Australian rules football in Victoria, Australia

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Australian rules football in Victoria, Australia
The footy club is often the lifeblood of small country towns. In this image Swifts Creek versus Buchan in the 2001 ODFL Grand Final in East Gippsland
Governing body Football Victoria
Representative team Victoria
First played 1858, Melbourne
Registered players 223,999 (total)
36,900 (adult)
Competitions
Club
 - Victorian Football League
 - Essendon District Football League
 - Victorian Amateur Football Association
 - Western Region Football League
 - Southern Football League
 - Diamond Valley Football League
 - Ovens & Murray Football League
Audience records
Single match 121,696 (1970). VFL Grand Final Carlton v Collingwood (MCG, Melbourne)
Flag of Victoria (Australia)

Australian rules football in Victoria dates back to the origins of both the sport and the colony in the 1850s.

Victoria remains the sport's spiritual home.

The state is home to ten of the sixteen teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), a league which began as a suburban competition in the state's capital and whose five Melbourne games per week currently attract an average 35,000 people per game.

The AFL Grand Final,[1] one of the biggest sporting events in Australia (and in the world in terms of attendance), is played on the last weekend in September at the world famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), a massive arena that has held over 120,000 spectators.

Contents

[edit] History

See Also Origins of the Game
Australian rules football - Early years in Victoria.)


Tom Wills began to devise Australian rules in Melbourne in 1858.

(Although H.C.A. Harrison, Wills' cousin, was also named, much later, as an official father of the game his role does not, now, seem to have been significant at this very early stage.) A letter by Wills was published in Bell's Life in Victoria & Sporting Chronicle on 10 July 1858, [2] calling for a "foot-ball club" with a "code of laws" to keep cricketers fit during winter. An experimental match, played by Wills and others, at the Richmond Paddock (later known as Yarra Park next to the MCG) on 31 July, 1858, was probably the first game of Australian football. However, few details of the match have survived.

On 7 August 1858, two significant events in the development of the game occurred. The Melbourne Football Club was founded, one of the world's first football clubs in any code, and a famous match between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College began, umpired by Wills. A second day of play took place on 21 August and a third, and final, day on 4 September. The two schools have competed annually ever since. However, the rules used by the two teams in 1858 could not have had much in common with the eventual form of Australian football since Wills had not yet begun to write them.

A game at the Richmond Paddock in the 1860s. A pavilion at the MCG is on the left in the background. (A wood engraving made by Robert Bruce on July 27, 1866.)
A game at the Richmond Paddock in the 1860s. A pavilion at the MCG is on the left in the background. (A wood engraving made by Robert Bruce on July 27, 1866.)

The Melbourne Football Club rules of 1859 are the oldest surviving set of laws for Australian football. They were drawn up at the Parade Hotel, East Melbourne, on 17 May, by Wills, W. J. Hammersley, J. B. Thompson and Thomas Smith (some sources include H. C. A. Harrison). The 1859 rules did not include some elements that soon became important to the game, such as the requirement to bounce the ball while running, and Melbourne's game was not immediately adopted by neighbouring clubs. Before each match the rules had to be agreed by the two teams involved. By 1866, however, several other clubs had agreed to play by an updated version of Melbourne's rules.

[edit] Victoria's First League

On 7th May 1877, the Victorian Football Association (VFA), Victoria's first governing body for Australian football, was formed by 14 clubs: Albert Park, Ballarat, Barwon, Beechworth, Carlton, Castlemaine, East Melbourne, Essendon, Geelong, Hotham (later North Melbourne, then the Kangaroos, and now back to North Melbourne), Inglewood, Melbourne, Rochester and St Kilda. Six of these clubs were from the Victorian country. At the time, Essendon was regarded as a semi-junior club rather than a full member, and was allowed concessions such as fielding teams of 25 players, instead of the standard 20.

[edit] Formation of the VFL

A banner for Essendon Football Club
A banner for Essendon Football Club

A rift in the VFA led to the formation of the Victorian Football League (VFL), which commenced play in 1897 as an eight-team breakaway of the stronger clubs in the VFA competition: Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. The first season concluded with Essendon finishing as the premiers (winners).

Another five VFA clubs joined the VFL later, as Richmond and University joined the VFL in 1908 (University folded in 1915). Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne joined in 1925, by which time VFL had become the most prominent league in the game.

[edit] National League & Current Issues

Victoria State of Origin guernsey.
Victoria State of Origin guernsey.

In 1982, in a move which heralded big changes within the sport, one of the original VFL clubs, South Melbourne Football Club, relocated to the rugby league stronghold of Sydney and became known as the Sydney Swans.

In the late 1980s, strong interstate interest in the VFL led to a more national competition; two more non-Victorian clubs, the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears began playing in 1987.

The league changed its name to the Australian Football League (AFL) following the 1989 season, later gaining further West Australian and South Australian teams.

As the game has grown, the state has struggled to come to terms with its place in the bigger picture.

The VFA/VFL became a secondary league, although even it has grown to accommodate a team from Tasmania.

Even the biggest locally grown suburban clubs, elevated into the national league, continue struggle for survival, competing for marketshare. Fourteen years after South Melbourne's difficulties led them to move to Sydney, similar problems at the Fitzroy Football Club result in a merger, forming the Brisbane Lions. Although a small consolation of these club's recent success has been establishing renewed interest with their Melbourne based supporters, other clubs, such as the historic Demons, Bulldogs, Kangaroos and powerhouse Carlton are assisted by the AFL to remain in the national competition. Many suggestions have been made in response to issues of overcrowding[3] but the AFL has been somewhat reluctant to make a drastic change, due to both the history and supporters' passion for their club.

There is still an anti-expansionist element in many Victorian supporters of the game, who would prefer to see it kept to themselves. This has forged a fierce rivalry with South Australia, who also lay claim to a substantial football history.

The construction of the Telstra Dome and the national competition and emerging international participation has put further pressure on the MCG and Melbourne to remain the spiritual home of football.

[edit] Participation

Women's Australian rules football is growing in popularity in Victoria.
Women's Australian rules football is growing in popularity in Victoria.

In 2004, with 36,900 senior players in Victoria, more than any other state in Australia.

With a total participation of 223,999[2], Victoria has a participation rate of around 4% per capita, makes it the equal third most supported state (with Western Australia and South Australia). [3]

[edit] Audience

[edit] Attendance Record

[edit] Major Australian Rules Events in Victoria

2005 Community Cup
2005 Community Cup

[edit] Great Victorian Footballers

Great players from Victoria to participate in elite football include: Tony Lockett, Gary Ablett, Ted Whitten, Ron Barassi, Leigh Matthews, Kevin Murray, Francis Bourke, Greg Williams, Jack Dyer, Roy Cazaly, Paul Salmon, Paul Roos, Dermott Brereton, Robert Flower.

[edit] Notable Victorian Players in the AFL

[edit] Governing Body

The governing body for Australian rules football in Victoria is Football Victoria.

[edit] Leagues & Clubs

[edit] Professional Clubs

[edit] Open

[edit] Statewide Leagues

[edit] Melbourne Metropolitan Leagues

[edit] Regional Leagues

[edit] Junior

[edit] Masters

[edit] Women's

[edit] Principal Venues

Venue Capacity
Melbourne Cricket Ground, (Jolimont) 100,000
Telstra Dome, (Melbourne Docklands) 56,347
Princes Park (Carlton) 35,000
Victoria Park (Collingwood) 27,000
Moorabbin Oval (St Kilda) 27,000
Western Oval, (Footscray) 25,000
Kardinia Park (Geelong) 25,000

[edit] Representative Team

Further information: Victoria Australian rules football team
The Big V running out for the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match in 2008. (From left to right - Luke Power, Adam Goodes, Robert Murphy, Darren Milburn, Scott Pendlebury, Heath Shaw, Troy Simmonds, Trent Croad, Paul Chapman, Josh Fraser, James Bartel, Brent Harvey, Ryan O'Keefe, Sam Mitchell, Steve Johnson, Jarrad Waite, Chris Judd, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Bradshaw.)
The Big V running out for the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match in 2008. (From left to right - Luke Power, Adam Goodes, Robert Murphy, Darren Milburn, Scott Pendlebury, Heath Shaw, Troy Simmonds, Trent Croad, Paul Chapman, Josh Fraser, James Bartel, Brent Harvey, Ryan O'Keefe, Sam Mitchell, Steve Johnson, Jarrad Waite, Chris Judd, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Bradshaw.)

The Victorian representative team is known as the Big V and have played State of Origin test matches against all other Australian states. They still play at U19 level. The Big V will make a once off appearance in the 2008 AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match.

See Also Interstate matches in Australian rules football

[edit] References

  1. ^ For a detailed history of the evolution and development of the finals system used by the Victorian Football League (VFL) and, later, by the Australian Football League (AFL) see Early VFL Final systems and McIntyre System.
  2. ^ More chase Sherrin than before - realfooty.com.au
  3. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

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Australian rules football in Victoria, Australia
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AFL Victoria (Metropolitan) · Victorian Country Football League (Country)
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