Carlton and St Kilda are both foundation member clubs of the AFL having competed in the first season of AFL in 1897. In fact it was against St Kilda in round six, 1897 (yes this week is round six) that Carlton enjoyed its first ever win in the AFL, an 11-point victory at the Junction Oval; 5-5-35 to 3-6-24. Since that first match in 1897 the Blues and Saints have met on 200 occasions with Carlton winning 156 matches (78%), St Kilda 42 and 2 games have ended with the scores tied.

While the ledger is well in favour of Carlton it has certainly not been the case in recent years. At the end of the 2001 season Carlton had won 156 games of the 193 played against St Kilda (80%) while the Saints had won just 35. Since the Carlton victory in round 20, 2001 the Saints have won seven in a row against the Blues. Most alarming of these last seven matches is the last four that have resulted in St Kilda victories by 80 points or more, including a 108-point thrashing in round 10 in 2004.

It is certainly time and it would be fitting for the Blues to break the drought against St Kilda this Friday night, after all it was against St Kilda that Carlton enjoyed their first ever victory in AFL and it was in round six. Plus of course the only other time Carlton played an AFL match in a guernsey that wasn’t navy was in round three 1997, when the players wore a light blue guernsey, and Carlton won.

Carlton v St Kilda
Played 200
Carlton won 156
St Kilda won 42
2 Draws

During the 1980s a number of Carlton players finished their careers at St Kilda giving the Saints a ‘Carlton flavour’. Players such as Alex Jesaulenko, Ken Sheldon, Peter McConville, Alex Marcou and Warren Jones, with both Jesaulenko and Sheldon both going on to coach the Saints.

In 2007 it is the St Kilda ‘off field’ team that has a real Carlton flavour. Senior Coach Ross Lyon was an Assistant Coach and VFL Coach at Carlton for three years before heading to Sydney and then joining St Kilda this year. Assistant Coach Stephen Silvagni is of course a 300 game Carlton legend and former Carlton Assistant Coach Tony Elshaug is St Kilda’s General Manager, Player Development. Also at St Kilda is triple Carlton premiership player Ken Sheldon who is the General Manager, Football Operations.