The Old Brighton Grammarians Football Club, nicknamed the Tonners, 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

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. The club maintains a close relationship with

Brighton Grammar School Brighton Grammar School is a private school, private Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican day school for boys, located in Brighton, Victoria, Brighton, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Founded in ...

. Old Brighton has won five senior premierships since it was formed in 1957, although the club has never won a top division (A Section/Premier Division) grand final in 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), finishing runners-up in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

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 ...

. As of 2024, Old Brighton's men's team competes in the Premier Division of the VAFA, while the women's team is in Division 1 of the VAFA Women's (VAFAW).

History

Origins

The Old Brightonians Football Club was formed in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and entered the

Metropolitan 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 ...

(MAFA, later VAFA) the same year. Owing to the difficulty of maintaining a strong team, the club failed to win a single game and withdrew prior to the start of the 1922 season. In

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

, the club returned to the MAFA, but only lasted two years and withdrew prior to the start of the 1927 season. Another return came in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, but the club disbanded in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

in the early stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and did not compete in the 1940 VAFA season.

Present-day club

The present-day Old Brighton Grammarians Football Club was reformed in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

and entered the VAFA's E Section the same year. The club was promoted to D Section after a loss to Preston in the 1959 E Section grand final, and eventually won its first premiership with a 62-point victory over Alphington in the 1977 D Section grand final. In

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, Old Brighton introduced a team (nicknamed the "Warriors") into the VAFA Club XVIII social competition. The side disbanded at the end of the 1987 season, but briefly returned for the 1995 season. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, the Warriors merged with the Bloods Football Club (which was formed in 1987) and competed as the Old Brighton Bloods for several years. The club entered its first women's team in the inaugural VAFA Women's season in 2017, finishing sixth on the Division 1 ladder. Old Brighton's first A Section/Premier Division grand final was in

, where they lost to Old Xaverians. A second top division grand final came in

, but the club lost by 18 points to Old Scotch. As of 2019, the club's

number-one ticket holder A number-one ticket holder is a person who holds membership ticket number 1 of a particular sporting club. Possession of the number one ticket is largely symbolic. The tradition of having a number one ticket holder is mainly observed in Australi ...

s were then- Liberal MP

Tim Wilson Tim Wilson may refer to: * Tim Wilson (broadcaster), New Zealand television news reporter and anchor * Tim Wilson (canoeist), Australian canoeist * Tim Wilson (comedian) (1961–2014), American comedian and country music artist * Tim Wilson (fil ...

and former Bayside mayor Felicity Frederico.

Honours

Premierships

Club song

The club song is sung to the tune of

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

's 1906 song "

You're a Grand Old Flag "You're a Grand Old Flag" is an American patriotic march. The song, a spirited march written by George M. Cohan, is a tribute to the U.S. flag. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, incl ...

", and is the same song that the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

uses. : ''It's a grand old flag, it's a high flying flag,'' : ''It's the emblem for me and for you,'' : ''It's the emblem of the team we love,'' : ''The team of the Red and the Blue.'' : ''Every heart beats true, for the Red and the Blue,'' : ''And we sing this song to you,'' : ''Should old acquaintance be forgot,'' : ''Keep your eye on the Red and the Blue.'' Old Brighton's Club XVIII team, the Warriors, also had an unofficial song in 1987 which was sung to the tune of "

Advance Australia Fair "Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born Australian composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed as a patriotic song in Australia in 1878. It replaced "God Save the King, God Save th ...

". : ''Old Brighton's sons let us rejoice, for the footy season's back you see.'' : ''With cans in our hands and ensored a flag's our destiny,'' : ''We'll sink more beers and kick more goals, a few may get a shag...'' : ''Old Brighton couldn't keep us there, we were too good they found, : ''So on one dark and stormy night they kicked us off our ground,'' : ''We'll kick more goals and drink more beers...''

References

External links

OBGFC: A Tribute (pages 1−194)archived
28 September 2024)
OBGFC: A Tribute (pages 195−297)archived
28 September 2024)
OBGFC: A Tribute (pages 298−500)archived
28 September 2024) {{VAFA Victorian Amateur Football Association clubs Australian rules football clubs established in 1957 1957 establishments in Australia Sport in the City of Bayside