Uni NSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs

The current University of NSW-Eastern Suburbs Football Club has a long and rather convoluted history. Its origins lie as long ago as 1880, when the original East Sydney Football Club was formed. The Paddington Football Club, with which East Sydney would eventually merge 46 years later, was also in existence at the time, although its actual date of origin is uncertain.

The New South Wales Australian Football League was formed in 1903, with eleven member clubs. Both East Sydney and Paddington participated, and both did well, the former winning the premiership with an 18 point grand final victory over North Shore, and the latter finishing 3rd.

Prior to the merger in 1926 East Sydney and Paddington were among the most successful clubs in Sydney. The club was known as Eastern Suburbs until the end of the 1968 season, when it reverted to the name 'East Sydney'. It became known as Eastern Suburbs again in the 1990s.

Its most successful era came in the 1950s, when it claimed seven premierships in a row from 1953 to 1959, establishing a record, which still stands, for the most successive flags in any senior state football league. The club was also strong during the first half of the 1980s, when five successive flags between 1980 and 1984 produced an average winning score of 73 points. The tally of 30.24 (204) amassed against North Shore in the 1980 grand final is a league record for a premiership deciding match. After winning the 1984 flag East Sydney went on to contest each subsequent finals series during the 1980s, but without enjoying further premiership success.

Among the most famous players to don the Bulldogs' jumper was former Fitzroy and Geelong full forward Peter Ruscuklic, who broke the NSWAFL goal kicking record three consecutive times between 1979 and 1981. His tally of 213 goals in the last of those years remains a record for a major state competition.

In 1999 Eastern Suburbs merged with the University of New South Wales, which had won eight flags at various levels since its formation in 1962; the new club won the flag with a 16.10 (106) to 11.6 (72) grand final defeat North Shore, before repeating the exploit a year later after a much harder fought 6 point victory over the same club.

The Bulldogs were for a time the only to club to field teams in both the SAFL and the SFA, with the SFA side recording a premiership in 2002, and finishing runners-up to arch rivals Sydney University in 2003. In 2005, however, the club's reserve team competed in the SAFL reserve grade.

Club Snapshot

Logo:
City	Sydney
Home Ground	Village Green Oval, University of NSW
Club Address	c/o Sports Association, Sam Cracknell Pavilion, University of New South Wales NSW 2052
Established	1999
Nickname:	Bulldogs
President:	Ken Fowlie
Coach:	Terry Mudge
Premierships:	2002, 2003
Song:	Oh we do like to be beside the seaside
Phone Contact:	0418 604 966
Email Contact:	kfowlie@slatergordon.com.au
Website:	http://www.unswesbulldogs.com
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=325476918130