One of the Geelong Football Club’s most successful eras has been thrust back into the spotlight.
The era in question occurred between 1877 and 1896, when the club was part of the Victorian Football Association.
During that period, Geelong won seven premierships and was runner-up four times.
The era of success included three flags in a row between 1878 and 1880 and another hat-trick between 1882 and 1884.
As part of his campaign to remember what he terms “the forgotten years”, Cats vice-president and Honouring the Past Committee chairman Bob Gartland has organised for premiership photos to be made.
The photos were recently installed in the stairwell in the Premiership Stand, where they hang proudly beside the club’s eight VFL premiership photos.
“Every time we acknowledge a piece of our history in this way it’s like bringing these boys home,” Gartland recently told the Geelong Advertiser.
Gartland sourced the pictures that make up the premiership photos while he was working on his Greatest Team of All project.
The project aimed to locate a photo of every Geelong player. The photos were then merged into a giant team photos that spans the club’s 157-year history.
Gartland was unable to track down a photo of just two VFA premiership players.
They are W. Johns and Andrew Murray Simpson.
Geelong's 1884 VFA premiership team
