Season 2008 - Official AFL Website of the Kangaroos Football Club

The North Melbourne Football Club emerged from humble origins in 1869 and arose through the need to provide local cricketers with a competitive sport throughout the idle winter months.

While the club claims to have no actual founder, James Henry Gardiner is widely recognised as the key figure in its establishment. His outstanding contribution continued for the next fifty years.

Within five years, North Melbourne played in regular fixtures at its home in Royal Park.

In 1877, the club was called ‘Hotham’ until the municipality became North Melbourne a decade later.

In that same year (1877) the club played a major role in the formation and development of the Victorian Football Association (VFA).

In 1882, North Melbourne’s headquarters were moved to Arden St, and they can still be found there today.

Four years later blue and white vertical stripes were chosen to replace the old horizontal ones worn on the players guernseys since the clubs inception. The stripes have remained the Club's traditional uniform.

While North Melbourne’s influence on Australian Rules Football during this early period can’t be questioned, its on-field successes were few and far between. It could be argued this was the reason an invitation was not forthcoming when eight of the more powerful sides broke away from the VFA and formed the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1896.

Undaunted by this however, the VFA continued and the team from Arden Street had a breakthrough in the 1903 season claiming its first premiership flag. This sparked an amazing run which saw North win six premierships in just fourteen seasons (play was suspended during the War years of 1916-17).

The club became a genuine powerhouse of the competition and was undefeated in 1915 and 1918. It won forty-nine consecutive matches between 1914 and 1919 and neither feat has been repeated by a League or Association side.

North produced some great players in this period, none better than George Rawle, Charlie Hardy and Syd Barker, after whom the Club Champion Award is named.

Although the 1920s didn't quite produce the successes of the previous two decades, the club finally received and accepted an invitation to join the VFL in 1924.

In round one of the 1925 season, North Melbourne travelled to Corio to play Geelong in its first League match. Of the three incumbents (Footscray and Hawthorn were also admitted this year) only North proved victorious, defeating the eventual premier by eight points.

North ended its inaugural year in tenth place with five wins from seventeen games.

The renowned resilience of the Northerners was tested throughout the next twenty years as it struggled to reach the heights it achieved in the VFA. If not for the generosity of die-hard supporters and the assistance of the League, North’s precarious financial state could have brought it to its knees.

The patience and loyalty of its supporters was rewarded in 1945 when North Melbourne qualified for its first ever VFL finals series. Although Carlton proved too strong on the day, it helped erase some of the pain felt by supporters during the 1930s.

This relative success was followed by another couple of barren years but in 1949 the club won the minor premiership after finishing on top of the ladder after the home and away season. Unfortunately, ultimate success again eluded the Northerners, as they were knocked out of the finals.

1950 proved to be a watershed year in the clubs history. Not only was it the first season in which the club played as the 'Kangaroos', but it was also the year of it's first finals victory and, ultimately, it's first VFL Grand Final.

Essendon defeated the Kangaroos on this day, but North Melbourne was finally gaining some well earned respect.

The 1950s was a decade of moderate success as the club competed in two more finals series. Importantly, North contributed some of the stars of that era, including Dally O'Brien, Syd Dyer, Kevin Dynon, Billy Findlay, Jock Spencer and Les Foote. Allen Aylett, John Dugdale and Laurie Dwyer began their significant contributions to the North Melbourne Football Club in the latter part of the decade.

After another long period without any finals action the club re-emerged as a contender winning night premierships in 1965 and 1966.

Noel Teasdale provided another highlight after polling the same amount of votes as Ian Stewart, the 1965 Brownlow Medallist. Although he initially lost on a count back to the St Kilda star, the League awarded the ruckman a medal in 1989.

At the completion of the 1972 season, with the side winning just one of 22 engagements, North Melbourne officials embarked on a plan which would rid their club of its cellar dweller image.

Allen Aylett, Albert Mantello and Ron Joseph exploited the newly introduced 'Ten Year Rule' which allowed players who had completed 10 years of service at a club to transfer to another side without restraint.

Barry Davis, Doug Wade and John Rantall were added to an already impressive list of young local and talented interstate players for the start of the 1973 season. Former Melbourne and Carlton great Ron Barassi was brought in to mould and lead the group.

It was the beginning of a new era as Keith Greig became the clubs first sole recipient of a Brownlow Medal.

Further inroads followed as North Melbourne won through to its first Grand Final in 24 years. However history repeated and victory was denied yet again, this time by a powerful Richmond outfit.

1975 started disastrously for the club which desperately wanted to atone for the previous seasons defeat. The first four rounds of the regular season went by without a victory. The Kangaroos managed to turn things around though and went on to register fourteen wins from its next eighteen games to finish in third place.

North Melbourne faced Hawthorn in the 1975 Grand Final, and finally realised the dreams of those who had fought so hard for the very existence of the club with a 55 point victory.

The rebirth of the Kangaroos continued as the club played for the 1976 and 1977 premierships.

In Dramatic fashion, it took the club two attempts to win a second VFL flag in 1977 with the Grand Final against Collingwood ending in a draw. Facing a 27-point deficit at three-quarter time, the defiant Roos clawed their way back into the game to tie the scores at the final siren. The following week's replay saw North run out 27-point victors.

North Melbourne played a sixth successive Grand Final in 1978 but was defeated by Hawthorn.

In the same year, Malcolm Blight became the second Kangaroo to win the Brownlow Medal.

Moderate success followed as North was still a regular finalist. The Kangaroos won another minor premiership in 1983 but couldn’t capitalise and bowed out of the finals. Ross Glendinning became the club's third Brownlow Medallist.

The clubs next taste of premiership glory came in 1996. After losing successive preliminary finals in 1994 and 1995, the Kangaroos secured a third premiership when they defeated Sydney by 43 points. The win came at the perfect moment for the players who had endured a turbulent year which looked set to end in a merger with the beleaguered Fitzroy Football Club.

1998 saw the club play in its ninth Grand Final and second under coach Denis Pagan. Unfortunately the Kangaroos were unable to use a four goal half time lead and Adelaide was the eventual premier.

A decision was made to play and trade under the banner of the Kangaroos in an attempt to broaden the clubs national appeal.

To further strengthen its push into other markets outside of Victoria, the Kangaroos played some matches in Sydney during the 1999 season.

It proved to be another great year, with the club defeating Carlton in the Grand Final, to win its fourth Premiership.

In 2000 the club reached its seventh consecutive Preliminary Final but it missed out on September action the following year after winning nine games and slipping to 13th spot.

Leading into 2002 the foundations of the club were severely shaken when dual premiership captain Wayne Carey walked out in devastating circumstances. Despite the drama, the Roos rallied and made the finals against the odds under the leadership of Anthony Stevens.

1996 premiership hero Dean Laidley returned to the club as senior coach in 2003 and the Roos finished just outside the finals action.

In 2004, North Melbourne continued to develop under the tutelage of Laidley and once again finished just outside the finals.

In his third year at the helm, Dean Laidley led the Roos to the finals after finishing in fifth-place with a 13-9 record. New star recruit Nathan Thompson was outstanding in his first year and Brent Harvey won his second Syd Barker Medal.

A knee injury to Nathan Thompson on the eve of the 2007 season wasn’t the start the club was after. However with a revised game plan, Dean Laidley and captain Adam Simpson led the team to a top four finish and its first finals victory in almost a decade.

Despite the emergence of some star youngsters and Brent Harvey’s third Syd Barker Medal, the season belonged to Glenn Archer who played his 300th match and broke Wayne Schimmelbuch’s game record of 306.

Archer retired with 311 games to his name as the Roos fell one game short of the Grand Final.

In December 2007, James Brayshaw took over as Chairman and the club rejected the AFL’s proposal to relocate to the Gold Coast. Brayshaw led a move to reinstate the clubs name as North Melbourne.

In 2008 the club again saw finals action but was defeated by Sydney in an elimination final. Brent Harvey won his fourth Syd Barker Medal and captained the AFL’s international rules side which played against Ireland. Four other North Melbourne players were selected in the squad including Matt Campbell, Michael Firrito, Drew Petrie and Daniel Wells.

Off the field, the club went from strength to strength announcing a record million dollar profit and 34,000 members.

North Melbourne’s ownership base also shifted after shareholders agreed to hand the club back to the members while a massive $16 million redevelopment of Arden Street was approved.

2009 started off with drama and ended in the same way.

It all began with Adam Simpson handing over the captaincy to Brent Harvey ahead of the home and away season. It was a smooth transition but a year of controversy and ill fortune plagued the club throughout the ensuing months.

Injuries to key players including Jesse Smith (hamstring), Daniel Wells (groin/hip), Brent Harvey (dislocated elbow), Jack Ziebell (broken leg), Ben Warren (broken leg, cheekbone), Daniel Pratt (knee) and Robbie Tarrant (shoulder) dashed any chances of a return to the finals for the young Kangaroos.

Off the field, the club went from strength to strength with Chairman James Brayshaw and CEO Eugene Arocca leading the way. Construction of a new state-of-the-art $15 million headquarters began at Arden Street and more than 30,000 members joined up for a second consecutive year.

But most of the attention centred on the Football Department with Dean Laidley resigning after the round 12 loss to Adelaide. Darren Crocker stepped up to the plate as caretaker coach and guided the side through the remaining ten matches of the season.

Crocker continued to develop youth and brought a more attacking brand of football to the table which led to the incredible win against a rampaging St Kilda side in round 21.

Veteran Adam Simpson announced his retirement after 306 matches.

Close to the end of the season, after an extensive search, dual premiership player with the Lions and former Collingwood Assistant Coach Brad Scott was named the next senior coach of the Kangaroos until the end of 2012.

Despite being just 33 years-old, Scott accepted the offer and set about restructuring the Football Department and analysing the playing list.

The year yielded just seven wins for the club and afforded North only 13th spot on the ladder.