Monday Milestone: Australian Rules
“To-day will find the league clubs, as well as the association (who commenced last Saturday), engaged in matches for the premiership, and some definite ideal will be obtainable as to the value of the new rules, under which the game is being played this winter”
– Innocuous announcement of the first ever VFL matches in Melbourne newspaper The Argus
This Week in History:
1897, May 8
The first Victorian Football League matches are played in Melbourne ushering in a new era in Australian Rules football.
On any winter Saturday afternoon, the Melbourne faithful get off the train and usher into the Young and Jackson for a beer under the watchful eyes of Chloe, who hangs on the wall. Multi-coloured scarves and jackets adorn the furniture and patrons alike, their hues only changing in line with the upcoming clash. Going to the footy is part of the Melbourne identity. It’s their urban lifeblood. The way it’s always been…
Well, not quite always.
In 1897, Melbourne was a lot different. Granted, the Young and Jackson was still there, servicing patrons off the train, on their way to the footy, but it stood against a backdrop of housing crises and industrial action, with general societal discontent even spreading to footy. Clubs were disillusioned with the Victorian Football Association whose failure to resolve the unevenness of the competition, a number of poor rules, and the general unruliness, spilling over at one point when in 1896 spectators had attacked the umpire, had reached breaking point.
The previous October, delegates from Collingwood, South Melbourne, Melbourne, Geelong, Essendon and Fitzroy had met in Collins Street to form a new rebel, breakaway league. It reminds me of Super League in rugby league a century later. These six clubs had been the most successful clubs, and were the most aggrieved with the VFA. They’d also invited St Kilda mostly because of the quality of their grounds at Junction Oval, rather than their quality of play, and Carlton due to their large supporter base to join their brand new Victorian Football League.
Local rag The Argus reports the birth of the breakaway league with little fanfare, with a sentiment of ‘wait and see’ regarding the success of this rebel competition. A few rule changes would stand them apart from the VFA, and move toward the game we know today including the scoring of behinds and six points per goal. While they still played with twenty players and the concept of a bench was some years away, this brand new VFL was repackaged for local footy fans. Would the VFL succeed?
It did. On that first day in 1897, masses watched Fitzroy defeat Carlton by 33 points at Brunswick Street Oval. Similar enthusiasm was seen out at Victoria Park when Collingwood defeated the hapless St Kilda. In the South Melbourne ruck, and across the Melbourne backline, off-season player changes proved equally as pertinent as the modern day, when South were beaten by three goals at Lake Oval. Whilst over at Corio Oval, Geelong were beaten by Essendon who would go on to win in the first ever final series later that season…
Many seasons have passed since then. We know now the rebel breakaway worked, and those first steps of the VFL in 1897 marked the beginning of the great game we know today. Footy has proven timeless and universally adored across generations as after 115 seasons Melbourne remembers these VFL pioneers, stepping off the train and heading into the Young and Jackson.
Milestone Five: Most successful VFA Clubs before the introduction of the VFL:
5. Fitzroy – Premiership (1) – 1895.
The Roys would win the second (and third) VFL premierships in 1898-99.
4. Carlton– Premiership (2) – 1877, 1887.
The Navy Blues would have to wait until 1906 to win their first ever VFL premiership.
3. Essendon – Premiership (4) – 1891-1894.
Winners of the first ever VFL in 1897.
2. South Melbourne – Premierships (5) – 1881, 1885, 1888-1890.
The Bloods had to wait until 1909 for their first VFL premiership.
1. Geelong – Premierships (7) – 1878-1880, 1882-1884, 1886.
Despite their VFA success, Geelong would not win a VFL premiership until 1925.
