The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition.
The club formed in 1859, making it the second oldest club in the AFL after Melbourne and one of the oldest football clubs in the world.Official Website of the Geelong Football Club  GFC History  Retrieved on 10 June 2007.
In the 1860s, Geelong participated in a series of Challenge Cup competitions, and was a foundation member of both the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877 and the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1897, now the national AFL.Rodgers, Stephen (1983) Every Game Ever Played p.
i. Melbourne: Lloyd O'Neil The club won a then-record seven VFA premierships and a further six VFL premierships by 1963, after which it experienced a 44-year waiting period until it won its next premiership—a grand final-record 119-point victory in the 2007 AFL Grand Final.The Bulletin publishes for the last time Geelong won a further two premierships in 2009 and 2011.
Geelong play most of their home games at Kardinia Park (known for sponsorship reasons as GMHBA Stadium) and play the remainder at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Geelong's traditional guernsey colours are navy blue and white hoops.
The club's nickname was first used in 1923 after a run of losses prompted a local cartoonist to suggest that the club needed a black cat to bring it good luck.
Geelong also field teams in other competitions; a reserves men's team in the Victorian Football League (VFL), a senior women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and a reserves women's team in the VFL Women's (VFLW) competitions.
The club's official team song and anthem is "We Are Geelong".
History
Club identity and culture
Guernseys
Geelong's traditional navy blue and white hooped guernsey has been worn since the club's inception in the mid-1800s.
The design is said to represent the white seagulls and blue water of Corio Bay.
The team has worn various away guernseys since 1998, all featuring the club's logo and traditional colours.
Moniker
Geelong has been nicknamed the 'Cats' since 1923.
A run of losses prompted a local cartoonist to suggest that the club needed a black cat to bring it good luck.
Song: "We Are Geelong"
"We Are Geelong" is the song sung after a game won by the Geelong Football Club.
It is sung to the tune of "Toreador" from Carmen.
The lyrics were written by former premiership player John Watts.
Only the first verse is used at matches and by the team after a victory.
The song currently used by the club was recorded by the Fable Singers in April 1972.AFL Tunes to Remember The Melbourne Age, 23 July 2010
We are Geelong, the greatest team of all
We are Geelong; we’re always on the ball
We play the game as it should be played
At home or far away
Our banners fly high, from dawn to dark
Down at Kardinia Park
So!
Stand up and fight, remember our tradition
Stand up and fight, it's always our ambition
Throughout the game to fight with all our might
Because we’re the mighty blue and white
And when the ball is bounced, to the final bell
Stand up and fight like hell
Stadium and training facilities
Geelong's administrative headquarters is its home stadium, GMHBA Stadium or also known as Kardinia Park.
The club trains here during the season, however it also trains at its alternate training venue, Deakin University's Elite Sport Precinct.
The latter features an MCG-sized oval and is used often by the club in the pre-season, when Kardinia Park is being used for other events.
Rivalries
Hawthorn
The rivalry between Hawthorn and Geelong is defined by two Grand Finals: those of 1989 and 2008.
In the 1989 Grand Final, Geelong played the man, resulting in major injuries for several Hawks players, Mark Yeates knocking out Dermott Brereton at the opening bounce; Hawthorn controlled the game, leading by approximately 40 points for most of the match; in the last quarter, Geelong almost managed to come from behind to win, but fell short by six points.
In 2008 Grand Final, Geelong was the heavily backed favourite and had lost only one match for the season, but Hawthorn upset Geelong by 26 points; Geelong won its next eleven matches against Hawthorn over the following five years, under a curse, which was dubbed the "Kennett curse" which was attributed to disrespectful comments made by Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett following the 2008 Grand Final.
It was later revealed that after the 2008 grand final, Paul Chapman initiated a pact between other Geelong players to never lose to Hawthorn again.
The curse was broken in a preliminary final in 2013, after Paul Chapman played his final match for Geelong the previous week.
Hawthorn went on to win the next three premierships.
In 2016 Geelong again defeated Hawthorn in the qualifying final.
In 20 matches between the two sides between 2008 and 2017, 12 were decided by less than 10 points, with Geelong victorious in 11 of those 12 close games.
Collingwood
In 1925, Geelong won their first flag over Collingwood.
In 1930, Collingwood defeated Geelong in the grand final making it four flags in-a-row for the Pies.
Geelong would later deny Collingwood three successive premierships in 1937, winning a famous grand final by 32 points.
The two sides played against each other in 6 finals between 1951 and 1955, including the 1952 Grand Final when Geelong easily beat Collingwood by 46 points.
In 1953, Collingwood ended Geelong's record 23-game winning streak in the home and away season, and later defeated them by 12 points in the grand final, denying the Cats a third successive premiership.
Since 2007, the clubs have again both been at the top of the ladder and have met regularly in finals.
Geelong won a memorable preliminary final by five points on their way to their first flag in 44 years.
In 2008, Collingwood inflicted Geelong's only home-and-away loss, by a massive 86 points, but the teams did not meet in the finals.
They would meet in preliminary finals in 2009 and 2010, each winning one en route to a premiership.
They finally met again in a Grand Final in 2011, which Geelong won by 38 points; Geelong inflicted Collingwood's only three losses for the 2011 season.
Corporate
Sponsorship
Supporter base
thumb|Well-known supporter Troy West, nicknamed "Catman" thumb|right|Geelong players prepare to break a banner, which is created by its supporters, before a match against  in June 2013.
Table of club membership, with home attendance figures (since 1984)
Players and staff
thumb|right|Chris Scott is the club's current head coach.
Current playing list and coaches
Officials
President: Craig Drummond
Vice President: Bob Gartland
Chief Executive Officer: Steve Hocking
General Manager – Football: Simon Lloyd
Club records
Premierships and awards
Win-loss record
Statistics are correct to end of 2019 season
Geelong's win-loss record against other VFL/AFL clubs
Match records
Table of club VFL/AFL match records
Reserves team
The Geelong reserves team began competing in the VFL Reserves competition with the league's other reserves teams from 1919.
From 1919 to 1991 the VFL/AFL operated a reserves competition, and from 1992 to 1999 a de facto AFL reserves competition was run by the Victorian State Football League.
The Geelong Football Club fielded a reserves team in both of these competitions, allowing players who were not selected for the senior team to play for Geelong in the lower grade.
During that time, the Geelong reserves team won thirteen premierships (1923, 1924, 1930, 1937, 1938, 1948, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982), the most of any club.
Since the demise of the AFL reserves competition, the Geelong reserves team has competed in the new Victorian Football League, having won three premierships in that time.
Unlike all other Victorian AFL clubs, Geelong has never operated in a reserves affiliation with an existing VFL club, having instead operated its stand-alone reserves team continuously.
The team is composed of both reserves players from the club's primary and rookie AFL lists, and a separately maintained list of players eligible only for VFL matches.
Home games are played at GMHBA Stadium, with some played as curtain-raisers to senior AFL matches.
Premierships (3): 2002, 2007, 2012
Runners-ups (2): 2006, 2013
Minor premierships (2): 2002, 2013
Wooden spoons (1): 2005
AFL Women's team
In 2017, following the inaugural AFL Women's (AFLW) season, Geelong was among eight clubs that applied for licenses to enter the competition from 2019 onwards.
In September 2017, the club was announced as one of two clubs, along with , to receive a license to join the competition in 2019.
The club has also had a team in the second-tier VFL Women's league since 2017.
AFLW season summaries
^ Denotes the ladder was split into two conferences.
Figure refers to the club's overall finishing position in the home-and-away season.
VFLW season summaries
† In 2019, the team captaincy rotated through the following 5 players: Kate Darby, Danielle Higgins, Jordan Ivey, Maddy Keryk, Amy McDonald.
Sources: Club historical data and VFLW stats See also
Sport in Australia
Sport in Victoria
List of Geelong Football Club players, captains and coaches
1963 Miracle Match
Notes
Footnotes
;References
;Bibliography
External links
Official website of the Geelong Football Club
Official AFL website
Geelong Football Club Honour Roll – list of all Presidents, captains, coaches and Best & Fairest winners since 1879.
