East Sydney Bulldogs

The East Sydney Junior Australian Football Club was formed in 1907 as part of the already established senior club. The senior Club was originally established in 1880 when a group of enthusiastic locals met in Cascade Street, Paddington to organise a match to be played in the New Year. In April 1880 a match was played at Moore Park between East Sydney in their dark blue with gold sash, and Sydney in dark blue. And with that, organised Australian football began in Sydney in which five clubs, East Sydney, Newtown, Sydney, South Sydney, and Sydney University, competed.

When talking about the history and personalities of East Sydney Football Club, the name of Frank Dixon is the first to come to mind. He was an outstanding player and coach, and was also Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney. A plaque dedicated to his memory is currently displayed on the grandstand at Trumper Park.

Over the years, many distinguished names have played for the senior club, including Les Darcy (the champion boxer), Victor Trumper (the famous cricketer and who Trumper Park is named after), and Sam Loxton (former Australian cricket selector, and leading East’s goal kicker during the 1945 season). Also, the Co-Founder of the VFL, L. W. Hedger, was a prominent East’s player during the 19th centenary.

The junior club has also had its share of on-field stars. A number of prominent Australians have played with the Bulldog’s down at Trumper, include Kevin Ashley and Kevin Junee (who both went on to play rugby league for Australia),  and Mark ‘Sellers’ Maclure (who played for the Juniors in the early ‘70’s and went on to play over 200 games, including two topships, for Carlton).   Now we have current AFL listed players Dane Rampe of the Swans and brothers Will and Lachlan Langford with the Hawks, who more recently played their junior footy with the Bulldogs.