Brisbane Football Club (1866–1887)

The Brisbane Football Club is a defunct football club, formed in May 1866 in the colonial capital of Brisbane. Brisbane FC was the first known football club of any code in the Colony of Queensland. It was the first club outside Victoria to adopt what was then known as the 'Victorian rules' football (now known as Australian rules football) from 1866. It is also the first recorded club to have played multiple football codes in Queensland, including soccer (1867–1875) and rugby (1876–1879).

Between 1870 and 1877 it also served as the governing body for football in the colony. Even after it deferred the laws of the game to the Victorian Football Association in 1877 the club continued to have a strong influence on both Australian rules and rugby until the newly formed Queensland Football Association in 1880 officially conferred governance to the Victorian Association.

Following experimentation with other football codes, it re-committed to Australian rules (with occasional rugby matches) from 1879 after which it dominated in the sport. Playing in red and black hoops, in 1883 it earned the title the Invincible Reds. It had an intense rivalry with the Ipswich Football Club. In 1885, the club's junior feeder school Brisbane Grammar switched to rugby and as a result, from 1886 Brisbane FC began to uphold a strong preference for that code, fielding its best players in its rugby side and playing only its seconds in the QFA. Due in part to its lack of playing depth this tipped dominance in favour of Ipswich and the club was regularly defeated by large margins. The Invincible tagline was widely mocked during its final years and its Victorian rules side was known simply as The Reds.

Reputational damage due to its defections to rugby on its identity and damaging losses in both codes ultimately led to its demise in 1887. The club was to last around only 20 years, and its allegiance to rugby signalled the end of Australian rules popularity in Queensland.