1910’s content coming soon.

1920’s content coming soon.

The Blackburn area was continuing to grow at a steady rate and some of the more well remembered family names of the area that played during this period were Kiker, Raftis, Henwood, McKirdy, Goodwin, Dashwood, McLellan, Schwab, Rooks, Heppner, Dobson, Collier, Foster and Barrett. These names will conjure up various memories of days long past and it is interesting to note that to this very day some of these names still have an involvement with this club.

Again little is remembered of the history of the club and many memories are clouded by the advent of war and its impact. Many sporting activities were postponed as the young men went off to fight or to work for the war effort. The club jumper was black with two vertical stripes as depicted in the team photos but when this change occurred no one can remember or the reasons why. The change-rooms consisted of one large room with a wooden partition and a shower in each section. There was a wood chip heater in the home team rooms and that it was a race to get a hot shower because as soon as the fire went out so did the hot water.

The Blackburn Hotel would donate two bottles of sherry each week, one for the players the other for the sherry thieves, Dick Collier and Butch Schwab. The playing surface on the top oval was gravel and the bottom oval had the first cinder track in Australia. An interesting aside is that East Burwood combined with Blackburn during the early part of this decade due to a shortage of players and reformed in their own right around 1946. Other characters of this time were Mrs Burn who apparently could be heard in Camberwell when anyone went near her son, John. Mrs Yeomans who had a large umbrella and had no hesitation bringing it into use as a weapon, especially if her son Charlie was being unfairly treated.

Back in those times the committee used to select the Best & Fairest Award winner and allegedly the fathers on the committee had many a serious debate about whose son should be the recipient of this most prestigious award.

The club jumper was again black with a red hoop. The senior club played in the ESFL and the juniors played in the Blackburn & Surrounds Football Competition, which was run by the BFC. The club had no proper change rooms and all teams used a tin garden shed, which was roughly 16 x 9 foot. Just enough room to swing a cat!! As Les Millar recalls, after the game if you were muddy you traipsed home in your footy gear carrying your clothes in your bag. Something that even I remember having to do up not so long ago. There were some characters around the club at this time, especially the trainers.

Mr Jones and his “Black Jack” liniment concoction which would burn the skin off you; Dick Collier the sherry thief; Bill Barrett who lived near the roundabout in Railway Road, and if there was a barrel on, it would be at his place; Jeff Charman who was also an ex-player. Other characters of this decade and the next were the canteen ladies, Lorna Paterson, Margaret Matthews, Cath McLellan, Hilda Bruce, Pat Cerche, Marion Peach, Marg Bridgman and Bev Hoskins who set up shop in the grand stand each home game. Blackburn also always had the contract to run the canteen during the finals held at Mitcham, and these ladies worked tirelessly and subsequently contributed so much to the success of the club over these years. 1957 Club moved into current pavilion, which the club shared with Blackburn United FC who used the bottom oval. Therefore most Saturday’s 4 teams occupied these rooms up until the Blackburn United FC disbanded in the late 70’s. As you can imagine the wait for the showers after each game would have been a long one.

According to the records, this was the club’s most successful decade to date and with this period came much change. The club was quickly growing in strength commensurate with the local community. The senior and junior teams were very competitive and there was some outstanding talent coming through the ranks. Such notables from this period were players such as Bryan Wood, Rod Appleton, Ian Scrimshaw and Ray McMahon who all played VFL football. Other local legends such as Les Millar, George Kane, John Burn, Ron Wood, Keith Sturgeon, Alan Peach, The Cullen boys, the Tierneys too name but a few were emerging and starting out on long careers with the club. The change-room and ground conditions were poor compared to today’s standards. The change-rooms became social rooms after the senior game and the old kitchen was the bar and players often served beers still wearing their footy gear. The rooms had to be cleaned and the ladies had to wait out in the cold until all was ready. The club fielded junior sides in both the EDFL and the Blackburn & Districts Football League (old B&SFC) during this decade.

1962 The club joined the Eastern Districts Football League (nee Croydon & FTG Football League) which is now known as the Eastern Football League.

1963 The club changed its strip from the black jumper with the red hoop to the current red and black vertical stripe. The club theme song changed from “Cheer Boys, Cheers we are from Blackburn” to the present day song.

1968 During the 60’s the club had requested that a canteen be built by the local council similar to those built at Mitcham and Vermont, which was refused. The club then undertook to build its own canteen and thanks to the efforts of the late George Kane this was completed in 1968.

1969 The club changed its emblem from the “Robins” to the “Panthers”. The old Robins emblem is depicted on the club blazer pocket, which is on display along with the club’s earlier jumpers, in the trophy cabinet.

The 70’s saw the club reach the pinnacle without the success it had cherished and slip down the other side. In 1975 the seniors were poised to win their first ever senior premiership in the EDFL but were denied this opportunity by Mitcham. This began a roller coaster ride for the club over the remainder of the 70’s. In 1976 the wheels fell off and the club was demoted to 2nd Division. In 1977 the club managed to win a premiership to regain a berth in 1st Division only to win the wooden spoon again in 1978 to go back into 2nd Division. As previously mentioned the canteen ladies were significant in the success of the club. It would be remiss of me to not acknowledge the contribution of two exceptional ladies, Mary Medson and Aileen Jackson, who took over the reins from the old brigade in the early 70’s and are still running the canteen to this very day.

This period started off with a premiership in 1980 and saw the club try to consolidate their position in 1st Division. This was maintained until 1988 when the wooden spoon again ventured to Blackburn and a long residence within 2nd division began. This period also spelled the demise of the juniors and this was to have a profound effect on the club’s fortunes. The club rooms and ground conditions were no better than the 60’s but with the BUFC disbanding there was scope to utilise the middle change-rooms for social rooms and therefore the mad rush to get showered and to clean the rooms was greatly diminished. The ladies, kids and other supporters no longer had to stand out in the cold and a permanent bar was set up. Sharing the toilets with the players was not a concern for the males but this caused much angst amongst the females and was a constant problem for the club.

The major highlights of this era were the premiership and Champion Club awards in 1980. Another was the scoreboard, which was constructed in 1982, by a group of players and supporters who had volunteered their services.

The club was committed to being competitive in 2nd Division and again return to 1st Division. With some great work by the committee the junior sides again graced the park and the resurgence of younger families in the Blackburn area helped with this program.

The club realised that without the youth coming through and with the extra financial burden of recruiting players and ever increasing costs the future would not be rosy. The establishment of the under 18’s was integral to future senior teams and this was highlighted by the commitment of many older players to play reserves football and give the young blokes some guidance and confidence to continue their football careers. The junior club had continued to grow over the years since its reformation, which culminated in them winning the 1999 Junior Champion Club award. The juniors now boast teams in age groups from under 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16. Another fine achievement of the club was the number of players who went on to play over 300 EFL games with Blackburn. These guys began their junior football careers in the 70’s and 80’s and went on to play another 18 odd years in the seniors.

The other highlight of this period was the commitment to upgrading the sporting facilities at Morton Park by the WCC. This enabled the horrendous playing conditions of the past to be mere recollections as necessary funds were granted to install new drainage and to resurface the oval. Also during this decade the Council had provided funds for new lights and new perimeter fencing which no doubt brought Morton Park on par with the other ovals in the municipality.

This period is still in its infancy but a special mention should be given to those that were involved in the redevelopment of the social rooms and change rooms. These have and will continue to provide a first class facility for all players, members and supporters of the BFC to enjoy and cherish for decades to come.

Other highlights of recent times are the continued improvements shown by all teams both junior and senior within the EFL competition and by the respective committees in the administration and the advancement of aussie rules football within the local community.

I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Ron Eade, Bob Hoskins and Les Millar in helping me with the writing of this brief history. Thanks gentlemen.

In closing, to all those unsung heroes and heroines of the past, be it players, coaches, trainers, supporters, committee members, canteen ladies, gatekeepers, team managers, timekeepers, goal umpires, boundary umpires, whatever, thank you for your commitment to ensuring the continued existence and prosperity of this great football club. To those currently taking up the challenge and those who will in the future, again thank you, congratulations on your wonderful work and hopefully your hard yakka will eventually lead to some more silverware, flags and most of all fond memories.

In 2002, the Club had a wonderful year culminating in the winning of both the Reserves and Senior premierships. This enabled the Club to return to the premier division of the Eastern Football League being First Division.

Over the past three seasons the Seniors have had limited success but the Reserves and Under 18s have generally been very competitive.

“After finishing off the previous decade with all 3 senior men’s teams playing in the finals in 2009, the new decade saw the seniors finish 7th with 9 wins (including 2 against arch rival Vermont, and the 1st away win against them in 34 years) and 9 losses in 2010, and the U18s winning the Colts premiership for the first time in 40 years (when the U17s last won the flag). The Colts team included 3 players who went on to play 100+ senior games for the burners – ie Jake Hammond, Jake Harkins & James Kenworthy. The season end saw the retirement of 276 game legend Anthony “Slug” Waterworth, and a handover of the Presidency from Mick Tuminello to James MacLeod. In 2011 the seniors finished 2nd with 15 wins and 3 losses, but bowed out in the prelim final against Scoresby by 56 points. The Reserves, under returned 2002 senior coach Paul Breen, made the 1st week of the finals, and the Colts had another strong year finishing runners up to Scoresby. It was during the senior’s 1st semi final against Balwyn (which we won by 2 goals) that Balwyn’s Shaun Bergin died after an accidental head knock, which had a major impact on all involved in the game, and led to many Blackburn players moving on in 2012.

With up to 38 2011 listed players moving on in 2012, it was a tough start for new head coach Peter Banfield, who replaced Steve Cochrane (2009-2011), and who had no choice but to start a rebuild. The Burners only won 10 out of 36 games during 2012 and 2013, but the U19s (the age limit went up from U18 in 2012) won the premiership in 2013, beating Lilydale by 53 points – another 5 boys in this team have gone on to play 100+ senior games for the burners – ie Michael Dunn (captain of the team), Sam Hudson, Tom Randles, Mitch Thorp & James Hanley. In 2014 former senior head coach, Garry Connolly (2003-2005) took over from James MacLeod as President, and the senior team won 12 games and made the finals, bowing out in the 1st week to Balwyn by 22 points. 2015 was a tumultuous year with head coach Peter Banfield parting ways with the club after RD 14, with player Anthony Fagan taking over the coaching reins for the remaining 4 games, winning 3 of them and finishing 6th with 9 wins. Both the Reserves and U19s went deep into the finals, but neither managed to salute. Other highlights in 2015 included the Club playing it’s 1000th game in the Eastern Footy League, installing a new electronic scoreboard in the stand alone scoreboard building, and raising over $14,000 for the Freeze MND, a new charity fundraising initiative started by Neale Daniher, the father of burners player Ben (who won the Senior B&F in 2015).

2016 saw a new senior head coach in Kon Karavias (formerly a VFL assistant coach with Essendon, and a future senior football administrator with the AFL and Western Bulldogs), a new President in Matt “China” Breen (former 108 game player, 3 times Reserves premiership player, and treasurer for 5 years 2009-2013), and the introduction by the League of a Player Points policy (which was followed by a salary cap in 2017). A young senior team had 46 players selected, and finished 7th with 7 wins. The high number of players getting exposure to senior footy benefited the Reserves, who won the flag in a nail biting 1 point win over Rowville. The U19s also had another strong year, falling 13 points short against Noble Park in the Prelim final. In 2017 all 3 teams made the prelim finals, with the U19s progressing to the grand final, losing to Vermont by 25 points. The seniors finished the home & away season 5th with 12 wins, and lost to eventual premier Sth Croydon by 16 points in the prelim. The reserves came within 6 points of eventual premier Vermont in their prelim. Due to work commitments Karavias was forced to step down as head coach, handing over the reins to Brendan “BA” Allen in 2018 – prior to joining the burners, BA was a senior assistant coach at VFL club Sandringham.

2018 was another strong year for all 3 mens sides, with the senior team again making the prelim before going down to Sth Croydon by only 5 points in extra time. The Reserves had a disappointing finals series and went out in straight sets, losing the prelim final to Sth Croydon by 23 points. The U19s made the grand final for the 5th time this decade, but were outgunned by Noble Park by 37 points. 2018 was also the inaugural year for our womens footy side, who finished a creditable 3rd in Division 2. The final year of the 2010’s decade, 2019, saw all 3 mens teams again perform strongly, with the senior team making the Premier grade grand final for the first time since 1975, going down to a powerful Vermont by 6 goals. The Reserves made the prelim final, going down to eventual premier Vermont by 15 points. The highlight of the year was the U19s overcoming their nemesis Vermont to record a comfortable 25 point win in the grand final, recording their 3rd premiership for the decade in 6 grand final appearances. In only their 2nd year, the women fielded 2 teams, with the senior team moving up to the Premier Division and coming 3rd.

In summary, the 2010s was a very successful decade for the Club, with the senior mens team on the verge of winning a premier grade flag for the first time since 1922, and the player depth in fantastic shape with the Reserves and U19 sides consistently finishing near, or at the top of, their respective ladders. We were also well positioned to quickly grow our womens footy department after only 2 years of playing. Off field the Club had a small working capital base to build on, and was readying itself for the construction of new Clubrooms in 2020. Exciting times ahead indeed.”

2020’s content coming soon.