The Moorabbin Football Club, nicknamed the Kangas, was 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 best known for its time in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFA) from 1983 to 1987. The club existed for only eight years and did not achieve any success.

History

The Moorabbin Football Club was formed in 1979 via a merger of the neighbouring McKinnon Football Club and Bentleigh Football Club, each of whom played in the

Federal Football League The Federal Football League (FFL), also known simply as the Federal League, was an Australian rules football competition in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. The competition was in existence from 1909 to 1981 and was regarded a ...

(FFL). The new amalgamated club was based at

McKinnon McKinnon, MacKinnon or Mackinnon is a Scottish surname. ( Gaelic: ''Mac Fhionghain''), Notable people with this surname include: * Allan McKinnon (1917–1990), Canadian politician, MP – Victoria 1972-1988 * Alexander "Alex" McKinnon (1895� ...

but known as

Moorabbin Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Moorabbin recorded a population of 6,287 at the . Most of the e ...

, taking the same colours and nickname as the former

Moorabbin Football Club The Moorabbin Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, was an Australian rules football club best known for its premiership success in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) during the 1950s and 1960s. During their time in the VFA, the club p ...

, which disbanded in 1965. The merged club competed in the FFL until 1981, after which the league folded, and then played in the South East Suburban Football League in 1982. The club was then admitted to the expanded VFA second division in 1983. In 1983, the club played its games at

Moorabbin Oval Moorabbin Oval (also known as RSEA Park under a naming rights agreement) is an Australian rules football ground in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at Linton Street in the suburb of Moorabbin. The ground was most notable as the home ...

, sharing it with , and trained at McKinnon Reserve, but began playing its games in McKinnon in 1984 due to the high cost to rent Moorabbin Oval, then moved to the Bentleigh Recreation Reserve from 1985. The club competed for just over four years in Division 2, its best performance coming in 1985 when it recruited champion goalkicker Fred Cook and missed the finals on percentage. After playing the first two matches of the 1987 season, the club forfeited two successive games after coach Graham Stewart resigned over a dispute with the board, and a large group of players walked out in support; the club was suspended by the VFA for its inability to field a team in all three grades, and then went into recess and ultimately folded.

References

{{FFL Moorabbin Football Club (1979–1987) Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne 1979 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1979 1987 disestablishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs disestablished in 1987