It was on February 12 1892 in a crowded Collingwood Town Hall that the endorsement and thus creation of the Collingwood Football Club occurred.
After months of petitioning by the town auditor E.L. Wilson and local landowner Alan Mansfield for the Victoria Football Association (VFA) to accept Collingwood as the 13th league club, a meeting was called on February 12 to invite men and women living in Collingwood to endorse the creation of the Club.
Collingwood’s main hurdle to clear in order to gain acceptance in the VFA was the Britannia Football Club, a side participating in the Victorian Junior Football Association.
Britannia (the main occupant of Victoria Park prior to Collingwood taking over) believed it was worthy of gaining acceptance due to its recent on-field success in the lower league.
However there was unrest within the organisation as the club was also closely aligned to the Fitzroy Football Club, a team which relied on player support from Britannia during the season. There was also an understanding that the VFA wanted a club to represent the Collingwood area and Britannia was straddling the line between the two suburbs.
It was a welcome relief for Wilson and Mansfield when Britannia disbanded just weeks before the eventful town hall meeting.
At the meeting, Collingwood residents were notified that the creation of this new club would help generate new funds for the area which was an important aspect for the depression-stricken area.
While this was an important aspect for the people of Collingwood, what brought the loudest applause on the night was when local MP, John Hancock, took to the stage and predicted the Club’s destiny. This new team, he declared, is on the verge of winning a premiership because, “the very name of Collingwood would strike terror into the hearts of opposing players.”
Three months later the newly formed team descended upon Victoria Park to play its inaugural match as a VFA side.
Floreat Pica
The information compiled for this article was sourced from "Kill for Collingwood" by Richard Stremski and The Official "Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia" by Michael Roberts and Glenn McFarlane available from the Collingwood store.
