In this the Carlton Football Club’s 162nd year since its formation in 1864, and on the eve of 2026 AFL home and away season, the following is an acknowledgement of landmark moments in each of the club’s years ending in six – from as far back as 1866 when an important colour change was adopted in the players’ on-field apparel, through to 2016 when Andrew Walker achieved a significant individual milestone.
The following is a potted history of moments in time through the past 16 decades of Carlton life:
1866 – at a General Meeting of the Carlton Football Club at Cardigan Street’s Carlton Club Hotel, a proposal for players to wear a cap of blue and white is raised. The proposal is temporarily shelved, but it is subsequently reported that “the orange cap, the sole insignia of a Carlton player, has been supplanted by the blue and white colours, which are now indicative of Carlton”.
1876 – The club relocates from its Royal Park matchday venue to the Roman Catholic Reserve in Madelaine Street (now the site of Newman College). George Coulthard is named Champion of the Colony in his maiden season.
1886 – In October, a deputation of the Carlton Cricket and Football Clubs, accompanied by John Gardiner, Mr. J. Laurens, and Dr. Rose, M.L.A.s, wait upon the Minister of Lands seeking approximately ten acres in Princes Park as a football and cricket ground, off Cemetery Road west, near Sydney Road.
1896 – In what is Carlton’s final year in the Victorian Football Association, a correspondent for Sportsman reports: “There has been a lot of interest centered in the movement towards forming a new association next year. The affair is being kept very quiet, but a meeting will be held shortly. Many think that Fitzroy, Melbourne, South, Essendon, Collingwood, Geelong, Carlton, and St. Kilda will comprise the charmed circle”.
1906 – Under the mentorship of Jack Worrall, Carlton reaches the VFL’s pinnacle for the first time, completing the inaugural leg of the Premiership hat-trick with an emphatic 49-point victory over its long-time nemesis Fitzroy. Mick Grace’s 50 goals for the season sets a new League and club goalkicking record.
1916 – In the opening round against Fitzroy, three-time Carlton Premiership player Alex ‘Bongo’ Lang returns to the fray, having served a five-year ban after being found guilty of accepting a bribe in the 1910 semi with South Melbourne. Lang would turn out for his 107th and final Carlton appearance, against Richmond in Round 5, 1917.
1926 – Bacchus Marsh’s Harry ‘Soapy’ Vallence debuts for Carlton in the opening round match with Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval. He boots one goal for the match – the first of 722 career goals, second only to the great Stephen Kernahan – and would close out his illustrious career with a Premiership at Collingwood’s expense.
1936 – In Round 2 at Princes Park, Carlton records what remains to this day its greatest victory over Essendon – a 102-point thumping 21.19 (145) – 5.13 (43) – with ‘Soapy’ Vallence putting a lazy nine over the goal umpire’s hat.
1946 – Ern Henfry is forced to sit out the entire 1946 season after Perth refuses his clearance to Carlton. Henfry had represented the Blues in two matches whilst on leave from the Armed Forces in 1944, but would ultimately lead them to Premiership glory in ’47. Meanwhile the captain Bob Chitty is unavailable for the first eight rounds, courtesy a VFL-imposed suspension for his part in “The Bloodbath”.
1956 – Former Carlton Captain-Coach Raymond Horace (‘Horrie’) Clover, considered the club’s greatest player between the wars, assumes the Presidency from Ken Luke – Luke having accepted the role of VFL President after 18 years at the helm.
1966 – With the imprimatur of the respective Carlton and Fitzroy coaches Ron Barassi and Bill Stephen, the restricted centre square experiment is trialled for the first time, in the Round 14 match between the two teams at Princes Park.
1976 – In the Round 7 match with Richmond at Princes Park, Robert Walls boots ten goals straight in a 71-point Carlton rout. The Blues’ final scoreline of 21.14 (140) is their highest tallied against Richmond at home and away level and second only to its record 28.9 amassed against the Tigers in the 1972 Grand Final.
1986 – Future Carlton Premiership players Milham Hanna, Jon Dorotich, Stephen Kernahan and Craig Bradley all make their senior debuts in the opening round match of the season against Hawthorn at VFL Park. Milham Hanna unfortunately buckles with a season-ending knee injury, but Bradley, ultimately Carlton’s games record holder, would share Best & Fairest honours in 1986 - and Kernahan would top the club’s goalkicking tally for the year and the next ten.
1996 – Carlton’s Premiership defence is dealt a substantial blow with Andrew McKay’s relocation to Queensland to pursue his veterinary science studies. The Round 2 victory over Essendon would be the 18th and last consecutive victory, a club record.
2006 – The competition’s No.1 draftee Marc Murphy makes his senior debut for Carlton in the opening round match with Melbourne. Murphy’s 300-game career would be rewarded with the Carlton captaincy, two club best & fairests, and ultimately Hall of Fame induction.
2016 – Andrew Walker becomes the first Indigenous footballer to achieve 200 senior Carlton appearances, in the Round 15 contest with Collingwood at the MCG. Kade Simpson becomes the club’s 10th most-capped senior player in this match, overtaking Brett Ratten’s 255-games tally.
