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The Canterbury Football Club, nicknamed the Cobras, is an
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
club based in the
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
suburb of
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
. In 2025, the club's men's team will compete in Division 2 of the
Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 i ...
(VAFA) after winning the 2024 Division 3 Grand Final, while the women's team is currently in Division 4 of the VAFA Women's (VAFAW).


History


Early years

Canterbury was formed in 1881 and joined the newly-created
Reporter District Football Association The Reporter District Football Association (RDFA), also known simply simply as the Reporter Football Association (RFA), was an Australian rules football competition based around the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill. History The RDFA was formed in 19 ...
(RDFA) in 1903. The club's first home ground was located at the back of the Canterbury Hotel, which was between Canterbury railway station and Wattle Valley Road. The club left the RDFA at the end of the 1904 season after finishing last on the ladder. It's unknown what happened to the club during the next decade, but it re-entered the RDFA in 1915. Canterbury's first known grand final appearance came in 1919, where they were defeated by
Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...
. Their first premiership came the following year, when they defeated Mitcham by one point in the 1920 RDFA grand final. In 1925, Canterbury was admitted into the newly-created
VFL Sub-Districts The VFL Sub-Districts (VFLSD), sometimes referred to as the Victorian Sub-District Football League (VSDFL), was an Australian rules football competition played in the state of Victoria and managed by the Victorian Football League (VFL), now known ...
competition.


ESFL and SESFL/SFL

After struggling against the Sub-Districts' strongest clubs, Canterbury left to be part of the formation of the Eastern Suburban Football League (ESFL) in 1932. The club made the inaugural ESFL grand final, but was defeated by South Camberwell by four points. The ESFL merged with the Caulfield-Oakleigh District Football League (CODFL) in 1963, and Canterbury entered the newly-formed South East Suburban Football League (SESFL) A Grade. In 1975, Canterbury announced it was unable to field team for that year's SESFL season. It was proposed that the Cobras would merge with
Balwyn Balwyn () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Balwyn recorded a population of 13,495 at the 2021 census. The sub ...
, but players were against the idea, and the SESFL ultimately gave Canterbury time to improve their situation by relegating them to Division 2. Canterbury defeated Highett in the 1991 SESFL Division 2 grand final, before the SESFL became the
Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...
(SFL) in 1992. Following this, Canterbury began to decline, being relegated back to Division 2 in 1993 and Division 4 in 1995. They lost the 1998 Division 4 grand final but were promoted back to Division 3 in 1999, where they remained until their 2003 premiership victory over Black Rock.


EFL and VAFA

In 2009, Canterbury entered the Eastern Football League (EFL). However, they struggled in their five seasons in the competition, winning just 18 of their 84 games. After finishing the 2013 season without a single win, Canterbury moved to the
Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 i ...
(VAFA) in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. The Cobras finished third in their debut VAFA season and won their first VAFA premiership in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
after a 15-point victory over Parkside, earning promotion to Division 3. Canterbury entered a women's team in the VAFA Women's (VAFAW) competition in its inaugural season in 2017. The club finished sixth on the ladder in Division 4 with five wins from its 14 games. In
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
, the club won its second VAFA senior premiership after defeating St John's by 29 points in the Division 3 grand final. The club expressed interest in entering a team in the VAFA Thirds competition for the 2025 season, but ultimately decided against it.


Club song

The club's song is sung to the tune of '' Victory March'', the same as the song of the
Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...
. : ''Come on the Cobras'' : ''Sing one and all'' : ''Whether we win or whether we fall'' : ''We will keep our team up high'' : ''Hang out the colours in the sky'' : ''The other teams are not worth a zac'' : ''When they meet the red, gold and black'' : ''So we’ll keep right in there fighting'' : ''Til we get victory!''


VFL/AFL players

*
Bob Pratt Harold Robert "Bob" Pratt (31 August 1912 – 6 January 2001) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans, South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and ...
– * Peter Curran – and * Luke Penny


References


External links


Official website
{{VAFA Victorian Amateur Football Association clubs 1881 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1881 Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne Sport in the City of Boroondara