Description Available in: The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897. The club originally represented the suburb of Carlton in Melbourne's inner north, and its nickname comes from the navy blue colour which it has traditionally worn in its playing uniform. It is based at Princes Park in Carlton, and played its home matches there throughout most of its history, but currently plays its home matches at either Docklands Stadium (currently known as Etihad Stadium) or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Carlton has historically been one of the AFL's most successful clubs, having won sixteen senior VFL/AFL premierships throughout its history, equal with Essendon as the most of any club. The club will also field a team in the AFL Women's league upon its establishment in 2017.