Kangaroos Football Club
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| Full name | Kangaroos Football Club |
| Nickname | The Kangaroos |
| Playing strip | Blue and White Vertically striped Jumper, with White Shorts and Blue and White Socks |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| League | Australian Football League |
| Ground | Telstra Dome, Manuka Oval and the Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Capacity | 50,000 (TD), 15,000 (MO) and 100,000 (MCG) |
| Club song | 'Join in the Chorus' |
| President/Chair | Graham Duff |
| Coach | Dean Laidley |
| 2005 | 5th of 16 |
The North Melbourne Football Club, trading as the Kangaroos, and informally known as the Shinboners or the Kangaroos Football Club plays Australian rules football in the Australian Football League. It is based at the Arden Street oval in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Melbourne, but plays its home matches at the Telstra Dome and, occasionally, the Melbourne Cricket Ground or Manuka Oval.
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Club History
The club was formed in 1869 believed to be an offshoot of Hotham or of the St Mary's Church of England Cricket Club and were a foundation of the VFA winning the premiership in 1903, 1904, 1910, 1914, 1915 and 1918.
Having missed admission in both 1897 and 1907 due to financial strength and a reputation for hooliganism and similar territory to Essendon but were finally invited to join the VFL in 1925. Being one of the last Melbourne based clubs to be admitted to the league and without premiership success, North Melbourne struggled to gain new supporters, as most had existing loyalties to other clubs.
A club starved of success until Ron Barassi was appointed coach in 1974. His ruthless and inspiring coaching methods brought success in his second (1975) and fourth (1977) years as coach.
The club had its greatest on-field success of any decade in the 1990s, with a simple game plan known as "Pagans Paddock" devised by ruthless coach Dennis Pagan implemented around star forward Wayne Carey.
The club is often described with continued financial hardship and a lack of support. The club has been subject to several merger attempts. Seeking new markets, the "North Melbourne" has been officially dropped from the logo. During the Sydney Swans successful 1999 season, North Melbourne played home games in Sydney with a view of becoming a second team in New South Wales. The experiment was not successful, with crowds averaging 12,000. Most Sydney people had become aware of the concept of relocating Melbourne teams since the South Melbourne Football Club moved to Sydney and took many years to become accepted. With no team based in Canberra, and good support for Australian Rules in the Australian Capital Territory, the Kangaroos are currently experimenting with Canberra as a potential home playing several home games a year at Manuka Oval, in front of similar crowds to their Sydney games, whilst maintaining the club's meagre Melbourne supporter base and headquarters.
The 20th Century
Since the Kangaroos Grand Final Win in 1999, the club has slowly slumped, leading to the resignation of former coach Denis Pagan, and the appointment of 1996 premiership player Dean Laidley to the position of Senior Coach. Laidley had previously been an Assistant Coach at Collingwood from 1999 until the end of season 2002.
In the 2005 season, the Kangaroos fought back making it to 5th on the ladder and in doing so silencing all the critics who had labelled the club and new coach Dean Laidley as 'ineffective' and 'useless'. Unfortunatley, these critics returned when in the 1st Elimination Final, the Kangaroos lost by 80 points to reigning Premiers Port Adelaide.
Membership Base
In 2005, the the Kangaroos Football Club had 24,154 members (including Canberra Kangaroos memberships), a record number for the 3rd year in a row.
2006 Squad
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Kangaroos Team of the Century
| Kangaroos Team of the Century | |||
| B: | Glenn Archer | David Dench | Michael Martyn |
| HB: | John Rantall | Ross Glendinning | Ted Jarrad |
| C: | Keith Grieg | Les Foote | Laurie Dwyer |
| HF: | Malcolm Blight | Wayne Carey | Wayne Schimmelbusch |
| F: | John Dougdale | Jock Spencer | Allen Aylett |
| Foll: | Noel Teasdale | Anthony Stevens | Barry Cable |
| Int: | Brent Crosswell | Barry Davis | Peter Steward |
| Sam Kekovich | |||
| Coach: | Denis Pagan | ||
Premierships
- 1975
- 1977
- 1996
- 1999
Records
Games Record
- Wayne Schimmelbusch 306 (1973-87)
Leading Goalkickers
- Doug Wade 1052
- Saverio Rocca 742
Individual Awards
Best and Fairest
- See Syd Barker Medal
Brownlow Medal winners
- Noel Teasdale 1965
- Keith Greig 1973, 1974
- Malcolm Blight 1978
- Ross Glendinning 1983
Leigh Matthews Trophy winners
- Wayne Carey 1995, 1998
- Corey McKernan 1996
Norm Smith Medal winners
- Glenn Archer 1996
- Shannon Grant 1999
Michael Tuck Medal winners
- Mick Martyn (1995)
- Wayne Carey (1998)
Coleman Medal winners
- Doug Wade (1972)
- Malcolm Blight (1982)
- John Longmire (1990)
Goal of the Year winners
- Daniel Wells (2004)
- Matthew Larkin (1988)
Mark of the Year winners
- Winston Abraham (1998)
- Brett Allison (1992)
Rising Star winners
- Byron Pickett (1998)
See Also
Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos Football Club
External links
- Official Website of the Kangaroos
- Full Points Footy History of the Kangaroos Football Club
- The Searching Kangaroo - Unofficial Fan Forum and sponsors of Joel Perry in Season 2006
| Clubs in the Australian Football League |
| Adelaide Crows | Brisbane Lions | Carlton | Collingwood | Essendon | Fremantle | Geelong | Hawthorn Kangaroos | Melbourne | Port Adelaide | Richmond | St Kilda | Sydney Swans | West Coast Eagles | Western Bulldogs Defunct clubs: Brisbane Bears | Fitzroy | University |
