….Our History
L.A.Adamson, who was for thirty years the Headmaster of Wesley College, was the President of the Club for its first forty years. In 1892, Adamson established the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (of which he was President for thirty-seven years), which in 1932 became the Victorian Amateur Football Association. The ‘A’ Section Grand Final Cup is known as the ‘L.A.Adamson’ Cup. Adamson was driven by his religiously held conviction that games could generate loyalty and character. These noble principles were never more true than today.
The Club has been Premiers of the M.J.F.A. in 1892, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1902 and 1904; of the V.A.F.A. ‘A’ Section in 1936, 1937, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1986, 1992-1993, 2011-2012, 2023 and of ‘B’ Section in 1926, 1956 and 2006, 21 Premierships all told. Collegians is the only founding Club of the M.J.F.A./V.A.F.A. still in existence. It is a unique club with an enviable long and proud history and tradition that one can read about in Laurie Humphries superb magnum opus, “The History of a Great Football Club”.
From modest beginnings over 100 years ago, Collegians continues to fill a unique place in the history of Australian football. Collegians can look forward to the next 100 years with pride in the past and enthusiasm for the future. Throughout its history, it has welcomed into its ranks not only Old Wesley Collegians, but all who wish to play amateur football under the gold and purple flag. Humphries says that “It is certainly not unreal to expect that Collegians will flourish in its second hundred years, not simply as the winner of another fifteen or more premierships but as an import social organisation. For Collegians has a life-preserving tradition and a living ethos. Its most outstanding characteristics are those of “endurance” and “fellowship”, with a strong devotion to the ideals of amateur games. Given the cycles that operate in all of life, including sport, there will be lean years, but the collective wisdom that has guided the Club through its eventful history should endure: Sapere Aude!
