Something I find myself doing in idle moments is fixing up the digitised text on old newspaper articles on Trove (https://trove.nla.gov.au/). One of the phrases I sometimes search, naturally, is "Melbourne Football Club". So I thought I may as well share some I come across on here.

Starting with a mere 165 years ago...

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Monday 22 April 1861, page 4

"The weather being anything but warm on Saturday afternoon, an impromptu game of football was got up on the vacant space outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Sides were chosen from all comers by Messrs. Harrison and Smith. A sharp contest took place, which however did not last long, but which resulted in Mr. Harrison's side obtaining a goal. On Tuesday afternoon a general meeting will be held for the purpose of making arrangements for the ensuing football season, which will commence in about another fortnight."

4 minutes ago, Dees_In_October said:

On Tuesday afternoon a general meeting will be held for the purpose of making arrangements for the ensuing football season, which will commence in about another fortnight."

Who would have thought that after all this time we are still having trouble settling on the start of the football season...

1 hour ago, Dees_In_October said:

Something I find myself doing in idle moments is fixing up the digitised text on old newspaper articles on Trove (https://trove.nla.gov.au/). One of the phrases I sometimes search, naturally, is "Melbourne Football Club". So I thought I may as well share some I come across on here.

Starting with a mere 165 years ago...

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Monday 22 April 1861, page 4

"The weather being anything but warm on Saturday afternoon, an impromptu game of football was got up on the vacant space outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Sides were chosen from all comers by Messrs. Harrison and Smith. A sharp contest took place, which however did not last long, but which resulted in Mr. Harrison's side obtaining a goal. On Tuesday afternoon a general meeting will be held for the purpose of making arrangements for the ensuing football season, which will commence in about another fortnight."

How accurate is the search on Trove? Are you able to search headlines and phrases?

I once saw a headline from 1965 after the Smith sacking that included the words "Barassi is my fault" and I always wanted to find the article and understand what it meant but never could.

On 22/04/2026 at 15:30, rjay said:

Who would have thought that after all this time we are still having trouble settling on the start of the football season...

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

On 22/04/2026 at 17:09, layzie said:

How accurate is the search on Trove? Are you able to search headlines and phrases?

I once saw a headline from 1965 after the Smith sacking that included the words "Barassi is my fault" and I always wanted to find the article and understand what it meant but never could.

The search is pretty accurate and you can narrow it easily with "all these words", "any of these words", etc. But if the digitisation hasn't been checked, there's a possibility a word like "fault" could be jumbled in the transcription and so wouldn't show up in a search. I had a quick look and couldn't find anything either. Would you happen to recall what newspaper it was or was likely to have been? I guess there would have been a fair amount of print expended on this topic!

Another one:

Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Monday 24 April 1933, page 6

"Citizens of Prahran And Metropolitan Football Supporters GET THAT DISTRICT FEELING AND JOIN THE

"Back to Melbourne Brigade" Under the Victorian League Football Regulations the City of Prahran is the district of the —

Melbourne Football Club

Enjoy your sport under the best possible conditions, such as no other club in Australia can offer.

Buy your "Melbourne" Membership Ticket Today!

Price 7/6, plus tax 10 1/2d.

Obtainable from Prahran Shops, Clty Sports Stores, or M.C.C. Office."

7 minutes ago, Dees_In_October said:

Another one:

Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Monday 24 April 1933, page 6

"Citizens of Prahran And Metropolitan Football Supporters GET THAT DISTRICT FEELING AND JOIN THE

"Back to Melbourne Brigade" Under the Victorian League Football Regulations the City of Prahran is the district of the —

Melbourne Football Club

Enjoy your sport under the best possible conditions, such as no other club in Australia can offer.

Buy your "Melbourne" Membership Ticket Today!

Price 7/6, plus tax 10 1/2d.

Obtainable from Prahran Shops, Clty Sports Stores, or M.C.C. Office."

That sounds like it would have been extremely expensive for that time!!

1 hour ago, Ollie fan said:

That sounds like it would have been extremely expensive for that time!!

Turns out, only 'armchair membership' size! According to the Reserve Bank's calculator,

Possibly a bit more than the $52.47 when the costs as percentages of income are compared...

2 hours ago, Dees_In_October said:

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

The search is pretty accurate and you can narrow it easily with "all these words", "any of these words", etc. But if the digitisation hasn't been checked, there's a possibility a word like "fault" could be jumbled in the transcription and so wouldn't show up in a search. I had a quick look and couldn't find anything either. Would you happen to recall what newspaper it was or was likely to have been? I guess there would have been a fair amount of print expended on this topic!

I'll go one better!

Here are some images taken from '100 Years of Football' the documentary they did for the centenary season. This is how I became aware of it and to this day I really wanted the full story or at least the full headline.

They scrolled across the newspaper clipping in the show so I had to take two shots to get all of what they showed.

https://postimg.cc/cgG2FT7T

https://postimg.cc/Z9GVTRCC