The club formed in 1880 as the first Australian Rules club in New South Wales, participating in the NSWAFA in 1881. The Sydney Morning Herald report on 12 August 1880 states, "A meeting was held on Tuesday night at the Cambridge Club hotel, Oxford street, to organise a club under the New South Wales Football Association".[1]
This would mean that the East Sydney Australian Football club, if one puts aside the mergers and name changes that have occurred (now known as the Uni of NSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs) is older than all but one other current major football club of any code in Sydney (that being Sydney University Football (rugby) Club). This club pre-dates all Australian rugby league clubs by over 25 years, the Randwick rugby union team and all known soccer clubs.[2]
