1873–1915: early years On 14 March 1873, a meeting was held in
Windsor to form the St Kilda Football Club. At this meeting, a provisional committee of men were elected. The formation was completed on 2 April 1873, and on 11 June 1873 another meeting was held to appoint the final committee. The club's original home ground was colloquially nicknamed the "Alpaca Paddock", which was a large fenced-off area at the St Kilda end of what is now known as
Albert Park. During its formation years, the club underwent multiple mergers. In June 1873, it merged with the
South Yarra Football Club and adopted the red from their colour scheme. In 1875, the club briefly merged with
University to stay financially viable. In March 1888, a decision was made to amalgamate St Kilda with nearby Prahran Football Club. St Kilda retained their colours, name and ground as well as picking up a number of Prahran players. St Kilda competed as a senior club in the VFA from 1877 to 1879, 1881 to 1882 and 1886 to 1896 before accepting an invitation into the breakaway competition, the Victorian Football League, from 1897 onwards. St Kilda were one of the eight clubs that took part in the inaugural
VFL season in 1897. They made their debut in an away game against
Collingwood on 8 May 1897 at
Victoria Park. The club's home ground in the new league was the
Junction Oval in the suburb of
St Kilda, Victoria and the club's first home game was against
Fitzroy. St Kilda's early years in the VFL were not successful and, in 1899, they had the lowest score ever recorded in a VFL/AFL match, one point against Geelong. The club lost 48 consecutive games, recording their first win on 5 May 1900, against Melbourne. This match initially ended as a draw, but a protest launched by St Kilda saw the result overturned, resulting in a 1-point victory to St Kilda. In 1902, with 30 goals,
Charlie Baker became the first St Kilda player to be the league's leading goalkicker in a home and away season. The club was beaten by eventual premiers
Carlton. The following year, the club once again qualified in third position and were again eliminated by Carlton in the semi-finals. The 1913 season saw major improvement with the team finishing fourth, eventually being defeated in the
grand final rematch by Fitzroy. Although St Kilda had won the original grand final game, owing to the
finals system at the time, Fitzroy were allowed to challenge St Kilda to a rematch the following week because they had finished higher on the ladder. Fitzroy won the rematch 7.14 (56) to 5.13 (43).
1916–1949: World wars and individual success Owing to World War I, St Kilda went into recess in 1916 and 1917. Just prior to their recession, the club temporarily changed their official colours to include yellow in place of white. This was done to avoid association with the German Empire, who had the same colours as St Kilda at the time. The club resumed normal operation in 1918 and fared well initially, qualifying for finals and being defeated in the semi-finals. Additionally in 1936, forward
Bill Mohr kicked 101 goals, winning the leading goalkicker award and becoming the first St Kilda player to kick 100 goals or more in a season. The club qualified for finals in
1939, finishing the season in fourth after a record run of eight consecutive victories. The team had its first finals win since 1913, against
Richmond, but were eliminated in the preliminary final by Collingwood. St Kilda won three of the first four games early in the
1940 season and were on top of the ladder after Round 4, however, the club went on to finish second last. Despite prominent players emerging for the club such as
Harold Bray,
Keith Drinan,
Peter Bennett and later
Neil Roberts, St Kilda were rarely competitive for the duration of the 1940s.
1950–1973: failure and success The 1950s were initially as uncompetitive for St Kilda as the prior decade. The club failed to make the finals for the first half of the decade, and won three wooden spoons over the period. At the end of 1955,
Alan Killigrew was appointed as the club's coach. As part of Killigrew's plan to reinvigorate the club, 17 players were removed from the club's list - one of the most substantial list turnovers in VFL history. In 1958, St Kilda won the
Consolation Night Series competition, a competition that was played between clubs that had failed to qualify for the premiership season finals series. St Kilda defeated Carlton 16.13 (109) to 15.11 (101). In 1961, after finishing sixth in 1960,
Allan Jeans was appointed coach. In his first season as coach, St Kilda qualified for the final four for the first time since 1939. The club lost to
Footscray in the first semi-final. The club qualified for finals again in
1963, but was eliminated in the semi-finals again. The club finished second in the 1965 premiership season, being defeated by
Essendon in the
1965 VFL Grand Final. Following their successful 1965 season, St Kilda qualified for finals in consecutive years for the first time since 1907–08. The club was defeated in the second semi-final by Collingwood - however, the club defeated Essendon in the preliminary final in to qualify for the
1966 VFL Grand Final. The following year, St Kilda failed to qualify for the finals series, finishing fifth. Despite continued finals appearances in the early 1970s, St Kilda was unable to win a second premiership - being defeated by the eventual premiers in each finals series between 1970 and 1973. During this 4-year period, St Kilda qualified for the
1971 VFL Grand Final. Despite leading by 20 points at the beginning of the last quarter, they were defeated by Hawthorn by 7 points.
1974–1990: decline In
1974, St Kilda declined to the lower half of the ladder for the first time since the 1950s, finishing tenth. Allan Jeans retired from coaching two years later after 16 seasons coaching St Kilda, citing burnout as his reason for retirement. After
Lindsay Fox was appointed club president in 1979, the club's outstanding debt of $1.45 million was addressed. Many senior players and Allan Jeans accepted a deal to be paid 22.5 cents for each dollar they were owed. Additionally, non-football creditors received 7.5 cents for each dollar owed. The club was ultimately able to settle with its creditors for $195,000. Despite these efforts, continuing financial pressures and defeats saw the club remain in the bottom three for every season between 1979 and 1986. In
1987, Tony Lockett won the league's
Coleman Medal for leading goalkicker in the home-and-away season, the fourth St Kilda player to achieve this. Lockett also became the seventh St Kilda player to win the
Brownlow Medal. He remains the only person in league history to win both the league's best and fairest Brownlow Medal and the Coleman Medal in the same season.
1990–1999: AFL era The league was officially renamed the
Australian Football League prior to the start of the
1990 premiership season. A competitive
1991 AFL season saw St Kilda qualify for a finals series for the first time since 1973, qualifying fourth at the end of the home and away rounds. However, the club failed to win a final, being defeated by Geelong. St Kilda finally broke through the following year, winning its first finals series match since 1973 against Collingwood. St Kilda won the
1996 Ansett Australia Cup competition, also known as the pre-season cup. The team defeated Carlton in the final 20.10 (130) to 10.12 (72) in front of 66,888 people at Waverley Park.
Nicky Winmar became the first St Kilda player to win the
Michael Tuck Medal for best player on the ground in the 1996 Ansett Australia Cup Final. Despite this success, the club failed to make the finals. In the
1997 season, St Kilda qualified for the finals series in first position at the end of the home and away rounds with 15 wins and 7 losses, winning the second minor premiership in the club's history. St Kilda defeated
Brisbane in the qualifying finals and North Melbourne in the preliminary finals to move through to the grand final. St Kilda finished second after being beaten in the
1997 AFL Grand Final by Adelaide. The
1998 season initially appeared to be equally strong for the club. After Round 14 of the season, St Kilda was on top of the ladder in Round 14 with eleven wins and three losses and were tipped as warm favourites for the premiership. The following two years were similar, finishing second-last in both seasons. During this period, St Kilda recruited players such as
Justin Koschitzke,
Nick Riewoldt,
Nick Dal Santo and
Brendon Goddard who were mainstays of the team over the following decade. The following year saw a similar result, with the club being defeated in a preliminary final by Sydney. St Kilda's
2006 AFL season saw the club finish in sixth position at the end of the home and away rounds and qualify for a third successive finals series. St Kilda were eliminated by Melbourne in the elimination finals. During this season, Robert Harvey broke the all-time games record for St Kilda when he played in his 324th premiership season match in Round 7. On 11 October 2006,
Ross Lyon was appointed as the new head coach for St Kilda, replacing
Grant Thomas. After missing finals in
2007, St Kilda again qualified for the finals in
2008. A 108-point win over Essendon in the final home-and-away round saw the club take fourth position for the finals series. St Kilda were defeated by Geelong in the qualifying finals, defeated Collingwood in the semi-finals and were eliminated by the eventual premiers, Hawthorn, in the preliminary final.
St Kilda's 2009 season is considered one of the most dominant home-and-away seasons in AFL history. The club won 20 games—the best-ever home and away record for the club—as well as winning 19 games in a row before being defeated by Essendon. In Round 14,
St Kilda defeated Geelong by six points, with both teams being undefeated prior to the match. The game broke multiple records, including highest-ever crowd for an AFL match at
Docklands Stadium (54,444). causing a change in timeslot (moving from 2:10 pm to 3:10 pm) so that the
Seven Network could broadcast the game live in Victoria. Following the grand final, Ross Lyon signed a three-year extension to his coaching contract until the end of the
2012 season. The following year, St Kilda experienced a similar level of success, qualifying for the finals in third position. The club recorded their first win against Geelong in a finals match in the 2nd qualifying final and eventually qualified for the
Grand Final against Collingwood. The match ended in a draw – the third drawn grand final in VFL/AFL history. St Kilda midfielder
Lenny Hayes won the
Norm Smith Medal for the player judged best on ground in the match, making him the first St Kilda player to ever win the medal. Owing to the draw, a second grand final match was played the following week. In the grand final replay, Collingwood won by 56 points. In December 2010, the club was granted ownership of the Linen House Centre, a new training and administration property in the
City of Frankston at
Seaford valued at approximate $11 million. Following the season, the club announced a record net profit of $7.467 million for season 2010. St Kilda also achieved a new record membership for a single season and were the 2nd-most-watched team on television, rating 22,777,092 viewers across the season. Former Sydney, Fremantle and West Coast player and Collingwood assistant coach
Scott Watters was announced as Lyon's replacement in October 2011.
2012–present: post grand finals struggles and rebuild The years after the departure of Ross Lyon did not prove fruitful for St Kilda. They failed to make the finals in 2012 for the first time since 2007 and continued poor performances that ultimately culminated in the club finishing last in 2014. Despite this, the
2013 season marked a historic moment for St Kilda and the
Australian Football League when St Kilda hosted the first premiership match outside of Australia in
New Zealand. Following the 2013 season, senior coach
Scott Watters was sacked. On 14 November, former Port Adelaide director of coaching
Alan Richardson was announced as new senior coach for the next three years. Following further poor performances in the
2018 and
2019 seasons, Richardson was advised that his contract would not be renewed for 2020. As a result, he resigned from his position as senior coach. Assistant coach
Brett Ratten took over as caretaker coach. After winning three of the season's last six games, Ratten was appointed permanent senior coach in September 2019. During the 2019 trade period, four high-profile players requested a trade to St Kilda and many discussions were held with other players looking to move. In the
COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, the club managed 10 of a possible 17 wins to qualify for their first finals series since 2011. During the finals campaign, St Kilda would defeat the Western Bulldogs in an elimination final by 3 points, bringing the first finals victory to the club since 2010 preliminary final against the same opponent. Richmond would later defeat St Kilda by 31 points in the semi-final, ending their campaign. In the following
2021 season, the club would decline in performance, leading to the club finishing 10th with only a 10–12 record. In the
2022 season, after starting at an impressive 8-3 record by round 11, the club would then win only three of their last 11, leading to an 11-11 record, finishing 10th once again. On October 14, 2022, senior coach Brett Ratten would be sacked by the club. Former St Kilda coach Ross Lyon would be reinstated as senior coach for the 2023 season. In the
2023 season, Ross Lyon's first season back as coach, St Kilda would return to the finals, finishing sixth with a 13–10 record. They were defeated by
Greater Western Sydney by 24 points in the elimination final. The team struggled to maintain this form over the next two seasons, finishing with sub-50% winning records, however the club's round 20, 2025 victory over was notable for being the biggest comeback from three-quarter time in VFL/AFL football.
AFLW involvement In 2017, following the inaugural
AFL Women's (AFLW) season, St Kilda was among eight clubs that applied for licences to enter the competition from 2019 onwards. In September 2017, the club was announced as one of four clubs to receive a licence to join the competition in
2020. ==Club identity==