Lions roar for 130th anniversary

By Bruce Tobin

Melbourne was a thriving and sports-obsessed city in 1892. It boasted a population around half a million people, the Block Arcade was being built in Collins Street, jockey George Robson rode Glenloth to victory in the Melbourne Cup, Essendon were premiers in the Victorian Football Association - and the Collegians Football Club became a foundation club of the new Metropolitan Junior Football Association.

When Lawrence Arthur Adamson, the gifted educator and sports visionary, established a football team to allow school mates to play together when they left Wesley College, he could never have imagined that his original 1891 Old Boys’ XVIII team would a year later become the Collegians Football Club and be celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2022.

LA Adamson, who was a much-loved sports master and went on to the trailblazing headmaster at Wesley College, didn’t just create an incredible legacy for the school and the Victorian community – he shaped the development of amateur football in Australia.

Adamson was President of the Collegians for the first 40 years, steering the club during those formative years in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA) which later became the Victorian Amateur Football Association in 1932. Adamson died that same year but he had created the foundations of a club that would become the most successful and famous in the amateur league. The ‘A’ Section Grand Final Cup is known as the ‘LA Adamson’ Cup.

Collegians is the oldest club in Victorian amateur football - the only founding club of the MJFA and VAFA still in existence today - and the most successful in terms of number of premierships won in the top divisions. Six of its senior premierships were won before the First World War. From 1936, the Lions won another 11, taking the tally to 17 – the most senior premierships of any club. Plus, there are another three B grade flags for a total of 20 premiership cups in the Collegians silverware cabinet.

Collegians have enjoyed success through a combination of factors – solid administration, strong values, gifted players, brilliant coaches and support staff, generous sponsors and passionate and loyal supporters.

When the Club celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1992 and Laurie Humphries published his excellent book “The History of a Great Football Club”, the highly respected Bruce Gregory penned a review in Wesley’s “The Lion” magazine saying that “Adamson moulded, managed and imbued the club with the true-blue amateur ideals. Not for him were the ‘professional gladiators’ who strutted the fields of the VFL.”

In his book, Humphries was brave enough to nominate three players as being the best in the history of the club – Harold Stewart, Clarrie Vontom and Geoff Hibbins. He also listed some of the other talented players to represent Collegians such as?Warne-Smith, Kaighin, Archer, Rigg, Law, Lewis, Ferguson, Hibbins, Rush, Powell, Walduck, Loder, Daff, Mackay, Hinchen, Bennett, Schober and Galbraith.

The Hibbins family has been synonymous with the Collegians Football Club. Geoff Hibbins and brother Lex each played more than 200 games for the Club. Lex went on to become Club President. Ruckman Geoff played 33 VFL matches for St Kilda in the 1950s, but his career with the Collegians made him one of the most decorated players in VAFA history. Geoff also served as Collegians Secretary, Captain and Coach, was a three times winner of the Woodrow medal for the Best and Fairest in A Section, twice winner of the B section award and five times Collegians Best and Fairest. He also captained a VAFA side to victory in the 1956 Olympic Games exhibition match. Lex’s oldest son, Mark, played more than 200 games for Collegians, won two B Grade Best and fairest Awards, coached the senior side to two A Grade premierships and has served as Club President. Lex’s younger son, Nick, played for the Lions and coached the U19’s team to premiership glory in 2016 with Mark’s youngest son, Jack, playing in the side. Mark’s oldest son, Sam, is co-captain of the Collegians senior side.

In the review of the Humphries book, Bruce Gregory said: “Collegians has been a great football club for a century because it has had excellent administrators but it has also been well served by talented players, many of them as dedicated as the tireless officials.” That can also be said of the modern-day players and administrators. Establishing headquarters in Albert Park was a masterstroke, combined with more targeted fundraising, brilliant coaches and support staff and exceptional players to take the Club to a new level from the 1950s.?As Warwick Mitchell told a crowd celebrating the Club’s 125th anniversary: “It probably started around 1952 when Bob Ferguson joined the Club and organised a fundraiser that enabled the Club to have funds to pay for a trainer. Also in that year (former Club Secretary and later President) Jack McCann was instrumental in Collegians obtaining a half share in the old Harry Trott oval that was situated at the northern end of Albert Park. By half share, I mean Collegians shared the oval with Commonwealth Bank Football Club with both clubs training on the same night – training under car headlights!”

Laurie Humphries called this period “the Golden Age”. In 1955 Geoff Hibbins was appointed as Coach – on top of his other duties as Captain and Secretary. Ferguson’s fundraising efforts were bringing results and the Club could purchase some floodlights for the oval. A second team was established in 1958 to ensure that all ex-Wesley students could play a game of football if they wanted. And in the spirit of LA Adamson, Hibbins introduced an annual game between Collegians and the current Wesley team and the match was followed by a “pie night”, building stronger ties and camaraderie between the school and club. Collegians enjoyed a “purple patch” of success and were B grade premiers in 1956 and A Grade premiers in 1957, 1958, 1959 and again in 1961. It would be another 25 years before the Club won its next flag in 1986 and then go on to win more silverware in 1992 and 1993. After careful planning by the committee, led by President Wayne Dyer, Collegians came back from C Grade to win flags in 2006 (B Grade), 2011 and 2012.

Strong administration and leadership from Wayne Dyer, Rod Nancarrow and Mark Hibbins and playing performances from Arnott, Blumfield, Dixon, Hibbins, Holst, Hosking, Hylton, Jorgensen, Ries, Roach, Sautner, Scott, Stone, Taft, Tardif, Watts and Zimbachs laid the foundation for a long period of success over the last decade.

As a founding member of the MJFA in 1892, Collegians also wanted to be a founding member of the women’s competition when it started in 2017. The inaugural women’s team was coached by Nick Hibbins. The Lions added a second women’s team a year later.

Current and past players and administrators are adamant that the success of the Lions has been driven by strong values and the importance of leaving a legacy and giving back. The Club has been working hard during the 2022 VAFA season and moving on from the massive disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With former Melbourne and Geelong defender Jared Rivers in charge as men’s head coach, the Club has been striving for a more consistent and injury-free year, and women’s senior coach Dom Lucarelli has an exciting playing group that is focused on achieving success.

In its 130th year, the Collegians Football Club has three senior men's teams, two senior women's teams and an Under 19's team. It has been 10 years since Collegians won its last senior premiership. Taking home some silverware in 2022 would be the best way to celebrate this year’s historic 130th anniversary.

Tickets for a special Collegians 130th Gala Ball at The Park in Albert Park on 23 July 2022 are available at www.collegiansfc.com.au

*Bruce Tobin is a former journalist at The Age and The Sun News Pictorial in Melbourne and a frustrated sports photographer!?