Battle of Bell Street explained

Battle of Bell Street
Firstmeeting:7 June 1926
(Preston 69-112 Coburg)
Mostrecent:13 May 2023
(Coburg 80-87 Northern)
Nextmeeting:2024
Total:159
League:VFL
Series:
Coburg 75 wins
Drawn 3 times

The Battle of Bell Street is an Australian rules football rivalry, contested by the Coburg Football Club and the Northern Bullants. It is one of the oldest rivalries in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA) until 1996.[1]

The clubs have met 159 times as of 2023, with the Bullants winning 81 times since the first clash in 1926.[2]

History

Coburg and the Bullants are closely located, with their respective home grounds of Coburg City Oval and Preston City Oval divided by Bell Street in Preston (hence the name of the rivalry).[3]

The first clash was on 7 June 1926, with Coburg defeating Preston by 43 points. Preston's first win was a 29-point victory on 6 July 1929.[2] [4]

No match between the clubs occurred in the cancelled 2020 season, nor in the 2022 season.[5]

Matches

bgcolor=C7DBFF style=width:3em COB align=left Match won by Coburg/Coburg-Fitzroy
bgcolor=FFC0C0 style=width:3em NBUL align=left Match won by Preston/Northern
bgcolor=FFFFC0 style=width:3em DRAW align=left Match drawn
bgcolor=DDDDDD style=width:3em CNCL align=left Match cancelled

Seniors

width=3%Yearwidth=3%; class=unsortable width=10%Winnerwidth=10%Loserwidth=16%Scorewidth=3%Marginwidth=15%Venuewidth=10%; class=unsortable Datewidth=2%; class=unsortable Report
1926 align=center 6align=center align=center 435 June 1926align=center
1926 align=center 15Coburg Preston align=center align=center 69Coburg City Ovalalign=center
align=center 2020 align=center 12N/A20 June 2020align=center [6] [7]
2023 align=center 12Coburgalign=center N/Aalign=center 7Piranha Park13 May 2023align=center
2024 align=center 13Coburgalign=center align=center 13Piranha Parkalign=center [8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic VFA rivalry between Coburg and Preston returns to Piranha Park . Herald Sun.
  2. Web site: Old foes set for Battle of Bell Street . 11 May 2023 . afl.com.au.
  3. Web site: McCormick . Michael . Blues fall short in Battle of Bell Street . 8 June 2015 . Carlton Football Club.
  4. Web site: 1926 VFA Premiership Season . Australian Football.
  5. Web site: 2022 VFL fixture: Round one locked in, remaining match-ups confirmed . 22 February 2022 . afl.com.au.
  6. Web site: Filippo . Cristian . 2020 VFL fixture announced . Carlton Football Club . 29 November 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221106014720/https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/550081/2020-vfl-fixture-announced . 6 November 2022 . 18 December 2019.
  7. Web site: Coburg vs Northern Blues . GameDay . VFL / VFLW . 29 November 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241129030313/https://websites.mygameday.app/round_info.cgi?a=MATCH&fixture=125481151&c=0-118-150490-555247-0&pool=1 . 29 November 2024 . 20 June 2024.
  8. Web site: Rhodes . Brendan . REVIEW: Smithy's VFL Round 13 . AFL.com.au . 29 November 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240715083342/https://www.afl.com.au/news/1157942/review-smithys-vfl-round-13 . 15 July 2024 . 24 June 2024.

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