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Victorian Football League

The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in eastern states of Australia: Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, including reserves teams for the eastern state AFL clubs. It succeeded and continues the competition of the former Victorian Football Association (VFA) which began in 1877. The name of the competition was changed to VFL in 1996. Under its VFL brand, the AFL also operates a women's football competition known as VFL Women's, which was established in 2016.

Victorian Football League
Current season, competition or edition:
2023 VFL season
FormerlyVictorian Football Association (VFA) (1877–1995)
SportAustralian rules football
Founded17 May 1877; 145 years ago (1877-05-17), (in Melbourne)
Inaugural season1877
AdministratorAFL Victoria
No. of teams21
CountryAustralia
Most recent
champion(s)
Casey
Most titlesPort Melbourne (17 titles)
TV partner(s)Seven Network
Related
competitions
AFL, NAB League
Official websitevfl.com.au

Its predecessor, the VFA, was formed in 1877 and was the second-oldest Australian rules football league, replacing the loose affiliation of clubs that existed in the early years of the game. The VFA was the top-level club competition in Victoria until 1896 but became the secondary-level competition from 1897, after its eight strongest clubs seceded to form the VFL (now AFL). As a secondary-level competition, the VFA enjoyed peaks of popularity, in the 1940s with a faster-paced rival code of rules and in the 1970s by playing on Sundays at a time when its competitor, the VFL, played on Saturdays.

In 1995, the VFA ceased to exist as an independent organisation and control of its football competition was taken over by its former rival, the AFL which operates the competition through its subsidiary, the Victorian State Football League. AFL clubs' reserves teams first entered the competition in 2000. In 2021, the competition expanded geographically, when the AFL merged it with the North East Australian Football League to include clubs from New South Wales and Queensland. In 2022, it comprised 21 teams from the eastern states, nine of which have a continuous VFA heritage.

History

Victorian Football Association

VFA formative years (1877–1896)

 
Melbourne FC team of 1879

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was founded on 17 May 1877 at the meeting of club secretaries immediately preceding the 1877 season. It was formed out of a desire to provide a formal administrative structure to the governance of the sport, and it had the power to impose binding decisions on its members on matters including the Laws of the Game, player eligibility and other disputes, as well as to facilitate intercolonial football. Decisions were made based on a vote of the Board of Management, which was composed of two delegates from each senior club,[1] a structure which was retained until the late 1980s. It replaced a system under which the secretaries of the senior clubs met at the beginning of each year to decide on matters of mutual interest, but the system was informal and disputes often went unresolved.[2][3]

 
Scenes from an 1891 VFA Premiership Match between Essendon and Carlton

The five foundation senior clubs in the Melbourne metropolitan area were Albert-park, Carlton, Hotham (later North Melbourne), Melbourne and St Kilda. Provincial clubs were also eligible for senior representation on the Association, even though most seldom played matches against the metropolitan teams; Geelong, the nearest provincial club to the metropolis, was the most prominent provincial club, joining the Association in 1877[4] and playing regularly against metropolitan clubs by 1880. There was no formal system of promotion and relegation between the senior and junior levels, with it largely at a club's discretion whether or not it joined the Association as a paying senior member. The affiliation fee for senior clubs was initially set at one guinea.

Through the first decade of the VFA's existence, the structure of the football season did not change significantly from the informal system which had evolved over previous years. Setting of fixtures was the responsibility of club secretaries rather than the Association itself, and in a typical season, a club could play against other VFA teams, non-VFA clubs, at odds against junior teams (usually twenty players against twenty-three), and in some seasons against intercolonial teams; although as the number of senior clubs increased, the number of matches against non-VFA clubs declined. Prior to the 1888 season, there was no formally endorsed system for awarding a VFA premiership:[5] as had been the case since the early 1870s, the premier club was determined by public and press consensus, which by the mid-1880s was conventionally but informally understood to be the senior club which suffered the fewest losses during the season.[6] Premierships won under this then-informal method are now considered official, and consensus was typically uncontroversial.

In 1888, the VFA first took responsibility for the onfield competition, and introduced its first formal premiership system by adopting a system of premiership points;[6] it also awarded for the first time a premiership cap in the Association's colours to players of the premier team.[7] The Association's influence over the on-field competition grew, and from 1894, the Association assumed responsibility for centrally setting the fixtures and standardising the number of games played by each team.[8]

After the formal introduction of the premiership, the often-changeable collection of senior clubs in the VFA soon became settled at twelve premiership-eligible clubs: Carlton, Essendon, Fitzroy, Footscray, Geelong, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, South Melbourne and Williamstown; they were joined by a thirteenth club, Collingwood, in 1892. Three Ballarat-based clubs – Ballarat, Ballarat Imperial and South Ballarat – were also voting members of the VFA through this time, but were not involved in the onfield premiership.[9]

Split (1897–1937)

 
Action from the 1896 VFA Grand Final won by Collingwood over South Melbourne at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. This was the first Victorian Grand Final and a significant moment in the breakaway movement
 
Brunswick during the early 1900s. The highlighted section in the bottom right-hand corner shows the future Australian Prime Minister John Curtin.

During the 1890s, there was an off-field power struggle within the VFA between the stronger and weaker clubs, as the stronger clubs sought greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to the game. This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits, which were always lower in matches against the weaker clubs, be shared equally amongst the Association clubs; in response to the threat that this might be endorsed on the votes of the weaker clubs, six of the strongest clubs – Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne – seceded from the VFA, inviting Carlton and St Kilda to join them, to form the Victorian Football League (VFL), which became the leading senior football body in Victoria. The remaining VFA clubs – Footscray, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown – were given the opportunity to compete as a junior competition under and without representation on the VFL's administration, but rejected the offer and continued as an independent body.[10] The two new competitions competed in parallel from their respective 1897 seasons.

The VFA rebuilt to ten clubs over its first independent decade, mostly by adding leading junior clubs to its ranks such as Brunswick, Prahran, West Melbourne, Essendon Town/Association, Preston, Brighton, Northcote and Hawthorn. Because the VFA was independent from the VFL (and, upon its establishment in 1906, the Australasian Football Council), the VFA had the power to set its own rules. The VFA reduced the number of on-field players from twenty to eighteen in 1897, a move followed by the VFL two years later. The VFA tried reducing the number of players further to 17 in 1908,[11] then to 16 in 1912,[12] before reverting to the national standard 18 in 1919.[13] The VFA went into recess during World War I, with the 1916 and 1917 seasons cancelled and the 1915 and 1918 seasons shortened.

 
Northcote's 1929 premiership side. Second from right, front row, is Doug Nicholls.

Over the first thirty years of the VFA's independence, its relationship with the VFL was, in general, mutually antagonistic. At different times (1913–1918 and 1923–1925), the two competitions had permit reciprocity agreements in place to prevent one competition from poaching players from the other without a clearance, but these were sporadic and remained in place only when convenient to both competitions.[14] At the same time, the strongest clubs in the VFA often sought to defect to the VFL, which the VFL was happy to encourage when it expanded, and there were ultimately four defections: Richmond in 1908; and Footscray, North Melbourne and Hawthorn in 1925. Attempting to defect was seen as treacherous within the VFA, and clubs which attempted to defect but failed were sometimes expelled from the VFA by the remaining clubs: North Melbourne was expelled from the VFA twice (in 1908 and 1921, before reforming and rejoining on both occasions), and West Melbourne was expelled permanently in 1908.[15][16]

The loss of the VFA's strongest three clubs to the VFL in 1925 firmly cemented the VFA as the second-tier competition in the state. Between 1925 and 1929, the addition of outer suburban clubs in Coburg (1925), Camberwell (1926), a new club from Preston (1926), Yarraville (1928), Oakleigh (1929) and Sandringham (1929) expanded the VFA back to twelve teams. The relationship with the VFL improved, and a new permit reciprocity agreement was established in 1931.[17]

Throw-pass era (1938–1949)

In 1938, the VFA made a bold rule change by legalising throwing of the football in general play, provided the throw was underarm with both hands below shoulder height. The change helped to speed up the game, and introduced more run-and-carry play in an era which had previously been dominated by a long-kicking style, proving popular with many spectators. Additionally, the VFA ended its permit agreement with the VFL, and began to aggressively recruit star players by offering salaries well in excess of the maximum set by VFL player payment laws. This included Laurie Nash, Bob Pratt and Ron Todd, who were in the primes of their careers and were considered amongst the best players in the country. These changes gave the VFA a product which could compete with the VFL for public interest, and it made the late 1930s and 1940s one of the most successful periods in the VFA's history.[18] The VFA competition went into recess from 1942 until 1944 due to World War II, but continued to perform strongly upon returning in 1945. The VFA was incorporated in 1946.[19]

While the throw-pass was in effect, particularly during the early 1940s, there were talks between the VFA and VFL towards re-amalgamating the two bodies. Although the throw-pass had been a great success for the VFA, it was felt that a single controlling body for football in Victoria playing under a uniform set of rules was in the best interests of football as a whole. Negotiations for an amalgamation took place over several years, but broke down several times over a variety of issues, including representation at board level, Australian National Football Council representation, and a promotion and relegation structure between the VFA and VFL.[20]

In the end, the two bodies never amalgamated, but the schism ended in 1949 when the bodies re-established a permit reciprocity agreement and the VFA was granted a non-voting position on the Australian National Football Council, later upgraded to a voting position in 1953;[21] as a condition of joining, it was forced to abandon the throw-pass rule and adopt the national standard rules.[22] These changes benefitted Victorian football as a whole, gave the VFA a say in national administration of the game. It also gave the VFA the right to compete in interstate matches, and at interstate carnivals over the 1950s and 1960s, the VFA generally competed at a similar standard to Tasmania as the fourth- or fifth-best team in the competition.

However, joining the ANFC also stripped the VFA of the throw-pass, and therefore of the on-field distinctions which allowed it to compete with the VFL for fans; this, coupled with the increased mobility of suburban Melburnians – who, due to the increased affordability of cars and the lifting in 1950 of wartime travel restrictions, were no longer captive audiences for their local VFA teams – resulted in a significant downturn in most VFA clubs during the 1950s. On-field, the competition became dominated by the few clubs with strong community links such as Port Melbourne, Williamstown, Sandringham, Oakleigh and Moorabbin (who had joined the VFA alongside Box Hill in 1951); the gap between those clubs and the weaker clubs, many of whom were periodically forced to play as amateurs due to a lack of money, grew large and the popularity of the competition declined.[23]

Gillon era (1954–1980)

Alex Gillon presided over the VFA from 1954 until 1980. During that time, the VFA underwent a series of changes to reinvigorate it after its post-throw pass decline of the 1950s. Major strategic changes were undertaken, including:

  • As Melbourne expanded geographically, the VFA embarked on a deliberate plan to establish its presence in new areas by expanding the number of teams into the newer, outer suburbs. Between 1958 and 1966, new clubs were added in Dandenong, Geelong West, Mordialloc, Sunshine, Frankston, Waverley and Werribee.[24]
  • In 1961, when the eighteenth club joined, the VFA was split into First and Second Divisions, the First Division having 10 teams, and Second Division holding the balance, with one team promoted and one team relegated between the two divisions each season. This plan was aimed at improving overall competitiveness of the competition and overcoming the huge gap between the strongest and weakest clubs which had led to unentertaining football in the late 1950s.[25]
  • In 1959, the VFA again reduced the size of the on-field team to sixteen, eliminating the two wing positions, to result in a more open field than under league rules. The VFA played 16-a-side from 1959 until 1992.[26]
  • In 1960, the VFA first began playing premiership matches on Sundays. This allowed VFA matches to be played without competing the VFL for spectators, and within a few years, clubs found that Sunday matches were as much as three to four times more lucrative than Saturday games.[27] By the 1970s, all games were played on a Sunday, while the VFL played its games on Saturdays. This was similar to the College/Pro football day divide still present in the US. The Victorian Government supported the VFA's new-found vigour, and rejected requests by the VFL to hold its own games on Sundays until the mid-1980s.
  • Finally, the VFA's importance grew significantly after signing a television broadcast deal with ATV0 (later Network Ten), which saw a weekly live broadcast (in colour, when the technology became available) of one game from 1967 until 1981, at a time when VFL matches were shown only as partial replays.[28]

All of these changes resulted in the VFA enjoying a successful period during the 1970s. Increased sponsorship, public awareness, and a greater number of former and fringe VFL players joining the VFA gave it a product which allowed it to flourish in the Sunday timeslot. The VFA at this time comprised twenty clubs, ten in each division, with a constant membership between 1966 and 1981. Attendances at matches more than doubled between 1967 and 1975.[29]

The VFA's relationship with the VFL and ANFC again deteriorated during the 1960s. In 1965, the VFA stopped recognising its permit reciprocity agreement in retribution for two takeovers of VFA club grounds by VFL clubs (St Kilda at Moorabbin and North Melbourne at Coburg);[30] then in 1967, the VFL stopped recognising the agreement in retribution for the VFA's the introduction of excessive transfer fees on its players.[31] After the VFA refused to comply with an ANFC demand that a new reciprocal permit agreement be established, the VFA was expelled from the ANFC in 1970.[32][33]

Decline (1981–1994)

The decline of the VFA is often said to have commenced in 1982 when the VFL's struggling South Melbourne Swans moved to Sydney, as all Sydney Swans home games were played on Sunday and televised, ending the VFA's monopoly on Sunday football; Network Ten ended its weekly VFA coverage in the same year.[34] However, this was not the sole cause for decline, which had started in the late 1970s: changing demographics meant that many traditional clubs had slowly found themselves in areas with high migrant populations, which either made it difficult to compete with soccer for local for fans and players, or simply brought a level of cultural apathy towards the sport in general; VFA historian Marc Fiddian also noted a decline in the number of ex-VFL players signing with VFA clubs through the late 1970s, which reduced the Association's drawing power, and an increasing gulf in quality between the best and worst clubs.[35] Player payments increased through the 1980s, and declining financial support and sponsorship meant that many clubs began to struggle badly. The VFA had also developed a reputation for rough play and violence, and it was not until the late 1980s that it was able to clean up on-field discipline and shake that image.[36]

In 1981, new VFA president Alan Wickes attempted to rectify the decline with further expansion: the VFA expanded further into the outer suburbs to twenty-four teams in 1983, adding Springvale, Moorabbin, Kilsyth and Berwick, and Wickes had a vision of expanding to thirty teams with an additional lower division which could affiliate more directly with the top tiers of suburban football; but (with the exception of Springvale), the new second division teams did little to reinvigorate the competition, and the clubs rejected any further expansion.[37]

The VFA's direction changed dramatically with the election of Brook Andersen as president in 1985. At the time, the VFL was looking at national expansion (ultimately becoming the Australian Football League in 1990) and Andersen's executive committee believed that the VFA could fill a new role as top state level league in Victoria when this happened; however, it believed that the VFA would need to be rationalised to a competition of twelve financially stable teams for this to occur.[38] Andersen attempted but failed to obtain a mandate from the clubs to impose this rationalisation, but the VFA under his guidance nevertheless contracted, as it showed no lenience in suspending clubs who failed to meet minimum requirements.[39] Several long-term second division clubs, struggling with rising costs and foreseeing the dissolution of the second division (which ultimately occurred when fifteen teams remained in the 1989 season), also took the opportunity to return to suburban football before being forced out.[40] The eight-year period between 1984 and 1991 saw twelve clubs exit the VFA: Mordialloc, Kilsyth, Berwick, Geelong West and Camberwell returned to suburban football; Yarraville, Moorabbin, Northcote and Caulfield were suspended; and Sunshine, Brunswick-Broadmeadows and Waverley all folded.

The VFA rejoined the ANFC as a non-voting member in 1987,[41] and replaced the board of club delegates with an independent executive committee in 1988.[42] It also regained weekly television coverage from the 1988 season onwards, with the ABC broadcasting a match each Saturday.[43] It returned to the standard 18-per-side rules in 1993.

End of the VFA (1994–1999)

Despite the rationalisation to its twelve strongest teams and improved television coverage, the financial position of the competition and the vast majority of its clubs remained perilous into the early 1990s, and it was clear that the VFA was no longer a viable independent body in the long term.[44] At the end of the 1994 season, the VFA was formally disbanded in an administrative capacity, and the on-field competition was turned over to the AFL's Victorian State Football League which the AFL had set up two years earlier to take control of Australian football at all levels in Victoria and which ran the statewide under-18s competition (the present day NAB League) and the AFL reserves competition in Victoria. This ended the VFA's 97 years of independence from the VFL/AFL and, for the first time since 1896, created a single control for most Australian football in Victoria.[45] Victorian Football Association Limited was deregistered in 2012.[19]

AFL control

New VFL competition

The VSFL retained the use of the VFA name for the competition for the 1995 season but, in 1996, renamed the competition Victorian Football League (VFL), the AFL's former name until 1990.[46]The VSFL sought to align the competition with the under-18s competition, with each former VFA club affiliated with an under-18s team to provide a developmental pathway from under-18 football into state-level senior football. In doing this, the number of metropolitan teams was cut from twelve to nine in 1995, with Prahran, Oakleigh and Dandenong departing. This left nine clubs with a VFA heritage, coming from different eras: Port Melbourne and Williamstown from the pre-1897 era; Preston, Coburg and Sandringham from the 1920s expansion; Box Hill, Werribee and Frankston from the 1950s/1960s expansion; and Springvale from the 1980s expansion.

The VSFL intended that each statewide under-18s team would be affiliated with a VFL club, so embarked upon a period of expansion to represent the four under-18s teams from country Victoria, as well as Tasmania (which was represented in the competition for a period of time).[47] In this expansion, existing powerhouse country clubs North Ballarat and Traralgon joined the league in 1996, with new clubs established in Bendigo, Albury (the Murray Kangaroos, representing the Ovens & Murray region) and Tasmania between 1998 and 2001. The regional senior clubs struggled to be financially viable in the statewide competition, with Traralgon and Murray lasting only two and three years respectively. Since 2018, no regional clubs have contested the competition.

Merger with the AFL reserves (2000–2019)

From 1995 until 1999, the VSFL operated its two open-age competitions – the VFA/VFL and the Victorian AFL reserves competition – separately; however, its intention had always been to merge the two, and this took place following the 1999 season, after the agreement of the AFL clubs. Under the administration's new name Football Victoria (later AFL Victoria), those two competitions were merged into a single competition still known as the Victorian Football League. Since this time, the VFL has been contested by a mixture of three types of clubs:

  • VFL clubs, operating on a stand-alone basis and maintaining a complete list of players
  • The reserves teams of AFL clubs, comprised on AFL reserves players and a small list of supplementary players to make up a full team
  • VFL clubs operating under an affiliation arrangements with an AFL clubs, whereby players from the AFL club would join the senior team of the VFL club when not selected to play in the AFL. At times, there were rules limiting the number of AFL-listed players who could play in a VFL team, but these rules no longer exist.

All three models compete to a relatively even standard, with premierships having been won by all three types of team since the merger. An additional reserves affiliation option, under which AFL clubs were allowed to spread their reserves players across all of the league's VFL clubs rather than into a single aligned club, has also existed since 2021 but has not been taken up by any AFL clubs.[48]

The affiliation deals greatly improved the financial viability of the clubs in question, but they diluted their ability to represent their suburb. There have been many changes to the affiliation arrangements in the decade since the VSFL took over the VFA competition, as well as a shift in the arrangement preferred by the AFL clubs. Initially, only four of the ten Victorian AFL clubs were involved in a VFL affiliation, with the rest fielding reserves teams. At its peak of between 2003 and 2006, nine of the ten Victorian AFL clubs were involved in an affiliation, with only Geelong fielding its own reserves team. Most clubs have since migrated away from this model, and since 2021 seven of the ten Victorian AFL clubs have fielded stand-alone reserves teams in the VFL.[49] Through the 2000s, the AFL preferred that its Victorian clubs retained VFL-affiliations, and offered a disincentive in the form of an inflated licence fee for fielding a stand-alone team; however, the AFL did not otherwise prevent teams from fielding stand-alone reserves teams if they were willing and able to pay the fee.[50] The total licence and running costs for an AFL club to field its reserves team in the VFL were estimated to be $500,000 per year in 2011.

Through this period, the VFL remained moderately popular in Victoria, although not nearly as well-supported as the dominant Australian Football League. Matches attracted both traditional fans of the VFA/VFL clubs, and fans of affiliated AFL clubs keen to watch their reserves players in action. The match of the week and most finals continued to be televised live in Melbourne by the ABC until 2014,[51] and since 2015 by the Seven Network as a lead-in to its AFL coverage.[52]

Northeast expansion (2020–present)

The 2020 VFL season was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon the VFL's resumption in 2021, the North East Australian Football League – which had served as the state league in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory – was wound up and absorbed into the VFL; this resulted in the reserves teams from the New South Wales and Queensland AFL clubs (Sydney, Greater Western Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast) joining the league, and two of the NEAFL's other Queensland-based senior clubs – Aspley and Southport – joining,[48][53] although Aspley departed after the 2021 season.[54] This brought the league to its largest size since the 1980s, with 22 clubs competing: eight stand-alone VFL clubs, eleven AFL reserves teams, and three traditional VFA/VFL clubs in reserves affiliations with AFL clubs.[55][56][57] The league was also revamped to improve its ability to serve as a talent pathway, with each club required to field at least six under-22 players in each game.[58] The 2021 season also saw increased broadcast coverage with Foxtel and its streaming service Kayo showing games in addition to the ongoing deal with Seven Network.[59]

Awards

Best and fairest

The first award for the Association best and fairest player was the Woodham Cup, first awarded in 1923; this was renamed the Recorder Cup in 1926. Starting from 1933, a second award, the V.F.A. Medal, was awarded concurrently; the awards were both based on the votes of the umpires, but were based on different voting systems. In 1940, the Association dispensed with the Recorder Cup voting system, and awarded both trophies to the same player based on the same set of votes.[60]

Since 1945, the award for the best and fairest player in each VFA/VFL season has been the J. J. Liston Trophy, named after long-term Association president John James Liston, who died in 1944.[61]

Other awards

Salary cap

The VFL is classed as a semi-professional competition. In 2007 the league had a salary cap of $185,000, excluding service payments. There are a significantly higher number of AFL reserves due to affiliations with Victorian clubs, but player payments for these appearances is apparently not included in the VFL's salary cap. Following the 2013 VFL season, it was revealed that several clubs were lobbying VFL executives to increase the salary cap in a bid to keep high-level players who had relieved themselves of participating in the league to accept more attractive financial offers in local football competitions, where such caps are far less regulated.[62]

As of the 2022 season, standalone clubs in the league, of which there are eight, have a A$220,000 salary cap, while the AFL reserve and affiliate clubs have a A$110,000 salary cap.[63]

Attendance

Attendances are small by AFL standards, and generally less than the SANFL and WAFL, with an average of between 500 and 1,000 in attendance. Crowds for many finals matches tend to average in the 2,000–6,000 range, with the Grand Final typically attracting a crowd in the 10,000–14,000 mark.[64][65][66]

The VFL does not publish home-and-away attendance figures, as some games are played as AFL curtain raisers; however, various sources quote attendances for some games of the stronger clubs that maintain home records of their own.

Premierships

Recent Grand Finals

Season 2022 Premiers Result Runners-up Venue Crowd Norm Goss Memorial Medal Club
2022 Casey Demons   10.10 (70) – 5.8 (38)   Southport Princes Park 5,000 Mitch White Casey Demons
2021 Season curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Richmond   8.10 (58) – 7.13 (55)   Williamstown Princes Park 13,165[67] Marlion Pickett Richmond Reserves
2018 Box Hill   10.12 (72) – 8.14 (62)   Casey Docklands Stadium 12,884 David Mirra Box Hill
2017 Port Melbourne   11.8 (74) – 10.10 (70)   Richmond 17,159 Sam Lloyd Richmond Reserves
2016 Footscray   13.19 (97) – 10.6 (66)   Casey 17,348 Lin Jong Footscray Reserves
2015 Williamstown   18.12 (120) – 8.18 (66)   Box Hill 12,900 Michael Gibbons Williamstown
2014 Footscray   16.13 (109) – 13.9 (87)   Box Hill 23,816 Brett Goodes Footscray Reserves
2013 Box Hill   14.15 (99) – 11.12 (78)   Geelong 15,100 Jonathan Simpkin Box Hill

Media coverage

Television

Television coverage has been critical to the exposure of the VFA/VFL during its history, and has typically taken the form of the match of the week being televised live into Melbourne, as well as most finals. Television and streaming deals during the league's history are as follows:

  • 1967–1981: weekly broadcasts of Sunday's match of the round on ATV0 (later Network Ten)[28]
  • 1984–1986: match of the round in the final two rounds, plus finals on Network Ten[68]
  • 1987: finals only on ABC Victoria[69]
  • 1988–2014: weekly broadcasts of match of the round on Saturday afternoons, plus most or all finals, on ABC Victoria.[51]
  • 2000: in addition to ABC's coverage, one Monday night match televised each week on the Seven Network's C7 Sport subscription channel. At this time, pay TV penetration was low, and this lasted only one year.
  • 2015–2019: weekly broadcasts of match of the round on Saturday afternoons, plus most finals, on Seven Network[52]
  • 2021: up to three matches per round available on sports streaming service Kayo Sports, one Sunday "match of the round" game broadcast on Seven, and one Thursday night game broadcast on Fox Footy (only when no AFL Thursday night fixture is scheduled).[70]
  • 2022–present: one match per round broadcast live on Seven Network and available live and on-demand nationally on 7plus streaming site, and all additional matches live streamed and available on demand on the AFL website and AFL Live app.[71]

The VFA holds the distinction of having the first match to be broadcast live on television in Australia, when the second half of the match between Oakleigh and Preston on 25 May 1957 was televised on Channel 2.[72]

Radio

The first regular radio broadcasts of VFA games were made by 3XY, a little after the station commenced operations in 1935. The commentator was former Geelong VFL player Wallace "Jumbo" Sharland who had earlier been the first to describe VFL matches, that being on 3AR in 1923. In 1954 3AK began broadcasting VFA games, albeit only for a season or two. The 1970s also saw broadcasts on 3UZ, and local Geelong station, 3GL, broadcast all Geelong West matches. In 1982, the then-dominant Melbourne sports radio station, 3AW, broadcast the Grand Final. In 2003, 3AK evolved into sports radio station SEN 1116, and provided a coverage of VFL matches, but this was discontinued after they won the rights to broadcast the AFL (Australian Football League) from the 2007 season. From 1993 onwards radio's main home for the competition was on Casey Radio where the team, headed up by Ken Moore, did a terrific job bringing games to the wider public. The station gave a start to such broadcasters as Nigel Carmody, Darren Parkin and Tristan Foenander and has proven a terrific breeding ground for emerging sports broadcasters. The station still broadcasts the league today, combined with doing the local league down in Melbourne's southeast.[73]

VFL Radio is produced by BPM Media who broadcast live at least one game a week during the regular season plus each day of the finals series. The coverage is broadcast on the Vision Australia Radio network throughout Victoria on analogue radio, by Aussie digital radio (SEN 2) and on the internet at vfl.com.au or bpmmedia.com.au.[74]

Clubs

Current clubs

Twenty-one clubs formed the VFL in the 2022 season.

Club Colours Moniker State Home venue Est. Former
league
VFA/VFL seasons VFA/VFL premierships
First Total Total Most recent
Box Hill (A)
 
Hawks Victoria Box Hill City Oval 1936 ESFL 1951 71 5 2018
Brisbane (R)
 
Lions Queensland Springfield Central Stadium 1998 NEAFL 2021 2
Carlton (R)
 
Blues Victoria Princes Park 1919 AFLR 2000 5
Casey (A)
 
Demons Victoria Casey Fields 1903 FFL 1982 40 7 2022
Coburg
 
Lions Victoria Coburg City Oval 1891 MDA 1925 94 8 1989
Collingwood (R)
 
Magpies Victoria Olympic Park Oval 1919 AFLR 2000 15
Essendon (R)
 
Bombers Victoria Windy Hill 1919 AFLR 2000 12
Footscray (R)
 
Bulldogs Victoria Whitten Oval 1925 AFLR 2014 8 2 2016
Frankston
 
Dolphins Victoria Frankston Park 1887 MPFL 1966 55 1 1978(^)
Geelong (R)
 
Cats Victoria Kardinia Park 1919 AFLR 2000 22 3 2012
Gold Coast (R)
 
Suns Queensland Metricon Stadium 2011 NEAFL 2021 2
Greater Western
Sydney
(R)
 
Giants New South Wales Blacktown ISP Oval 2012 NEAFL 2021 2
North Melbourne (R)
 
Kangaroos Victoria Arden Street Oval 1925 AFLR 2018 4
Northern Bullants
 
Bullants Victoria Preston City Oval 1882 VJFA 1903 105 6 1984
Port Melbourne
 
Borough Victoria North Port Oval 1874 1886 131 17 2017
Richmond (R)
 
Tigers Victoria Punt Road Oval 1919 AFLR 2000 9 1 2019
Sandringham (A)
 
Zebras Victoria Trevor Barker Beach Oval 1929 1929 93 10 2006
Southport
 
Sharks Queensland Fankhauser Reserve 1961 NEAFL 2021 2
Sydney (R)
 
Swans New South Wales Tramway Oval 1919 NEAFL 2021 2
Werribee
 
Tigers Victoria Chirnside Park 1964 1965 58 1 1993
Williamstown
 
Seagulls Victoria Williamstown Cricket Ground 1864 1884 133 16 2015
(R) denotes that the club is the reserve team of a senior AFL club
(A) denotes that the club is the affiliate team of an AFL club
^ denotes that the club's most recent senior premiership was in the second division
  • AFLR - Australian Football League Reserves
  • ESFL - Eastern Suburbs Football League
  • FFL - Fderal Football League
  • MDA - Melbourne District Association
  • MPFL - Mornington Peninsula Football League
  • NEAFL - North East Australian Football League
  • VJFA - Victorian Junior Football Association

Former clubs

The VFA and VFL have undergone significant format changes since its induction which means several clubs have either left the league or changed identity for different reasons. Excluded from this list are provincial clubs who were full administrative members of the VFA in its first decade, but who never played enough games against other clubs to be considered relevant in the premiership.

Club Moniker and Colour(s) Location State Stadium Est. Season VFA/VFL
Premierships
VFA Division 2
Premierships
(1961–1988)
Current League
Albert-park   
Parkites
Albert Park VIC Emerald Hill Ground 1867 18771879 0 Merged
1880 with South Melbourne (now SydneyAFL)
Aspley   
Hornets
Carseldine QLD Graham Road Oval 1964 2021 0 QAFL/QFA
Ballarat   
Swans
Ballarat VIC Alfredton Recreation Reserve 1860 18781896
(Administrative)
0 Ballarat FL
Ballarat Imperial    
Imps
Ballarat VIC ? 1876 18851896
(Administrative)
0 Folded
1950s
Bendigo   
Diggers, Bombers, Gold
Bendigo VIC Queen Elizabeth Oval 1998 19982014 0 Folded
2014
Berwick    
Wickers
Berwick VIC Arch Brown Reserve
Manuka Road Oval
1903 19831987 0 Eastern FL
Brighton   
Penguins
Brighton VIC Brighton Beach Oval
Elsternwick Park
1885 19081961 1 0 Merged
1962 with South Caulfield
BrightonCaulfield   
Penguins
Caulfield South VIC Princes Park, Caulfield 1962 19621964 0 Renamed
1965 became Caulfield
Brunswick
(Brunswick-Broadmeadows)
  
Magpies
Brunswick VIC Gillon Oval 1865 18971991 3 3 Folded
1991
Camberwell    
Cobras
Camberwell VIC Camberwell Sportsground 1896 19261991 0 2 Folded
1994
Carlton (S)   
Blues
Carlton VIC Various grounds around Carlton 1864 18771896 2 AFL
Caulfield   
Bears
Caulfield South VIC Princes Park, Caulfield 1957 19651987 0 1 Folded
1989
Collingwood (S)   
Magpies
Abbotsford VIC Victoria Park 1892 18921896 1 AFL
Dandenong   
Dandies, Redlegs
Dandenong VIC Shepley Oval ca. 1875 19581994 3 1 Folded
1994
East Melbourne East Melbourne VIC 1878 18801882 0 Folded
1882
Essendon (S)   
Dons, Same Olds
East Melbourne VIC East Melbourne Cricket Ground 1871 18781896 4 AFL
Essendon A.
(Essendon Town)
  
Dons, Dreadnoughts
Essendon VIC Essendon Cricket Ground 1900 19001921 2 Folded
1921
Fitzroy (S)   
Maroons
Fitzroy North VIC Fitzroy Cricket Ground 1883 18831896 1 Merged
1996 with Brisbane Bears (now Brisbane LionsAFL)
Footscray (S)    
Tricolours
Footscray VIC Western Oval, Footscray 1877 18861924 9 AFL
(as Western Bulldogs)
Geelong (S)   
Pivotonians
East Geelong VIC Corio Oval 1859 18771896 7 AFL
Geelong A.    Geelong VIC Kardinia Park
Western Oval, Geelong
1922 19221927 0 Folded
1927
Geelong West   
Roosters
Geelong West VIC Western Oval, Geelong 1878 19631988 1 3 Geelong FL
(as Geelong West Giants)
Gold Coast (S)   
Suns
Carrara QLD Fankhauser Reserve 2009 2010 0 AFL
Hawthorn (S)   
Mayblooms
Hawthorn VIC Glenferrie Oval 1902 19141924 0 AFL
Kilsyth   
Cougars
Kilsyth VIC Kilsyth Recreation Reserve 1923 19821984 0 Eastern FL
Melbourne (S)   
Redlegs, Fuchsias
East Melbourne VIC Melbourne Cricket Ground 1858 18771896 0 AFL
Melbourne City   
East Melbourne VIC East Melbourne Cricket Ground 1912 19121913 0 Folded
1913
Moorabbin (1)   
Kangaroos
Moorabbin VIC Moorabbin Oval 1909 19511963 2 Folded
1964
Moorabbin (2)   
Kangaroos
McKinnon VIC Moorabbin Oval
Bentleigh Recreation Reserve
1979 19831987 0 Folded
1987
Mordialloc   
Bloodhounds
Mordialloc VIC Ben Kavanagh Reserve 1891 19581988 0 1 Southern FL
Murray   
Kangaroos
Coburg
Albury
VIC
NSW
Coburg City Oval
Lavington Sports Ground
2000 20002002 0 Folded
2002
North Ballarat   
Roosters
Wendouree VIC Eureka Stadium 1882 19962017 3 Ballarat FL
North Melbourne (S)
(Hotham)
  
Shinboners
North Melbourne VIC North Melbourne Cricket Ground 1869 18771924 6 AFL
Northcote   
Dragons
Westgarth VIC Northcote Park 1870s 19081987 5 2 Folded
1987
Oakleigh   
Oaks, Devils
Oakleigh VIC Warrawee Park 1891 19291994 6 2 Folded
1994
Prahran (1)    St Kilda VIC Albert Cricket Ground
Wesley College Ground
1886 18861887 0 Merged
1888 with St Kilda
Prahran (2)   
Two Blues
Armadale VIC Toorak Park 1899 18991994
(excl. 1959)
5 2 VAFA
(as Prahran/Assumption)
Richmond (S)   
Tigers
East Melbourne VIC Richmond Cricket Ground 1885 18851907 2 AFL
St Kilda (S)    
Saints
St Kilda VIC St Kilda Cricket Ground 1873
18771879
18861896
0 AFL
St Kilda reserves    
Saints
Moorabbin VIC Moorabbin Oval 1873
2000 0 Recess
Affiliated with Sandringham
South Ballarat
(Albion Imperial)
   Ballarat VIC ? ca. 1877 18831896
(Administrative)
0 Folded
1941
South Melbourne (S)   
Southerners
South Melbourne VIC South Melbourne Cricket Ground 1874
18791896 5 AFL
(as Sydney)
South Williamstown    Williamstown VIC Williamstown Cricket Ground 1886 18861887 0 Merged
1888 with Williamstown
Sunshine   
Crows
Braybrook VIC Selwyn Park
Skinner Reserve
1938 19591989 0 1 Folded
1990
Tasmania     
Devils
Hobart
Launceston
TAS North Hobart Oval
Bellerive Oval
York Park
2001 20012008 0 Folded
2008
Traralgon   
Maroons
Traralgon VIC Traralgon Reserve 1883 19961997 0 Gippsland FL
University   
Parkville VIC 1885 18851888 0 VAFA
Waverley   
Panthers
Glen Waverley VIC Central Reserve 1908 19611987 1 0 Folded
1988
West Melbourne   
Wests
North Melbourne VIC North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 1874 18781880
18991907
1 Folded
1908
Yarraville    
Eagles
Yarraville VIC Yarraville Oval 1903 19281983 2 0 Folded
1984
  • (S) - Senior team now in the AFL

Timeline

Map


VFA presidents

The following men served as president of the VFA between its establishment in 1877 and its becoming defunct in 1994.

No. President Club Tenure
1 William Clarke, MLC[75] Melbourne 1877–1881
2 Cr James Garton[75] 1882–1886
3 Frank Grey Smith[75] Melbourne 1887–1896
4 Theodore Fink, MLA[75] Richmond 1897–1900
5 James Hall[76] Williamstown 1901–1902
6 Cr John George Aikman[77] Essendon (A.) 1903–1928[78]
7 Cr John James Liston[79] Williamstown 1929–1944
8 Henry Zwar, MLA[80] Preston 1944–1946
9 Squire Reid, MLA[81] Oakleigh 1947–1949
10 Dr Frank Hartnett[82] Camberwell 1949–1950
11 Lewis Page[83] Brighton 1951–1953
12 Cr Alex Gillon[84] Brunswick 1954–1980
13 Alan Wickes[85] Frankston 1981–1984
14 Brook Andersen[86] Brunswick 1985–1989
15 John Grieve[87] Williamstown 1989–1992
16 Tony Hannebery[88] Williamstown 1993–1994

VFL Women's

From the 2016 season, a statewide women's football league aligned with the VFL was established by AFL Victoria. The competition initially comprised the six Premier Division clubs and the top four Division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), and was aligned and co-branded with the VFL to improve market penetration.[89] Following the 2017 season, the competition was reconfigured to affiliate teams more closely with AFL clubs. Since 2018, the league has comprised thirteen teams; twelve are based in Victoria (nine of which are affiliated with AFL clubs) and one in the Northern Territory.[90] The league runs from May to September, running concurrently with the VFL.

Former grades

Seconds/reserves

The VFA/VFL operated a seconds or reserves competition from the 1920s, initially emerging from the Victorian Junior Football Association. From its inception until 1979, the seconds team played on Saturday afternoons, playing at home when the senior team played away and vice versa. Since 1980, seconds matches have been played as curtain-raisers to senior matches, on Saturdays or Sundays as necessary.[91] The competition was later renamed the reserves, and then from the beginning of the 2012 season it has been known as the AFL Victoria Development League, a move that coincided with the introduction of the AFL Victoria Development Academy which provides development opportunities for up to 25 selected VFL players per year.[92] For most of the VFA's history, fielding a team in the seconds grade was mandatory for all senior teams, but in the state league era many regional clubs – as well as all AFL clubs fielding their reserves teams in the VFL seniors – opted not to contest the minor grade. The Development League was abolished after the 2017 season with all VFL clubs' reserve players now play suburban football when not playing with the VFL seniors.[93] (List of VFL Seconds Premiers)

Thirds/Under-19s

The VFA operated an under-19s competition, initially known as the Thirds, between 1952 and 1994.[94] The Under-19s was disbanded when the AFL's VSFL took over the VFA competition after the 1994, with the statewide under-19s competition (the present day NAB League) replacing its function as an under-18s competition. (List of VFA Thirds Premiers)

Records

Highest Scores

Score Team Opponent Year Round Ground
55.17 (347) Williamstown Camberwell 1986 Rd 16 Camberwell Sportsground
52.31 (343) Waverley Sunshine 1981 Rd 1 Central Reserve
48.21 (309) Springvale Sunshine 1983 Rd 18 Springvale Reserve
46.31 (307) Brunswick Sunshine 1983 Rd 12 Brunswick Park
46.21 (297) Coburg Camberwell 1989 Rd 5 Camberwell Sportsground

Largest Winning Margins

Margin Team Opponent Year Round Ground
315 pts Williamstown Camberwell 1986 Rd 16 Camberwell Sportsground
290 pts Waverley Sunshine 1981 Rd 1 Central Reserve
275 pts Brunswick Sunshine 1983 Rd 12 Brunswick Park
254 pts Box Hill Sunshine 1984 Rd 16 Box Hill City Oval
246 pts Brunswick Kilsyth 1984 Rd 18 Brunswick Park

See also

References

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External links

  • Official website  

victorian, football, league, this, article, about, present, competition, organisation, known, until, 1990, australian, football, league, redirects, here, other, uses, disambiguation, australian, rules, football, competition, australia, operated, australian, fo. This article is about the present day Victorian Football League competition For the organisation known as the Victorian Football League until 1990 see Australian Football League VFL redirects here For other uses see VFL disambiguation The Victorian Football League VFL is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League AFL as a second tier regional semi professional competition It includes teams from clubs based in eastern states of Australia Victoria New South Wales and Queensland including reserves teams for the eastern state AFL clubs It succeeded and continues the competition of the former Victorian Football Association VFA which began in 1877 The name of the competition was changed to VFL in 1996 Under its VFL brand the AFL also operates a women s football competition known as VFL Women s which was established in 2016 Victorian Football LeagueCurrent season competition or edition 2023 VFL seasonFormerlyVictorian Football Association VFA 1877 1995 SportAustralian rules footballFounded17 May 1877 145 years ago 1877 05 17 in Melbourne Inaugural season1877AdministratorAFL VictoriaNo of teams21CountryAustraliaMost recentchampion s CaseyMost titlesPort Melbourne 17 titles TV partner s Seven NetworkRelatedcompetitionsAFL NAB LeagueOfficial websitevfl wbr com wbr auIts predecessor the VFA was formed in 1877 and was the second oldest Australian rules football league replacing the loose affiliation of clubs that existed in the early years of the game The VFA was the top level club competition in Victoria until 1896 but became the secondary level competition from 1897 after its eight strongest clubs seceded to form the VFL now AFL As a secondary level competition the VFA enjoyed peaks of popularity in the 1940s with a faster paced rival code of rules and in the 1970s by playing on Sundays at a time when its competitor the VFL played on Saturdays In 1995 the VFA ceased to exist as an independent organisation and control of its football competition was taken over by its former rival the AFL which operates the competition through its subsidiary the Victorian State Football League AFL clubs reserves teams first entered the competition in 2000 In 2021 the competition expanded geographically when the AFL merged it with the North East Australian Football League to include clubs from New South Wales and Queensland In 2022 it comprised 21 teams from the eastern states nine of which have a continuous VFA heritage Contents 1 History 1 1 Victorian Football Association 1 1 1 VFA formative years 1877 1896 1 1 2 Split 1897 1937 1 1 3 Throw pass era 1938 1949 1 1 4 Gillon era 1954 1980 1 1 5 Decline 1981 1994 1 1 6 End of the VFA 1994 1999 1 2 AFL control 1 2 1 New VFL competition 1 2 2 Merger with the AFL reserves 2000 2019 1 2 3 Northeast expansion 2020 present 2 Awards 2 1 Best and fairest 2 2 Other awards 3 Salary cap 4 Attendance 5 Premierships 5 1 Recent Grand Finals 6 Media coverage 6 1 Television 6 2 Radio 7 Clubs 7 1 Current clubs 7 2 Former clubs 7 3 Timeline 7 4 Map 8 VFA presidents 9 VFL Women s 10 Former grades 10 1 Seconds reserves 10 2 Thirds Under 19s 11 Records 11 1 Highest Scores 11 2 Largest Winning Margins 12 See also 13 References 14 External linksHistory EditVictorian Football Association Edit VFA formative years 1877 1896 Edit Melbourne FC team of 1879 The Victorian Football Association VFA was founded on 17 May 1877 at the meeting of club secretaries immediately preceding the 1877 season It was formed out of a desire to provide a formal administrative structure to the governance of the sport and it had the power to impose binding decisions on its members on matters including the Laws of the Game player eligibility and other disputes as well as to facilitate intercolonial football Decisions were made based on a vote of the Board of Management which was composed of two delegates from each senior club 1 a structure which was retained until the late 1980s It replaced a system under which the secretaries of the senior clubs met at the beginning of each year to decide on matters of mutual interest but the system was informal and disputes often went unresolved 2 3 Scenes from an 1891 VFA Premiership Match between Essendon and Carlton The five foundation senior clubs in the Melbourne metropolitan area were Albert park Carlton Hotham later North Melbourne Melbourne and St Kilda Provincial clubs were also eligible for senior representation on the Association even though most seldom played matches against the metropolitan teams Geelong the nearest provincial club to the metropolis was the most prominent provincial club joining the Association in 1877 4 and playing regularly against metropolitan clubs by 1880 There was no formal system of promotion and relegation between the senior and junior levels with it largely at a club s discretion whether or not it joined the Association as a paying senior member The affiliation fee for senior clubs was initially set at one guinea Through the first decade of the VFA s existence the structure of the football season did not change significantly from the informal system which had evolved over previous years Setting of fixtures was the responsibility of club secretaries rather than the Association itself and in a typical season a club could play against other VFA teams non VFA clubs at odds against junior teams usually twenty players against twenty three and in some seasons against intercolonial teams although as the number of senior clubs increased the number of matches against non VFA clubs declined Prior to the 1888 season there was no formally endorsed system for awarding a VFA premiership 5 as had been the case since the early 1870s the premier club was determined by public and press consensus which by the mid 1880s was conventionally but informally understood to be the senior club which suffered the fewest losses during the season 6 Premierships won under this then informal method are now considered official and consensus was typically uncontroversial In 1888 the VFA first took responsibility for the onfield competition and introduced its first formal premiership system by adopting a system of premiership points 6 it also awarded for the first time a premiership cap in the Association s colours to players of the premier team 7 The Association s influence over the on field competition grew and from 1894 the Association assumed responsibility for centrally setting the fixtures and standardising the number of games played by each team 8 After the formal introduction of the premiership the often changeable collection of senior clubs in the VFA soon became settled at twelve premiership eligible clubs Carlton Essendon Fitzroy Footscray Geelong Melbourne North Melbourne Port Melbourne Richmond St Kilda South Melbourne and Williamstown they were joined by a thirteenth club Collingwood in 1892 Three Ballarat based clubs Ballarat Ballarat Imperial and South Ballarat were also voting members of the VFA through this time but were not involved in the onfield premiership 9 Split 1897 1937 Edit Action from the 1896 VFA Grand Final won by Collingwood over South Melbourne at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground This was the first Victorian Grand Final and a significant moment in the breakaway movement Brunswick during the early 1900s The highlighted section in the bottom right hand corner shows the future Australian Prime Minister John Curtin During the 1890s there was an off field power struggle within the VFA between the stronger and weaker clubs as the stronger clubs sought greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to the game This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits which were always lower in matches against the weaker clubs be shared equally amongst the Association clubs in response to the threat that this might be endorsed on the votes of the weaker clubs six of the strongest clubs Collingwood Essendon Fitzroy Geelong Melbourne and South Melbourne seceded from the VFA inviting Carlton and St Kilda to join them to form the Victorian Football League VFL which became the leading senior football body in Victoria The remaining VFA clubs Footscray North Melbourne Port Melbourne Richmond and Williamstown were given the opportunity to compete as a junior competition under and without representation on the VFL s administration but rejected the offer and continued as an independent body 10 The two new competitions competed in parallel from their respective 1897 seasons The VFA rebuilt to ten clubs over its first independent decade mostly by adding leading junior clubs to its ranks such as Brunswick Prahran West Melbourne Essendon Town Association Preston Brighton Northcote and Hawthorn Because the VFA was independent from the VFL and upon its establishment in 1906 the Australasian Football Council the VFA had the power to set its own rules The VFA reduced the number of on field players from twenty to eighteen in 1897 a move followed by the VFL two years later The VFA tried reducing the number of players further to 17 in 1908 11 then to 16 in 1912 12 before reverting to the national standard 18 in 1919 13 The VFA went into recess during World War I with the 1916 and 1917 seasons cancelled and the 1915 and 1918 seasons shortened Northcote s 1929 premiership side Second from right front row is Doug Nicholls Over the first thirty years of the VFA s independence its relationship with the VFL was in general mutually antagonistic At different times 1913 1918 and 1923 1925 the two competitions had permit reciprocity agreements in place to prevent one competition from poaching players from the other without a clearance but these were sporadic and remained in place only when convenient to both competitions 14 At the same time the strongest clubs in the VFA often sought to defect to the VFL which the VFL was happy to encourage when it expanded and there were ultimately four defections Richmond in 1908 and Footscray North Melbourne and Hawthorn in 1925 Attempting to defect was seen as treacherous within the VFA and clubs which attempted to defect but failed were sometimes expelled from the VFA by the remaining clubs North Melbourne was expelled from the VFA twice in 1908 and 1921 before reforming and rejoining on both occasions and West Melbourne was expelled permanently in 1908 15 16 The loss of the VFA s strongest three clubs to the VFL in 1925 firmly cemented the VFA as the second tier competition in the state Between 1925 and 1929 the addition of outer suburban clubs in Coburg 1925 Camberwell 1926 a new club from Preston 1926 Yarraville 1928 Oakleigh 1929 and Sandringham 1929 expanded the VFA back to twelve teams The relationship with the VFL improved and a new permit reciprocity agreement was established in 1931 17 Throw pass era 1938 1949 Edit Main article Australian rules football schism 1938 1949 In 1938 the VFA made a bold rule change by legalising throwing of the football in general play provided the throw was underarm with both hands below shoulder height The change helped to speed up the game and introduced more run and carry play in an era which had previously been dominated by a long kicking style proving popular with many spectators Additionally the VFA ended its permit agreement with the VFL and began to aggressively recruit star players by offering salaries well in excess of the maximum set by VFL player payment laws This included Laurie Nash Bob Pratt and Ron Todd who were in the primes of their careers and were considered amongst the best players in the country These changes gave the VFA a product which could compete with the VFL for public interest and it made the late 1930s and 1940s one of the most successful periods in the VFA s history 18 The VFA competition went into recess from 1942 until 1944 due to World War II but continued to perform strongly upon returning in 1945 The VFA was incorporated in 1946 19 While the throw pass was in effect particularly during the early 1940s there were talks between the VFA and VFL towards re amalgamating the two bodies Although the throw pass had been a great success for the VFA it was felt that a single controlling body for football in Victoria playing under a uniform set of rules was in the best interests of football as a whole Negotiations for an amalgamation took place over several years but broke down several times over a variety of issues including representation at board level Australian National Football Council representation and a promotion and relegation structure between the VFA and VFL 20 In the end the two bodies never amalgamated but the schism ended in 1949 when the bodies re established a permit reciprocity agreement and the VFA was granted a non voting position on the Australian National Football Council later upgraded to a voting position in 1953 21 as a condition of joining it was forced to abandon the throw pass rule and adopt the national standard rules 22 These changes benefitted Victorian football as a whole gave the VFA a say in national administration of the game It also gave the VFA the right to compete in interstate matches and at interstate carnivals over the 1950s and 1960s the VFA generally competed at a similar standard to Tasmania as the fourth or fifth best team in the competition However joining the ANFC also stripped the VFA of the throw pass and therefore of the on field distinctions which allowed it to compete with the VFL for fans this coupled with the increased mobility of suburban Melburnians who due to the increased affordability of cars and the lifting in 1950 of wartime travel restrictions were no longer captive audiences for their local VFA teams resulted in a significant downturn in most VFA clubs during the 1950s On field the competition became dominated by the few clubs with strong community links such as Port Melbourne Williamstown Sandringham Oakleigh and Moorabbin who had joined the VFA alongside Box Hill in 1951 the gap between those clubs and the weaker clubs many of whom were periodically forced to play as amateurs due to a lack of money grew large and the popularity of the competition declined 23 Gillon era 1954 1980 Edit Alex Gillon presided over the VFA from 1954 until 1980 During that time the VFA underwent a series of changes to reinvigorate it after its post throw pass decline of the 1950s Major strategic changes were undertaken including As Melbourne expanded geographically the VFA embarked on a deliberate plan to establish its presence in new areas by expanding the number of teams into the newer outer suburbs Between 1958 and 1966 new clubs were added in Dandenong Geelong West Mordialloc Sunshine Frankston Waverley and Werribee 24 In 1961 when the eighteenth club joined the VFA was split into First and Second Divisions the First Division having 10 teams and Second Division holding the balance with one team promoted and one team relegated between the two divisions each season This plan was aimed at improving overall competitiveness of the competition and overcoming the huge gap between the strongest and weakest clubs which had led to unentertaining football in the late 1950s 25 In 1959 the VFA again reduced the size of the on field team to sixteen eliminating the two wing positions to result in a more open field than under league rules The VFA played 16 a side from 1959 until 1992 26 In 1960 the VFA first began playing premiership matches on Sundays This allowed VFA matches to be played without competing the VFL for spectators and within a few years clubs found that Sunday matches were as much as three to four times more lucrative than Saturday games 27 By the 1970s all games were played on a Sunday while the VFL played its games on Saturdays This was similar to the College Pro football day divide still present in the US The Victorian Government supported the VFA s new found vigour and rejected requests by the VFL to hold its own games on Sundays until the mid 1980s Finally the VFA s importance grew significantly after signing a television broadcast deal with ATV0 later Network Ten which saw a weekly live broadcast in colour when the technology became available of one game from 1967 until 1981 at a time when VFL matches were shown only as partial replays 28 All of these changes resulted in the VFA enjoying a successful period during the 1970s Increased sponsorship public awareness and a greater number of former and fringe VFL players joining the VFA gave it a product which allowed it to flourish in the Sunday timeslot The VFA at this time comprised twenty clubs ten in each division with a constant membership between 1966 and 1981 Attendances at matches more than doubled between 1967 and 1975 29 The VFA s relationship with the VFL and ANFC again deteriorated during the 1960s In 1965 the VFA stopped recognising its permit reciprocity agreement in retribution for two takeovers of VFA club grounds by VFL clubs St Kilda at Moorabbin and North Melbourne at Coburg 30 then in 1967 the VFL stopped recognising the agreement in retribution for the VFA s the introduction of excessive transfer fees on its players 31 After the VFA refused to comply with an ANFC demand that a new reciprocal permit agreement be established the VFA was expelled from the ANFC in 1970 32 33 Decline 1981 1994 Edit The decline of the VFA is often said to have commenced in 1982 when the VFL s struggling South Melbourne Swans moved to Sydney as all Sydney Swans home games were played on Sunday and televised ending the VFA s monopoly on Sunday football Network Ten ended its weekly VFA coverage in the same year 34 However this was not the sole cause for decline which had started in the late 1970s changing demographics meant that many traditional clubs had slowly found themselves in areas with high migrant populations which either made it difficult to compete with soccer for local for fans and players or simply brought a level of cultural apathy towards the sport in general VFA historian Marc Fiddian also noted a decline in the number of ex VFL players signing with VFA clubs through the late 1970s which reduced the Association s drawing power and an increasing gulf in quality between the best and worst clubs 35 Player payments increased through the 1980s and declining financial support and sponsorship meant that many clubs began to struggle badly The VFA had also developed a reputation for rough play and violence and it was not until the late 1980s that it was able to clean up on field discipline and shake that image 36 In 1981 new VFA president Alan Wickes attempted to rectify the decline with further expansion the VFA expanded further into the outer suburbs to twenty four teams in 1983 adding Springvale Moorabbin Kilsyth and Berwick and Wickes had a vision of expanding to thirty teams with an additional lower division which could affiliate more directly with the top tiers of suburban football but with the exception of Springvale the new second division teams did little to reinvigorate the competition and the clubs rejected any further expansion 37 The VFA s direction changed dramatically with the election of Brook Andersen as president in 1985 At the time the VFL was looking at national expansion ultimately becoming the Australian Football League in 1990 and Andersen s executive committee believed that the VFA could fill a new role as top state level league in Victoria when this happened however it believed that the VFA would need to be rationalised to a competition of twelve financially stable teams for this to occur 38 Andersen attempted but failed to obtain a mandate from the clubs to impose this rationalisation but the VFA under his guidance nevertheless contracted as it showed no lenience in suspending clubs who failed to meet minimum requirements 39 Several long term second division clubs struggling with rising costs and foreseeing the dissolution of the second division which ultimately occurred when fifteen teams remained in the 1989 season also took the opportunity to return to suburban football before being forced out 40 The eight year period between 1984 and 1991 saw twelve clubs exit the VFA Mordialloc Kilsyth Berwick Geelong West and Camberwell returned to suburban football Yarraville Moorabbin Northcote and Caulfield were suspended and Sunshine Brunswick Broadmeadows and Waverley all folded The VFA rejoined the ANFC as a non voting member in 1987 41 and replaced the board of club delegates with an independent executive committee in 1988 42 It also regained weekly television coverage from the 1988 season onwards with the ABC broadcasting a match each Saturday 43 It returned to the standard 18 per side rules in 1993 End of the VFA 1994 1999 Edit Despite the rationalisation to its twelve strongest teams and improved television coverage the financial position of the competition and the vast majority of its clubs remained perilous into the early 1990s and it was clear that the VFA was no longer a viable independent body in the long term 44 At the end of the 1994 season the VFA was formally disbanded in an administrative capacity and the on field competition was turned over to the AFL s Victorian State Football League which the AFL had set up two years earlier to take control of Australian football at all levels in Victoria and which ran the statewide under 18s competition the present day NAB League and the AFL reserves competition in Victoria This ended the VFA s 97 years of independence from the VFL AFL and for the first time since 1896 created a single control for most Australian football in Victoria 45 Victorian Football Association Limited was deregistered in 2012 19 AFL control Edit New VFL competition Edit The VSFL retained the use of the VFA name for the competition for the 1995 season but in 1996 renamed the competition Victorian Football League VFL the AFL s former name until 1990 46 The VSFL sought to align the competition with the under 18s competition with each former VFA club affiliated with an under 18s team to provide a developmental pathway from under 18 football into state level senior football In doing this the number of metropolitan teams was cut from twelve to nine in 1995 with Prahran Oakleigh and Dandenong departing This left nine clubs with a VFA heritage coming from different eras Port Melbourne and Williamstown from the pre 1897 era Preston Coburg and Sandringham from the 1920s expansion Box Hill Werribee and Frankston from the 1950s 1960s expansion and Springvale from the 1980s expansion The VSFL intended that each statewide under 18s team would be affiliated with a VFL club so embarked upon a period of expansion to represent the four under 18s teams from country Victoria as well as Tasmania which was represented in the competition for a period of time 47 In this expansion existing powerhouse country clubs North Ballarat and Traralgon joined the league in 1996 with new clubs established in Bendigo Albury the Murray Kangaroos representing the Ovens amp Murray region and Tasmania between 1998 and 2001 The regional senior clubs struggled to be financially viable in the statewide competition with Traralgon and Murray lasting only two and three years respectively Since 2018 no regional clubs have contested the competition Merger with the AFL reserves 2000 2019 Edit See also Australian Football League reserves affiliations From 1995 until 1999 the VSFL operated its two open age competitions the VFA VFL and the Victorian AFL reserves competition separately however its intention had always been to merge the two and this took place following the 1999 season after the agreement of the AFL clubs Under the administration s new name Football Victoria later AFL Victoria those two competitions were merged into a single competition still known as the Victorian Football League Since this time the VFL has been contested by a mixture of three types of clubs VFL clubs operating on a stand alone basis and maintaining a complete list of players The reserves teams of AFL clubs comprised on AFL reserves players and a small list of supplementary players to make up a full team VFL clubs operating under an affiliation arrangements with an AFL clubs whereby players from the AFL club would join the senior team of the VFL club when not selected to play in the AFL At times there were rules limiting the number of AFL listed players who could play in a VFL team but these rules no longer exist All three models compete to a relatively even standard with premierships having been won by all three types of team since the merger An additional reserves affiliation option under which AFL clubs were allowed to spread their reserves players across all of the league s VFL clubs rather than into a single aligned club has also existed since 2021 but has not been taken up by any AFL clubs 48 The affiliation deals greatly improved the financial viability of the clubs in question but they diluted their ability to represent their suburb There have been many changes to the affiliation arrangements in the decade since the VSFL took over the VFA competition as well as a shift in the arrangement preferred by the AFL clubs Initially only four of the ten Victorian AFL clubs were involved in a VFL affiliation with the rest fielding reserves teams At its peak of between 2003 and 2006 nine of the ten Victorian AFL clubs were involved in an affiliation with only Geelong fielding its own reserves team Most clubs have since migrated away from this model and since 2021 seven of the ten Victorian AFL clubs have fielded stand alone reserves teams in the VFL 49 Through the 2000s the AFL preferred that its Victorian clubs retained VFL affiliations and offered a disincentive in the form of an inflated licence fee for fielding a stand alone team however the AFL did not otherwise prevent teams from fielding stand alone reserves teams if they were willing and able to pay the fee 50 The total licence and running costs for an AFL club to field its reserves team in the VFL were estimated to be 500 000 per year in 2011 Through this period the VFL remained moderately popular in Victoria although not nearly as well supported as the dominant Australian Football League Matches attracted both traditional fans of the VFA VFL clubs and fans of affiliated AFL clubs keen to watch their reserves players in action The match of the week and most finals continued to be televised live in Melbourne by the ABC until 2014 51 and since 2015 by the Seven Network as a lead in to its AFL coverage 52 Northeast expansion 2020 present Edit The 2020 VFL season was cancelled as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic Upon the VFL s resumption in 2021 the North East Australian Football League which had served as the state league in New South Wales Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory was wound up and absorbed into the VFL this resulted in the reserves teams from the New South Wales and Queensland AFL clubs Sydney Greater Western Sydney Brisbane and Gold Coast joining the league and two of the NEAFL s other Queensland based senior clubs Aspley and Southport joining 48 53 although Aspley departed after the 2021 season 54 This brought the league to its largest size since the 1980s with 22 clubs competing eight stand alone VFL clubs eleven AFL reserves teams and three traditional VFA VFL clubs in reserves affiliations with AFL clubs 55 56 57 The league was also revamped to improve its ability to serve as a talent pathway with each club required to field at least six under 22 players in each game 58 The 2021 season also saw increased broadcast coverage with Foxtel and its streaming service Kayo showing games in addition to the ongoing deal with Seven Network 59 Awards EditBest and fairest Edit Main article J J Liston Trophy The first award for the Association best and fairest player was the Woodham Cup first awarded in 1923 this was renamed the Recorder Cup in 1926 Starting from 1933 a second award the V F A Medal was awarded concurrently the awards were both based on the votes of the umpires but were based on different voting systems In 1940 the Association dispensed with the Recorder Cup voting system and awarded both trophies to the same player based on the same set of votes 60 Since 1945 the award for the best and fairest player in each VFA VFL season has been the J J Liston Trophy named after long term Association president John James Liston who died in 1944 61 Other awards Edit The Jim Frosty Miller Medal is awarded annually to the leading goal kicker in the VFL home and away season it was struck in 1999 and named after Jim Frosty Miller who kicked 885 goals for Dandenong between 1966 and 1974 The Norm Goss Memorial Medal awarded annually to the player voted best afield in the VFL grand final it was struck in 1983 in honour of Norm Goss Sr a senior administrator in both the VFA and the Port Melbourne Football Club The Fothergill Round Mitchell Medal awarded annually to the most promising young talent in the VFL competition it was struck in 1989 and is named after the three players who have won a Brownlow Medals in the VFL AFL and won a Recorder Cup Liston Trophy in the VFL Des Fothergill and Barry Round after whom the award was originally named and Sam Mitchell whose name was added to the award in 2018 The Frank Johnson Medal awarded to the player voted best afield for the VFL in interstate football games named after Frank Johnson the only VFA player ever selected as captain of an All Australian Team Salary cap EditThe VFL is classed as a semi professional competition In 2007 the league had a salary cap of 185 000 excluding service payments There are a significantly higher number of AFL reserves due to affiliations with Victorian clubs but player payments for these appearances is apparently not included in the VFL s salary cap Following the 2013 VFL season it was revealed that several clubs were lobbying VFL executives to increase the salary cap in a bid to keep high level players who had relieved themselves of participating in the league to accept more attractive financial offers in local football competitions where such caps are far less regulated 62 As of the 2022 season standalone clubs in the league of which there are eight have a A 220 000 salary cap while the AFL reserve and affiliate clubs have a A 110 000 salary cap 63 Attendance EditAttendances are small by AFL standards and generally less than the SANFL and WAFL with an average of between 500 and 1 000 in attendance Crowds for many finals matches tend to average in the 2 000 6 000 range with the Grand Final typically attracting a crowd in the 10 000 14 000 mark 64 65 66 The VFL does not publish home and away attendance figures as some games are played as AFL curtain raisers however various sources quote attendances for some games of the stronger clubs that maintain home records of their own Premierships EditMain article List of VFA VFL premiers Recent Grand Finals Edit Season 2022 Premiers Result Runners up Venue Crowd Norm Goss Memorial Medal Club2022 Casey Demons 10 10 70 5 8 38 Southport Princes Park 5 000 Mitch White Casey Demons2021 Season curtailed due to the COVID 19 pandemic2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic2019 Richmond 8 10 58 7 13 55 Williamstown Princes Park 13 165 67 Marlion Pickett Richmond Reserves2018 Box Hill 10 12 72 8 14 62 Casey Docklands Stadium 12 884 David Mirra Box Hill2017 Port Melbourne 11 8 74 10 10 70 Richmond 17 159 Sam Lloyd Richmond Reserves2016 Footscray 13 19 97 10 6 66 Casey 17 348 Lin Jong Footscray Reserves2015 Williamstown 18 12 120 8 18 66 Box Hill 12 900 Michael Gibbons Williamstown2014 Footscray 16 13 109 13 9 87 Box Hill 23 816 Brett Goodes Footscray Reserves2013 Box Hill 14 15 99 11 12 78 Geelong 15 100 Jonathan Simpkin Box HillMedia coverage EditTelevision Edit Television coverage has been critical to the exposure of the VFA VFL during its history and has typically taken the form of the match of the week being televised live into Melbourne as well as most finals Television and streaming deals during the league s history are as follows 1967 1981 weekly broadcasts of Sunday s match of the round on ATV0 later Network Ten 28 1984 1986 match of the round in the final two rounds plus finals on Network Ten 68 1987 finals only on ABC Victoria 69 1988 2014 weekly broadcasts of match of the round on Saturday afternoons plus most or all finals on ABC Victoria 51 2000 in addition to ABC s coverage one Monday night match televised each week on the Seven Network s C7 Sport subscription channel At this time pay TV penetration was low and this lasted only one year 2015 2019 weekly broadcasts of match of the round on Saturday afternoons plus most finals on Seven Network 52 2021 up to three matches per round available on sports streaming service Kayo Sports one Sunday match of the round game broadcast on Seven and one Thursday night game broadcast on Fox Footy only when no AFL Thursday night fixture is scheduled 70 2022 present one match per round broadcast live on Seven Network and available live and on demand nationally on 7plus streaming site and all additional matches live streamed and available on demand on the AFL website and AFL Live app 71 The VFA holds the distinction of having the first match to be broadcast live on television in Australia when the second half of the match between Oakleigh and Preston on 25 May 1957 was televised on Channel 2 72 Radio Edit The first regular radio broadcasts of VFA games were made by 3XY a little after the station commenced operations in 1935 The commentator was former Geelong VFL player Wallace Jumbo Sharland who had earlier been the first to describe VFL matches that being on 3AR in 1923 In 1954 3AK began broadcasting VFA games albeit only for a season or two The 1970s also saw broadcasts on 3UZ and local Geelong station 3GL broadcast all Geelong West matches In 1982 the then dominant Melbourne sports radio station 3AW broadcast the Grand Final In 2003 3AK evolved into sports radio station SEN 1116 and provided a coverage of VFL matches but this was discontinued after they won the rights to broadcast the AFL Australian Football League from the 2007 season From 1993 onwards radio s main home for the competition was on Casey Radio where the team headed up by Ken Moore did a terrific job bringing games to the wider public The station gave a start to such broadcasters as Nigel Carmody Darren Parkin and Tristan Foenander and has proven a terrific breeding ground for emerging sports broadcasters The station still broadcasts the league today combined with doing the local league down in Melbourne s southeast 73 VFL Radio is produced by BPM Media who broadcast live at least one game a week during the regular season plus each day of the finals series The coverage is broadcast on the Vision Australia Radio network throughout Victoria on analogue radio by Aussie digital radio SEN 2 and on the internet at vfl com au or bpmmedia com au 74 Clubs EditCurrent clubs Edit Twenty one clubs formed the VFL in the 2022 season Club Colours Moniker State Home venue Est Formerleague VFA VFL seasons VFA VFL premiershipsFirst Total Total Most recentBox Hill A Hawks Victoria Box Hill City Oval 1936 ESFL 1951 71 5 2018Brisbane R Lions Queensland Springfield Central Stadium 1998 NEAFL 2021 2 Carlton R Blues Victoria Princes Park 1919 AFLR 2000 5 Casey A Demons Victoria Casey Fields 1903 FFL 1982 40 7 2022Coburg Lions Victoria Coburg City Oval 1891 MDA 1925 94 8 1989Collingwood R Magpies Victoria Olympic Park Oval 1919 AFLR 2000 15 Essendon R Bombers Victoria Windy Hill 1919 AFLR 2000 12 Footscray R Bulldogs Victoria Whitten Oval 1925 AFLR 2014 8 2 2016Frankston Dolphins Victoria Frankston Park 1887 MPFL 1966 55 1 1978 Geelong R Cats Victoria Kardinia Park 1919 AFLR 2000 22 3 2012Gold Coast R Suns Queensland Metricon Stadium 2011 NEAFL 2021 2 Greater WesternSydney R Giants New South Wales Blacktown ISP Oval 2012 NEAFL 2021 2 North Melbourne R Kangaroos Victoria Arden Street Oval 1925 AFLR 2018 4 Northern Bullants Bullants Victoria Preston City Oval 1882 VJFA 1903 105 6 1984Port Melbourne Borough Victoria North Port Oval 1874 1886 131 17 2017Richmond R Tigers Victoria Punt Road Oval 1919 AFLR 2000 9 1 2019Sandringham A Zebras Victoria Trevor Barker Beach Oval 1929 1929 93 10 2006Southport Sharks Queensland Fankhauser Reserve 1961 NEAFL 2021 2 Sydney R Swans New South Wales Tramway Oval 1919 NEAFL 2021 2 Werribee Tigers Victoria Chirnside Park 1964 1965 58 1 1993Williamstown Seagulls Victoria Williamstown Cricket Ground 1864 1884 133 16 2015 R denotes that the club is the reserve team of a senior AFL club A denotes that the club is the affiliate team of an AFL club denotes that the club s most recent senior premiership was in the second divisionAFLR Australian Football League Reserves ESFL Eastern Suburbs Football League FFL Fderal Football League MDA Melbourne District Association MPFL Mornington Peninsula Football League NEAFL North East Australian Football League VJFA Victorian Junior Football AssociationFormer clubs Edit The VFA and VFL have undergone significant format changes since its induction which means several clubs have either left the league or changed identity for different reasons Excluded from this list are provincial clubs who were full administrative members of the VFA in its first decade but who never played enough games against other clubs to be considered relevant in the premiership Club Moniker and Colour s Location State Stadium Est Season VFA VFLPremierships VFA Division 2Premierships 1961 1988 Current LeagueAlbert park Parkites Albert Park VIC Emerald Hill Ground 1867 1877 1879 0 Merged1880 with South Melbourne now Sydney AFL Aspley Hornets Carseldine QLD Graham Road Oval 1964 2021 0 QAFL QFABallarat Swans Ballarat VIC Alfredton Recreation Reserve 1860 1878 1896 Administrative 0 Ballarat FLBallarat Imperial Imps Ballarat VIC 1876 1885 1896 Administrative 0 Folded1950sBendigo Diggers Bombers Gold Bendigo VIC Queen Elizabeth Oval 1998 1998 2014 0 Folded2014Berwick Wickers Berwick VIC Arch Brown ReserveManuka Road Oval 1903 1983 1987 0 Eastern FLBrighton Penguins Brighton VIC Brighton Beach OvalElsternwick Park 1885 1908 1961 1 0 Merged1962 with South CaulfieldBrighton Caulfield Penguins Caulfield South VIC Princes Park Caulfield 1962 1962 1964 0 Renamed1965 became CaulfieldBrunswick Brunswick Broadmeadows Magpies Brunswick VIC Gillon Oval 1865 1897 1991 3 3 Folded1991Camberwell Cobras Camberwell VIC Camberwell Sportsground 1896 1926 1991 0 2 Folded1994Carlton S Blues Carlton VIC Various grounds around Carlton 1864 1877 1896 2 AFLCaulfield Bears Caulfield South VIC Princes Park Caulfield 1957 1965 1987 0 1 Folded1989Collingwood S Magpies Abbotsford VIC Victoria Park 1892 1892 1896 1 AFLDandenong Dandies Redlegs Dandenong VIC Shepley Oval ca 1875 1958 1994 3 1 Folded1994East Melbourne East Melbourne VIC 1878 1880 1882 0 Folded1882Essendon S Dons Same Olds East Melbourne VIC East Melbourne Cricket Ground 1871 1878 1896 4 AFLEssendon A Essendon Town Dons Dreadnoughts Essendon VIC Essendon Cricket Ground 1900 1900 1921 2 Folded1921Fitzroy S Maroons Fitzroy North VIC Fitzroy Cricket Ground 1883 1883 1896 1 Merged1996 with Brisbane Bears now Brisbane Lions AFL Footscray S Tricolours Footscray VIC Western Oval Footscray 1877 1886 1924 9 AFL as Western Bulldogs Geelong S Pivotonians East Geelong VIC Corio Oval 1859 1877 1896 7 AFLGeelong A Geelong VIC Kardinia ParkWestern Oval Geelong 1922 1922 1927 0 Folded1927Geelong West Roosters Geelong West VIC Western Oval Geelong 1878 1963 1988 1 3 Geelong FL as Geelong West Giants Gold Coast S Suns Carrara QLD Fankhauser Reserve 2009 2010 0 AFLHawthorn S Mayblooms Hawthorn VIC Glenferrie Oval 1902 1914 1924 0 AFLKilsyth Cougars Kilsyth VIC Kilsyth Recreation Reserve 1923 1982 1984 0 Eastern FLMelbourne S Redlegs Fuchsias East Melbourne VIC Melbourne Cricket Ground 1858 1877 1896 0 AFLMelbourne City East Melbourne VIC East Melbourne Cricket Ground 1912 1912 1913 0 Folded1913Moorabbin 1 Kangaroos Moorabbin VIC Moorabbin Oval 1909 1951 1963 2 Folded1964Moorabbin 2 Kangaroos McKinnon VIC Moorabbin OvalBentleigh Recreation Reserve 1979 1983 1987 0 Folded1987Mordialloc Bloodhounds Mordialloc VIC Ben Kavanagh Reserve 1891 1958 1988 0 1 Southern FLMurray Kangaroos CoburgAlbury VICNSW Coburg City OvalLavington Sports Ground 2000 2000 2002 0 Folded2002North Ballarat Roosters Wendouree VIC Eureka Stadium 1882 1996 2017 3 Ballarat FLNorth Melbourne S Hotham Shinboners North Melbourne VIC North Melbourne Cricket Ground 1869 1877 1924 6 AFLNorthcote Dragons Westgarth VIC Northcote Park 1870s 1908 1987 5 2 Folded1987Oakleigh Oaks Devils Oakleigh VIC Warrawee Park 1891 1929 1994 6 2 Folded1994Prahran 1 St Kilda VIC Albert Cricket GroundWesley College Ground 1886 1886 1887 0 Merged1888 with St KildaPrahran 2 Two Blues Armadale VIC Toorak Park 1899 1899 1994 excl 1959 5 2 VAFA as Prahran Assumption Richmond S Tigers East Melbourne VIC Richmond Cricket Ground 1885 1885 1907 2 AFLSt Kilda S Saints St Kilda VIC St Kilda Cricket Ground 1873 1877 18791886 1896 0 AFLSt Kilda reserves Saints Moorabbin VIC Moorabbin Oval 1873 2000 0 RecessAffiliated with SandringhamSouth Ballarat Albion Imperial Ballarat VIC ca 1877 1883 1896 Administrative 0 Folded1941South Melbourne S Southerners South Melbourne VIC South Melbourne Cricket Ground 1874 1879 1896 5 AFL as Sydney South Williamstown Williamstown VIC Williamstown Cricket Ground 1886 1886 1887 0 Merged1888 with WilliamstownSunshine Crows Braybrook VIC Selwyn ParkSkinner Reserve 1938 1959 1989 0 1 Folded1990Tasmania Devils HobartLaunceston TAS North Hobart OvalBellerive OvalYork Park 2001 2001 2008 0 Folded2008Traralgon Maroons Traralgon VIC Traralgon Reserve 1883 1996 1997 0 Gippsland FLUniversity Parkville VIC 1885 1885 1888 0 VAFAWaverley Panthers Glen Waverley VIC Central Reserve 1908 1961 1987 1 0 Folded1988West Melbourne Wests North Melbourne VIC North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 1874 1878 18801899 1907 1 Folded1908Yarraville Eagles Yarraville VIC Yarraville Oval 1903 1928 1983 2 0 Folded1984 S Senior team now in the AFLTimeline Edit Map Edit Box Hill Carlton Casey Coburg Essendon Footscray Frankston Geelong not on map North Melbourne Northern Bullants Port Melbourne Sandringham Werribee Williamstown East Melbourne based teams Collingwood Richmondclass notpageimage 2021 Victorian VFL clubs Brisbane Gold Coast Southport Greater Western Sydney Sydneyclass notpageimage 2021 VFL clubs outside VictoriaVFA presidents EditThe following men served as president of the VFA between its establishment in 1877 and its becoming defunct in 1994 No President Club Tenure1 William Clarke MLC 75 Melbourne 1877 18812 Cr James Garton 75 1882 18863 Frank Grey Smith 75 Melbourne 1887 18964 Theodore Fink MLA 75 Richmond 1897 19005 James Hall 76 Williamstown 1901 19026 Cr John George Aikman 77 Essendon A 1903 1928 78 7 Cr John James Liston 79 Williamstown 1929 19448 Henry Zwar MLA 80 Preston 1944 19469 Squire Reid MLA 81 Oakleigh 1947 194910 Dr Frank Hartnett 82 Camberwell 1949 195011 Lewis Page 83 Brighton 1951 195312 Cr Alex Gillon 84 Brunswick 1954 198013 Alan Wickes 85 Frankston 1981 198414 Brook Andersen 86 Brunswick 1985 198915 John Grieve 87 Williamstown 1989 199216 Tony Hannebery 88 Williamstown 1993 1994VFL Women s EditMain article VFL Women s From the 2016 season a statewide women s football league aligned with the VFL was established by AFL Victoria The competition initially comprised the six Premier Division clubs and the top four Division 1 clubs from the now defunct Victorian Women s Football League VWFL and was aligned and co branded with the VFL to improve market penetration 89 Following the 2017 season the competition was reconfigured to affiliate teams more closely with AFL clubs Since 2018 the league has comprised thirteen teams twelve are based in Victoria nine of which are affiliated with AFL clubs and one in the Northern Territory 90 The league runs from May to September running concurrently with the VFL Former grades EditSeconds reserves Edit The VFA VFL operated a seconds or reserves competition from the 1920s initially emerging from the Victorian Junior Football Association From its inception until 1979 the seconds team played on Saturday afternoons playing at home when the senior team played away and vice versa Since 1980 seconds matches have been played as curtain raisers to senior matches on Saturdays or Sundays as necessary 91 The competition was later renamed the reserves and then from the beginning of the 2012 season it has been known as the AFL Victoria Development League a move that coincided with the introduction of the AFL Victoria Development Academy which provides development opportunities for up to 25 selected VFL players per year 92 For most of the VFA s history fielding a team in the seconds grade was mandatory for all senior teams but in the state league era many regional clubs as well as all AFL clubs fielding their reserves teams in the VFL seniors opted not to contest the minor grade The Development League was abolished after the 2017 season with all VFL clubs reserve players now play suburban football when not playing with the VFL seniors 93 List of VFL Seconds Premiers Thirds Under 19s Edit The VFA operated an under 19s competition initially known as the Thirds between 1952 and 1994 94 The Under 19s was disbanded when the AFL s VSFL took over the VFA competition after the 1994 with the statewide under 19s competition the present day NAB League replacing its function as an under 18s competition List of VFA Thirds Premiers Records EditHighest Scores Edit Score Team Opponent Year Round Ground55 17 347 Williamstown Camberwell 1986 Rd 16 Camberwell Sportsground52 31 343 Waverley Sunshine 1981 Rd 1 Central Reserve48 21 309 Springvale Sunshine 1983 Rd 18 Springvale Reserve46 31 307 Brunswick Sunshine 1983 Rd 12 Brunswick Park46 21 297 Coburg Camberwell 1989 Rd 5 Camberwell SportsgroundLargest Winning Margins Edit Margin Team Opponent Year Round Ground315 pts Williamstown Camberwell 1986 Rd 16 Camberwell Sportsground290 pts Waverley Sunshine 1981 Rd 1 Central Reserve275 pts Brunswick Sunshine 1983 Rd 12 Brunswick Park254 pts Box Hill Sunshine 1984 Rd 16 Box Hill City Oval246 pts Brunswick Kilsyth 1984 Rd 18 Brunswick ParkSee also EditList of VFA VFL premiers History of Australian rules football in Victoria 1859 1900 References Edit Football Football Association The Weekly Times Melbourne 19 May 1877 p 5 Peter Pindar 5 May 1877 Football Gossip The Australasian Vol XXII no 579 Melbourne p 556 Peter Pindar 12 May 1877 Football Gossip The Australasian Vol XXII no 580 Melbourne p 588 Football Geelong Advertiser Geelong VIC 21 May 1877 p 3 Follower 1 October 1887 Football The Past Season The Leader Melbourne p 20 a b Opening of the Football Season The Argus Melbourne 5 May 1888 p 14 Markwell 4 May 1889 Football Notes The Australasian Vol XLVI no 1205 Melbourne p 931 The coming football season The Argus Melbourne 20 March 1894 p 6 Markwell 29 April 1883 Football Notes The Australasian Vol LIV no 1413 Melbourne p 783 The Victorian Football Association North Melbourne Courier and West Melbourne Advertiser No 72 North Melbourne 19 March 1897 p 3 Football Reform seventeen a side The Argus Melbourne 18 April 1908 p 12 Old Boy 4 April 1912 Thursday 4 April 1912 The Argus Melbourne p 6 J W 3 May 1919 Football the opening day The Australasian Vol CVI no 2770 Melbourne p 807 Football Control The Argus Melbourne 20 January 1923 p 20 Rival Football Bodies The Argus Melbourne 17 October 1907 p 8 J W 8 July 1921 Football notes and comments The Australasian Vol CXI no 2884 Melbourne p 69 Fiddian Marc 2003 Seagulls over Williamstown Williamstown VIC Williamstown Football Club p 55 Rover 16 April 1938 Crowds will be attracted by new rules The Argus Melbourne p 22 a b Australian Securities and Investment Commission register www asic gov au Re ACN 004 246 253 Percy Taylor 25 November 1944 No football merger final VFL VFA meeting on Monday The Argus Melbourne p 17 Vote granted to Football Association The Canberra Times Canberra ACT 8 July 1953 p 4 Association joins ANFC The Argus Supplement Melbourne 9 August 1949 p 20 Fiddian Marc 2004 The VFA a history of the Victorian Football Association 1877 1995 pp 3 7 Noel Carrick 2 July 1956 Ballarat Bendigo in V F A plan to expand The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 29 Ron Carter 3 December 1960 V F A decides on two divisions The Age Melbourne p 16 VFA will play 16 a side The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne 17 March 1959 p 62 Scot Palmer 8 May 1961 Sunday games pay off for VFA The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 37 a b VFA matches for TV The Age Melbourne 4 March 1967 p 1 Marc Fiddian 25 June 1976 Crowds up at VFA The Age Melbourne p 23 VFA shock war on clearances The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne 10 April 1965 p 64 Open go now on transfers The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne April 1967 p 64 VFA takes out a writ The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne 4 June 1969 p 66 Scot Palmer 17 March 1970 Permits VFA is expelled The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 62 Marc Fiddian 6 February 1982 Channel 10 axes VFA The Age Melbourne p 38 Marc Fiddian 18 June 1981 Association drifts as options run out The Age Melbourne p 32 Adrian Dunn 6 May 1991 VFA reaps the benefit of stringent policing Herald Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 73 Marc Fiddian 5 August 1983 Lions still clear of fourth place The Age Melbourne p 24 Len Johnson 6 December 1986 Radical plan to cut VFA to 12 teams The Age Melbourne p 39 Daryl Timms 6 November 1987 Caulfield will battle on president The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 78 Linda Pearce 4 May 1988 VFA Bloods on the ropes The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 82 Linda Pearce 10 June 1988 VFA VFL link move The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 68 Toby Darvall Fiona Athersmith 25 August 1988 Preston ruling threat to VFA The Age Melbourne p 36 Linda Pearce 11 March 1988 Port in focus for TV coverage The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 76 Caroline Overington 15 April 1994 Clubs kick off into financial nightmare The Age Melbourne p 26 Adrian Dunn 13 October 1994 Plan a victory for VFA identity Herald Sun Afternoon ed Melbourne p 73 Scott Spits 4 April 1996 VFL closer to a state league The Age Sports Liftout Melbourne p 8 Patrick Donovan 18 August 1995 VFA bush in a new league The Age Melbourne p 35 a b Max Laughton 24 August 2020 VFL to merge with NEAFL under 18 comps revamped in massive changes to AFL s second tier Fox Sports Retrieved 24 August 2020 d Anello Luke 21 September 2012 Seagulls and Bulldogs cut ties Leader Retrieved 22 September 2012 Wilson Caroline 28 July 2011 Deadline looms for VFL team decisions The Age Retrieved 2 August 2011 a b Matt Thompson 20 October 2014 VFL and WAFL set for Channel Seven in 2015 Retrieved 8 November 2014 a b Live VFL to return to Channel 7 in 2015 Paul Amy 13 October 2020 Northern Bullants to return to VFL as a stand alone club Leader Melbourne VIC Retrieved 13 October 2020 Brendan Rhodes 20 August 2021 VFL season review Aspley Australian Football League Retrieved 20 August 2021 New look VFL locked in for 2021 season with 22 teams spread across east coast Fox Sports 29 October 2020 AFL A new 22 team second tier competition for the eastern seaboard will replace the VFL in 2021 News com au 29 October 2020 Twenty two clubs from Southport to Frankston to feature in east coast league The Age 29 October 2020 Sydney locks in talent for East Coast VFL Competition Sydney Swans 20 January 2021 Retrieved 17 February 2021 VFL heads into primetime with huge new TV and streaming deal revealed Fox Sports 15 April 2021 Retrieved 16 April 2021 Percy Taylor 16 September 1940 Exciting V F A semi final The Argus Melbourne p 11 Wind spoils game Williamstown Chronicle Williamstown VIC 29 June 1945 p 2 Stand alone VFL clubs want increase in salary cap The Age December 2013 Rhodes Brendan More money more matches more opportunity VFL changes for 2022 Australian Football League Retrieved 2 April 2022 QF Final 2014 Footscray v Williamstown PF Final 2014 Footscray v Port Melbourne PF Final 2014 Box Hill v Williamstown VFL Grand Final Richmond v Williamstown austadiums com Retrieved 22 September 2019 Dennis Jose 18 August 1984 VFA back in the ratings game The Age Melbourne p 39 Paul Cunningham 13 August 1987 ABC to cover VFA finals games The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 82 2021 VFL Premiership Season broadcast deal announced afl com au 15 April 2021 2022 VFL fixture Round one locked in remaining match ups confirmed AFL com au 22 February 2022 Fiddian Marc 2004 The VFA a history of the Victorian Football Association 1877 1995 p 7 Casey Radio 97 7FM VFL vfl com au Archived from the original on 11 April 2018 Broadcast Partners VFL a b c d Fiddian Marc 2004 The VFA a history of the Victorian Football Association 1877 1995 p 20 Short and sharp Williamstown Chronicle Williamstown VIC 20 April 1901 p 2 Victorian Football Association The Argus Melbourne 2 May 1903 p 18 Onlooker 30 July 1928 Association All leaders win well The Argus Melbourne p 6 New Association President The Argus Melbourne 12 February 1929 p 14 New football leader The Argus Melbourne 9 May 1944 p 9 Mr Reid MLA elected VFA president The Argus Melbourne 18 February 1947 p 12 Dr F Hartnett is new VFA president The Argus Melbourne 30 August 1949 p 20 Jack Dunn 20 February 1951 Dr Hartnett votes his V F A office away The Argus Melbourne V F A president defeated The Argus Melbourne 23 February 1954 p 17 Marc Fiddian 7 March 1981 Wickes new VFA chief The Age Melbourne p 40 Darren Joyce 8 December 1985 VFA names new chief The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 55 Amanda Buivids 11 April 1989 Grieve steps up to top VFA job The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 76 Stephen Linnell 24 March 1993 Plan for new state league strikes snag The Age Melbourne p 34 Season Previews VFL Women s SportsTG Archived from the original on 19 September 2016 Retrieved 15 September 2016 Pierik Jon 11 October 2017 Victorian stadium upgrade plan likely by end of year says state government The Age Retrieved 11 October 2017 Marc Fiddian 8 April 1980 It s time VFA woke up to the score The Age Melbourne p 28 AFL Victoria Development League VFL Paul Amy 20 July 2017 VFL Reserves AFL Victoria sounds final siren for development comp Leader Melbourne Retrieved 24 July 2017 Fiddian Marc 2004 The VFA a history of the Victorian Football Association 1877 1995 p 36External links EditOfficial website List of VFA VFL premiers since 1877 VFA and VFL statistics and history at Full Points Footy VFL Mark of the Year competition Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Victorian Football League amp oldid 1153520065, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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