Camberwell Football Club

Camberwell Football Club was an Australian rules football club which formed around the mid-1880s, with a published match in 1886 and competed in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) between 1926 and 1990. Nicknamed the Cobras, Camberwell wore blue, white and red club colours. They were based in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell. History Camberwell first competed in the Victorian Junior Football Association in 1888, finishing sixth on the ladder, 8th in 1890 and 8th in 1891. At the 1895 VJFA AGM, the competition was reduced from 20 teams to 12 teams and Camberwell was one of the clubs that was not admitted and it appears that Camberwell FC went into recess for a number of years, before joining the Eastern Suburbs Football Association in 1899. In 1912, Camberwell went into recess with their players being distributed to the Burwood and Kew Football Clubs. In 1913, Camberwell was readmitted into the VJFA, rated by many as the third highest grade of football in Victoria at that time. It seems a Camberwell Football Club was playing at Camberwell Junction (the corner of Burke and Riversdale Roads) as early as 1886. The space that became the home of the Camberwell Football Club for eighty years (eventually known as 'Camberwell Sports Ground') was originally a vegetable garden ('Brooks Paddock') and part of Camberwell Racecourse. The preparation of a new sports ground (originally dubbed 'Bowen Park') on this site was finished in 1909 and Camberwell Football Club first played at the new ground the following year (1910). A grandstand for visitors' rooms (the 'Tramways Grandstand') was built in 1920. A much larger spectators' grandstand and pavilion was built in 1935 – and ready for the 1936 football season. After establishing itself as a successful junior and sub-district club, Camberwell was seen by the 1920s as a likely strong fit for expansions into the eastern suburbs of either the Victorian Football League or the Victorian Football Association. It lodged applications to join both at different times during the early 1920s, and was admitted to the VFA for the 1926 season. It reached its first Grand Final in 1935, losing by nine points to Yarraville.