the carlton football club, the blues, is an australian rules football team that plays in the australian football league. it is based in the melbourne suburb of carlton. the club began in 1864, and its first home ground was a clearing in melbourne's royal park. in its first season the blues won only one game out of ten. in 1877, the club joined the victorian football association, and then in 1897 it joined the victorian football league as one of its original teams. after using grounds in east melbourne and melbourne university, the club moved to its new football ground at princess park, carlton in 1897. in 1908, the club added the letters cfc to its navy blue jumpers.