Victorian Football League

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Victorian Football League

Image:Vfl logo.jpg

General Information
Founded 1877, Melbourne
Previous Names Victorian Football Association or VFA
Current Clubs Bendigo Bombers
Box Hill Hawks
Casey Scorpions (Springvale Football Club)
Coburg Tigers
Frankston Dolphins
Geelong Cats
North Ballarat Roosters
Northern Bullants
Port Melbourne Boroughs
Sandringham Zebras
Tasmanian Devils
Werribee Tigers
Williamstown Seagulls
Stadiums Aurora Stadium
AUSTAR Arena
Bellerive Oval
Box Hill Football Ground
Burbank Oval
Casey Fields
Chirnside Park
Coburg City Oval
Frankston City Oval
Northern Oval
North Hobart Oval
Optus Oval
Preston City Oval
Punt Road Oval
Queen Elizabeth Oval
Skilled Stadium
TEAC Oval
Trevor Barker Beach Oval
Windy Hill
2005 Season
Premiers Sandringham Zebras 11.17 (83) defeated Werribee Tigers 11.8 (74)
Minor Premiers Werribee Tigers
Wooden Spoon Geelong Cats
JJ Liston Trophy Winner(s) Ian Callinan
Paul Johnnson
Highest Goal Kicker James Podsiadly
Total Attendance Unknown
Average Match Attendance Unknown

The Victorian Football League (formerly known as the Victorian Football Association or VFA) is widely regarded as Australia's 3rd most competitive Australian rules football league after the AFL and SANFL. It features 13 teams from throughout Victoria and Tasmania.

Contents

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History

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was the first Australian Rules Football league. It was founded in 1877. After the 1896 season, eight clubs broke away to form the Victorian Football League (VFL). The VFA continued to run independently, although more clubs shifted to the VFL in 1908 (Richmond) and 1925 (Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne).

The rules of the VFA sometimes differed slightly to those of the VFL (and later Australian Football League). For example, 16 players afield as opposed to the now typical 18 in the AFL. Also, the VFA pioneered night and Sunday games.

After years of losing ground to the VFL, the VFA's launch of Sunday games in 1960 was a turning point for the better. In 1966 Network Ten began to televise these games. Eventually, most games were played on a Sunday, while the VFL played its games on Saturdays. This was similar to the College/Pro football day divide still present in the US.

The Victorian Government supported the VFA's newfound vigour, and banned the VFL from holding games on Sundays. The VFA grew stronger. In 1982, the dominant sports radio station 3AW broadcast the Grand Final - a huge sign of support.

However, 1982 also saw the beginning of the VFA's demise. In that year the VFL moved the struggling South Melbourne Swans to Sydney. All Swans home games were played on Sunday and televised. This move basically destroyed the VFA's television ratings, and in 1986 Network Ten stopped broadcasting matches. This role was taken on by the ABC, but in a much smaller capacity.

In 1990, the VFL renamed itself the Australian Football League, following this the VFA renamed itself the Victorian Football League.

In part due to the AFL's greater "interstate" focus, the VFL experienced a resurgence in the early 1990's. In 1989 the ABC increased its television commitment, and eventually matches were rating better than at any time since the Network Ten broadcast matches.

These days the VFL is mildly popular in Victoria, although not nearly as popular as the dominant Australian Football League.

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Attendance

Attendances are small by AFL standards, and generally less than the SANFL and WAFL, with an average of between 1,000-2,000 in attendance. The exception is the Tasmanian Devils, which regularly draw large crowds in excess of 10,000 in Tasmania.

The VFL does not publish home and away attendance figures, however various sources quote attendances for some games of the stronger clubs that maintain home records of their own.

The official VFL finals series attendance in 2005 was a total of 45,118, which included 2 finals for Tasmania and a Grand Final between Sandringham and Werribee at Optus Oval, where a crowd of 9,000 were in attendance.

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Clubs

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Current Clubs

Club Logo City Home Ground AFL Affiliate
Bendigo Bombers Image:Bendigobombers.jpg Bendigo, Victoria Queen Elizabeth Oval Essendon
Box Hill Hawks Image:Boxhillhawks.jpg Box Hill, Victoria Box Hill Football Ground Hawthorn
Casey Scorpions Image:Caseyscorpians.jpg City of Casey, Victoria Casey Fields, Cranbourne East St Kilda
Coburg Tigers Image:Coburgtigers.jpg Coburg, Victoria Coburg Football Ground Richmond
Frankston Dolphins Image:Frankston dolphins.jpg Frankston, Victoria Frankston City Oval none
Geelong Cats Image:Geelongcatsvfl.jpg Geelong, Victoria Skilled Stadium Geelong
North Ballarat Roosters Image:Nbroosters.jpg Ballarat, Victoria Northern Oval Kangaroos
Northern Bullants Image:Nthbullants.jpg Preston, Victoria Preston City Oval Carlton
Port Melbourne Borough Image:Pmburough.jpg Port Melbourne, Victoria TEAC Oval none
Sandringham Zebras Image:Sandringhamzebras.jpg Sandringham, Victoria Trevor Barker Beach Oval Melbourne
Tasmanian Devils Image:Tasmaniandevils.jpg Tasmania North Hobart Oval Kangaroos
Werribee Tigers Image:Werribeetigers.jpg Werribee, Victoria Chirnside Park (Werribee) Western Bulldogs
Williamstown Seagulls Image:Williamstownseaguls.jpg Williamstown, Victoria Burbank Oval Collingwood
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Past Clubs

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

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See also

History of Victorian Football League

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External links

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