Northern Bullants
| Northern Bullants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Names | ||||
| Full name | Preston Football Club Inc., trading as Northern Bullants Football Club Inc. | |||
| Former name(s) | Preston Juniors Football Club (1920s) Preston Knights Football Club (1996−1999) Northern Blues Football Club (2012−2020) | |||
| Nickname(s) | Bullants, Tonners, Ants | |||
| Former nickname(s) | Knights, Blues, Prestonians | |||
| 2024 season | ||||
| Home-and-away season | 21st | |||
| Leading goalkicker | John Jorgensen (25) | |||
| Laurie Hill Trophy | Jean-Luc Velissaris | |||
| Club details | ||||
| Founded | 1882 | |||
| Colours | Red White | |||
| Competition | Victorian Football League | |||
| President | Neil Howard | |||
| Coach | Rohan Welsh | |||
| Captain(s) | Liam Mackie | |||
| Premierships | VFA/VFL (D1) (4) VFA (D2) (2) VJFA (5) | |||
| Ground(s) | Genis Steel Oval (capacity: 5,000) | |||
| Training ground(s) | RMIT Oval | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
| ||||
| Other information | ||||
| Official website | northernbullantsfc.com.au | |||
The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Oval.
The club was established in 1882 as the Preston Football Club, the name which the club is still legally registered under. The club participated in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) between 1903 and 1911, and then since 1926. After World War II, the club was known as the Bullants, and wore a plain red guernsey with a white monogram. The club later became the Northern Bullants. It was affiliated with the Carlton Blues in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2003 to 2020, and from 2012 until 2020, the club adopted the colours and nickname of its AFL affiliate to become the Northern Blues. The alignment was terminated in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and since 2021, the club has again operated as a stand-alone VFL club under the Northern Bullants name.
The club's identity is also present in the Preston Bullants Amateur Football Club, which is a separate entity that competes in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), however the clubs use the same logo, colours and jumper design. Preston AFC was formerly known as the Northern Bullants and later the Northern Blues, and by their current name since 2016.