page_title: Melbourne University Football Club
section_title: Formation of women's football side
hierarchical_section_title: Melbourne University Football Club / Formation of women's football side
caption_attribution_description: Action from the 2007 VWFL first division grand final between Melbourne University and Darebin Falcons
context_page_description: Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues, who both compete in the Victorian Amateur Football Association in the William Buck Premier Division.
  The club achieved prominence by being a member of Victoria's elite competition in the early 20th century, the Victorian Football League, between 1908 and 1914, and has also fielded a women's team in the Victorian Women's Football League and VFL Women's until 2019. Although there are no records of its exact formation, University's first recorded match took place in the same month that the Castlemaine Football Club was formed, making it likely that University is the second oldest club in Australia after the Melbourne Football Club.
context_section_description: A women's side was formed In 1996 as a stand-alone side that did not fall under the Melbourne University Football Club. The club was named Melbourne University Women's Football Club and was nicknamed the MUGARS, an acronym for Melbourne University Girls Australian Rules Squad. In 2016, the MUWFC became a part of the MUFC and is equally represented alongside the Blacks and Blues sides on the MUFC board.
  The MUWFC field three senior sides and three junior sides across three different leagues. Historically having senior teams in both the Victorian Women's Football League and WRFL/EDFL Youth Girls Competition, in 2016, upon formation of the inaugural statewide competition aligned with the Victorian Football League, MUWFC entered a senior side, with a second and third team competing in the Premier Division and Division 3 of the Victorian Women's Football League respectively. The WRFL/EDFL Youth Girls Competition also expanded from under 13s side and under 18s side to also include and under 15s side.
  In 2002, MUWFC won their first premiership against St Albans in Division 1. This was followed by double premierships in 2003 and 2005, to make up the club's five premierships.
  In 2005, an Under 18 Youth Girls team was formed.  From 2012 they will compete in the Essendon Districts Football League.
  From 2009, North Melbourne partnered with the club, allowing them to use Arden Street Oval for training and matches. Under this arrangement, Melbourne University served as North Melbourne's VFL Women's affiliate from 2016 until the end of 2019, when North Melbourne decided to field a standalone team instead.
  In 2011, an Under 12 team was established in conjunction with North Melbourne Football Club.
  The club also facilitates inter-varsity teams, for both the Southern University Games and Australian University Games.
caption: Melbourne University women's team during their 2007 VWFL Grand Final appearance.
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