The VFA competition

[Stats Man]

just wondering about its history. a lot of these division 2 sides seemed to fade into the ether which is a bit sad considering their history. what happened to teams like camberwell, northcote, prahran, traralgon etc? do they still exist in other leagues [as the exact same club]? did you follow one of these clubs and what was the atmosphere like? what caused a drop off in support?

it is from this thread on the graphics board:

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=880857&page=3

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Isn't there a VFA board somewhere???

 

[finders]

The VFA has a very long history and was formed in 1877 the same year the the SANFL was formed.

All the current Victorian AFL clubs and the Sydney Swans started in the VFA bfore the VFL clubs broke away in 1896.

There are only nine former VFA clubs in the current VFL the rest have either gone under or are playing some local league.

 

[s_cranberry]

Prahran still play in the vafa

 

[The_Reaper]

Prahran still exist but in lower leagues- as do teams like Mordialloc.
Geelong West merged with a team and play in the Geelong Football League.

Oakleigh and Dandenong became the current TAC teams.

Most of the clubs are dead or have being amalgamated into AFL teams.

 

[pazza]

Prahran still exist but in lower leagues- as do teams like Mordialloc.
Geelong West merged with a team and play in the Geelong Football League.

Oakleigh and Dandenong became the current TAC teams.

Most of the clubs are dead or have being amalgamated into AFL teams.

Yarraville and Sunshine in the WRFL; Kilsyth in the EFL; Berwick in the Casey Cardinia League.

Waverley, Camberwell and Brunswick have all disappeared.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Indeed a lot of history there. As mentioned the original VFL clubs broke away from the VFA, and Hawthorn, North and Footscray came across in 1925.

Waverley merged with an amateur club and I think went through a myriad of mergers etc through the years, I think their bloodlines are in the EFL.

Kilsyth went to the EFL.

Oakleigh and Dandenong withdrew from senior footy and basically became the TAC U18 clubs.

Springvale moved to Cranbourne and became Casey.

Brunswick, Caulfield and Northcote basically folded. There is a club called the Caulfield Bears now in the SFL but beyond the name and ground there is no actual link I don’t think.

I think Moorabbin were basically booted out of the league for getting into bed with St Kilda (the VFL were the enemy), were later re-admitted, but folded not long after.

Camberwell folded, then re-entered in the VAFA, then permanently folded again a few years later.

Prahran moved to the ammos. Bit of sliding doors - the VFL wanted new clubs to eliminate the bye following University's exit, and by 1925 had the shortlist down to Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Footscray and Prahran. Prahran was the one who missed out, stayed in the VFA, and ended up in the VAFA.

Geelong West merged with St Peters and play locally.

Basically the rest are still there albeit most under AFL affiliations. Money got the better of most of them, there were a few strong clubs which did and do survive, however in order to compete in a “statewide” comp against them, the rest of the clubs basically bankrupted themselves spending money. This was made worse by the rising domination of the VFL (and Sunday VFL football) which robbed the VFA of crowd, support and the all important dollar. Such is life...

Most of the clubs have at least one book written about their history if you’re interested. Melbourne Sports Books is a great source.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Most clubs are in Regional leagues now(and probably generate more $$$ then the vfl clubs)

Go to wikipedia and type in VFA/VFL.

There is a list of all past clubs, with many having links to a detailed history, including where they are now

 

[Wallaby]

I was a big VFA fan in the 70s (Waverley). the VFA sides were on that awkward level where they needed some reasonable cash flow to operate successfully. You needed a local rich used-car salesman or panel beater to tip a large amount in to keep the club at the VFA-level. Waverley were 2nd dividion strugglers most of the time, and then suddenly got a bit of cash, bought some new players and got Tony Sullivan (ex-Demon) in as coach and shot up the ladder and made Div 1. Then a few years later, the players weren't getting paid, internal rumblings, and the club was forced out (I think the VFA had some financial criteria that had to be met).

The start of each season was always interesting in the lower division - the financial position of clubs like Yarraville, Camberwell, Sunshine, Box Hill (they were crap in the 70s) Brunswick, Mordialloc etc would change each season, and you never knew how good they would be until you faced them. If they couldn't find a sponsor, they might have lost all their decent players and get slaughtered by 40 goals. If they had found some cash, they might be able to afford a good ex-VFL payer, who would then attract moer sponsors and so on (like Peter McKenna at Northcote).

It was different to a country club. In the country, there is only one team in town, and so they will keep going whatever. In the VFA, being suburban clubs, if the local product was poor, the sponsors and fans only had to go 5 miles down the road to another club.

 

[Duffman95]

Waverley merged with an amateur club and I think went through a myriad of mergers etc through the years, I think their bloodlines are in the EFL.

Like everyone I find the old VFA clubs fascinating, not to mention feel it's a bit of a shame to see all that history die out.

As for Waverley, I'm fairly certain around 1990 they merged with Clayton Amateurs to become Waverley Amateurs, then about 6 years later they merged with Mt Waverley/Burwood in the SFL (itself the result of a recent merger between Mt Waverley and Burwood or Burwood United (?)) to become the Waverley Blues and move to the EFL. After winning a couple of flags they are up in Division 2 now.

The old Waverley VFA ground is now used by Richmond CC and Mazenod OCFC, with Glen Waverley Hawks (Div 3 EFL) apparently moving there soon.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Like everyone I find the old VFA clubs fascinating, not to mention feel it's a bit of a shame to see all that history die out.

As for Waverley, I'm fairly certain around 1990 they merged with Clayton Amateurs to become Waverley Amateurs, then about 6 years later they merged with Mt Waverley/Burwood in the SFL (itself the result of a recent merger between Mt Waverley and Burwood or Burwood United (?)) to become the Waverley Blues and move to the EFL. After winning a couple of flags they are up in Division 2 now.

The old Waverley VFA ground is now used by Richmond CC and Mazenod OCFC, with Glen Waverley Hawks (Div 3 EFL) apparently moving there soon.

Cheers. I had read they’d joined with Clayton Ammos and thought they existed in some form through the Waverley Blues, but wasn’t sure exactly of how… so I guess the club has a bit of Waverley, Mount Waverley, Burwood and Clayton Ammos all together.

Adding to that there’s still Mount Waverley FC (the Mountain Lions) in the SFL.

Good get for the Hawks, I thought the main ground was exclusively cricket now. Still a great facility for a local footy club.

 

[zachary]

Bloody hell why don't they change the name back to the VFA. Aside from the fact that it is one of the oldest football competitions in the world with a rich history of its own, we could do away with the confusing absurdity of distinguishing between the VFL/VFA and the AFL/VFL.

 

[finders]

Bloody hell why don't they change the name back to the VFA. Aside from the fact that it is one of the oldest football competitions in the world with a rich history of its own, we could do away with the confusing absurdity of distinguishing between the VFL/VFA and the AFL/VFL.

Couldnt agree more!

But the AFL pull the strings and wanted all reference to the VFA and its special place in the history of Australian Football obliterated forcing a fake VFL name change!
I doubt any AFL/VFL supporter believes the current VFL is the real deal!

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Yep, the name changed when the AFL (through Football Victoria, who are now of course AFL Victoria) effectively took control of it and before long the reserves comp was folded into it. It basically removed a whole layer from the footy cake, cheaper to run and “solved” the issue of broke VFA clubs. It’s filtered down, local footy is now of a much higher quality, albeit most leagues are dominated by a few big clubs who can afford to pay up.

 

[JOHNNY GASTEV]

What chance the old VFA clubs can survive without AFL alignments this year? Eg. Box Hill with no Hawthorn. Just trying to recruit before clearance deadline will make it almost impossible to play this year.

 

[LordLucifer]

What chance the old VFA clubs can survive without AFL alignments this year? Eg. Box Hill with no Hawthorn. Just trying to recruit before clearance deadline will make it almost impossible to play this year.

Fair bump .... play on.

 

[Walshawk]

Already a thread on second tier football, but, as an example. Hawthorn will fund Box Hill. Shame Carlton could not afford to fund Northern Blues (or perhaps just poor form). Box Hill, Casey or Sandy will not be competitive against Port or Willi without the AFL listed players. But important for the group that they get a few games in.

 

[footyfan1978]

What are we left with ?

Port Melbourne
Williamstown
Sandringham

Coburg
Frankston
Werribee
Box Hill Mustangs (Box Hill Hawks before Hawks players removed from them)
Scorpions (Casey Demons until Melbourne players removed from them)

Looks like could possibly get 8 teams together.
Play each other once and probably have a final five series over 4 weeks,

Feel more like a tournament than a season but better than nothing.
Without the NAB league this season, possibly allow the clubs that lost links to AFL clubs listed players to be able to field the cream of crop of under 18's footballers in state.

Would be handy for AFL recruiters to have that happen and would also add interest for general people wanting to see what going on.
They not got long to work something out. Training needs to start up soon so that needs a destination of a games schedule for players to feel motivated towards.
Need to get whips cracking on this in coming week and not leave it in limbo much longer.