The Rovers Football Club 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 that competed in the
Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) from 1885 to 1899. The club won the premiership in 1885 and 1891.
History
Rovers began as a
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
club in 1882 however made the switch to
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 ...
along with other West Australian clubs in 1885.
Rovers were one of four teams that formed the WAFA in 1885 and were invited to compete in the inaugural competition: the others were
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
,
High School
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
and
Victorians
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian litera ...
.
The High School team dropped out two rounds into the season; the remaining teams played a six round season, with Rovers winning three and drawing two of its games to become the inaugural premiers of the WAFA.
After several competitive seasons, Rovers won the premiership in 1891. The establishment of electorate football was the beginning of the end, as the club finished second last in 1892 and 1898, and won four wooden spoons between 1893 and 1897, including a winless 1893.
After losing the first eight games of 1899, Rovers dropped out of the competition and folded, replaced by First Rate Junior Association side
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
; many players transferred to the new club.
[ – FullPointsFooty. Retrieved 5 October 2011.]
See also
*
Wikipedia listing of Rovers Football Club players
References
{{West Australian Football League
Former West Australian Football League clubs
Australian rules football clubs in Western Australia
1885 establishments in Australia
1899 disestablishments in Australia
Australian rules football clubs established in 1885
Australian rules football clubs disestablished in 1899