Editing St Kilda Football Club (section)

===1873–1915: early years===

On 14 March 1873, a meeting was held in [[Windsor, Victoria|Windsor]] to form the St Kilda Football Club. At this meeting, a provisional committee of men were elected.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monday, March 17, 1873. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5850120/235399 |access-date=24 October 2021 |work=Argus |date=17 March 1873}}</ref> The formation was completed on 2 April 1873,<ref>{{cite news |title=Monday, April 14, 1873. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5851824/235822 |access-date=24 October 2021 |work=Argus |date=14 April 1873}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=St. Kilda Football Club. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245365844 |access-date=24 October 2021 |work=Herald |date=3 April 1873}}</ref> and on 11 June 1873 another meeting was held to appoint the final committee.<ref>{{cite news |title=Football. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198574086 |access-date=24 October 2021 |work=Age |date=14 June 1873}}</ref> The club's original home ground was colloquially nicknamed the "Alpaca Paddock", which was a large fenced-off area at the St Kilda end of what is now known as [[Albert Park and Lake|Albert Park]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Alpaca Paddock (St Kilda) |url=http://www.boylesfootballphotos.net.au/Alpaca+Paddock+%28St+Kilda%29 |website=www.boylesfootballphotos.net.au |access-date=26 May 2021}}</ref>

During its formation years, the club underwent multiple mergers. In June 1873, it merged with the [[South Yarra Football Club (1858–1873)|South Yarra Football Club]] and adopted the red from their colour scheme.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Colours: Red, White & Black |url=https://www.saints.com.au/club/history/the-colours |website=saints.com.au |access-date=30 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref> In 1875, the club briefly merged with [[Melbourne University Football Club|University]] to stay financially viable.<ref name="Origins">{{cite web |title=1873-1896: The Origins |url=https://www.saints.com.au/club/history/history-by-decade/1873-1896 |website=saints.com.au |date=4 March 2020 |access-date=30 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref> In March 1888, a decision was made to amalgamate St Kilda with nearby Prahran Football Club. St Kilda retained their colours, name and ground as well as picking up a number of Prahran players.<ref name="League"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Football. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107816058 |access-date=24 October 2021 |work=Telegraph, St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian |date=24 March 1888}}</ref> St Kilda competed as a senior club in the VFA from 1877 to 1879, 1881 to 1882 and 1886 to 1896 before accepting an invitation into the breakaway competition, the Victorian Football League, from 1897 onwards.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the VFL 1877 - 2013 - VFL |url=https://websites.mygameday.app/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-118-0-0-0&sID=54554&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=11104596&sectionID=54554 |website=GameDay |access-date=24 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Performance Chart AFL STK.svg|thumb|Chart of yearly ladder positions for St Kilda in [[Australian Football League|VFL/AFL]]]]
St Kilda were one of the eight clubs that took part in the inaugural [[1897 VFL season|VFL season]] in 1897.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Clubs|editor-last1=Ross |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Hutchinson |editor-first2=Garrie |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1998 |page=321|isbn=978-0-670-87858-1}}</ref> They made their debut in an away game against [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] on 8 May 1897 at [[Victoria Park, Melbourne|Victoria Park]]. The club's home ground in the new league was the [[Junction Oval]] in the suburb of [[St Kilda, Victoria]] and the club's first home game was against [[Fitzroy Football Club|Fitzroy]].

St Kilda's early years in the VFL were not successful and, in 1899, they had the lowest score ever recorded in a VFL/AFL match, one point against Geelong.<ref>[[Jim Main]], ''Aussie Rules For Dummies'' (2nd edition, 2008) p. 45.</ref> The club lost 48 consecutive games, recording their first win on 5 May 1900, against Melbourne. This match initially ended as a draw, but a protest launched by St Kilda saw the result overturned, resulting in a 1-point victory to St Kilda.<ref name="League">{{cite web |title=1897–1909: Entering the League |url=https://www.saints.com.au/club/history/history-by-decade/1897-1909 |website=saints.com.au |date=3 March 2020 |access-date=30 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:St kilda 1913.jpg|thumb|left|St Kilda squad for the 1913 grand final]]
In 1902, [[Charlie Baker (Australian footballer)|Charlie Baker]] became the first St Kilda player to be the league's leading goalkicker in a home and away season with 30 goals.<ref name="League"/>

Six successive wins at the start of the [[1907 VFL season|1907 season]] helped St Kilda to its first finals appearance, qualifying third with nine wins and eight losses.<ref name="League"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Football. The League Finals. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10158331?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%20Football%20Finals |access-date=12 October 2021 |work=Argus |date=2 September 1907}}</ref> The club was beaten by eventual premiers [[Carlton Football Club|Carlton]].<ref>{{cite news |title=St. Kilda Overwhelmed. Carlton Win Easily. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10128526?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%20Football |access-date=12 October 2021 |work=Argus |date=16 September 1907}}</ref> The following year, the club once again qualified in third position and were again eliminated by Carlton in the semi-finals.<ref>{{cite news |title=Semi-Finals. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242906300?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%20Football%20Finals |access-date=12 October 2021 |work=Herald |date=19 September 1908}}</ref>

The 1913 season saw major improvement with the team finishing fourth, eventually being defeated in the [[1913 VFL Grand Final|Grand Final]] by Fitzroy. Owing to the [[Argus finals system#Second amended Argus system|finals system]] at the time, Fitzroy, who had been defeated by St Kilda the previous week, were allowed to challenge St Kilda to a rematch the following week.<ref>{{cite news |title=Football Finals. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/116158669?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%20Fitzroy |access-date=24 October 2021 |work=Urana Independent and Clear Hills Standard |date=3 October 1913}}</ref> St Kilda lost the rematch 7.14 (56) to 5.13 (43).<ref>{{cite news |title=Football. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66394471?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%20Fitzroy |access-date=12 October 2021 |work=Malvern Standard |date=4 October 1913}}</ref>