequent removal of his name from the John Elliott Grandstand.^[6] He was succeeded by Ian Collins as president in 2003. On-field the team went through the entire season without winning a single game on its home ground, which culminated in the club claiming the wooden spoon for finishing last on the AFL ladder for the first time in its history. Carlton was the last club of the original AFL/VFL teams to 'win' its first wooden spoon.^[2]

Under the new Collins administration, it was discovered that the club's previous administration had been making extra, secret payments to certain players.^[7] This violattion of the AFL salary cap resulted in the club receiving a record total fine of $980,000 and being banned from first and second round picks in the annual player draft for two years, hampering attempts to rebuild the club's player group. Brendan Goddard and Daniel Wells, who respectively went to St. Kilda and North Melbourne at picks 1 and 2, were two players who possibly would have been selected by Carlton.^[8]

Its coach Wayne Brittain, who had taken over the coaching duties in 2001, had his contract terminated and was replaced by Denis Pagan for the 2003 season. Brittain's arrival couldn't have come at a worse time since he took over a club on the verge of collapse which severely damaged his AFL coaching career prospects and he remains a potential coach who was never given a proper coaching opportunity at this level.

The appointment of Denis Pagan as senior coach in 2003 was an attempt to turn the club around. However, Carlton's predicament was clearly underestimated as even Pagan, with a reputation of being one of the best coaches in VFL/AFL history with his impressive long run of premierships with several clubs at several levels,^[9] was unable to reverse Carlton's football plight in the short term. It had become apparent that the Carlton team had to be replaced with a more youthful lineup and this has developed over the past 3 years as the club's policy. Recruitment has centred on Carlton attempting to recruit players under 24 years old who are likely to have the capability to play at least 100 games.

2005

Carlton players during pre-game warmup

At the beginning of 2005, the attempt at turning around the club's fortune seemed to have realised some goals with the success in the pre-season Wizard Cup.^[10] However that success was short-lived as the club failed to maintain its form for the home-and-away season and it again finished on the bottom of the ladder for just the second time in its history. It became the second club to win the pre-season/night series competition and the wooden spoon in the same year, with Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs) having done so in 1967.^[10]

In 2005 the club also became the last of the former VFL clubs to move away from its original home ground when it played its last match at Optus Oval against Melbourne in Round 9 of the 2005 season.^[11] Carlton had played at Princes Park for 108 years. Carlton now play half of their home games at the Telstra Dome and the other half at the MCG. (The games at the MCG are generally against traditional rivals Collingwood, Richmond, Essendon and Melbourne).

2006

The 2006 season saw Carlton win back-to-back wooden spoons for the first time in its history.^[2] At season's end, this led to widespread unrest within the club whose board had initially voted to terminate Denis Pagan's contract, but subsequently overturned the vote on a second ballot.^[12] A group of out-spoken and disgruntled former players who were part of the clean-out a few years earlier, lead by Fraser Brown and Barry Mitchell, wanted to have Pagan replaced by Mitchell as coach for the 2007 season. Brett Ratten was mooted as a replacement coach as well. The board decided to allow Pagan to coach for the next two seasons through to season 2008.^[12]

2007

2007 began on several bright notes for Carlton. The appointments of Richard Pratt as President,^[13] Steven Icke as Football Manager^[14] and Greg Swann as CEO^[15] have calmed the off-field controversy. These events have also been reflected in growing membership numbers, with the club almost reaching a previously hopeful target of 30,000 members before the start of the season. Carlton made a good on-field start to the year, defeating Essendon, Hawthorn and the Kangaroos in the knock-out NAB Cup competition to reach the Pre-Season Grand Final. On 17 March 2007 Carlton defeated the Brisbane Lions to win the NAB Cup by 25 points in front of over 46,000 fans at the Telstra Dome.^[10]

On 24 July 2007, following a loss to the Brisbane Lions by 117 points, Denis Pagan was sacked as coach and replaced on an interim basis by Brett Ratten.^[16] On 20 August 2007, the club announced that Ratten would become full time coach for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

On 11 October 2007 during the AFL trade week, Chris Judd was officially traded to Carlton along with a third round selection in the 2007 AFL Draft (#46 overall) for Carlton's first and second round selections (#3 and #20) and Josh Kennedy.

On 15 October 2007, Carlton announced it had delisted its captain, Lance Whitnall, after receiving medical reports that his knee injury would affect his ability to train in 2008.

2008

Carlton began its pre-season with an exhibition match in South Africa against the Fremantle Dockers. Carlton won its first round NAB Cup match against Port Adelaide before losing to Hawthorn the next week.

Carlton showed noticeable improvement during the 2008 Home & Away season, boasting an 10-11 win-loss record after Round 21. Notable wins came against arch-rival Collingwood in round 4 to snap a 14 match losing streak that dated back to mid 2007. There was also a memorable come from behind victory over 2007 runners-up Port Adelaide at AAMI stadium in round 11. The Blues trailed by 30 points at three quarter time and had registered just three goals before piling on seven goals to none in the last quarter to snatch victory. Carlton backed up their early season victory over Collingwood with another come from behind win over the Magpies in Round 12. The Blues spent a week inside the eight after the match, that's right, a whole week! The first time since 2001 that this has occurred in the second half of the season.

The Blues finished their 2008 season with 10 wins and 12 losses to equal their 2004 season.

Princes Park

The club is based at Princes Park oval (officially known now as Visy Park in a sponsorship deal) in northern Carlton.^[17] The suburb combines the academic air of the nearby University of Melbourne with a large quotient of immigrants from Southern Europe, and both groups still leave their mark on the Carlton supporter base. In 2004, then Carlton President Ian Collins began the process with Vice-President Graham Smorgon of reviewing Carlton's continued presence at the ground. It was decided that six home games be played at Telstra Dome (Docklands Stadium) and five at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A "farewell" game was played at Princes Park on Saturday 21 May in 2005.^[18] Despite an overwhelming majority of members voting for the home ground move, it was not altogether popular with all club supporters. Training and social club facilities at Princes Park remain. Carlton became the final suburban club to move away from its original suburban home ground. It also ended the only unbroken playing venue link throughout the entire 108 year history of the VFL/AFL.

There are proposals to redevelop the ground to make it into an elite training facility for the players. The project would see the currently dilapidated facilities to be replaced with a high-tech gym, indoor swimming pool and medical centre that would rival the facilities of Collingwood's Lexus Centre. Because emulating Collingwood is all they really care about these days. The project will commence when it receives Melbourne City Council approval which is estimated to be early to mid 2008. The Blues currently have an arrangement that allows the Melbourne Storm NRL club to train, and base its administration offices, at Princes Park. The Storm, 2007 NRL Premiers, hosted a well-attended fan day there after their premiership win. Many Carlton Blues players and officials attended this day, and there is a close relationship between the Blues and Storm administrations and playing staff.

Current playing list

+ Captain *Leadership Group

Coaches

Senior Coach - Brett Ratten

Assistant Coaches - Matthew Lappin, Mark Riley, Brett Montgomery

VFL Affaliate - Northern Bullants and Development Coach - David Teague

Development Coach - Robert Harvey

Part-time Coaches - Craig Bradley(Midfield Coach), Steve McKee(Ruck Coach)

High Performance Manager - Justin Cordy

Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach - Noel McCarthy

Club jumper

The current jumper design consists of a navy blue backing, CFC monogram and AFL logo on front, and bold white numbers on back. The club's current major sponsors are Optus, Hyundai and Nike. For home games, the Hyundai sponsoring is displayed on the front, while Yes Optus sponsoring is beneath the player numbers on the back. The sponsors change positions when the club is playing away.

In April 2006, the club announced a "clash" jumper in accordance to the AFL's request that each club have an alternative jumper to be worn against other clubs in similar design. The jumper consists of inverted colours from the regular home season outfit, complemented by blue stripes on the sides. This white jumper was first worn on Friday, 4 May 2007 in the club's 43 point loss to St Kilda at Telstra Dome.

Club song

We are the Navy Blues is the official club song of the Carlton Football Club. It is sung to the tune of "Lily of Laguna" by Leslie Stuart.

Lyrics

We are the Navy Blues

We are the old dark navy Blues

We're the team that never lets you down

We're the only team old Carlton knows

With all the champions

They like to send us

We'll keep our end up

And they will know that they've been playing

Against the famous old dark Blues!

Club Song

Club mascot

The club mascot is known as 'Captain Carlton' and appears as a superhero dressed in blue. The same person behind the mask has been Captain Carlton for many years. He used to stand on top of 'Optus Oval' and watch the match. It is generally regarded as an ineffectual creature, perhaps the lamest mascot in the league.

Club Honour Board

Corporate/Administration

Carlton's Team of the Century

The 5 players with an asterisk(*) are also members of the AFL Team of the Century, the largest number of any AFL Club, with Richmond close behind with 4 players.

Individual records

Individual awards

Best and Fairest Award - John Nicholls Medalists

See John Nicholls Medal

Club records

Premierships

See Carlton Football Club premierships

Finishing positions (1897-2008)

(*as of 23 September 2008)

See also

• Wikipedia listing of Carlton players
• List of Carlton Football Club coaches

http://www.carltonfc.com.au

References

External links

• Official Website of the Carlton Football Club
• "Around the Grounds" - Web Documentary - Princes Park
• Blueseum - History of the Carlton Football Club
• Talking Carlton - Unofficial Carlton Football Club discussion forum and player sponsor