That is probably true, but sad.
VFA Revival?
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However, occasional footballers are selected from district or regional teams as AFL rookies, and several were this past season.
The concept of a VSFL/A would provide an opportunity for many talented suburban and country AFL hopefuls to play in a competitive league. Ideal for those who have been previously overlooked to be noticed and hopefully drafted.
This understanding would be beneficial for AFL recruiters, reducing their workload while offering hope to aspiring draftees.
Reading Xavier Fowler's book on the 'Football War' has got me wondering whether WWII came at a fortuitous time for the VFL.
The VFA had been making great strides by the early 1940s and was starting to mount a challenge to the VFL's supremacy when the war intervened. By the VFL continuing right through the war years and the VFA suspending play, the association lost its momentum and never recovered.
The VFA had been making great strides by the early 1940s and was starting to mount a challenge to the VFL's supremacy when the war intervened. By the VFL continuing right through the war years and the VFA suspending play, the association lost its momentum and never recovered.
AussieNick1999
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- Oct 17, 2022
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I'll be keen to pick up a copy as soon as I get back from the States.
They had a launch at Readings in Carlton tonight, that might be a good starting point when you get back.
I actually just finished reading this - a good read. Much as the VFA was mounting some kind of challenge before WWII, it has to be said that it was still a long behind the VFL, at least based on attendances: the closest the VFA got was average attendances around 30% of the VFL.
That said, one of the things I found interesting was that both the VFL and VFA were open to a merger post-war (i.e. with the VFA initially becoming the second division of the VFL), but each had their own version of how promotion and relegation would work and couldn't come to an agreement. The VFA wanted straight relegation/promotion of the top and bottom 2 clubs; the VFL wanted some kind of challenge system. I suspect the course of history would have been significantly altered had a merger come about.
AussieNick1999
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- Oct 17, 2022
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The eventual AFL would have looked very different if such a merger had gone ahead. I can't see it evolving out of a merged VFA/VFL so maybe you'd see a smaller competition (e.g. 10-12 teams) with more even distribution between the states. You might see 4 of the strongest Victorian sides jump from the VFA/VFL to the national comp, but that's probably all you'd get from Victoria.
In August 1986, seven VFL clubs – Collingwood, Fitzroy, Footscray, Geelong, Melbourne, North Melbourne and Richmond – were regarded as "technically insolvent" and the Victorian commissioner for Corporate Affairs, Gordon Lewis, wrote to the league "requesting advisement within seven days of what steps the VFL or its clubs’ company members propose to take to remedy the situation". The VFL was told by Lewis that unless the response “contained some viable proposals to remedy the present situation, it is my intention to carry out my statutory obligations”.
Lewis recalled in an Age article in May 2016 that he was not sure why he didn’t shut the competition down but maybe he didn’t want to be remembered as the man who stopped the football season one month before the finals. The VFL was able to convince Lewis to not wind up the VFL, with its response most certainly including the fact that it was going to include teams from interstate, whose licence fees would be distributed to the 12 clubs and allow them to become solvent.
Had the VFL not been able to convince Lewis, then the league and the seven clubs would have had to cease trading until such time that its obligations were able to be met.
We would have had a situation whereby the administration of the national league, which was in the midst of being rolled out for a 1987 start, would have been taken over by the NFL and it is likely that we would have had the five solvent VFL clubs, two SA clubs, two WA clubs and either a Brisbane or Tasmanian team form a 10-club NFL in 1987.
The VFA would have taken the mantle of the state's highest ranking competition and at the point when any of the seven technically insolvent clubs gained approval to resume trading, they would have had to join the VFA and try to join a national league from there.
Lewis recalled in an Age article in May 2016 that he was not sure why he didn’t shut the competition down but maybe he didn’t want to be remembered as the man who stopped the football season one month before the finals. The VFL was able to convince Lewis to not wind up the VFL, with its response most certainly including the fact that it was going to include teams from interstate, whose licence fees would be distributed to the 12 clubs and allow them to become solvent.
Had the VFL not been able to convince Lewis, then the league and the seven clubs would have had to cease trading until such time that its obligations were able to be met.
We would have had a situation whereby the administration of the national league, which was in the midst of being rolled out for a 1987 start, would have been taken over by the NFL and it is likely that we would have had the five solvent VFL clubs, two SA clubs, two WA clubs and either a Brisbane or Tasmanian team form a 10-club NFL in 1987.
The VFA would have taken the mantle of the state's highest ranking competition and at the point when any of the seven technically insolvent clubs gained approval to resume trading, they would have had to join the VFA and try to join a national league from there.
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Going to assume you're including the Sydney Swans in this? There were only four solvent clubs in Melbourne itself (Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, St Kilda).
* five solvent VFL clubs
How St Kilda was solvent has me buggered. They were saddled with a significant debt in the early 1980s before Lindsay Cox engineered a repayment plan of something like seven cents in the dollar to creditors, including some of their greatest players.
Not long after, they were back in the red after paying overs on over the hill Carlton players.
How St Kilda was solvent has me buggered. They were saddled with a significant debt in the early 1980s before Lindsay Cox engineered a repayment plan of something like seven cents in the dollar to creditors, including some of their greatest players.
Not long after, they were back in the red after paying overs on over the hill Carlton players.
