Flight of the Seagulls: 160 Years of Williamstown Football Club

Geoff van Wyngaarden • May 17, 2025

From 1864 to today, the Seagulls have soared through generations of footy greatness.

Williamstown Football Club was formed in 1864, although there is some evidence of its existence in 1860.

By 1865, clubs were divided into three categories—senior, junior and minor, with Williamstown listed as a junior club. Williamstown’s home games in its formative years were played at the Market Reserve, now called the Robertson Reserve, which backs onto Williamstown Primary School.

Permission to play at the Gardens Reserve, now known as the Fearon Reserve, was given by the council in 1872. Two years later, Williamstown took a positive step by entering the Junior Challenge Cup, in which it won the premiership in 1876. The team played 14 matches, winning 8, losing 3 and drawing 3.

The club’s colours were dark blue knickerbockers, guernsey and hose, and a blue cap with a white stripe down the centre.

A switch was made in 1884 when Williamstown entered the Victorian Football Association (V.F.A).

Williamstown’s efforts to advance were impeded by the presence of other football clubs in the district, such as Battery United and Osborne.

n 1882, Battery United amalgamated with Williamstown, resulting in the club being able to increase its membership to 136. 80 members were the minimum number required to achieve seniority in the VFA. Williamstown Football Club were known as ‘The Villagers’.

In 1888 Williamstown merged with South Williamstown and began playing home games at the Williamstown Cricket Ground for the first time.

Williamstown would win senior premierships in the VFA in 1907, 1921, 1939, 1945, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1986, 1990, 2003 and 2015.

2nd Division Premierships were won in 1969 and 1976.

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) is now called the VFL (Victorian Football League).

The “Seagulls” had brief affiliations with both Collingwood and Footscray/ Western Bulldogs.