Early years The club was formed in 1908 as the
Glen Waverley Football Club and participated in A Grade of the
Mulgrave District Football Association (MDFA). They briefly moved to the
Scoresby District Football Association (SDFA) for the 1925 and 1926 seasons, but after finishing second-last and last place respectively in the two seasons, they joined the
Berwick District Football Association (BDFA) in 1927. In 1930, the club moved to the
Federal Football Association (FFA). They finished 7th on the ladder in both of their seasons in the competition, and (after one more BDFA season in 1932) joined the
Caulfield-Oakleigh District Football League (CODFL) in 1933. They started strongly, winning half of their 18 matches that year, and then in 1963 finished runners up to
Preston at
Toorak Park. The club was promoted at short notice to the 1st Division in 1964 to fill the spot left after
Moorabbin was
suspended from the Association. In its first season in Division 1, the club survived relegation back to Division 2 by winning the last game of the season against their nemesis from the previous season, Preston. The club's breakthrough year came in 1965 under the coaching of
Ian Thorogood when, despite competing in just their second season in the top division, they claimed the premiership with a 12-point victory over
Port Melbourne in the Grand Final at Port Melbourne's home ground. The following season they met again in the decider, but this time Port Melbourne was too strong. In 1970 they finished third, but in 1972 the club finished last and was relegated to Division 2, ending its nine-year stint in the top division. The club struggled for support in Division 2, and was also hindered by the opening of
VFL Park in nearby Mulgrave, as many locals preferred to watch the
VFL game played at the ground every Saturday than watch the Panthers on a Sunday. In the mid-1970s when Association-wide crowds were averaging more than 4,500, Waverley still seldom drew more than 1,000 fans to games. The club was runner-up in Division 2 in 1981, and earned promotion to the
expanded 12-team Division 1 for 1982, but returned to Division 2 in 1984 after two wooden spoons at the top level. Waverley was Division 2 runner-up in its final season, 1987, then abruptly folded one month before the 1988 season due to financial difficulties.
Amateurs return After spending the
1988 season in recess, the club announced it would absorb the
Clayton Amateurs Football Club, which had been competing in the
Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) since
1978. Under the new name of
Waverley Amateurs, the club entered the VAFA's F Section for the
1989 season. In 1991, the club moved to the
Eastern District Football League (EDFL) and reverted back to the "Waverley Football Club" name. The club was runners-up in the Division 4 grand finals in 1996 and 1997, while the EDFL became the
Eastern Football League (EFL) at the end of the 1997 season.
Merger with Mount Waverley Burwood The
Mount Waverley Burwood Football Club was formed in 1994 and played in Division 1 of the
Southern Football League (SFL). The club was formed as a merger of the
Burwood Football Club (formerly
Burwood United), which had played in the played in the
Eastern Churches Football Association (ECFA) and
South East Suburban Football League (SESFL), and the
Mount Waverley Football Club, which played in the
Federal League, OCDFL and SESFL. During the 1998 season (the EDFL became the
Eastern Football League (EFL) at the end of the 1997 season) the committees of Waverley and Mount Waverley Burwood discussed the possibility of merging to create a larger club that represented the Waverley district of the
City of Monash. The merger was agreed on, and the new club − known as the
Waverley Blues − entered the EFL in 1999. ==Honours==