Victorian Football League

Victorian Football League
Formerly Victorian Football Association
Sport Australian rules football
Inaugural season 1877
No. of teams 13
Country(ies)  Australia
Most recent champion(s) Port Melbourne
TV partner(s) ABC1
Official website www.vfl.com.au

The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association (VFA), taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria (not counting the Australian Football League. For historical purposes, the present VFL is sometimes referred to as the VFA/VFL. The VFA was formed in 1877, immediately after the foundation of a similar body in South Australia and is the second-oldest Australian rules football league, replacing the loose affiliation of clubs that had been the hallmark of the early years of a game which was first played as early as 1850s.

Today, the VFL is one of many regional Australian semi-professional competitions. It comprises 13 teams from throughout Victoria, nine of which have a continuous VFA heritage.

The VFL should not be confused with the previously-mentioned national Australian Football League, which evolved from the former Victorian Football League in the early 1990s. The AFL is now a national competition but still has 10 of its 17 clubs based in Victoria. The VFL broke away from the VFA prior to the 1897 season. Because of its history, it is sometimes referred to as the VFL/AFL. Many Victorian AFL clubs affiliate with VFL clubs, and as a result, the league partly serves as a reserves competition for the AFL.

Contents

History

Formative years

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was founded in 1877 on 17 May. The new governing body replaced an earlier system where club delegates met informally to decide on the rules, the selection of the winner of the Challenge Cup, the division of clubs into Senior and Junior status, and other matters of mutual interest. The VFA continued to list its teams as being of either Senior or Junior status.

Foundation Senior clubs of the VFA were Albert Park, Carlton, East Melbourne, Essendon, Hotham, Melbourne, St. Kilda & Geelong. The Junior section of the VFA originally included such clubs as Ballarat, Hawthorn, Northcote, South Melbourne, Standard, Victoria United, Victorian Railways and Williamstown. During its early years, many clubs dropped in and out and there were erratic promotions between the Senior and Junior sections. Hawthorn, Northcote, Standard, Victoria United, Victorian Railways and Williamstown dropped out within a year or so but Hawthorn, Northcote and Williamstown were all to return at various times.

Interestingly, in the early years, the compilation of fixtures was not done by the VFA but was the responsibility of each club secretary (a system that had evolved before the formation of the Association). Therefore, in a typical season, a club would play against other VFA teams (both Senior and Junior), non-VFA Victorian clubs, and even interstate teams.

At the end of each season, the VFA announced the Premier team. This was usually the club with the most wins, but that may not have been the case if the VFA felt that the leading team had had too many wins against junior clubs. Therefore, there are examples of the Premiership being given to the club with the second-highest number of wins.

From 1878 the Association recorded the number of behinds, but with only goals counting towards a win, thus the number of draws was extremely high. The number of players on the field was usually 20 but when a Senior and Junior team met, the Junior club was usually allowed to field extra players; there were no reserves and if a player was injured the team was a man short.

After 1889, the often-changeable collection of clubs in the VFA became settled at twelve consistent 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.

Split and re-establishment

After the 1896 season, eight of the thirteen clubs broke away to form the Victorian Football League (VFL): Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. All twenty VFA premierships to that stage had been shared by six of those eight clubs. The VFA continued to be an independent body, with only five of its original clubs – Footscray, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown – but within five years it had expanded to ten clubs, a size it maintained until the 1920s. Although its size was constant, its membership was not, with many new clubs lasting only a few years before leaving, and four clubs switching to the VFL: Richmond in 1908, and North Melbourne, Footscray and Hawthorn (who joined the VFA in 1914) in 1925.

In the late 1920s, the VFA expanded to twelve teams, including six new clubs, and those twelve teams remained unchanged for several decades thereafter. Those clubs were: Port Melbourne; Williamstown; Brunswick (joined 1897); Prahran (1898); Brighton (1908); Northcote (1908); Coburg (1925); Camberwell (1926); Preston (1926, after a temporary period between 1903-1911); Yarraville (1928); Oakleigh (1929); Sandringham (1929).

A number of rule changes were adopted during the last years of the 19th Century and the first years of the 20th:

Between at least 1900 and 1902, there was a short-lived VFA 2nd Division consisting of junior clubs such as Heidelberg.

The first regular radio broadcasts of VFA games were made by 3XY, a little after the station commenced operations in 1935. The commentator was Wallace ("Jumbo") Sharland who had earlier been the first to describe VFL matches, that being on 3AR in 1923. (Jumbo Sharland was a former Geelong player and, at one time, a newspaper football reporter.) In 1954 3AK began broadcasting VFA games, albeit only for a season or two. In 1966 Network Ten began to televise Sunday games. The 1970s also saw broadcasts on 3UZ, while 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), as from the 2007 season. In the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Radio 1611 Double X began broadcasting VFL matches. The station was the first to podcast replays. (Details of current broadcasts are found below – "Radio".)

During the 1940s, there were talks between the VFA and VFL towards an amalgamation of the two bodies with the VFA initially forming a second division of the VFL. The negotiations broke down over the issue of promotion and relegation. The VFA wanted an automatic promotion of each Division Two premier, while the bottom Division One team at the end of each season, would have been automatically relegated. On the other hand, the VFL wanted these two teams to play off for promotion and relegation.

Expansion

During the 1950s and 1960s, as Melbourne expanded geographically, the VFA embarked on a deliberate plan to establish its presence in new areas by expanding the number of teams, most of these coming from the newer, outer suburbs. By 1960, the league had expanded to seventeen teams; when the eighteenth club joined in 1961, the VFA was split into First and Second Divisions, the First Division originally having 10 teams, and Second Division eight. There was a promotion and relegation system between the two Divisions, with one team promoted and one relegated each season. Although the league was fairly constant at twenty teams during the 1970s, it expanded again (into the outer eastern suburbs) in the 1980s. At its peak in 1983, there were 24 teams competing in the VFA.

The VFA also pioneered night and Sunday games. After years of losing ground to the VFL, the VFA's launch of Sunday games in 1960 was a turning point for the better. Eventually, most 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 banned the VFL from holding games on Sundays. In 1982, the then-dominant sports radio station 3AW broadcast the Grand Final.

Decline

The decline of the VFA may be said to have commenced in 1982 when the VFL moved the struggling South Melbourne Swans to Sydney. All Sydney Swans home games were played on Sunday and televised. This move basically destroyed the VFA's television ratings, and in 1986 Network Ten stopped broadcasting matches. This role was later taken on by the ABC, but on a much lower-profile basis. VFA support declined. Increasing player payments and declining financial support and sponsorship forced clubs to leave the association, many unable to finish seasons. With fifteen teams remaining at the start of 1989, the VFA reverted to a single division.

In 1989, after the Seven Network was given exclusive rights to broadcast VFL/AFL, the ABC increased its television commitment to the VFA in lieu of telecasting the VFL/AFL games. It attracted good ratings. Despite this, the early 1990s was a difficult period for the association, with many sides, including stalwart sides such as Oakleigh, Prahran and Dandenong leaving the competition or becoming defunct, and others, such as Williamstown, on the verge of folding.

At its nadir in 1995, only nine teams remained. The teams were a mixture of vintages, with two (Port Melbourne and Williamstown) still in the league from before 1897, three (Preston, Coburg and Sandringham) surviving from the 1920s expansion, and four (Box Hill, Frankston, Springvale and Werribee) surviving from the more recent expansion. In 1996, the VFL began a brief period of expansion into regional areas, with existing powerhouse country clubs North Ballarat and Traralgon joining the nine existing teams. Traralgon's tenure was short-lived but they were replaced by another regional club, Bendigo.

In 1990, the VFL renamed itself the Australian Football League. The VFA evolved into the Victorian Football League in 1995, a change which caused much debate at the time. The new VFL adopted the original League logo, but featured a gold "V" and football, to reflect the colours of the former VFA logo. The logo reverted to the original VFL's blue and white, a few years later.

Since 2000: affiliation with the AFL

After the 1999 season, the VFL merged with the VSFL, the latter of which was a reserves competition for the AFL's Victorian clubs (and Sydney). The resulting competition contained a mixture of existing VFL clubs, reserves teams of AFL clubs, and affiliation arrangements between VFL and AFL clubs (whereby reserves players for the AFL would join the senior team of the VFL when not playing in the AFL). 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 VFL and VSFL merged. For a full list of the league's affiliation arrangements since 2000, see Reserves affiliations of Australian Football League clubs.

This new configuration received much media attention at the season launch. The main point of interest was that there were matchups that had not occurred since the 1897 VFA/VFL schism.

Also notable, but short-lived was the playing of feature matches on Monday nights, a time when no AFL matches were played. However, these matches were not shown on free-to-air television, but on Channel 7's C7 Sport subscription channel. This was at a time when pay TV penetration was very poor; there was no access to this channel in most of Melbourne, and in the parts of Melbourne that could receive it there was a much more popular competing subscription platform, Foxtel.

There was also a small continuation of the expansion of the league into regional areas, with the Murray Kangaroos Football Club representing the Ovens & Murray Football League and an expansion into Tasmania, although both of these teams have since folded.

These days the VFL is moderately popular in Victoria, although not nearly as well-supported as the dominant Australian Football League. Matches now attract both traditional fans of the VFA/VFL clubs, and fans of affiliated AFL clubs keen to watch their reserves players in action.

Awards

Recorder Cup

Awarded to the best and fairest player in each VFA season, 1923-41. It was first awarded one year before the VFL's Brownlow Medal but well after the inauguration of the SANFL's Magarey Medal, first awarded in 1898.

VFA Medal

Awarded to the best and fairest player in each VFA season, 1933-1940, concurrent with the Recorder Cup.

J. J. Liston Trophy

Awarded to the best and fairest player in each VFA/VFL season, since 1942.

Frosty Miller Medal

Awarded annually to the leading goal-kicker in the VFL season.

Norm Goss Memorial Medal

Awarded annually to the player voted best afield in the VFL grand final.

Fothergill-Round Medal

Awarded annually to the most promising young talent in the VFL competition.

Frank Johnson Medal

Awarded to the player voted best afield for the VFL in interstate football games.

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.

Attendance

Attendances are small by AFL standards, and generally less than the SANFL and WAFL, with an average of between 1,000–2,000 in attendance.

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.

Recent finals series

Year Grand Final Clubs Venue Crowd Total Finals Series Attendance
2011 Port Melbourne def Williamstown Etihad Stadium 11,879 [1]
2010 North Ballarat def Northern Bullants Etihad Stadium 11,000 [2]
2009 North Ballarat def Northern Bullants Etihad Stadium 14,026 [3]
2008 North Ballarat def Port Melbourne Telstra Dome 11,641[4]
2007 Geelong def Coburg Princes Park 13,842[5]  ?
2006 Sandringham def Geelong Princes Park 6,000  ?
2005 Sandringham def Werribee Princes Park 9,000 45,118
2004 Sandringham def Port Melbourne Princes Park 8,196 38,656
2003 Williamstown def Box Hill Princes Park 10,500 43,573
2002 Geelong def Port Melbourne Princes Park 11,500  ?
2001 Box Hill Hawks def Werribee Princes Park 11,500

Television

ABC Victoria broadcasts one match a week live on Saturday afternoons during the home and away season, as well as broadcasting most finals matches. In 2006 and 2007 ABC2 showed replays of VFL matches late on Wednesday nights to a national audience.[6]

C31 Melbourne currently covers VFL football on The Local Footy Show and telecasts live league games as well as the TAC Cup, Victorian Country Football League, Victorian Women's Football League and the AFL Victorian Youth Girls Competition.

Radio

Commencing in 1993, 3SER-fm (Casey FM) has broadcast at least one VFL match per weekend. It was the only radio station to cover both the VFL reserves and seniors Grand Finals. Their coverage can be picked up on radio on 97.7 FM or via the web on www.3ser.org.au [3].

In 2008, 3WBC 94.1 FM began broadcasting Box Hill Hawks home games. This began with the Round 2 game between Box Hill Hawks and Tasmania. This coverage can also be heard on the web at www.3wbc.org.au [4].

Although no longer broadcasting on a regular basis (see history section) SEN (1116 AM) has reserved the right to broadcast VFL finals and certain other games. They also have a weekly VFL panel show.

In 2009 the VFL announced that, as from the 2010 season, 774 ABC Melbourne will simulcast the ABC TV VFL coverage.

Internet radio station Live VFL (at www.livevfl.com.au [5]) currently broadcasts one VFL game per round.

Details of earlier broadcasts are listed in the History section (above).

Clubs

Current clubs

Club Location Home Ground AFL Affiliate
Bendigo Bombers Bendigo, Victoria Queen Elizabeth Oval Essendon
Box Hill Hawks Box Hill, Victoria Box Hill City Oval Hawthorn
Casey Scorpions Cranbourne, Victoria Casey Fields Melbourne
Coburg Coburg, Victoria Coburg City Oval Richmond
Collingwood Collingwood, Victoria Victoria Park Collingwood
Frankston Frankston, Victoria Frankston Park none
Geelong Geelong, Victoria Kardinia Park Geelong
North Ballarat Ballarat, Victoria Northern Oval North Melbourne (partial)[7]
Northern Blues Preston, Victoria Preston City Oval Carlton
Port Melbourne Port Melbourne, Victoria North Port Oval none
Sandringham Sandringham, Victoria Trevor Barker Beach Oval St Kilda
Werribee Werribee, Victoria Chirnside Park North Melbourne (partial)[8]
Williamstown Williamstown, Victoria Burbank Oval Western Bulldogs

Guernseys

Home guernseys

*Note: the Northern Blues will switch to a navy blue and white design for 2012, which is yet to be revealed. The guernsey displayed is the 2011 guernsey, when the club participated as the Northern Bullants.

Clash guernseys

Former clubs

The VFL has undergone significant format changes since its induction which means several clubs have either left the league or changed identity for different reasons.

Club participation timeline


Season results

VFA 1877–1994

From 1888, the VFA published a list of the final four clubs at the end of what are now called home-and-away matches. The listings (below) for 1877 to 1887 are based on various newspaper reports as researched by Graeme Atkinson and published in his book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Australian Rules Football ... (1982, The Five Mile Press, Melbourne).

Finals series (initially the Argus system, and from 1933 the Page-McIntyre system) were introduced in 1903 and, therefore from that date, the listing (below) reflects that situation after the finals.

In 1989 the VFA changed from a final four to a final five.

Year PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH
1877 Carlton Melbourne Hotham Albert Park
1878 Geelong Melbourne Carlton Hotham
1879 Geelong Carlton South Melbourne Melbourne
1880 Geelong South Melbourne Carlton Melbourne
1881 South Melbourne Geelong Carlton Melbourne
1882 Geelong Essendon South Melbourne Carlton
1883 Geelong South Melbourne Carlton Melbourne
1884 Geelong Essendon Hotham South Melbourne
1885 South Melbourne Essendon Geelong Carlton
1886 Geelong South Melbourne Carlton Port Melbourne
1887 Carlton Geelong South Melbourne Fitzroy
1888 South Melbourne Geelong Williamstown Carlton
1889 South Melbourne Carlton Port Melbourne Essendon
1890 South Melbourne Carlton Essendon Fitzroy
1891 Essendon Carlton Fitzroy South Melbourne
1892 Essendon Fitzroy Geelong Melbourne
1893 Essendon Melbourne Geelong South Melbourne
1894 Essendon Melbourne South Melbourne Fitzroy
1895 Fitzroy Geelong Melbourne Collingwood
1896 Collingwood South Melbourne Essendon Melbourne
1897 Port Melbourne North Melbourne Footscray Williamstown
1898 Footscray North Melbourne Port Melbourne Richmond
1899 Footscray North Melbourne Port Melbourne Williamstown
1900 Footscray Williamstown Richmond Prahran
1901 Port Melbourne Richmond North Melbourne Williamstown
1902 Richmond Port Melbourne North Melbourne Williamstown
1903 North Melbourne Richmond Footscray West Melbourne
1904 North Melbourne Richmond Footscray Port Melbourne
1905 Richmond North Melbourne Williamstown Port Melbourne
1906 West Melbourne Footscray Richmond North Melbourne
1907 Williamstown West Melbourne Richmond Footscray
1908 Footscray Brunswick Essendon Association Williamstown
1909 Brunswick Prahran Essendon Association Footscray
1910 North Melbourne Brunswick Essendon Association Prahran
1911 Essendon Association Brunswick North Melbourne Prahran
1912 Essendon Association Footscray North Melbourne Brunswick
1913 Footscray North Melbourne Essendon Association Brunswick
1914 North Melbourne Footscray Essendon Association Williamstown
1915 North Melbourne Brunswick Williamstown Port Melbourne
1916 In recess – WW1
1917 In recess – WW1
1918 North Melbourne Prahran Brunswick Port Melbourne
1919 Footscray North Melbourne Brunswick Northcote
1920 Footscray Brunswick North Melbourne Port Melbourne
1921 Williamstown Footscray Port Melbourne Brunswick
1922 Port Melbourne Footscray North Melbourne Williamstown
1923 Footscray Port Melbourne Williamstown Hawthorn
1924 Footscray Williamstown Northcote Brunswick
1925 Brunswick Port Melbourne Northcote Coburg
1926 Coburg Brighton Northcote Port Melbourne
1927 Coburg Brighton Port Melbourne Preston
1928 Coburg Port Melbourne Brighton Preston
1929 Northcote Port Melbourne Preston Brunswick
1930 Oakleigh Northcote Williamstown Yarraville
1931 Oakleigh Northcote Preston Port Melbourne
1932 Northcote Coburg Camberwell Preston
1933 Northcote Coburg Port Melbourne Yarraville
1934 Northcote Coburg Preston Prahran
1935 Yarraville Camberwell Northcote Coburg
1936 Northcote Prahran Brunswick Camberwell
1937 Prahran Brunswick Brighton Yarraville
1938 Brunswick Brighton Northcote Prahran
1939 Williamstown Brunswick Prahran Northcote
1940 Port Melbourne Prahran Williamstown Preston
1941 Port Melbourne Coburg Prahran Preston
1942 In recess – WWII
1943 In recess – WWII
1944 In recess – WWII
1945 Williamstown Port Melbourne Coburg Camberwell
1946 Sandringham Camberwell Williamstown Port Melbourne
1947 Port Melbourne Sandringham Williamstown Prahran
1948 Brighton Williamstown Brunswick Northcote
1949 Williamstown Oakleigh Brighton Northcote
1950 Oakleigh Port Melbourne Brighton Williamstown
1951 Prahran Port Melbourne Oakleigh Sandringham
1952 Oakleigh Port Melbourne Coburg Yarraville
1953 Port Melbourne Yarraville Williamstown Prahran
1954 Williamstown Port Melbourne Northcote Moorabbin
1955 Williamstown Port Melbourne Preston Moorabbin
1956 Williamstown Port Melbourne Box Hill Brunswick
1957 Moorabbin Port Melbourne Williamstown Preston
1958 Williamstown Moorabbin Port Melbourne Box Hill
1959 Williamstown Coburg Sandringham Oakleigh
1960 Oakleigh Sandringham Williamstown Yarraville
Year Division PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH
1961 1st
2nd
YARRAVILLE
Northcote
WILLIAMSTOWN
Dandenong
MOORABBIN
Camberwell
SANDRINGHAM
Preston
1962 1st
2nd
SANDRINGHAM
Dandenong
MOORABBIN
Prahran
COBURG
Preston
WILLIAMSTOWN
Box Hill
1963 1st
2nd
MOORABBIN
Preston
SANDRINGHAM
Waverley
YARRAVILLE
Prahran
COBURG
Sunshine
1964 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Geelong West
WILLIAMSTOWN
Sunshine
COBURG
Mordialloc
SANDRINGHAM
Brighton-Caulfield
1965 1st
2nd
WAVERLEY
Preston
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
DANDENONG
Northcote
SANDRINGHAM
Sunshine
1966 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Prahran
WAVERLEY
Geelong West
PRESTON
Northcote
YARRAVILLE
Sunshine
1967 1st
2nd
DANDENONG
Oakleigh
PORT MELBOURNE
Geelong West
SANDRINGHAM
Frankston
PRESTON
Sunshine
1968 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Geelong West
PRAHRAN
Williamstown
SANDRINGHAM
Sunshine
DANDENONG
Werribee
1969 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Williamstown
DANDENONG
Sunshine
PORT MELBOURNE
Coburg
SANDRINGHAM
Box Hill
1970 1st
2nd
PRAHRAN
Coburg
WILLIAMSTOWN
Box Hill
WAVERLEY
Sunshine
PORT MELBOURNE
Brunswick
1971 1st
2nd
DANDENONG
Sunshine
PRESTON
Brunswick
SANDRINGHAM
Caulfield
OAKLEIGH
Yarraville
1972 1st
2nd
OAKLEIGH
Geelong West
DANDENONG
Caulfield
WILLIAMSTOWN
Yarraville
PRESTON
Brunswick
1973 1st
2nd
PRAHRAN
Caulfield
OAKLEIGH
Brunswick
DANDENONG
Waverley
PORT MELBOURNE
Camberwell
1974 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Coburg
OAKLEIGH
Brunswick
GEELONG WEST
Waverley
DANDENONG
Camberwell
1975 1st
2nd
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
DANDENONG
Camberwell
PORT MELBOURNE
Sunshine
COBURG
Frankston
1976 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Williamstown
DANDENONG
Mordialloc
PRESTON
Frankston
CAULFIELD
Northcote
1977 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
SANDRINGHAM
Yarraville
C0BURG
Camberwell
BRUNSWICK
Oakleigh
1978 1st
2nd
PRAHRAN
Frankston
PRESTON
Camberwell
PORT MELBOURNE
Oakleigh
DANDENONG
Yarraville
1979 1st
2nd
COBURG
Camberwell
GEELONG WEST
Oakleigh
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
PRAHRAN
Williamstown
1980 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Brunswick
COBURG
Yarraville
GEELONG WEST
Waverley
SANDRINGHAM
Williamstown
1981 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Camberwell
PRESTON
Waverley
SANDRINGHAM
Mordialloc
FRANKSTON
Werribee
1982 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Northcote
PRESTON
Caulfield
COBURG
Oakleigh
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
1983 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Springvale
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
SANDRINGHAM
Oakleigh
1984 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Box Hill
FRANKSTON
Oakleigh
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
CAMBERWELL
Caulfield
1985 1st
2nd
SANDRINGHAM
Brunswick
WILLIAMSTOWN
Oakleigh
COBURG
Sunshine
PRESTON
Caulfield
1986 1st
2nd
WILLIAMSTOWN
Box Hill
COBURG
Sunshine
FRANKSTON
Prahran
PRESTON
Oakleigh
1987 1st
2nd
SPRINGVALE
Prahran
PORT MELBOURNE
Waverley
WILLIAMSTOWN
Werribee
FRANKSTON
Sunshine
1988 1st
2nd
COBURG
Oakleigh
WILLIAMSTOWN
Sunshine
PRESTON
Werribee
PORT MELBOURNE
Dandenong
Year PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH FIFTH
1989 Coburg Williamstown Box Hill Springvale Frankston
1990 Williamstown Springvale Preston Coburg Werribee
1991 Dandenong Werribee Box Hill Springvale Port Melbourne
1992 Sandringham Williamstown Prahran Box Hill Werribee
1993 Werribee Port Melbourne Springvale Prahran Frankston
1994 Sandringham Box Hill Springvale Dandenong Redlegs Frankston

VFL 1995–present


Year PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH FIFTH (SIXTH) (SEVENTH) (EIGHTH)
1995 Springvale Sandringham Port Melbourne Frankston Werribee
1996 Springvale Frankston
1997 Sandringham Frankston
1998 Springvale Werribee
1999 Springvale North Ballarat
2000 Sandringham North Ballarat Carlton St Kilda Geelong Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Sandringham
2001 Box Hill Hawks Werribee Springvale Murray Kangaroos Carlton Frankston Coburg Tigers Essendon
2002 Geelong Port Melbourne Werribee Coburg Tigers Box Hill Hawks Williamstown Murray Kangaroos Sandringham
2003 Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Port Melbourne Sandringham Tasmania Springvale Werribee Geelong
2004 Sandringham Port Melbourne Werribee North Ballarat Tasmania Coburg Tigers Box Hill Hawks Bendigo Bombers
2005 Sandringham Werribee Northern Bullants Bendigo Bombers Port Melbourne Tasmania Frankston Box Hill Hawks
2006 Sandringham Geelong Northern Bullants Williamstown Frankston North Ballarat Werribee Coburg Tigers
2007 Geelong Coburg Tigers Williamstown North Ballarat Sandringham Port Melbourne Casey Scorpions Bendigo Bombers
2008 North Ballarat Port Melbourne Williamstown Werribee Casey Scorpions Frankston Coburg Tigers Northern Bullants
2009 North Ballarat Northern Bullants Port Melbourne Collingwood Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Casey Scorpions Geelong
2010 North Ballarat Northern Bullants Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Casey Scorpions Port Melbourne Collingwood Bendigo Bombers
2011 Port Melbourne Williamstown Werribee Northern Bullants North Ballarat Casey Scorpions Bendigo Bombers Box Hill Hawks

See also

References

External links