It took out the first of three consecutive First-Rate premierships in 1900, defeating Collingwood Juniors (effectively the League team's Seconds) before 5,000 people at the Brunswick Street Oval.

Despite a reasonable opening season where it won six games, the club struggled to find players and finished last in 1904 in the middle of what was to be a 27-game losing streak.

Several other bottom-of-the list results came before a brief resurgence in 1909 under former Collingwood champion Charlie Pannam, but with the loss of several key players to League clubs, Preston again went on a downward spiral and won just one game through 1910 and 1911.

Ogden returned to captain-coach the club in 1916 and 1917 while Essendon was in recess for the First World War and by 1919 Preston had re-established itself as one of the top teams in junior football.

Premierships came in 1921 and again in 1923 with Preston, under the coaching of William "Bull" Adams, who had been refused a clearance to Fitzroy by his West Australian club, overrunning Yarraville in the final term despite playing one man short.

With the loss of North Melbourne, Footscray and Hawthorn to the League in 1925, the Association accepted Preston (just proclaimed a city) and Camberwell into its ranks for the 1926 season.

This time the club was ready for senior ranks, raising a few eyebrows when it won nine of the 18 games in its first season as well as supplying the Recorder Cup winner, William "Bluey" Summers.

The club remained in the middle ranking of the Association up until the cessation of play during World War I, the highlight being a remarkable 1931 season under the legendary Roy Cazaly who sacked half the side mid-season and promoted youngsters.

Leading players up to World War 2 included Summers, Warr, "Bert" Smith, Frankie "Dickie" Dowling and Bill "Socks" Maslen, the latter pair being the club's record-holders for number of senior games played.

[13] 1930s radio commentator Wallace "Jumbo" Sharland referred to the small Preston team in its bright uniforms as "like a swarm of busy bullants".

Despite building a solid combination, the loss of several experienced players saw the club plummet to fifteenth in 1960 and forced into Second Division when the VFA opted for two levels.

Bert Hyde, Preston's 1936 Recorder Cup winner, had lived in the area since his playing days and was an active official at Hawthorn, which was then rapidly emerging from years in the wilderness to become the power side of the 1960s.

Preston's fortunes slumped in the early 1970s, and the club narrowly avoided relegation at Coburg's expense in 1973, after defeating the Lions 171–154 in a famous high-scoring final round match.

After a tense opening, the crowd erupted late in the second term when Martin and another of football's legendary hard men, Sam Kekovich, went head-to-head in a wild brawl.

The team fell well short in the 1981 decider, unable to match Port Melbourne who inflicted a record Grand Final defeat (both score and winning margin) on the Bullants.

Shaw's influence and a number of highly rated recruits had many believing that this would be Preston's year, but again Port Melbourne proved the nemesis with a seven-point win in the Grand Final.

Preston rewrote the record books in 1983 by becoming the first club to win the Senior, Seconds and Thirds premierships in the same year in Division 1, and repeated the achievement in 1984.

With the ethnic mix of the Preston area rapidly changing and the almost saturation coverage of the now Australian Football League, the club's off-field position deteriorated in the 1990s, and it was constantly battling for survival.

Gillies, in meeting with the VSFL, undertook to initiate significant drainage and lighting improvements at the ground and after around about a month of uncertainty, the Knights' license was reinstated when Traralgon announced its withdrawal from the VFL after an unsuccessful two-year trial.

Essendon's plans were virtual domination of the club with a jumper change, renaming as the Northern Bombers and playing several games each season at Windy Hill.

The affiliated team continued under long-serving coach Mark P. Williams, but there was to be no instant success, the club coincidentally matching the 2001–02 result with six wins in 2003.

With a few personal tensions emerging, Carlton announced its intention to withdraw from the two-year agreement at the end of the 2003 season, but subsequent negotiations between the two clubs and the VFL saw the problems resolved and a new arrangement established.

Williams had already resigned, citing lack of time, (later accepting the role at Sandringham) and under the terms of the agreement, Carlton retained the right to nominate one of their assistant coaches, eventually Barry Mitchell, as his replacement.

Under coach David Teague, the Bullants managed to finish third on the ladder in 2009, then win through to the Grand Final for the first time since the 1984 victory; but, the team was comfortably beaten by North Ballarat.

When the start of the 2020 AFL and VFL seasons, along with all other football, were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Carlton was forced to cut its expenses, and this included withdrawing its financial support for Northern, and ending its reserves affiliation.

[22] Holland resigned as coach effective immediately shortly after the club's final game of the season, and was replaced by former Carlton player Rohan Welsh.