History of Australian rules football in Victoria (1853-1900)

style="font-size: larger;" | **Early years of Australian Rules Football in Victoria**
19th Century Records
Champion Clubs In 1865 the Athletic Sports Committee introduced a Challenge Cup for Senior clubs. Winners were: 1865 Melbourne 1866 South Yarra 1867 South Yarra 1868 Melbourne 1869 Carlton, Melbourne (disputed) 1870 Melbourne, South Yarra (disputed) 1871 Carlton 1872 Melbourne 1873 Carlton 1874 Carlton 1875 Carlton 1876 Melbourne Following the establishment of the Victorian Football Association in 1877, the VFA announced a Premier team. This was usually the club with the highest number of wins but this was not always the case; if a high proportion of wins were against Junior clubs, this would count against the team. The following list shows the teams recognised as the top four VFA clubs 1877-1896 (in consecutive order). From 1888, the VFA published a list of the final four clubs at the end of what are now called home-and-away matches. However, the listings for 1877 to 1887 are based on various newspaper reports. Between 1897 and 1900, the top teams for both the VFA and VFL are listed: 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 (VFA); Essendon (VFL) North Melbourne (VFA); Geelong (VFL) Footscray (VFA); Collingwood (VFL) Williamstown (VFA); Melbourne (VFL) 1898 Footscray (VFA); Fitzroy (VFL) North Melbourne (VFA); Essendon (VFL) Port Melbourne (VFA); Collingwood (VFL) Richmond (VFA); Geelong (VFL) 1899 Footscray (VFA); Fitzroy (VFL) North Melbourne (VFA); Essendon (VFL) Port Melbourne (VFA); Geelong (VFL) Williamstown (VFA); Collingwood (VFL) 1900 Footscray (VFA); Melbourne (VFL) Williamstown (VFA); Fitzroy (VFL) Richmond (VFA); Essendon (VFL) Prahran (VFA); Collingwood (VFL) ----
Champion players Until the introduction of the VFA's Recorder Cup (or Woodham Cup) in 1923 and the VFL's Brownlow Medal in 1924, the major recognition of the best player was the Champion of the Colony Champion Of The Colony The Champion of the Colony award refers to a list that was most likely compiled in the late 1940s by Australian football historian C.C. Mullen for the publications "Mullen's Footballers' Australian Almanac 1950", and 1951, plus a History of Australian rules football he wrote in about 1958... award. The award was based on votes from Melbourne's Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... leading football journalists 1858 G. S. Bruce (Richmond Cricketers FC) 1859 Tommy Wills (Geelong) 1860 H. W. Bryant (Melbourne) 1861 G. O. Mullane (South Yarra) 1862 Henry Harrison (Melbourne) 1863 Henry Harrison (Melbourne) 1864 A. M. Greenfield (Ballarat) 1865 Tommy Wills (Melbourne) 1866 Henry Harrison (Melbourne) 1867 Henry Harrison (Melbourne) 1868 J. J. A. Conway (Carlton) 1869 Henry Harrison (Melbourne) 1870 T. W. C. Riddell (South Yarra) 1871 B. J. Goldsmith (Melbourne) 1872 Tommy Wills (Geelong) 1873 J. C. Donovan (Carlton) 1874 W. J. Lacey (Carlton) 1875 George Robertson (Carlton) 1876 George Coulthard George Coulthard George Coulthard was a star Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton. He was also a notable cricketer who played for the Melbourne Cricket Club and briefly for Australia. As a cricketer he played only six first-class matches, five for Victoria and a Test match for Australia... (Carlton) 1877 George Coulthard (Carlton) 1878 H. P. Douglass (Geelong) 1879 George Coulthard (Carlton) 1880 James Wilson (Geelong) 1881 James Wilson (Geelong) 1882 James Wilson (Geelong) 1883 John Baker (Carlton) 1884 Jack Kerley Jack Kerley Jack Kerley is an American author. He spent 20 years in a successful advertising career before writing his first book. He currently lives in Newport, Kentucky, and is married with two children.-Writing:... (Geelong) 1885 Peter Burns Peter Burns Peter Burns was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football Association and Victorian Football League .Burns was a tall ruckman and full-back... (South Melbourne) 1886 Charles Pearson (Essendon) 1887 John Worrall Jack Worrall John "Jack" Worrall was an Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy in the VFA and a test cricketer, a coach of both sports and a sporting journalist.... (Fitzroy) 1888 "Dinny" McKay (South Melbourne) 1889 W. J. Hannaysee (Port Melbourne) 1890 John Worrall (Fitzroy) 1891 Peter Burns (South Melbourne) 1892 Charlie Forbes Charlie Forbes Charlie 'Tracker' Forbes was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL.Forbes was a successful player for Essendon in the years leading up to the formation of the VFL in the 1890s... (Essendon) 1893 Albert Thurgood Albert Thurgood Albert John "The Great" Thurgood was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football Association , Victorian Football League and the Western Australian Football Association .... (Essendon) 1894 Albert Thurgood (Essendon) 1895 George Vautin George Vautin George James Phillips Vautin was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League . He was born at Orielton, Tasmania and died at West Preston, Victoria.... (Essendon) 1896 Bill Strickland (Collingwood) 1897 Fred McGinis Fred McGinis Fred McGinis was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League .... (Melbourne) 1898 Dick Condon Dick Condon Richard 'Dick' Condon was a highly controversial, exceptionally brilliant champion Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football Association and the Victorian Football League from 1894 to 1909.... (Collingwood) 1899 Michael Grace Mick Grace Michael John Grace was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and Victorian Football Association .... (Fitzroy) 1900 Fred Leach Fred Leach Fred Leach was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the VFL.Leach was a centreman in the losing Grand Final side of 1901, but played at centre half-back in the 1902 premiership team.... (Collingwood) ----
Leading goalkickers 1858-66 ? 1867 12: L. N. Bell (Melbourne) 1868-71 ? 1872 6: J. Donovan (Carlton); C. Loughnan (Melbourne) 1873 ? 1874 10: W. Dedman (Carlton) 1875 13: W. Dedman (Carlton) 1876 18: W. Dedman (Carlton) 1877 12: C. Baker (Melbourne) 1878 ? 1879 19: George Coulthard (Carlton) 1880 33 (some scored on tour & interstate) Percy Douglass (Geelong); 21: George Coulthard (Carlton) 1881 25: E. Brooks (Carlton) 1882 29: Hugh McLean (Geelong) 1883 29: Phil McShane (Geelong) 1884 33: Phil McShane (Geelong) 1885 38: G. Houston (Hotham) 1886 51: Phil McShane (Geelong) 1887 36: Tom McShane (Geelong) 1888 50: "Dinny" McKay (South Melbourne) 1889 40: J. E. Barrett (South Melbourne) 1890 49: Jim Grace (Fitzroy) 1891 37: Jim Grace (Fitzroy) 1892 56: Albert Thurgood (Essendon) 1893 64: Albert Thurgood (Essendon) 1894 63: Albert Thurgood (Essendon) 1895 42: Dave de Coite (Geelong) 1896 ? 1897 - VFA 38: Daly (Port Melbourne) 1897 - VFL 27: E. James (Geelong) 1898 - VFA ? 1898 - VFL 31: Archie Smith Archie Smith Archie 'Snapper' Smith was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the years following the formation of the VFL.... (Collingwood) 1899 - VFA 39: Daly (Footscray) 1899 - VFL 32: E. James (Geelong) 1900 - VFA 32: Daly (Footscray) 1900 - VFL 26: Albert Thurgood (Essendon)

Australian rules football, also known as Australian football and known colloquially as Aussie rules, was first organised in Victoria in 1859 when its first rules were written by the Melbourne Football Club. By 1900, it had become the most popular sport in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

Before 1859

The complex origins of the game go back to the early 1840s and are covered in The Origins of Australian rules football

On 17 May 1859, the first rules for a local code of football were written during a meeting of four members of the Melbourne Cricket Club

Melbourne Cricket Club

The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....

(MCC): Tom Wills

Tom Wills

Thomas Wentworth "Tom" Wills was an Australian all-round sportsman, umpire, coach and administrator who is credited with being a catalyst towards the invention of Australian rules football....

, William Hammersley

William Hammersley

William Josiah Sumner Hammersley was a prominent sports journalist for Bell's Life in Victoria and later The Australasian , one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of the Australian rules football.-Life:He was educated at Aldenham School...

, J. B. Thompson

J. B. Thompson

James Bogne "J. B." Thompson was one of the creators of the original laws of Australian rules football, one of the founders and the inaugural secretary of the Melbourne Football Club, a cricketer for both Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Club , and a journalist for Melbourne newspaper, The...

and Thomas Smith

Thomas H. Smith

Thomas Henry Smith was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australian public schools in 1858 and as one of the founders of the Melbourne Football Club.Smith was a founding member and...

. The meeting was held at the Parade Hotel on the site of the present MCG Hotel. Wills, a renowned cricketer, was secretary of the MCC at the time. He had attended Rugby School

Rugby School

Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

and was familiar with the argument between the proponents of allowing players to handle the ball (ie, Rugby football

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

) and those who wanted players to use their feet only, the style later adopted by the Football Association.

1859 - Geelong rules

Below are the rules for Australian Rules Football, alleged to have been used by the Geelong Football Club in 1859. They were originally written down by hand. Graeme Atkinson, writing in Everything You Wanted Know About Australian Rules Football ... considers it likely that these Geelong rules were drawn up prior to the first rules of the Melbourne Football Club which were drafted on 17 May 1859.:

1. Distance between goals and the goal posts to be decided by captains.

2. Teams of 25 in grand matches, but up to 30 against odds.

3. Matches to be played in 2 halves of 50 minutes. At the end of first 50 teams may leave ground for 20 minutes for refreshments but must be ready to resume on time otherwise rival captain can call game off or (if his side has scored) claim it as a win.

4. Game played with 200 yard [sic.] [182.9 metre] space, same to be measured equally on each side of a line drawn through the centre of the two goals, and two posts to be called "kick off" posts shall be erected at a distance of 20 yards [1.83 metres] on each side of the goal posts at both ends and in a straight line between them.

5. When kicked behind goal, ball may be brought 20 yards in front of any portion of the space between the kick off and kicked as nearly as possibly [sic.] in line with opposite goal.

6. Ball must be bounced every 10 or 20 yards if carried.

7. Tripping, holding, hacking prohibited. Pushing with hands or body is allowed when any player is in rapid motion or in possession of ball, except in the case of a mark.

8. Mark is when a player catches the ball before it hits the ground and has been clearly kicked by another player.

9. Handball only allowed if ball held clearly in one hand and punched or hit out with other. If caught, no mark. Throwing prohibited.

10. Before game captains toss for ends.

11. In case of infringements, captain may claim free from where breach occurred. Except where umpires appointed, opposing captain to adjudicate.

12. In all grand matches two umpires - one from each side - will take up position as near as possible between the goal posts and centre. When breach is made appeal to go to nearest umpire.

It is usually agreed that it was Rule 8, which covers marking, is the one that differentiated the Australian game from any other set of football rules. Rule 9, which covers handballing, also defines a major feature of the Australian game. The lack of any offside rule is also considered a vital differentiation from other forms of football.

Reference to "the 'kick off' posts" in Rule 4 is important. These are obviously what are now known as behind posts and which have always been an important feature of the game. Until 1878, kicks between the goal-post and kick off posts were not recorded. However, after that date, behinds were noted but did not count towards the score.

Despite the fact that Tom Wills had helped referee the Melbourne Grammar v Scotch College game in 1858, Field Umpires did not become a regular feature of the game until 1872. It will be noted in Rule 11 that the captains were usually responsible for adjudicating on infringements and disputations. Even so, Rule 12 does make provision for the appointment of two Umpires. However, prior to 1872, there are only a few recorded instances of this being done.

Of course, rules continued (and still continue) to evolve. More information on the features that make Australian Rules distinctive, is found under the heading: "Features of the Game" (below).

1860 rules

Below are the rules as refined in 1860 by a meeting of the Melbourne Football Club but with some input from other existing clubs.

1. The distance between the goals and the goal posts shall be decided upon by the captains of the sides playing.

2. The captains on each side toss for choice of goal; the side losing the toss has the kick-off from the centre point between the goals.

3. A goal must be kicked fairly between the posts without touching either of them or any portion of the person of one of the opposite side. In case of the ball being forced between the goal posts in a scrimmage, a goal shall be awarded.

4. The game shall be played within a space of not more than 200 yds [182.9 metres] wide, the same to be measured equally on either side of a line drawn through the centre of the two goals; and the two posts, to be called kick-off posts, shall be erected at a distance of twenty yards [18.3 metres] on each side of the goal posts at both ends, and in a straight line with them.

5. In case the ball is kicked behind the goal, any one of the side behind whose goal it is kicked, may bring it twenty yards in front of any portion of the space between the "kick-off" posts, and shall kick it nearly as possible in line with the opposite goal.

6. Any player catching the ball directly from the foot may call "mark". He then has a free kick; no player from the opposite side being allowed to come inside the spot marked.

7. Tripping, holding and hacking are strictly prohibited. Pushing with the hands or body is allowed when any player is in rapid motion or in possession of the ball, except in the case provided for in Rule 6.

8. The ball may not be lifted from the ground in any circumstances, or taken in hand, except as provided for in Rule 6 (catch from the foot) or when on the pick-up. It shall not be run with in any case.

9. When a ball goes out of bounds (same being indicated by a row of posts) it shall be brought back to the point where it crossed the boundary line, and thrown in at right angles with that line.

10. The ball, while still in play, must under no circumstances, be thrown.

11. In case of a deliberate infringement of any of the above rules, by either side, the captain of the opposite side may claim that any one of his party may have a free kick from the place where the breach of the rules was made; the two captains in all cases, save where umpires are appointed, to be the sole judges of "infringements".

It should be noted that until the 1980s, the earliest known rules were a printed set that came out of a meeting of delegates of the various clubs, held at the Freemason's Hotel, Melbourne on 8 May 1866. Copies [made at unknown date] of the 1859 set of rules and the 1860 rules, referred to above, both hand-written, have been unearthed in recent years.

Kicking

It appears that when the game was first played the types of kicks used were the punt kick, the place kick and the drop kick.

The punt kick

Punt kick

The Punt kick is a common style of kicking in football games. It is described as kicking the ball without the ball first hitting the ground. It is practiced in many sports to some degree: Australian rules football, American & Canadian football, rugby league, and rugby union...

is still an important part of the game.

The place kick

Place kick

The place kick is a kicking style commonly used in rugby league and rugby union. It is also seen in Association football, American football and Canadian football.-American and Canadian football:...

, usually associated with Rugby League

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

, Rugby Union and Gridiron

Gridiron football

Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...

was used in Aussie Rules for many years, particularly for kicking out after a behind had been scored. It was mainly favoured because of the distance the ball would travel after being place kicked. It was rarely used after the 1920s.

The drop kick

Drop kick

A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first....

was an important feature of the game for many decades mainly because of its accuracy, but it fell into disuse as the pace of the game speeded up and it was rarely used after the 1960s.

The stab kick (or stab pass) was devised in the early days of the 20th century, probably by Collingwood players during a 1902 tour of Tasmania, where weak opposition teams led Collingwood players to experiment. The stab's discovery is usually attributed to Dick Condon

Dick Condon

Richard 'Dick' Condon was a highly controversial, exceptionally brilliant champion Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football Association and the Victorian Football League from 1894 to 1909....

but Eddie Drohan

Eddie Drohan

Edward 'Eddie' Drohan was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy and Collingwood in the Victorian Football League before becoming a coach....

, Charlie Pannam

Charlie H. Pannam

Charles 'Charlie' Pannam was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football Association between 1894 and 1896 then in the Victorian Football League between 1897 and 1906. He then played for the Richmond Football Club in the VFA in 1907 then...

and Bob Rush would have also contributed. (Some writers suggest that the Stab Pass was used even earlier and cite the Rev. A Brown who played for South Melbourne in the early 1880s. Nevertheless, it did not become a feature of the game until after Collingwood's 1902 Tasmanian tour.) The concentration on Collingwood and its players is not an accidental, because the original Sherrin football, initially only used by Collingwood, was specifically designed to facilitate the stab-kick. Prior to the especially designed Sherrin football, the standard football was, essentially, a rugby ball. The stab pass also fell into disuse after the 1970s.

Bouncing the ball

Rule 6 of the rules drawn up in 1859 state that the ball should be bounced every 10 or 20 yards (9.14 to 18.29 metres). However, in the first few seasons there appears to have been an agreement between the clubs not to allow any running with the ball. This was mainly an attempt to curb H.C.A. Harrison who ran with great speed, carrying the ball Rugby style. Nevertheless, it is known that the agreement was sometimes ignored, such as during the Melbourne v Richmond game on 5 June 1860 and a Royal Park v Melbourne game in 1863. The latter led to the rule about bouncing being more strictly observed. When the rules were redrawn in 1866, the distance between bounces was reduced to a flat 10 yards.

Marks

The 1859 rules made provision for marking but they were usually taken on the chest or, sometimes, on the shoulder or with the hands outstretched but with the feet still firmly on the ground.

Probably the first player to make the spectacular leaps that are now a feature of the game, was Charles "Commotion" Pearson who played for Essendon in the mid-1880s. It is said that ladies in the crowd screamed for fear that Pearson may injure himself or others. The Argus prophetically said: While Mr Pearson takes risks with his rocket-like leaps into the air, who knows but that this may be a new revolution in high marking. What a thrill the game would become as a spectacle if all players tried out this new idea. Perhaps in years to come we will see players all over the field sailing up in the air in this 'Pearson-like' fashion.

While Pearson is usually attributed with first devising the high mark, contemporaries such as Harry Todd (Hotham/North Melbourne) and Jack Kerley (Geelong) were also making similar high leaps.

Tagging the opposition

Tagging is not as new as many people may imagine. In 1885, a newspaper reporter objected to the tactics of both clubs during a Fitzroy v Carlton game. Fitzroy instructed "Dummy" Muir to watch Carlton's Baker, and Carlton had a player watching Paddy McShane.

The following report of a South Melbourne v Melbourne game appeared in The Australasian of 14 July 1894: Someone told them (Melbourne) that McKnight, Windley and Waugh were the backbone of the Southern team and they immediately conceived the idea of telling men off to block these players. Moysey was directed to shadow McKnight, young Wardill

Dick Wardill

Richard C. "Dick" Wardill was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....

had to prevent Windley getting possession ... and Lewis was appointed to control the movements of Waugh. Their instructions were very definite. They were all three told that it did not matter whether they got a kick themselves at all in the match, if they only succeeded in spoiling the play of the three South cracks. Those who were present at the match can say how well these instructions were carried out. There was nothing in the tactics adopted that infringed a solitary rule of the game and the plan was singularly effective, but I own to feeling a shade of doubt concerning the manliness of the whole proceeding. I would certainly have preferred to see the representatives of the grand old Melbourne win ... purely upon their superior prowess as players.

Coaches

The present situation in which each club has a coach, evolved over many years. In the formative years of the game, the captain of each team was also the de facto coach, in much the same way as the captain of a cricket team still has most of the responsibility for the team.

In the 1880s, there were a number of examples of people who were coaches in everything but name:

a) In 1886, Charles Brownlow

Chas Brownlow

Charles "Chas" Brownlow was an Australian rules football administrator in the Victorian Football League.He went to the Geelong College for his schooling....

, then both a Geelong player and the club's Secretary, virtually became the coach. Geelong was undefeated in that year.

b) In 1888, Fitzroy finished the season in 10th place, its worst ever VFA result. The committee responded by employing a professional trainer (whose name is not recorded). This move was deemed to be successful.

c) St Kilda's William "Billy" Plummer was at the club in the late 1880s and early 1890s and was officially described as a trainer. St. Kilda's first successful run in senior ranks is usually attributed to Plummer's training methods; in 1890 the club finished the season by winning five and drawing three of its last nine games. Although Plummer was responsible for training the team, it is suspected that he had little or no control over the players once a game commenced.

Most football histories show that the first VFL coach was Carlton's John "Jack" Worrall

Jack Worrall

John "Jack" Worrall was an Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy in the VFA and a test cricketer, a coach of both sports and a sporting journalist....

who was appointed in 1902. Worrall was a former Fitzroy champion. In the first five VFL seasons (1897–1901) Carlton perennially finished second last (7th), just ahead of lowly St. Kilda. In Worrall's first season, Carlton finished 6th; in 1903 they were 3rd; 2nd in 1904; 3rd in 1905; Worrall then helped the team win three consecutive Premierships (1906–08); and they finished 2nd during Worrall's last two years with the club (1909–10). Although Worrall was the first person to really take on the full role of a coach, he was never actually given that title; officially he was the Club's Secretary-Manager.

Many histories of the Collingwood Football Club suggest that Jock McHale

Jock McHale

James Francis "Jock" McHale, was an Australian rules football player and coach for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League in a marathon career that extended from 1903 to 1949....

was that club's first coach, appointed in 1914. McHale takes his place in the record books as the VFL's longest serving coach (he retired in 1949) and he is also one of the most successful, helping Collingwood to eight Premierships. However, other histories indicate that McHale was actually Collingwood's fifth coach. The actual situation is that McHale was the first person to be given the official title of Coach. This was after he retired as a player at the end of the 1913 season. However he had actually been the captain-coach for two seasons prior to his official appointment. Between 1905 and 1911, Dick Condon

Dick Condon

, Edward "Ted" Rowell and George Angus

George Angus

George Angus was an Australian rules footballer who played for and coached Collingwood in the VFL during the early 1900s.Angus was a late comer to the game, making his Collingwood debut at the age of 27 in 1902 having previously fought in the Boer War. He was a member of back to back premiership...

had also taken on the coaching role as well as being captains. Interestingly, in 1904, retired player Bill Strickland

Bill Strickland (footballer)

William 'Bill' Strickland was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the inaugural VFL season.Strickland was a centreman and started his career with Brunswick before joining VFA side Carlton in 1885...

was Collingwood's non-playing coach in everything but name.

1860s and 1870s

Within a few years of the drafting of the early rules, there were no fewer than 19 football clubs using the rules drafted at the Parade Hotel. The following clubs are known to have existed by the mid-1860s:
Ballarat

Ballarat Football Club

The Ballarat Football Club competes in the Ballarat Football League in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The club, nicknamed the Swans, has a history dating back to 1860. Ballarat once competed in the Victorian Football Association....

Brunswick

Brunswick Football Club

Brunswick Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1897 until 1990. They were originally nicknamed the Pottery Workers before being renamed the Magpies and were based in Brunswick, Victoria. The club wore black and white guernseys...

Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

Castlemaine

Castlemaine Football Club

Castlemaine Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia and is currently a member of the Bendigo Football League.The club is notable for several reasons...

Collingwood (no association with the present club, formed in 1892)
Emerald Hill
Geelong

Geelong Football Club

The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

Melbourne

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

Melbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

Northcote

Northcote Football Club

Northcote Football Club, nicknamed The Dragons, was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1908 until 1987. The club's colours were green and yellow and it was based in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote...

Richmond (no association with the present club, formed in 1885)
Royal Park
Scotch College

Scotch College, Melbourne

Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

University
Wharehousemen
Williamstown

Williamstown Football Club

The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League...

In 1865 the first moves towards the establishment of a roof body were seen when the Athletic Sports Committee presented a Challenge Cup for the champion Senior team. The result was disputed in 1869 with both Carlton and Melbourne claiming the Cup. In the following year, Melbourne and South Yarra both claimed champion status. However, there's a strong clue as to whom the Athletic Sports Committee thought was the righful claimant when, in 1871, the Cup was renamed the South Yarra Challenge Cup. A few years after the Challenge Cup was first presented, Junior teams were able to compete for a Junior Challenge Cup.

Prior to the actual establishment of an official football-only roof body in 1877, there was still a great degree of organisation and cooperation between the various clubs. Regular meetings were held between the secretaries of the clubs at which, inter alia, the following matters were discussed:
- changes and refinements to the rules;
- fixtures for each season;
- the naming of the Champion club at the end of each season.

These meetings would have also discussed the ratings of each club, which were by the early 1870s listed in the following categories:
* Senior clubs
* Junior clubs
* Minor clubs
* Country clubs
* School clubs.

Fixtures did not necessarily confine clubs to playing other teams with a similar rating but if, for example, a Senior club played a Junior club, the Junior club would be allowed to have a greater number of players on the field. Clubs did not only play against other Victorian clubs and games between interstate teams were surprisingly frequent, particularly for the days before the establishment of interstate railway links, when the most common way of travelling from Melbourne to, say, Sydney or Adelaide, was by sea.

In the early/mid 1870s an annual called The Footballer was published. The 1875 edition is kept in the collection of the State Library of Victoria

State Library of Victoria

The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district...

. The Footballer provides readers with a fascinating insight into the early days of the game. It includes the results of all matches and a full and comprehensive listing of all contemporary teams, Senior, Junior, Minor, Country and School Clubs. The listing for most clubs includes details of its uniform, officials, playground (sic), year of formation, number of members and, importantly, potted biographies of most players.

In 1875 the following eight clubs were listed in The Footballer, as Senior Clubs:
Albert Park

Kangaroos Football Club

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

Carlton

Carlton Football Club

Carlton Imperials
East Melbourne
Hotham

Kangaroos Football Club

Melbourne

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

St. Kilda

St. Kilda Football Club

The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the sport's premier league....

University.

(Country-based clubs that were later to be regarded by the VFA as Senior Clubs, were listed by The Footballer in the country section. These include: Ballarat

Ballarat Football Club

, Ballarat Imperials, Beechworth

Beechworth Football Club

Beechworth Football Club, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Tallangatta & District Football League...

, Castlemaine

Castlemaine Football Club

, Geelong

Geelong Football Club

, Inglewood

Inglewood Football Club

Inglewood Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Inglewood, Victoria. The club is currently affiliated with the Loddon Valley Football League.- History :...

, Rochester

Rochester Football Club

The Rochester Football Club was formed at a meeting held on 8 June 1874 at Tidy's Restdown Hotel. The club was formed with the purpose of soon "playing and beating Echuca"...

and South Ballarat).

There were as many as 33 junior clubs listed in 1875.

On 13 December 2007, Charles Leski Auctions, Melbourne, sold an 1864 Geelong membership ticket for A$3,000. This is one of the earliest exant football artifacts, from any code, that is still in private hands.

The need for some roof body is illustrated by an anecdote from 1875. The East Melbourne v Williamstown game was cancelled when the East Melbourne players decided that they would rather watch the Carlton v Melbourne game!

Formation of the VFA

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was formed in 1877. It had an initial membership of 10 senior clubs and a number of junior clubs, seven of which are listed below:

SENIOR TEAMS	Notes	JUNIOR TEAMS	Notes
Albert Park Kangaroos Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...		Ballarat Ballarat Football Club The Ballarat Football Club competes in the Ballarat Football League in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The club, nicknamed the Swans, has a history dating back to 1860. Ballarat once competed in the Victorian Football Association....	out of VFA within a few years but rejoined at a later date
Carlton Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...		Hawthorn Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...	out of VFA within a few years but rejoined at a later date
East Melbourne	out of VFA within a few years but rejoined at a later date	Northcote Northcote Football Club Northcote Football Club, nicknamed The Dragons, was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1908 until 1987. The club's colours were green and yellow and it was based in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote...	out of VFA within a few years but rejoined at a later date
Essendon Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...		Standard	out of VFA within a few years and did not rejoin
Geelong Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...		Victoria United	out of VFA within a few years and did not rejoin
Hotham Kangaroos Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...		Victorian Railways	out of VFA within a few years and did not rejoin
Melbourne Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....		Williamstown Williamstown Football Club The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League...	out of VFA within a few years but rejoined at a later date
St. Kilda St. Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the sport's premier league....	out of VFA within a few years but rejoined at a later date
South Melbourne
West Melbourne West Melbourne Football Club West Melbourne Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association . They were based at the North Melbourne Cricket Ground and had a red and white striped guernsey.-History:...	out of VFA within a few years but rejoined at a later date

In the early days, any club was eligible to join the VFA upon payment of an annual subscription. However, Senior clubs were mainly selected on merit but there were other criteria. For example, Senior clubs were required to have a minimum membership of 80.

During the first decades, the VFA was not responsible for the setting of fixtures, which continued to be the province of meetings between the secretaries of the various clubs. However, by the late 1880s, a rule had been introduced that made any club that didn't play at least 18 games in a season, ineligible for the Premiership. As an example, in 1889 bottom club Footscray had only played 16 games. Finally, in 1891, the Association set up a sub-committee under North Melbourne's W. R. Mullins which took on the responsibility of setting fixtures.

However, a lot of the other organisational work was now done by the VFA, from its inception, including the setting of rules and the naming of the Premiers (or champion team). The number of players continued to vary according to the strength of the opposition, but if two equally ranked teams were pitted against each other, there were usually 20 players on each team.

As previously noted, from 1878, points were listed but only goals counted towards the score and, therefore, there were a great number of drawn games. Even though behinds did not count towards a result, in 1893 the VFA awarded the Stars and Stripes Trophy to the team kicking the least number of behinds in ratio to the number of goals scored in premiership matches. This was done to encourage accurate kicking for goal. Melbourne won the trophy with a percentage of 78.6, barely ahead of Williamstown at 78.5.

Between 1873 and 1893 no fewer than six teams went through a season undefeated:

YEAR	TEAM	PLAYED	WON	DREW
1873	Carlton	13	6	7
1874	Carlton	17	12	5
1879	Geelong	17	16	1
1885	South Melbourne	25	22	3
1886	Geelong	27	24	3
1893	Essendon	18	16	2

(South Melbourne was undefeated in 1886 until playing the undefeated Geelong in a special game to determine the Premiership (see below: "The Game of the Century").

In 1877, Carlton became the first Victorian football team to play in NSW. They played two games against Waratah

Waratah Football Club

The Waratah Football Club, nicknamed, Warriors, is a member club of the Northern Territory Football League.-External links:**...

, winning one under Victorian rules and losing a rugby game.

In 1886 there were as many as 18 VFA Clubs. The VFA decided to reduce the numbers and in 1888 they merged the Williamstown Football Club with the South Williamstown Football Club, merged the St. Kilda Football Club with the original Prahran Football Club, and dumped the three Ballarat clubs (Ballarat, Ballarat Imperials, South Ballarat) [these clubs then became the base of a local Ballarat League]. In 1889, the Melbourne Football Club and the original University Football Club were also merged.

By 1896, there were 13 teams in the VFA Senior competition. The ladder in that year was:

TEAM	WIN	LOSE	DRAW
Collingwood	14	3	1
South Melbourne	14	3	1
Essendon	14	4	-
Melbourne	12	6	-
Fitzroy	12	6	-
North Melbourne	8	9	1
Port Melbourne	7	8	3
Williamstown	7	8	3
St Kilda	6	11	1
Footscray	5	10	3
Geelong	4	11	3
Carlton	2	14	2
Richmond	3	15	-

A play-off was held at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground

East Melbourne Cricket Ground

The East Melbourne Cricket Ground was a sports venue located at the corner of Wellington Parade and Jolimont Parade, in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

to determine the premiership: Collingwood 6.9 d. South Melbourne 5.10.

The VFA did not have regular finals during this period and the above table represents the situation at the end of what is now called the home-and-away matches.

1886 saw a rule change, with the two halves being replaced by four quarters of football, that is, three breaks of varying lengths.

Until 1886, the ball was thrown into the air to start a quarter but in 1887 the bounce, now a traditional part of Australian Football, was introduced.

There are three VFA examples of a team being held scoreless during the entire game:
1889 - Williamstown against Fitzroy
1891 - Footscray against St. Kilda
1902 - Footscray against Port Melbourne.

The supposed unpopularity of interstate games in the late 20th and early 21st Century is reminiscent of the situation in the 1880s. The first intercolonial game was played in 1879 but similar games were hard to organise during the next few years. The following appeared in The Australasian on 22 July 1882: Victoria versus South Australia. On account of a sufficient number of players not having intimated their desire to take part in the intercolonial matches against South Australia in Adelaide on the 5th, 7 and 12 August next, the match committee of the VFA had to postpone the selection of the team until 4.45 p.m. on Tuesday next. Players desirous of playing are requested to send their names to Messrs. Boyle and Scott before that time, and those selected will leave by steamer on the 29th inst. ..." None of the games took place!

VFA's top 19th century teams

During the VFA's first 24 years, four teams showed sustained periods of greatness:

South Melbourne (1879–1891)

South finished in the top four teams for 13 consecutive years and were Premiers in 1881 and 1885. The VFA awarded the 1881 Premiership to South even though second-placed Geelong had a superior record: Geelong played 18, won 15, lost 1, drawn 2; South Melbourne played 21, won 14, lost 4, drawn 3. However, the VFA decided that South had played more games and had beaten Geelong the last time the two teams met.

South players were named the Champion of the Colony on three separate occasions: Peter Burns

Peter Burns

Peter Burns was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football Association and Victorian Football League .Burns was a tall ruckman and full-back...

1885 & 1891, and D. D. McKay 1888. Peter Burns (who was Vice-Captain from 1888 to 1890) is considered to be one of the champions of any era. Another good player in this era was Arch McMurray. See below ("The Game of the Century") for more of South's top players.

The club also headed the list of top goalkickers twice during this period: 1888 D. D. McKay (50), and 1889 J. E. Barrett (40).

Geelong 1878-1888

Geelong were also amongst the top four teams for 11 consecutive years during a similar era to South Melbourne. Geelong won the 1878, 1879, 1880, 1882, 1883, 1884 and 1886 Premierships, which, of course, includes two hat tricks of three consecutive Premierships. (Had they won the 1881 Premiership [rather than it going to South Melbourne] they would have ended up with seven consecutive Premierships.) During these 11 years, Geelong played 236, won 190, drew 27 and lost only 19 games (and this doesn't include games on tour or against inter-colonial teams - which they rarely lost). They were undefeated in 1879 & 1886. Their players were nominated as Champion of the Colony on five occasions (H. P. Douglass 1878, James Wilson

James Wilson

James Wilson was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson was elected twice to the Continental Congress, and was a major force in drafting the United States Constitution...

1881 82 & 83, Jack Kerley 1884) and they provided the top goalkicker six times (1880 H. P. Douglass [33 - tied with Carlton's George Coulthard

George Coulthard

George Coulthard was a star Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton. He was also a notable cricketer who played for the Melbourne Cricket Club and briefly for Australia. As a cricketer he played only six first-class matches, five for Victoria and a Test match for Australia...

], 1882 H. McLean [29], 1883 Phil McShane [29], 1884 Phil McShane [33], 1886 Phil McShane [51], 1887 Tom McShane [36]). In 1886 their players took the top five places on the leading goallkickers list.

The following are amongst the top Geelong players of the era: H. H. Austin, S. Bloomfield, J. Boyd, Charles Brownlow

Chas Brownlow

Charles "Chas" Brownlow was an Australian rules football administrator in the Victorian Football League.He went to the Geelong College for his schooling....

, H. Curdie, H. P. Douglass, L. A. Fairburn, H. Furnell, W. Hall

W. Hall

W. Hall was an English cricketer who played for Hampshire county cricket teams organised by the Hambledon Club....

, Dave Hickenbotham, J. Julien (who also played with Essendon during their golden era [see below]), G. Kearney, J. T. Kerley, H. McLean, Harry McShane, Jack McShane, Joe McShane

Joe McShane

Joe McShane was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.McShane started his career at Geelong before moving to Carlton for the 1902 season. He left the Blues following the 1904 Grand Final against Fitzroy.-External links:* at...

, Phil McShane, Tom McShane, Tom Mullen, E. Pike, W. Reid, G. Steedman, R. Talbot, G. Watson and James Wilson.

Essendon 1891-94

Essendon is the only VFA team to have won four consecutive Premierships. They played 77, won 66, drew 8 and lost 3 premiership games during this period. They also played 18 intercolonial games, winning them all. They won 57 consecutive games. During these four years they scored 552 goals, with only 258 being kicked against them.

Albert Thurgood

Albert Thurgood

Albert John "The Great" Thurgood was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football Association , Victorian Football League and the Western Australian Football Association ....

was the Champion of the Colony in 1893 & 94, and he also topped the goalkicking three times - 1892 (56), 1893 (64) & 1894 (63).

The following played starring roles for Essendon during this golden area: J. Anderson, S. Angwin, W. Ball, Colin Campbell, Alf Carter, W. E. Chadwick, A. Christian, L. Clarke, Don Coleman, Bill Crebin, Alec Dick (captain), Bill Finlay, Bill Fleming, Charlie "Tracker" Forbes

Charlie Forbes

Charlie 'Tracker' Forbes was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL.Forbes was a successful player for Essendon in the years leading up to the formation of the VFL in the 1890s...

, H. Furrell, Barney Grecian, Alex "Joker" Hall, Rev. B. S. B. Hammond, J. J. Julien (who also played with South Melbourne during their golden era [see left]), Gus Kearney

Gus Kearney

August D. "Gus" Kearney was an Australian rules footballer that played for the Essendon Football Club, and was a part of the Bombers' 1897 premiership team....

, Dr J. R. Mouritz, H. Nixon, T. Parsons, J. B. Pearson, Dr Ned Officer, George Stuckey

George Stuckey

George Stuckey was an Australian rules footballer who played with and captained Essendon in the Victorian Football League ....

, J. A. Sykes, Albert Thurgood, George Vautin

George Vautin

George James Phillips Vautin was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League . He was born at Orielton, Tasmania and died at West Preston, Victoria....

, P. Watson, W. B. Welch, H. W. Webb, Reg Wilmot, Mat Wilson, W. Young and Rev. C. H. Zercho.

Footscray (1898–1900)

During the last three years of the 19th Century, Footscray won a hat trick of Premierships, as well as winning 46 out of their 54 games. Their only loss in 1900 was by 5 points to Williamstown.

Champion players in that period included: "Skeeter" Armstrong, Charlie Brockwell, Daly, Dave de Coite, Dickens, Davey Drew, R. Dick, Art Gregory, Grunden, W. "Ching" Harris, "Paddy" Hinch, James, Kruse, McCance, Billy McCarthy, Joe Marmo, Mitchell, Molyneux, William Robinson, Todd, Arthur Williams and Wilson.

The game of the century

Geelong v South Melbourne played on 4 September 1886 is, arguably, the most important Aussie Rules game to be played in the 19th century. Although regular final games had not yet been instituted, the VFA arranged this game so as to determine the Premiers for 1886; both teams had gone through the season undefeated. The strong contemporary records of both teams is shown above (The VFA's Top 19th Century Teams).

The game was held at South's Emerald Hill ground and a then-record crowd of 34,121 paid 6d per head for a total revenue of ₤747/7/-. It was said that many more crowded into the ground without paying.

Two special trains brought the local team and two thousand supporters from Geelong. An attempt was made to wreck one of these trains by removing a section of rail, near Newport - luckily the attempt was aborted. There were long lines of people and overcrowded Hansom Cab

Hansom cab

The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn cart designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. The vehicle was developed and tested by Hansom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Originally called the Hansom safety cab, it was designed to combine speed with safety, with a low...

s taking people from Melbourne to South Melbourne, prior to the game. After the game, thousands of people lined Clarendon Street, South Melbourne, to cheer the victorious Geelong on their way.

Geelong 4.19 defeated South Melbourne 1.5. At half-time Geelong were leading 1.12 to 0.3.

Geelong captain Dave Hickenbotham was one of the best players on the ground, even though he was up against Alf Bushby, reputed to be one of the finest players in Australia, and imported by South Melbourne from South Adelaide just for this game. Other outstanding players were: Geelong - A. Boyd, Sam Boyd, J .J. Julien, Kearney, Kerley, Mc Lean and Phil McShane; South - Docherty, "Sonny" Elms, Greaves, Harper, Hill, M. Minchin and H. Smith.

East Melbourne Cricket Ground

Until as late as 1921, the area formerly known as the Police Paddocks or, earlier, Captain Lonsdale

William Lonsdale (colonist)

William Lonsdale supervised the founding of the official settlement at Port Phillip from 1836 and went on to serve under the Superintendent La Trobe from 1839 to 1854.-Early life:...

's Cow Paddock, and now Yarra Park, contained no less than three grounds used for senior standard football and cricket; from east to west they were: Richmond Cricket Ground; MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...

) and East Melbourne Cricket Ground. The first two are still extant, however after the end of the 1921 VFA finals which were held at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, the land on which the ground was sited was compulsorily acquired by the Victorian Government as an extension to the Jolimont Railway Yards. The East Melbourne Ground had seen senior cricket and football matches since 1860. The East Melbourne Football Club played there until the club disbanded in 1881.

The Essendon Football Club had been playing its games in its local area since it had been formed in 1873, firstly at the back of the McCracken's Ascot Vale property, and then at Flemington Hill. When the East Melbourne Football Club disbanded, the East Melbourne Cricket Club enticed the Essendon Football Club over to the East Melbourne ground. Although this oval was many kilometres from Essendon, the club played there for 40 years, 1882-1921. When the East Melbourne ground was no longer available, Essendon amalgamated with VFA club, Essendon Association, and thus moved back to the Essendon region by making Essendon Association's Essendon Recreation Reserve their new home ground.

Celebrated English cricket all-rounder, W.G. Grace, once said the he would like to carry the East Melbourne pitch around with him. The East Melbourne Cricket Club was formed by former Scotch College boys in about 1857 as the Abbotsford Cricket Club, but changed its name to East Melbourne Cricket Club a few years later as part of a successful bid to play at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. Prior to 1921, the EMCG was, without doubt, the most successful cricket club in the colony/state, winning more than half the premierships competed for during that time. When their ground was resumed, they amalgamated with the Hawthorn Cricket Club to form the Hawthorn-East Melbourne Cricket Club

Hawthorn-Monash University Cricket Club

The Hawthorn-Monash University Cricket Club is an Australian cricket club based at Monash University, Clayton campus, situated in Clayton, Victoria...

and matches were played at the Glenferrie Oval. One of the stands from the EMCG was moved to HEMCC's new home where it stood until as late as 1965, when it was replaced by the present Dr A. S. Ferguson Stand.

In the late 1990s, the land that was formerly the site of the EMCG was resumed for housing. An unusual, semi-circular apartment block has been designed by an architect who appears to know the history of the area and has built the apartments to look like an ersartz football pavilion.

Formation of the VFL

From as early as the mid-1880s, a number of the Senior VFA clubs showed discontent with the uneveness of the competition, its unweildiness and the VFA's perceived lack of desire to try and solve the problems. Geelong and Essendon, both of which were among the most successful teams, were at the forefront of the moves towards reform. In 1889 Geelong proposed a more streamlined break-away competition. In 1894, Geelong, Essendon, Melbourne and Fitzroy again planned a new organisation that would consist of the aforementioned four clubs, along with teams from Ballarat and Bendigo. Ironically, Collingwood also wanted to see reforms, even though it was, itself, a new club that had only been formed in 1892, mainly out of the Junior club, Britannia. The Collingwood plan was to reduce the number of teams by amalgamation (as had been done in 1888/89 [see above]). They proposed the following mergers which were basically geographically-based: Footscray and Williamstown; Carlton and Fitzroy; South Melbourne and Port Melbourne.

In 1896, Markwell the football writer for The Age noted that the VFA had not moved to try and stop the downfall of the game. He suggested that many of the rules would have to be changed and that boundary umpires should be introduced to help field umpires control on-field discipline. "Reform is urgently called for," he wrote. "Otherwise respectable young fellows will retire from the sport and leave it entirely in the hands of blackguards."

This unruliness amongst the players of certain teams and, more particularly, the thuggery of the supporters of some clubs, had been noted for a number of years and was certainly another reason that some clubs saw a break-away from the VFA as the only solution. Another contemporary writer called the Collingwood v North Melbourne game in July 1896: "the greatest disgrace of all time in Australian football". The game itself was a cleanly played affair, which was narrowly won by Collingwood. However, at half-time spectators attacked Umpire Roberts and did so again after the game. During the second attack, the players of both sides tried to protect the umpire only to have the crowd turn on them. Female spectators slashed away with long hat pins and one male supporter even produced an iron bar, which he used. Players McDougall (North Melbourne) and Bill Proudfoot

Bill Proudfoot

William 'Bill' Proudfoot was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the VFL.A solidly built fullback, Proudfoot was a member of Collingwood's inaugural VFA side in 1892. He became the first ever Collingwood player to represent Victoria when selected to play against South...

(Collingwood) were knocked unconscious and most of their teammates suffered some injuries, albeit some minor. It is often claimed that this incident led to North Melbourne not being invited to join the VFL when it was formed later that year.

A few weeks later, on 22 August 1896, during a Footscray v Williamstown game, Williamstown walked off at three-quarter time, allegedly because of the rough play of Footscray. This was not the first time that such a thing had happened; in 1887, Richmond also left the ground at three-quarter time alleging rough play by Port Melbourne. This led to sustained rivalry between Port Melbourne and Richmond, which continued until Richmond's last VFA season, 1907.

Although such behavior reached a head in 1896, it was certainly not a new phenomenon. For example, in 1887 there was a infamous incident of spectator hooliganism when some of the crowd at Prahran tore pickets from the fence and threw them at Richmond players.

On 2 October 1896, just after the end of the 1896 season, representatives from six clubs held a meeting at Buxton's Art Gallery in Collins Street

Collins Street, Melbourne

Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's traditional main street and best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings.The...

, at which it was decided to form the VFL Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

, which would represent the stronger clubs and begin playing in the 1897 football season. The clubs with delegtates at that meeting were: Collingwood; Essendon; Fitzroy; Geelong; Melbourne; South Melbourne. It is no coincidence that the top five clubs at the end of the 1896 season were all represented at that meeting, along with Geelong. Although Geelong had finished 11th in a 13 team competition, they had consistently been calling for change. Their record as a top team in past years would have also ensured their place at the table.
Carlton and St. Kilda were also invited to join the VFL, initially making it an eight team competition. St. Kilda had never been a strength in the VFA but their excellent home ground was seen as being a bonus for the new VFL. Not only did the Junction Oval have a good playing surface, but it was easily accessible by public transport.

Carlton had not been a top team for a number of years but their dominance in the 1860s and 70s meant that they still had one of the largest supporter bases. However, Carlton's admission to the VFL was contingent on them obtaining a suitable home ground. Since their formation in 1864 they had played at: Royal Park; Madeline Street oval (where Newman College

Newman College (University of Melbourne)

Newman College is a Roman Catholic, co-educational residential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne. During the university year it houses about 235 undergraduate students and about 55 postgraduate students and tutors...

, University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

) now stands); the southern end of Princes Park; an area then known as the triangle (where University Women's College was later built). Carlton obtained permission to fence-in an area at the northern end of Princes Park and work commenced on clearing a rubbish tip from part of the site.

The VFL inaugural meeting was held just seven weeks after a special meeting of the VFA held at Young and Jackson Hotel on 6 August 1896 to discuss the 25 July affair (see above). This meeting closed the North Melbourne ground for four weeks, and insisted on better protection for umpires in the future.

In its first season the VFL introduced three important reforms to the game:
1. behinds were counted towards the score;
2. a finals system was introduced;
3. the 'little mark' was abolished.

The new scoring system saw six points given for a goal and one point for a behind. This system is still used. (Between 1878 and 1896, kicks between the kick off posts [behind posts] were recorded but did not count towards the score). The main advantage in the now long-established, present system is that it cuts down the number of draws [eg. a score of 12.15 (87) against 12.9 (81) would have been a draw under the old system but a win to the first team under the current system]. However, the current system does reward inaccurate kicking [eg. a score of 16.24 (120) against 18.10 (118) would see a win to the team that kicked the lesser number of goals]. The first game that would have been a draw under the old scoring method, but achieved a result under the new system was in Round 4 of 1897: South Melbourne 5.11 (41) d. Collingwood 5.3 (33). Later in that same season there were two games where the new system completely reversed the results, the first of these was in Round 12: Collingwood 3.17 (35) d. Fitzroy 4.4. (28). The advantage in the new system is highlighted by the fact that in 1896 the VFA had nine drawn games in one season, but there was only one draw in the VFL's 1897 season. (The greatest number of draws in any VFL/AFL season was five in 1921.)

In 1897, VFL finals were held after 14 home-and-away games in which each of the eight clubs had played each other twice. Those first finals consisted of six round-robin matches over three weeks, between the top four clubs. A finals ladder was drawn up which saw Essendon, which had finished in second place at the end of the home-and-away matches, clearly in first place with 3 wins, 0 losses. Had there not been a clear points winner to the finals ladder, a Grand Final would have been played between the two top-placed clubs.

After experimenting with another rather complicated finals system between 1898 and 1900, the VFL used what was later to be known as the "original Argus system" in 1901, and converting that into what became known as the "amended Argus system" 1902.

Under the amended Argus system, the team that was first at the end of the home-and-away matches played third, and second played fourth, with the two winners meeting in a Final. However, the team heading the ladder at the end of home-and-away matches was given an advantage in that if it lost either its semi-final or the Final, it could challenge the Final winner in a Grand Final. (Initially, the right to challenge only applied if the minor premiers had won more games than the winner of the final. This stipulation was always controversial and was dropped for the 1907 season.) The original Argus system was identical to the amended Argus system, except that with the original system, the minor premiers had no right of challenge whatsoever.

The importance of cricket over football is highlighted by the fact that between 1898 and 1901, the most prestigious ground, the MCG, was not used for finals because cricket wickets were being prepared.

A 'little mark' was taken when a player passed the ball by foot at least two yards (1.83 metres), generally from a pack of players. It was difficult for umpires to pick out 'little marks' in scrimmages. It was abolished to help open up play.

The New South Wales Rugby League

New South Wales Rugby League

The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...

(NSWRL) was formed in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

in 1907/08 and the game was seen as being halfway between Rugby Union

Rugby union

and Australian Rules football. In 1908, there were serious talks between the NSWRL and the VFL which, it was hoped, would lead to some form of amalgamation or affiliation. Of course, this didn't happen and Rugby League's offside

Offside (rugby)

In rugby football, the offside rule prohibits players from gaining an advantage from being too far forward. The specifics of the rule differ between the two major codes.-Rugby union:Offside rules in rugby union are complex...

rule was seen as the major reason why the talks broke down.

The VFL continued to go from strength to strength. In the late 20th Century it evolved into a national competition and is now known as the AFL Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

Reforms to the VFA

Despite predictions of the demise of the VFA after the formation of the VFL, the earlier-formed competition continued for another 99 years, although the VFL immediately took its place as the senior Victorian competition. Nevertheless, under the wise presidency of Theodore Fink

Theodore Fink

Theodore Fink was an Australian politician, newspaper proprietor and educationist.-Early life:Fink was born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, the son of Moses Fink, shopkeeper and his wife Gertrude, née Ascher...

, the VFA continued to play a significant role.

In 1897, the VFA followed the VFL and also introduced two of their reforms: the counting of behinds towards the score; and the abolition of the 'little mark'. The VFA didn't introduce a finals system until 1903 when the Argus system was used. (The Page-McIntryre system was introduced in 1933, two years after the VFL had first used it.)

The following year, 1898, saw two more reforms to the VFA's rules: the number of players was reduced from 20 to 18; an order-off rule was introduced. The first change worked well as it gave players more freedom of movement around the field and also cut down the number of packs. The VFL also adopted this change a season later and has had 18 players on the field ever since 1899. However, the number of VFA on-field players has changed over the years: 1908 - to 17; 1912 - to 16; 1918 - reverted to 18; 1959 - to 16; 1992 - reverted to 18.

However, the order-off rule was not popular with players or umpires. Umpires were never sure how rough things had to get before they could order a player off, rather than awarding a free kick to an opponent. The order-off rule was dispensed with after two seasons. Even so, the order-off rule must be seen as an attempt by the VFA to curb the rough play that was cited as one of the reasons for the formation of the VFL.

In 1897, Brunswick

Brunswick Football Club

was admitted to the Association bringing the number of teams up to six (Brunswick, Footscray, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown) who each played each other three times for a total of 15 rounds. As in previous seasons the club at the top of the ladder at the end of these home-and-away rounds was declared the Premier.

During that 1898 season another change was made in that after 15 home-and-away matches, the four teams at the top of the ladder played an extra two games prior to the Premiership being awarded. This was not really a finals system and was only tried for one season.

The VFA continued to increase the number of teams: 1899 - eight teams through the addition of West Melbourne

West Melbourne Football Club

West Melbourne Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association . They were based at the North Melbourne Cricket Ground and had a red and white striped guernsey.-History:...

and a re-formed Prahran

Prahran Football Club

Prahran Football Club, nicknamed The Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 2007, the club has competed in D1 Section of the Victorian Amateur Football Association...

; 1900 - nine teams through the addition of Essendon Town (later Essendon Association

Essendon Association Football Club

Essendon Association Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1900 until 1921. The 'Dreadnoughts', who wore black and red, played their home games at the Essendon Recreation Reserve...

); 1903 - 10 teams through the addition of Preston.

In the 20th Century the VFA was always Victoria's second most important football competition. However, it had a few golden eras, particularly the 1930s/40s and the 1970s.

North Melbourne/Hotham/Albert Park

The North Melbourne Football Club

North Melbourne Football Club

was formed in 1869 but before the start of the 1876 season the club amalgamated with Albert Park, one of the first non-geographical amalgamations. It played during that season as Albert Park cum North Melbourne. Most of the team's players had come from North Melbourne, including the captain, Harry Fuhrhop. Games were played at Albert Park. However, the next season, 1877 (the first year of the VFA), saw the club re-formed in the North Melbourne region but as the Hotham Football Club, Hotham then being the name of the municipality. However, when the town changed its name to North Melbourne

North Melbourne, Victoria

North Melbourne is a large inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It is bounded by the CityLink freeway to the west, Victoria Street to the south, O'Connell and Peel Streets to the east and Flemington Road to the north. Its...

in August 1887, the football club soon reverted back to its original name. The club is currently playing in the AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

. Albert Park appears to have folded after its one season as Albert Park cum North Melbourne.

South Melbourne/Albert Park

On the surface it may seem like a contradiction to record that a club alternatively known as Albert Park and South Melbourne was formed in about 1868. However, records are not clear and it appears that this club folded and that the Albert Park club that amalgamated with North Melbourne was a later club. The name, South Melbourne, was certainly used later; on 19 June 1874 the Cecil Football Club was formed but, on 15 July of the same year, Cecil changed its name to South Melbourne. This club has now evolved into the Sydney Swans.

Hawthorn

A Hawthorn Football Club

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

was founded in 1873 but its early history is rather sketchy. In 1875 it was rated as a Junior club and by 1877 it appears to have been one of the original VFA Junior clubs but seems to have folded a few years after that. A number of local, junior clubs sprung up in the Hawthorn/Boroondara region including: Glenburn, Glenferrie, Hawthorn Rovers, Hawthorn Trades Club and Riversdale. In 1889 Riversdale changed its name to Hawthorn. However, in 1889 there was apparently a local Hawthorn/Boroondara junior league made up of clubs like Arlington, Camberwell

Camberwell Football Club

Camberwell Football Club was an Australian rules football club who were formed in 1896 and competed in the Victorian Football Association between 1926 and 1990. Nicknamed the Cobras, Camberwell wore dark blue, white and red club colours...

, Edlington, Hawthorn (late Riversdale), Kew, Richmond and Wakefield. Arlington, Edlington and Wakefield were named after mansions in the area. By 1890 this Hawthorn/Boroondara junior competition appears to have expanded to include a much broader geographical region. Clubs competing against each other in 1890 were: Albert Park Imperial, Burwood, Camberwell, Crescent, Cromwell, Edlington, Hanover, Kew Juniors, Lewisham, Lyndhurst, Moray Juniors, Moonee Ponds 2nds, North Melbourne

North Melbourne Football Club

, Pembrooke, South Park, South Yarra Grosvenor, Star of Camberwell, Wakefield and Woodstock.

The Hawthorn club formed in 1889 by Riversdale changing its name, lasted only one season. There was no Hawthorn club competing anywhere between 1890 and 1892, but yet another Hawthorn was competing in the Victorian Junior Football Association in 1893. Even this club disbanded in 1899. However, in 1902 there was an amalgamation of the many junior clubs in the region to form probably the fourth club to use the name, Hawthorn, and this is the club that exists to this day, now competing in the AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

. In 1902, this club had teams playing in the Metropolitan Junior Association and the Eastern Suburbs Association, the latter a Wednesday afternoon competition. In 1905, Hawthorn was in the Victorian Amateur Football Association

Victorian Amateur Football Association

The Victorian Amateur Football Association is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia consisting purely of amateur players. Unlike the Victorian Football League and the VFL/AFL, the VAFA has always been strictly a purely amateur league and has affiliations with both AFL Victoria...

and it became a VFA member again in 1913.

Williamstown & district

As in Hawthorn/Boroondara, Junior clubs were springing up in virtually every community. As just one example, the following clubs are all known to have existed in Williamstown as early as the 1870s and/or 1880s: Battery United, Osborne, South Williamstown, Williamstown

Williamstown Football Club

The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League...

, Williamstown Rowing Club Football Club.

Mornington

It is worth noting a tragic accident that occurred to the Mornington Football Club in the second year of its existence, on 21 June 1892. The fishing boat Process, owned by a member of the team, was used to transport the team for a football match in Mordialloc, located further north towards Melbourne on the eastern side of Victoria's Port Phillip

Port Phillip

Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...

bay. Tragedy struck after-dark on the return voyage when the boat overturned in squally waters off Mount Eliza

Mount Eliza, Victoria

Mount Eliza is an outer suburb south-east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula...

, resulting in 15 members of the team drowning. The VFA organised a special benefit match. A fund was set up for the relatives of those drowned, with the VFA donating ₤50 and The Argus

The Argus (Australia)

The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...

newspaper ₤200; money was also raised through the sale of copies of a poem entitled The Football Accident at 1d per copy.

Nicknames

Nicknames for football clubs is certainly not a new phenomena. In the 19th Century the following nicknames were used:

TEAM	NICKNAME	Notes
Brunswick	The Pottery Workers
Carlton	The Butchers	name coined in the early 1870s because of their tight-fitting blue dungaree jackets also ...
"	The Blues	still used - from the mid-1870s, players wore blue stockings imported from America (also attributed to 1871 captain, Jack Donovan, who wore a dark blue cap)
Collingwood	The Magpies	still used
Essendon	The Same Olds	after the last line in the chorus of an early club song, penned by a supporter: "We're always the same old Essendon" (used until as late as the 1920s) also ...
"	The Dons	still sometimes used - appears to have first been used in the first decade of the 20th Century
Fitzroy	The Maroons	because of their distinctive Maroon canvas jerseys
Footscray	Prince Imperials	not really a nickname but the official name of the club that was to change its name to Footscray preparatory to joining the VFA in 1883 also ...
"	The Tricolours	still sometimes used also ...
"	'Scray
Geelong	The Pivotonians	the port of Geelong was the pivot between the capital of Melbourne and the Ballarat goldfields also ...
"	The Seagulls	also ...
"	The All Whites	from 1872 to 1875, they wore an all white uniform
Hawthorn	The Yellow and Blacks	after changing its name from Riversdale in 1889, this was the colour of the uniforms also ...
"	The Redlegs	from 1892 to 1901, they wore a red & blue jumper and red stockings also ...
"	The Mayblooms	the Hawthorn bush (also known as Crataegus Crataegus Crataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,... ) blooms in May
Melbourne	The Invincible Whites	from 1861, they wore an all white uniform also ...
"	The Redlegs	still sometimes used - from the mid-1870s, players wore red stockings imported from America also ...
"	The Fuscias	a red cap worn concurrently with the red stockings gave birth to this name
Port Melbourne	The 'Boroughs	still used
Richmond	Richmondites	probably used in the late 1880s - appears not to have been popular also ...
"	The Wasps	presumably inspired by the black & yellow colours also ...
"	The Tigers	still used
St Kilda	The Seasiders	also ...
"	The Seagulls	also ...
"	The Saints	still used - appears to have been coined immediately after their readmission to the VFA in 1886.
South Melbourne	The Bloods	still occasionally used by successor club Sydney Swans, particularly when the club wants to highlight its Melbourne roots - then as now, their jersey featured red on white
University	The Students	an obvious nickname, even used in VFA days also ...
"	The Professors	ditto
Williamstown	The Villagers	also ...
"	'Town

Home grounds of senior clubs

In general, this list covers 19th Century football grounds only but the final year of use is usually included, even if this was in the 20th or 21st Century:

Albert Park
early 1870s-1976	Albert Park	played its last season as "Albert Park cum North Melbourne"
Brunswick
1865–1896		near the corner of Sydney & Glenlyon Rds
1897–1907	Parkville	land now occupied by the Ransford & McAlister ovals
Carlton
1864-	Madeleine Street oval	where Newman College now stands in Swanston Street North
?	southern end of Princes Park
?	The Triangle	now the site of University Women's College
1897–2003	Princes Park (northern end)	first games not played until Round 6 of the 1897 season now known as Visy Park
Carlton Imperials
late 1860s-1876	Royal Park
Collingwood
1892–1999	Victoria Park	Britannia had used the ground prior to Collingwood 2000-2003: known as Jock McHale Stadium
East Melbourne
early-1870s-1881	East Melbourne Cricket Ground	(see above)
Essendon
1873-1874?	McCracken's Paddock	at the McCracken's family home
1875?-1881		near Newmarket railway station
1882–1921	East Melbourne Cricket Ground	(see above)
Fitzroy
1883–1966	Brunswick Street oval	formerly the home of the Normanby Football club
Footscray
1875-early 1880s	Cowper Street paddock
early 1880s-1885	Market Reserve	Barkly Street
1885–1997	Western Oval	1885 was also Footscray's first VFA season now known as Whitten Oval
Geelong
1859 1878-1940	Corio Oval	at least one game is recorded as being played at Corio Cricket Ground in 1859 became Geelong's home ground in 1878
1860–1877	Argyle Square	1860 was the first year in which Geelong is recorded as playing inter-club games

Melbourne
1859–1884	Jolimont outside the MCG	football was not permitted on the MCG in the early days because it was felt that it would damage the Cricket Club's turf wickets
1876-1941 & 1945–2011 & continuing	Melbourne Cricket Ground	the first football match permitted at the MGC was in 1876 but most games were still played outside the MGC itself
1884	Friendly Societies Ground	later known as the Motordrome, now Olympic Park
North Melbourne/ Hotham
1869-1875 & 1877-1884	Royal Park
1884-1964 & 1966-1985	Arden Street Oval
Port Melbourne
1880-1941 & 1945-2011 & continuing	North Port oval
1945	Amateur Sports Ground	now Olympic Park most games played there but, later in the season, a few were played at North Port oval
Prahran
1886–1887	Warehousemen's Ground St. Kilda Road	now known as the Albert Ground in 1887, the VFA forced Prahran to amalgamate with St. Kilda
1893-1958 1960-1994	Toorak Park	Hawksburn changed its name to Prahran immediately prior to moving to this ground
Richmond
1885–1964	Punt Road Oval
St Kilda
1873–1885	Alpaca Paddock
1886–1965	Junction Oval
South Melbourne
1864-?	St. Vincent Gardens	near the former Three Chain Road between Albert Park & Middle Park railway stations
1874-1943 & 1946-1981	Lakeside Oval	Now known as Bob Jane Stadium and configured for soccer
South Williamstown
1886–1887	Port Gellibrand Oval/ Williamstown Cricket Ground	South Williamstown played two seasons in the VFA before merging with Williamstown
Warehousemen's
1870s	Warehousemen's Cricket Ground	Warehousemen's Cricket Club used this ground but its use by the Warehousemen's Football Club needs confirmation Ground still exists as the Albert Ground (St. Kilda Road)
West Melbourne
1900–1907	Arden Street Oval	ground shared with North Melbourne, with whom West Melbourne amalgamated in 1907 in an unsuccessful attempt to join the VFL
Williamstown
1864?-1872	Market Place Reserve	on the site of the present Robertson Reserve
1872–1887	Gardens Reserve	now known as Fearon Reserve
1888-2011 & continuing	Port Gellibrand Oval/ Williamstown Cricket Ground	began using the ground when the club amalgamated with South Williamstown

Footnotes

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Before 1859

1859 - Geelong rules

1860 rules

Kicking

Bouncing the ball

Marks

Tagging the opposition

Coaches

1860s and 1870s

Formation of the VFA

VFA's top 19th century teams

The game of the century

East Melbourne Cricket Ground

Formation of the VFL

Reforms to the VFA

North Melbourne/Hotham/Albert Park

South Melbourne/Albert Park

Hawthorn

Williamstown & district

Mornington

Nicknames

Home grounds of senior clubs

Further reading

Footnotes