The Geelong Cat club was established in the year 1859 by Thomas Wentworth Wills who was the co-founder of Australian football. The rules for the Australian football is assumed to have been a mixture of soccer, rugby and Gaelic football matches and another strong influence was the organised matches between Geelong Football Club and Melbourne Football Club. After few years, eight of the strongest clubs, namely Carlton, Albert Park, St. Kilda, Geelong, Melbourne, Hotham, Essendon and East Melbourne jointly formed the Victorian Football Association. During this time, the Geelong Cat club also underwent a change and shifted their bases to Corio Oval. The Geelong Cat club was initially known as the Seagulls and after 1877 the club won seven VFA premierships in the next nine years.
After the 1890�s, Geelong, Essendon, South Melbourne, Melbourne, Fitzroy and Collingwood decided to withdraw from VFA and formed a new organisation named Victorian Football League. It was not before 1925, that Geelong Cat club won a match in this new league. Meanwhile the club assumed a new name �the Cats� and in 1923 a cartoonist suggested that a black cat was needed to bring back the good luck of the team. In 1931 the Geelong Cat club won another flag, but in the following years it was forced to withdraw from the league due to lack of players. In 1951 again the club won a stupendous victory against Essendon and in 1963 won another flag. The Geelong Cat club�s performance underwent a decline in the mid 1960�s and 1970�s but the club again came back in action in mid-1980s. It played the grand final matches during 1989, 1992, 1994 and 1995 and became one of the top-rated teams in the 1990�s. In the 2000, the Geelong Cat club has continued to hold on to its pride and prestige with its victories.
The Geelong Cat club also holds a strong supporter base in all its matches. Players like Gary Albett have won the Leigh Matthew Trophy, Norm Smith Medal, Mark of the Year and Coleman Medal. The Brownlow Medal has been won by Paul Couch, Alistair Lord, Bernie Smith and Edward �Carji �Greeves. The Wooden Spoon Award has been won by different players in the years 1908, 1915, 1957, 1944 and 1958. Several other honours and awards have been won by the members of the Geelong Cat club. The Geelong Hall of Fame was launched in the year 2002 and has some of the best Australian football players.
The present captain of the Geelong Cat team is Tom Harley and coach is Mark Thompson. Currently, the Geelong Cat club acquires the top position in the AFL ladder rankings.
