About

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also field a reserves men's team in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and women's team in the VFLW. Founded in the suburb of North Melbourne in 1869 and based at the Arden Street Oval, it is the 4th oldest club in the competition and one of the oldest surviving clubs in the world. Playing first at Royal Park, historically its home at Arden Street continues to serve as its headquarters, training facilities and home ground for its women's side. The club's senior men's team plays its home matches at Marvel Stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, as well as Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Tasmania which is also used by the women's team as a secondary home ground. The club's mascot is a grey kangaroo wearing the club uniform, and its use dates from the mid-20th century. The club is also unofficially known as "The Shinboners", a term which dates to its 19th-century, which some historians say has abattoir-worker origins, others say the term has its roots in the Templemore Garrison/Citizen rules game, played pre-GAA in Tipperary Ireland and exported by Irish settlers to Hotham in the late 1850s who played with the embryonic Hothamites football playing club at Royal Park. The club's motto is victoria amat curam, Latin for "victory demands dedication". Aside from their representation in the AFL, the Kangaroos also field teams in the competitions AFL Women's, VFL Women's and Victorian Football League competitions. The Kangaroos have won four VFL/AFL premierships; in 1975, 1977 (after a replay), 1996 and 1999. They have also claimed one AFL Women's premiership; in 2024.