Williamstown Football Club

The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League. The club was formed in 1864 and is one of the oldest in Australia.

Williamstown was granted senior status in 1884 and joined the Victorian Football Association. The club sought to play its matches at the Williamstown Cricket Ground, but was not granted permission owing to a dispute with the Williamstown Cricket Club, and instead used the unfenced Gardens Reserve as its home ground. In 1886, players wishing to play on the cricket ground ultimately established a rival senior club, South Williamstown, which also contested the VFA for two seasons. In 1888, the dispute was settled and two football clubs amalgamated; and, through an organisational affiliation with the cricket club the Williamstown Cricket Ground was established as the football club's permanent home ground. The Williamstown and South Williamstown clubs were off-field rivals, but they never played a match against each other. Following the merger, the club adopted blue and gold as its colours: Williamstown's original colours were black and yellow, and South Williamstown wore blue and white.

The suburb of Williamstown was named after King William IV in 1837 and was often referred to as "the village" or "the fishing village" in 19th century Melbourne; the club was thus known by the nickname "the Villagers" in its early years. In the late 1930s, Larry Floyd and Bill Dooley decided to adopt a more modern nickname, and the club became known as "the Seagulls".

Williamstown won its first VFA premiership in 1907, and its second in 1921. Its third flag came in 1939, and it followed one of the worst periods in the club's history: the club had finished last or near last each season from 1933 until 1938, including finishing in last place in 1938; but, its form in 1939 improved significantly, helped by the recruitment of Harry Vallence, a star goal-kicker from the Victorian Football League. Williamstown continued its recruiting raid on the VFL, recruiting star players Ron Todd and Des Fothergill, and won the first post-war premiership in 1945.

The teams of the 1950s were skillful and were coached by Wally Carter and Gerry Callahan. The club won five premierships in six seasons during the 1950s: in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1959.

Williamstown's form slumped and by the middle of the 1960s it was competing in the Second Division. The club won two Second Division premierships during this era of the competition: in 1969 under captain-coach Max Papley, and in 1976 under the coaching of Mal Allen.

Terry Wheeler was appointed captain-coach in 1984, and by 1986 the club had gathered a group of players including Barry Round and Tony Pastore to make Williamstown one of the strongest clubs in the late 1980s. The club won the 1986 premiership under Wheeler; then, after losing consecutive Grand Finals against Coburg in 1988 and 1989, Williamstown defeated Springvale to win the 1990 premiership, under captain-coach Barry Round.arter almost defied belief.

During the middle 1990s Williamstown slipped, and at its nadir in 1995, the club failed to win a game in either the firsts or seconds, and off-field the club was on the brink of folding – a fate which had already befallen many VFA clubs during the late 1980s and early 1990s – but it managed to keep operating.

In 2001, Williamstown entered into an affiliaton with the Australian Football League's Collingwood Football Club, under which Collingwood's reserves players were permitted to play in Williamstown's senior team when they were not selected in AFL matches. Williamstown and Collingwood were affiliated from 2001 until 2007, during which time the club won one premiership, in 2003. The partnership will Collingwood ended after 2007, and a new affiliation was established with the Western Bulldogs, which lasted from 2008 until 2013; during this time, Williamstown won the inaugural Foxtel Cup competition.

The Williamstown Football Club in 2011 did not play or train at the Williamstown Cricket Ground due to a $8.3 million redevelopment. The club played the majority of its home games at Werribee, with once-off home games at Torquay, Keilor and Wangaratta.

From 2014, Williamstown will compete as a stand-alone senior club in the VFL, with no AFL affiliation.