Editing Carlton Football Club (section)

===Jack Worrall to World War I===
Carlton's fortunes improved significantly in 1902. The Board elected the highly respected former [[Fitzroy Football Club|Fitzroy]] footballer and [[Australia national cricket team|Australian]] [[test cricket]]er [[Jack Worrall]], then the secretary of the [[Carlton Cricket Club]], to the same position at the football club. As secretary, Worrall slowly took over the managing of the players, in what is now recognised as the first official coaching role in the VFL. Under Worrall's guidance in the latter part of the 1902 season, Carlton's on-field performances improved,<ref name="egep">{{citation|first=Stephen|last=Rodgers|title=Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results, 1897–1991|publisher=Viking O'Neil|publication-place=Ringwood, VIC|edition=3rd|year=1992}}</ref> and in 1903 he led Carlton to the [[AFL finals series|finals]] for the first time.

[[File:Carlton premiership flag 1907.jpg|thumb|left|The 1906 VFL premiership flag being hoisted at Carlton Oval]]
Carlton built a strong reputation and financial position, and was able to convince many great players to shift to the club from other clubs, or even (in the case of [[Mick Grace]]) out of retirement. Worrall led the club to its first three VFL premierships, won consecutively, in [[1906 VFL Grand Final|1906]], [[1907 VFL Grand Final|1907]] and [[1908 VFL Grand Final|1908]]. Carlton became the first club in the VFL to win three premierships in a row, and its win–loss record of 19–1 in the [[1908 VFL season|1908 season]] (including finals) was a record which stood for more than ninety years.{{Ref|1|N 1}}

Following these premierships, Carlton went through a tumultuous period off-field. Some players had become frustrated by low payments and hard training standards, and responded by refusing to train or even play matches. The club removed Worrall from the coaching role (he retained the role of secretary), and after significant changes at board level after the 1909 season, Worrall left the club altogether. Many players who had supported Worrall left the club at the end of the season. Then, in 1910, several players were suspected of having taken bribes to [[match fixing|fix]] matches, with two players ([[Alex Lang]] and [[Doug Fraser (Australian footballer)|Doug Fraser]]) both found guilty and suspended for 99 matches.<ref name="fpf1" /> Despite this backdrop, Carlton continued its strong on-field form, reaching the [[1909 VFL Grand Final|1909]] and [[1910 VFL Grand Final|1910]] Grand Finals, but losing both.<ref name="egep" />

[[File:Carlton fc 1914.jpg|thumb|The 1914 Carlton team photographed at the old East Melbourne Cricket Ground.]]
Carlton fell out of the finals in 1913, but returned in 1914 under coach [[Norm Clark]], and with many inexperienced players, to win back-to-back premierships in [[1914 VFL season|1914]] and [[1915 VFL season]]s. Most football around the country was suspended during the height of World War I, but Carlton continued to compete in a VFL which featured, at its fewest, only four clubs. Altogether, between Jack Worrall's first Grand Final in 1904 and the peak of World War I in 1916, Carlton won five premierships and contested nine Grand Finals for one of the most successful times in the club's history. The only success which eluded the club was the [[Championship of Australia]]; Carlton contested the championship three times (1907, 1908 and 1914), with its [[SANFL|South Australian]] opponents victorious on all three occasions.