Footscray Tech Old Boys
Names
Full name	Footscray Institute of Technology Sports Club Inc. [1]
Former name(s)	Footscray TSOB; Footscray TCOB
Nickname(s)	Footscray Tech, FITOB, FIT
Former nickname(s)	FTSOB, FTCOB
Club details
Founded	1920s
Dissolved	1992
Colours	Royal blue   Navy blue   Gold [2]
Competition	FDJFL (1931) VAFA (1932−92)
Premierships	VAFA 1953 1959 1968 1983
Ground(s)	Institute Oval [3]

The Footscray Tech Old Boys (FTOB), also known simply as Footscray, was an Australian rules football club based around the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club was formed by former students of Footscray Technical School (FTS). ^[4]

Footscray Tech competed in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) for most of its existence. The club disbanded in 1992 when Footscray IT merged into the Victoria University of Technology (VUT), with a VUT club competing in the VAFA for several years before it folded at the end of 1996. ^[5]

The successor university to Footscray IT, Victoria University (VU), is currently represented in the VAFA by the UHS-VU Football Club. ^{[6] [7]}

Footscray Technical School Old Boys Football Club (Footscray TSOB) was formed in the 1920s and competed in the Footscray District Junior Football League (FDJFL) in 1931. In 1932, the club joined the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA, renamed VAFA in 1933) and entered the competition's D Section. ^[2]

The club made its first grand final in 1936, but was defeated by Coburg Amateurs by 29 points. After being promoted to C Section for the 1937 season, the club made the grand final again, but was defeated by Coburg Amateurs for the second year in a row. ^[8]

21 years after it entered the competition, Footscray TSOB won its first VAFA premiership in ES&A Bank by 5 points in the 1953 D Section grand final. ^[9] A second premiership came in 1959 with a 1-point victory over AJAX. ^[2]

In its first C Section grand final, the club lost to Kew in 1964. Four years later, the club defeated St Bernard's to win the 1968 C Section grand final. ^[2] A fifth premiership came against UHSOB in the 1983 F Section grand final. ^[2]

At the end of the 1992 season, the club disbanded after Footscray IT merged into the Victoria University of Technology (VUT). ^[10]

Beginning in 1993, a new club − FIT/VUT − competed in the VAFA, entering F2 Section. ^[11] The club renamed to simply VUT for the 1994 season, where they were defeated by Fitzroy Reds in the G Section reserves grand final. ^[12]

In 1995, VUT was set to compete in the E Central section, but withdrew before the first game "due to insufficient [player] numbers", instead solely competing in the Club XVIII South competition. ^[13] The club remained in Club XVIII South in 1996, but just four of its 15 games and folded at the end of the season. ^{[14] [15]}

The club was formed as Footscray TSOB, but Footscray Technical School renamed to Footscray Technical College (FTC) in 1958. ^[16] As a result, the club changed its name to Footscray Technical College Old Boys (FTCOB). ^{[17] [18] [19]}

FTC then renamed to Footscray Institute Of Technology Old Boys (Footscray IT, FITOB or FIT) in 1968, a change that come into effect for the club at the end of the 1968 season. ^{[20] [21]} However, some VAFA records show the "FTCOB" name still being used in the 1970s. ^[22] The new "FITOB" name is seen in The Amateur Footballer as early as 1972. ^{[23] [24]}

Despite this, some sources − including the VAFA − claim the club was only renamed to FITOB in 1989. ^{[2] [25] [26]}

A number of Footscray Teach players later joined clubs in the Victorian Football League (VFL), now known as the Australian Football League (AFL), including several who joined the Footscray Football Club.

• Harry Chalmers − North Melbourne and Footscray
• Dick Eason − Footscray and Essendon
• Ian Fleming − Footscray
• Jim Greenham − Footscray
• Max Isaac − Footscray
• Rod O'Connor − Footscray
• Arthur Olliver − Footscray

Additionally, Fred Cook − who did play for Footscray after leaving Footscray Tech − later went onto play 300 games in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).