107-526: Administration & Training (1883–present) VFA (1886–1924) VFL/AFL (1925–1997) VFL (2014–present) VFLW (2016–present) AFLW (2017–present) Footscray Cricket Club ( VPC ) (1883–1996) Footscray JUST ( National Soccer League ) (1980) Yarraville Football Club ( VFA ) (1983) Brunswick United ( National Soccer League ) (1993-1994) Fitzroy Football Club ( AFL ) (1994–1996) Western United FC ( A-League Men ) (2020) Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under
214-700: A naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne , Victoria , Australia , located in Barkly Street, West Footscray . It is the training and administrative headquarters of the Western Bulldogs (formerly the Footscray Football Club), which competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The ground is also the home of the club's women's and reserves teams which compete in
321-601: A 120 place childcare centre, a conference and convention centre and a professional sports, medical, and health care centre for the Western Bulldogs. In 2014, the ground started hosting home matches for the Western Bulldogs men's reserves team , known as Footscray, which competes in the Victorian Football League . Since the Bulldogs received a license to field a team in the inaugural season of
428-702: A VFL club, so embarked upon a period of expansion to represent the four under-18s teams from country Victoria, as well as Tasmania (which was represented in the competition for a period of time). In this expansion, existing powerhouse country clubs North Ballarat and Traralgon joined the league in 1996, with new clubs established in Bendigo , Albury (the Murray Kangaroos , representing the Ovens & Murray region ) and Tasmania between 1998 and 2001. The regional senior clubs struggled to be financially viable in
535-463: A crowd in the 10,000–14,000 mark. The VFL does not publish home-and-away attendance figures, as some games are played as AFL curtain raisers; however, various sources quote attendances for some games of the stronger clubs that maintain home records of their own. Television coverage has been critical to the exposure of the VFA/VFL during its history, and has typically taken the form of the match of
642-608: A crowd of 773. In 1994, the struggling Fitzroy Football Club began playing its home matches at the Western Oval, sharing the venue with Footscray, as it sought a better financial arrangement than it had received at its previous home Princes Park . During this time Whitten Oval had a crowd capacity of 25,000. In 1995, the oval was renamed the Whitten Oval , after the death of the football club's most prominent player, Ted Whitten . The driveway leading from Barkly Street to
749-557: A desire to provide a formal administrative structure to the governance of the sport, and it had the power to impose binding decisions on its members on matters including the Laws of the Game, player eligibility and other disputes, as well as to facilitate intercolonial football. Decisions were made based on a vote of the Board of Management, which was composed of two delegates from each senior club,
856-562: A greater number of former and fringe VFL players joining the VFA gave it a product which allowed it to flourish in the Sunday timeslot. The VFA at this time comprised twenty clubs, ten in each division, with a constant membership between 1966 and 1981. Attendances at matches more than doubled between 1967 and 1975. The VFA's relationship with the VFL and ANFC again deteriorated during the 1960s. In 1965,
963-446: A lack of money, grew large and the popularity of the competition declined. Alex Gillon presided over the VFA from 1954 until 1980. During that time, the VFA underwent a series of changes to reinvigorate it after its post-throw pass decline of the 1950s. Major strategic changes were undertaken, including: All of these changes resulted in the VFA enjoying a successful period during the 1970s. Increased sponsorship, public awareness, and
1070-408: A little after the station commenced operations in 1935. The commentator was former Geelong VFL player Wallace "Jumbo" Sharland who had earlier been the first to describe VFL matches, that being on 3AR in 1923. In 1954 3AK began broadcasting VFA games, albeit only for a season or two. The 1970s also saw broadcasts on 3UZ , and local Geelong station, 3GL , broadcast all Geelong West matches. In 1982,
1177-441: A new club from Preston (1926), Yarraville (1928), Oakleigh (1929) and Sandringham (1929) expanded the VFA back to twelve teams. The relationship with the VFL improved, and a new permit reciprocity agreement was established in 1931. In 1938, the VFA made a bold rule change by legalising throwing of the football in general play, provided the throw was underarm with both hands below shoulder height. The change helped to speed up
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#17327761654171284-530: A redevelopment of Whitten Oval. In September 2004, the club secured a deal for a $ 19.5 million redevelopment, with contributions from the Federal Government ($ 8.0m), Western Bulldogs Forever Foundation ($ 5.5m), Victorian Government ($ 3.0m), Australian Football League ($ 1.5m) and the City of Maribyrnong ($ 1.0m). Construction commenced in 2005, and was completed in 2009. The renovated facility included
1391-400: A significant downturn in most VFA clubs during the 1950s. On-field, the competition became dominated by the few clubs with strong community links such as Port Melbourne , Williamstown , Sandringham , Oakleigh and Moorabbin (who had joined the VFA alongside Box Hill in 1951); the gap between those clubs and the weaker clubs, many of whom were periodically forced to play as amateurs due to
1498-545: A similar standard to Tasmania as the fourth- or fifth-best team in the competition. However, joining the ANFC also stripped the VFA of the throw-pass, and therefore of the on-field distinctions which allowed it to compete with the VFL for fans; this, coupled with the increased mobility of suburban Melburnians – who, due to the increased affordability of cars and the lifting in 1950 of wartime travel restrictions, were no longer captive audiences for their local VFA teams – resulted in
1605-423: A single division in 1989, and the financially struggling Sunshine was completely uncompetitive against the former Division 1 clubs. The club withdrew its firsts and seconds teams from the competition after Round 9 (it continued to field a thirds team) with plans to regroup for the 1990 season, but the club and VFA realised there was no realistic prospect of the club being viable or competitive; Sunshine dropped out of
1712-567: A strong growth area of Melbourne's west. In 1950 it was approached and agreed to field a team in the new Metropolitan Football League (MFL) whilst maintaining a side in the lower grades of the FDFL. It won the Metropolitan 1951 premiership and was runners-up in 1952, 1955, and 1958. By 1958, it operated two teams in the MFL and three teams in the FDFL and had more than 200 registered players. From
1819-547: A structure which was retained until the late 1980s. It replaced a system under which the secretaries of the senior clubs met at the beginning of each year to decide on matters of mutual interest, but the system was informal and disputes often went unresolved. The five foundation senior clubs in the Melbourne metropolitan area were Albert-park , Carlton , Hotham (later North Melbourne) , Melbourne and St Kilda . Provincial clubs were also eligible for senior representation on
1926-416: A terrific job bringing games to the wider public. The station gave a start to such broadcasters as Nigel Carmody, Darren Parkin and Tristan Foenander and has proven a terrific breeding ground for emerging sports broadcasters. The station still broadcasts the league today, combined with doing the local league down in Melbourne's southeast. VFL Radio is produced by BPM Media who broadcast live at least one game
2033-464: A thirteenth club, Collingwood , in 1892. Three Ballarat-based clubs – Ballarat , Ballarat Imperial and South Ballarat – were also voting members of the VFA through this time, but were not involved in the onfield premiership. During the 1890s, there was an off-field power struggle within the VFA between the stronger and weaker clubs, as the stronger clubs sought greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to
2140-415: A typical season, a club could play against other VFA teams, non-VFA clubs, at odds against junior teams (usually twenty players against twenty-three), and in some seasons against intercolonial teams; although as the number of senior clubs increased, the number of matches against non-VFA clubs declined. Prior to the 1888 season, there was no formally endorsed system for awarding a VFA premiership: as had been
2247-629: A used as a regular cricket venue at the end of 1996. From 1893 until December 1996, it was the home of the Footscray Cricket Club , which played in the Victorian district/premier cricket competition. From 1997, the club moved to the Mervyn G. Hughes Oval in northern Footscray. Whitten Oval is serviced by West Footscray railway station and local bus lines . Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League ( VFL )
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#17327761654172354-526: A variety of issues, including representation at board level, Australian National Football Council representation, and a promotion and relegation structure between the VFA and VFL. In the end, the two bodies never amalgamated, but the schism ended in 1949 when the bodies re-established a permit reciprocity agreement and the VFA was granted a non-voting position on the Australian National Football Council, later upgraded to
2461-405: A voting position in 1953; as a condition of joining, it was forced to abandon the throw-pass rule and adopt the national standard rules. These changes benefitted Victorian football as a whole, gave the VFA a say in national administration of the game. It also gave the VFA the right to compete in interstate matches , and at interstate carnivals over the 1950s and 1960s, the VFA generally competed at
2568-526: A week during the regular season plus each day of the finals series. The coverage is broadcast on the Vision Australia Radio network throughout Victoria on analogue radio, by Aussie digital radio (SEN 2) and on the internet at vfl.com.au or bpmmedia.com.au. The Victorian Football League operates on a single ladder system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. Twenty-one clubs are currently playing in
2675-460: A win. In a game illustrating the worst that the Western Oval wind could offer, Footscray defeated Fitzroy in a close game, 14.9 (93) to 13.7 (85), in Round 10, 1964 – of the total of 178 points scored in the game, only 7 were scored against the wind. When Footscray played Fitzroy in Round 17, 1927, only 6 of 173 points were kicked against the wind. In 1948's Footscray versus Geelong game, only 2 of
2782-533: Is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in eastern states of Australia : Victoria , New South Wales and Queensland , including reserves teams for the eastern state AFL clubs. It succeeded and continues the competition of the former Victorian Football Association ( VFA ) which began in 1877. The name of
2889-434: The 1993–94 National Soccer League season, with an average attendance of 1,306. The highest attended National Soccer League match played at Western Oval was Footscray JUST's match against Heidelberg United on Sunday 17 August 1980, which drew a crowd of 6,734, while the lowest attended National Soccer League match played at Western Oval was Brunswick United's match against Brisbane Strikers on Sunday 7 March 1994, which drew
2996-468: The AFL Women's (AFLW) competition in 2017, the club has played home matches for its women's teams at Whitten Oval. A-League club Western United held a home match at the venue against Adelaide United on 26 January 2020, with Adelaide winning the match 4–3 in front of a crowd of 5,988. This was the first association football match to be played at the ground since 1994, with the crowd of 5,988 being
3103-471: The AFL Women's (AFLW), Victorian Football League (VFL), and VFL Women's (VFLW). Formerly known as the Western Oval , the venue was renamed in honour of Ted Whitten in 1995, a former player, captain and coach for the club. A statue of Whitten is located at the entrance of the oval. The Whitten Oval is the centrepiece of a reserve that, from 1860, was a stone quarry used by the railways. In 1866,
3210-546: The City of Sunshine for a lease at the new football ground it was developing at Skinner Reserve, approximately 3 km west in Braybrook ; the Sunshine Council ultimately rejected the application, as it would have required the breaking of an agreement it already had with the VFA's Sunshine Football Club . In 1983, struggling VFA Division 2 club Yarraville played its home games at Western Oval on Sundays. This
3317-418: The J. J. Liston Trophy , named after long-term Association president John James Liston , who died in 1944. The VFL is classed as a semi-professional competition. In 2007 the league had a salary cap of $ 185,000, excluding service payments. There are a significantly higher number of AFL reserves due to affiliations with Victorian clubs, but player payments for these appearances is apparently not included in
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3424-520: The Victorian Junior Football Association . From its inception until 1979, the seconds team played on Saturday afternoons, playing at home when the senior team played away and vice versa. Since 1980, seconds matches have been played as curtain-raisers to senior matches, on Saturdays or Sundays as necessary. The competition was later renamed the reserves, and then from the beginning of the 2012 season it has been known as
3531-548: The local council granted the local football club permission to use the Western Reserve as its home ground. In 1883, the Prince Imperial Football Club reverted to its original name from its formation in the mid-1870s and Footscray Football Club was reformed. The club had to turn the gardens into a football field, building a railing system to surround the playing and dragging the pavilion from
3638-493: The 1916 and 1917 seasons cancelled and the 1915 and 1918 seasons shortened. Over the first thirty years of the VFA's independence, its relationship with the VFL was, in general, mutually antagonistic. At different times (1913–1918 and 1923–1925), the two competitions had permit reciprocity agreements in place to prevent one competition from poaching players from the other without a clearance , but these were sporadic and remained in place only when convenient to both competitions. At
3745-631: The 1994, with the statewide under-19s competition (the present day NAB League ) replacing its function as an under-18s competition. Sunshine Football Club (VFA) The Sunshine Football Club , nicknamed the Crows , was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1959 until 1989. Formed in 1938 as the Sunshine Districts Football Club ,
3852-423: The 1995 season but, in 1996, renamed the competition Victorian Football League ( VFL ), The Australian Football League 's former name until 1990. The VSFL sought to align the competition with the under-18s competition, with each former VFA club affiliated with an under-18s team to provide a developmental pathway from under-18 football into state-level senior football. In doing this, the number of metropolitan teams
3959-629: The 1996 AFL season, the Western Bulldogs moved their primary home ground for matches from Whitten Oval to Princes Park in Carlton, with the club still scheduled to play two home matches at Whitten Oval. However, prior to their Round 1 encounter with Fremantle, the ground was condemned and the Fremantle match was moved to Optus Oval. Eventually the Bulldogs announced their intention to no longer play AFL matches at Whitten Oval, instead playing home games at Princes Park, until moving to Docklands Stadium in
4066-403: The 2000 season. A farewell premiership match was staged at the venue in Round 21, 1997 before a crowd of 26,704; the Bulldogs 12.14 (86) defeated West Coast 10.8 (68). After moving home matches away from the venue, the Bulldogs retain a training and administrative base at the venue. After the appointment of Campbell Rose as Chief Executive of the football club in 2002, discussions commenced on
4173-547: The 2017 season, the competition was reconfigured to affiliate teams more closely with AFL clubs. In 2018, the league comprised thirteen teams; twelve were based in Victoria and nine were affiliated with AFL clubs, with one in the Northern Territory . The league ran from May to September, running concurrently with the VFL. The VFA/VFL operated a seconds or reserves competition from the 1920s, initially emerging from
4280-483: The 58 scoring shots were made into the wind. The wind was so fierce that when the Geelong full-back, Bruce Morrison , kicked the ball off after Footscray had scored a behind, the ball floated back over his head and went through the goals. The goal umpire signalled a "forced behind". While these are extreme examples, it was common to see no more than two or three goals kicked into the wind, while 14 or 15 would be scored at
4387-764: The ABC until 2014, and since 2015 by the Seven Network as a lead-in to its AFL coverage. The 2020 VFL season was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . Upon the VFL's resumption in 2021, the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) – which had served as the state league in Australian Capital Territory , New South Wales , Northern Territory and Queensland – was wound up and absorbed into
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4494-593: The AFL Victoria Development League, a move that coincided with the introduction of the AFL Victoria Development Academy which provides development opportunities for up to 25 selected VFL players per year. For most of the VFA's history, fielding a team in the seconds grade was mandatory for all senior teams, but in the state league era many regional clubs – as well as all AFL clubs fielding their reserves teams in
4601-472: The ANFC as a non-voting member in 1987, and replaced the board of club delegates with an independent executive committee in 1988, and also regained weekly television coverage from the 1988 season onwards, with the ABC broadcasting a match each Saturday. The VFA eventually returned to the standard 18-per-side rules in 1993. Despite the rationalisation to its twelve strongest teams and improved television coverage,
4708-461: The Association as a paying senior member. The affiliation fee for senior clubs was initially set at one guinea. Through the first decade of the VFA's existence, the structure of the football season did not change significantly from the informal system which had evolved over previous years . Setting of fixtures was the responsibility of club secretaries rather than the Association itself, and in
4815-433: The Association, even though most seldom played matches against the metropolitan teams; Geelong , the nearest provincial club to the metropolis, was the most prominent provincial club, joining the Association in 1877 and playing regularly against metropolitan clubs by 1880. There was no formal system of promotion and relegation between the senior and junior levels, with it largely at a club's discretion whether or not it joined
4922-478: The Barkly Street end to the other. While the gardens became known as the David Spurling Reserve, the oval within the gardens became the Western Oval. Footscray used Western Oval as its home ground almost continuously until 1997. It was absent from the ground only in 1942, when it was commandeered by military personnel during World War II ; during that season, Footscray played its home games at
5029-533: The EJ Whitten Stand commenced in July 2022 and the oval's redevelopment was completed in July 2024. The new EJ Whitten Stand was completely rebuilt to include 920 undercover seats in club colors, behind which an 82-seat theatrette with a 10 square-metre video board, the club museum, merchandise shop and administration facilities were constructed. The football department was relocated to the Barkly Street end of
5136-494: The Grand Final in an upset. The club also lost the 1969 Grand Final, this time to Williamstown, before finally becoming premiers in 1971, to conclude Sunshine's ninth successive finals series. Under captain-coach Don McKenzie , Sunshine defeated Brunswick by 54 points in the decider and earned promotion to Division One for the first time. Sunshine spent three years in the top division before being relegated. Sunshine fell to
5243-568: The VFA and folded on 25 October. The club's matches in the 1989 season were deleted from the VFA records. An attempt to reform the Sunshine club in 1993 failed to attract enough players. The old VFA club has no ties with the current Sunshine Football Club (previously known as Sunshine YCW Football Club), which is now playing in the Western Region Football League but it does have ties with Albion Football Club as AFC
5350-441: The VFA between its establishment in 1877 and its becoming defunct in 1994. From the 2016 season, a statewide women's football league aligned with the VFL was established by AFL Victoria. The competition initially comprised the six Premier Division clubs and the top four Division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), and was aligned and co-branded with the VFL to improve market penetration. Following
5457-548: The VFA could fill a new role as top state level league in Victoria when this happened; however, it believed that the VFA would need to be rationalised to a competition of twelve financially stable teams for this to occur. Andersen attempted but failed to obtain a mandate from the clubs to impose this rationalisation, but the VFA under his guidance nevertheless contracted, as it showed no lenience in suspending clubs who failed to meet minimum requirements. Several long-term second division clubs, struggling with rising costs and foreseeing
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#17327761654175564-439: The VFA stopped recognising its permit reciprocity agreement in retribution for two takeovers of VFA club grounds by VFL clubs ( St Kilda at Moorabbin and North Melbourne at Coburg ); then in 1967, the VFL stopped recognising the agreement in retribution for the VFA's the introduction of excessive transfer fees on its players. After the VFA refused to comply with an ANFC demand that a new reciprocal permit agreement be established,
5671-423: The VFA was expelled from the ANFC in 1970. The decline of the VFA is often said to have commenced in 1982 when the VFL's struggling South Melbourne Swans moved to Sydney, as all Sydney Swans home games were played on Sunday and televised, ending the VFA's monopoly on Sunday football; Network Ten ended its weekly VFA coverage in the same year. However, this was not the sole cause for decline, which had started in
5778-560: The VFA was independent from the VFL (and, upon its establishment in 1906, the Australasian Football Council ), the VFA had the power to set its own rules. The VFA reduced the number of on-field players from twenty to eighteen in 1897, a move followed by the VFL two years later. The VFA tried reducing the number of players further to 17 in 1908, then to 16 in 1912, before reverting to the national standard 18 in 1919. The VFA went into recess during World War I , with
5885-783: The VFA, inviting Carlton and St Kilda to join them, to form the Victorian Football League (VFL), which became the leading senior football body in Victoria. The remaining VFA clubs – Footscray, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown – were given the opportunity to compete as a junior competition under and without representation on the VFL's administration, but rejected the offer and continued as an independent body. The two new competitions competed in parallel from their respective 1897 seasons. The VFA rebuilt to ten clubs over its first independent decade, mostly by adding leading junior clubs to its ranks such as Brunswick , Prahran , West Melbourne , Essendon Town/Association , Preston , Brighton , Northcote and Hawthorn . Because
5992-462: The VFL in 2024 . The VFA and VFL have undergone significant format changes since its induction which means several clubs have either left the league or changed identity for different reasons. Excluded from this list are provincial clubs who were full administrative members of the VFA in its first decade, but who never played enough games against other clubs to be considered relevant in the premiership. The following men served as president of
6099-503: The VFL seniors – opted not to contest the minor grade. The Development League was abolished after the 2017 season with all VFL clubs' reserve players now play suburban football when not playing with the VFL seniors. The VFA operated an under-19s competition, initially known as the Thirds, between 1952 and 1994. The Under-19s was disbanded when the AFL's VSFL took over the VFA competition after
6206-439: The VFL were estimated to be $ 500,000 per year in 2011. Through this period, the VFL remained moderately popular in Victoria, although not nearly as well-supported as the dominant Australian Football League . Matches attracted both traditional fans of the VFA/VFL clubs, and fans of affiliated AFL clubs keen to watch their reserves players in action. The match of the week and most finals continued to be televised live in Melbourne by
6313-403: The VFL's salary cap. Following the 2013 VFL season , it was revealed that several clubs were lobbying VFL executives to increase the salary cap in a bid to keep high-level players who had relieved themselves of participating in the league to accept more attractive financial offers in local football competitions, where such caps are far less regulated. As of the 2022 season , standalone clubs in
6420-519: The VFL, played on Saturdays. In 1995, the VFA ceased to exist as an independent organisation and control of its football competition was taken over by its former rival, the AFL which operates the competition through its subsidiary, the Victorian State Football League . AFL clubs' reserves teams first entered the competition in 2000. In 2021, the competition expanded geographically, when the Australian Football League merged
6527-678: The VFL; this resulted in the reserves teams from the New South Wales and Queensland AFL clubs ( Sydney , Greater Western Sydney , Brisbane and Gold Coast ) joining the league, and two of the NEAFL's other Queensland-based senior clubs – Aspley and Southport – joining, although Aspley departed after the 2021 season. This brought the league to its largest size since the 1980s, with 22 clubs competing: eight stand-alone VFL clubs, eleven AFL reserves teams, and three traditional VFA/VFL clubs in reserves affiliations with AFL clubs. The league
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#17327761654176634-478: The Victorian Football League with the North East Australian Football League to include clubs from New South Wales and Queensland. In 2022, it comprised 21 teams from the eastern states, nine of which have a continuous VFA heritage. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was founded on 17 May 1877 at the meeting of club secretaries immediately preceding the 1877 season. It was formed out of
6741-588: The WMR (Western Metropolitan Region) division of DEECD , which oversees all government schools in Melbourne's West. The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) utilised the ground for games and finals until its demise as a competition in 2015. Other local groups have utilised the facility on numerous occasions, including the Rec Footy competition and the Bulldogs Family Day. The ground ceased to be
6848-566: The affiliation arrangements in the decade since the VSFL took over the VFA competition, as well as a shift in the arrangement preferred by the AFL clubs. Initially, only four of the ten Victorian AFL clubs were involved in a VFL affiliation, with the rest fielding reserves teams. At its peak of between 2003 and 2006, nine of the ten Victorian AFL clubs were involved in an affiliation, with only Geelong fielding its own reserves team. Most clubs have since migrated away from this model, and since 2021 seven of
6955-425: The agreement of the AFL clubs. Under the administration's new name Football Victoria (later AFL Victoria ), those two competitions were merged into a single competition still known as the Victorian Football League. Since this time, the VFL has been contested by a mixture of three types of clubs: All three models compete to a relatively even standard, with premierships having been won by all three types of team since
7062-509: The bottom half of the Division 2 ladder in the late 1970s, and the early 1980s saw Sunshine endure one of the worst prolonged stretches of performances by a club in VFA history: from 1981 to 1984, the club won two wooden spoons and won only seven games. The club improved dramatically in 1985 under coach Ron Brown, winning the Division 2 minor premiership in 1986 and reaching but losing Grand Finals in 1986 and 1988. The Association contracted to
7169-590: The car park behind the oval was named Whitten Avenue. In 1996, the Footscray Football Club attempted to get an injunction against the Fitzroy Football Club merging with any other club in the AFL, claiming such a move would break Fitzroy's 20 year lease to play their home games at Whitten Oval. The court dismissed the claim, saying damages rather than an injunction should have been sought. Following Fitzroy's merger with Brisbane after
7276-409: The case since the early 1870s, the premier club was determined by public and press consensus, which by the mid-1880s was conventionally but informally understood to be the senior club which suffered the fewest losses during the season. Premierships won under this then-informal method are now considered official, and consensus was typically uncontroversial. In 1888, the VFA first took responsibility for
7383-481: The club confirmed that $ 58 million would be spent to proceed with the EJ Whitten Stand reconstruction and permanent lighting, as well as the re-size the oval, install terracing on the eastern and southern side of the ground and make other alterations. This is referred to as the "Stage 2 redevelopment". As of January 2021 $ 36.8 million has been secured (from the Victorian Government ), with the sources for
7490-643: The club had to differentiate from the Sunshine Football Club that was competing in the VFL Sub-Districts . The original Sunshine went into recess after the 1940 season. The district club managed to remain viable during the war ( WWII ) competing in the Footscray District League . In 1946 the club won the B grade Grand Final and was Runners-up in the A Grade grand final in 1949. Sunshine was a large football club in
7597-474: The club withdrew its teams from the FDFL. Upon its admission to the VFA, the club played its home games at Selwyn Park, before moving to Skinner Reserve , Braybrook, in 1966. In 1962, the club adopted Panthers as its nickname, but it did not make any particular effort in promoting the nickname to the wider public. This caused a dispute in 1963, when Waverley adopted Panthers as its nickname, and spent around £100 promoting it before discovering that Sunshine
7704-403: The competition was changed to the Victorian Football League in 1996. Under its VFL brand, the AFL also operates a women's football competition known as VFL Women's , which was established in 2016. Its predecessor, the VFA, was formed in 1877 and was the second-oldest Australian rules football league, replacing the loose affiliation of clubs that existed in the early years of the game . The VFA
7811-590: The dissolution of the second division (which ultimately occurred when fifteen teams remained in the 1989 season), also took the opportunity to return to suburban football before being forced out. The eight-year period between 1984 and 1991 saw twelve clubs exit the VFA: Mordialloc , Kilsyth, Berwick , Geelong West and Camberwell returned to suburban football; Yarraville , Moorabbin, Northcote and Caulfield were suspended; and Sunshine , Brunswick-Broadmeadows and Waverley all folded. The VFA rejoined
7918-472: The early 1950s, it had actively sought admission to the Victorian Football Association ; and it was admitted at short notice just before the 1959 VFA season , as a direct result of the sudden expulsion of the Prahran Football Club . It abandoned its blue and white hooped guernsey (which clashed with Moorabbin ), and adopted a navy blue guernsey with a white yoke. Concentrating on the VFA,
8025-512: The financial position of the competition and the vast majority of its clubs remained perilous into the early 1990s, and it was clear that the VFA was no longer a viable independent body in the long term. At the end of the 1994 season, the VFA was formally disbanded in an administrative capacity, and the on-field competition was turned over to the AFL's Victorian State Football League which the AFL had set up two years earlier to take control of Australian football at all levels in Victoria and which ran
8132-419: The game, and introduced more run-and-carry play in an era which had previously been dominated by a long-kicking style, proving popular with many spectators. Additionally, the VFA ended its permit agreement with the VFL, and began to aggressively recruit star players by offering salaries well in excess of the maximum set by VFL player payment laws. This included Laurie Nash , Bob Pratt and Ron Todd , who were in
8239-402: The game. This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits, which were always lower in matches against the weaker clubs, be shared equally amongst the Association clubs; in response to the threat that this might be endorsed on the votes of the weaker clubs, six of the strongest clubs – Collingwood , Essendon , Fitzroy , Geelong , Melbourne and South Melbourne – seceded from
8346-420: The ground, which incorporates a 1800 square-metre indoor training field, large gymnasium, a heat chamber, a 15-person sauna, and cold and hot pools. In February 2024, Mission Foods , a long-term partner of the Bulldogs, was announced as the new naming rights sponsor of Whitten Oval. During its VFL/AFL playing days, Whitten Oval was known for being particularly long and narrow with deep squarish pockets, and for
8453-457: The largest association football crowd at the ground since 1980. In May 2019 the Western Bulldogs unveiled a $ 150 million redevelopment plan to upgrade spectator facilities at Whitten Oval. The proposal would boost the capacity to 18,000 and result in the reconstruction of the EJ Whitten Stand, add seating around the ground, install permanent broadcast-quality lighting, and construct an indoor training field and convention centre. The following year
8560-434: The late 1970s, which reduced the Association's drawing power, and an increasing gulf in quality between the best and worst clubs. Player payments increased through the 1980s, and declining financial support and sponsorship meant that many clubs began to struggle badly, and often found themselves unable to compete financially with local suburban leagues. The VFA had also developed a reputation for rough play and violence, and it
8667-411: The late 1970s: changing demographics meant that many traditional clubs had slowly found themselves in areas with high migrant populations, which either made it difficult to compete with soccer for local for fans and players, or simply brought a level of cultural apathy towards the sport in general; VFA historian Marc Fiddian also noted a decline in the number of ex-VFL players signing with VFA clubs through
8774-502: The league, of which there are eight, have a A$ 220,000 salary cap, while the AFL reserve and affiliate clubs have a A$ 110,000 salary cap. Attendances are small by AFL standards, and generally less than the SANFL and WAFL , with an average of between 500 and 1,000 in attendance. Crowds for many finals matches tend to average in the 2,000–6,000 range, with the Grand Final typically attracting
8881-453: The merger. An additional reserves affiliation option, under which AFL clubs were allowed to spread their reserves players across all of the league's VFL clubs rather than into a single aligned club, has also existed since 2021 but has not been taken up by any AFL clubs. The affiliation deals greatly improved the financial viability of the clubs in question, but they diluted their ability to represent their suburb. There have been many changes to
8988-558: The nearby Yarraville Oval , which was vacant because the VFA , in which the regular tenant Yarraville Football Club competed, was in recess. In 1943, the club returned to Western Oval. In 1955, the ground record attendance was set for the oval when 42,354 turned out on 9 July to see then-defending premiers Footscray defeat Collingwood by six points in Round 12, 1955 . In 1965, Footscray considered leaving Western Oval, and made an application to
9095-400: The number of games played by each team. After the formal introduction of the premiership, the often-changeable collection of senior clubs in the VFA soon became settled at twelve premiership-eligible clubs: Carlton , Essendon , Fitzroy , Footscray , Geelong , Melbourne , North Melbourne , Port Melbourne , Richmond , St Kilda , South Melbourne and Williamstown ; they were joined by
9202-406: The onfield competition, and introduced its first formal premiership system by adopting a system of premiership points; it also awarded for the first time a premiership cap in the Association's colours to players of the premier team. The Association's influence over the on-field competition grew, and from 1894, the Association assumed responsibility for centrally setting the fixtures and standardising
9309-652: The other end. Post-use as a VFL/AFL stadium, the Whitten Oval is now primarily used as the training ground for the Western Bulldogs . A number of local community groups, schools and sporting organisations utilise the ground; particularly because of its close proximity to the Melbourne CBD and local transport. The ground also plays host to a variety of commercially-oriented tenancies, including retail (The Western Bulldogs merchandise shop, Bulldogs Central) and health (Physioplus Footscray). It also headquarters
9416-421: The primes of their careers and were considered amongst the best players in the country. These changes gave the VFA a product which could compete with the VFL for public interest, and it made the late 1930s and 1940s one of the most successful periods in the VFA's history. The VFA competition went into recess from 1942 until 1944 due to World War II , but continued to perform strongly upon returning in 1945. The VFA
9523-630: The quarry was turned into a reserve that included botanical gardens. Other former quarries within the City of Footscray that were turned into public gardens in this era include the Yarraville Reserve , which is the site of the current Yarraville Oval , off Williamstown Road; the Yarraville Gardens, off Hyde Street; and Footscray Park, which fronts the Maribyrnong River . In 1886, after moving from ground to ground,
9630-531: The remaining amount unspecified. Council approval was granted in late 2020. In mid-2022 the club confirmed that construction would soon proceed over an 18-month period and include the rebuilding of the Whitten Grandstand, construction of a high-performance centre and indoor sports field, realignment of the oval surface, improvement in spectator amenities, and facilities for the club's foundation and women's health programs. The demolition and replacement of
9737-484: The remaining clubs: North Melbourne was expelled from the VFA twice (in 1908 and 1921, before reforming and rejoining on both occasions), and West Melbourne was expelled permanently in 1908. The loss of the VFA's strongest three clubs to the VFL in 1925 firmly cemented the VFA as the second-tier competition in the state. Between 1925 and 1929, the addition of outer suburban clubs in Coburg (1925), Camberwell (1926),
9844-405: The same time, the strongest clubs in the VFA often sought to defect to the VFL, which the VFL was happy to encourage when it expanded, and there were ultimately four defections: Richmond in 1908; and Footscray , North Melbourne and Hawthorn in 1925. Attempting to defect was seen as treacherous within the VFA, and clubs which attempted to defect but failed were sometimes expelled from the VFA by
9951-490: The statewide competition, with Traralgon and Murray lasting only two and three years respectively. Since 2018, no regional clubs have contested the competition. From 1995 until 1999, the VSFL operated its two open-age competitions – the VFA/VFL and the Victorian AFL Reserves competition – separately; however, its intention had always been to merge the two, and this took place following the 1999 season, after
10058-470: The statewide under-18s competition (the present day NAB League ) and the AFL reserves competition in Victoria. This ended the VFA's 97 years of independence from the VFL/AFL and, for the first time since 1896, created a single control for most Australian football in Victoria. Victorian Football Association Limited was deregistered in 2012. The VSFL retained the use of the VFA name for the competition for
10165-487: The ten Victorian AFL clubs have fielded stand-alone reserves teams in the VFL. Through the 2000s, the AFL preferred that its Victorian clubs retained VFL-affiliations, and offered a disincentive in the form of an inflated licence fee for fielding a stand-alone team; however, the AFL did not otherwise prevent teams from fielding stand-alone reserves teams if they were willing and able to pay the fee. The total licence and running costs for an AFL club to field its reserves team in
10272-490: The then-dominant Melbourne sports radio station, 3AW , broadcast the Grand Final . In 2003, 3AK evolved into sports radio station SEN 1116 , and provided a coverage of VFL matches, but this was discontinued after they won the rights to broadcast the AFL ( Australian Football League ) from the 2007 season. From 1993 onwards radio's main home for the competition was on Casey Radio where the team, headed up by Ken Moore, did
10379-464: The top tiers of suburban football; but (with the exception of Springvale), the new second division teams did little to reinvigorate the competition, and the clubs rejected any further expansion. The VFA's direction changed dramatically with the election of Brook Andersen as president in 1985. At the time, the VFL was looking at national expansion (ultimately becoming the Australian Football League in 1990) and Andersen's executive committee believed that
10486-442: The week being televised live into Melbourne, as well as most finals. Television and streaming deals during the league's history are as follows: The VFA holds the distinction of having the first match to be broadcast live on television in Australia, when the second half of the match between Oakleigh and Preston on 25 May 1957 was televised on Channel 2 (ABC) . The first regular radio broadcasts of VFA games were made by 3XY ,
10593-562: The wild wind which often bellowed over the ground, particularly at the Geelong Road end. These reasons, most specifically the wind, meant that the oval was the site of many abnormally low scoring games, inaccurate scoring tallies and games in which more than 80% of all scoring was kicked to one end. The ground developed a demographic of the "ground visiting sides hated to play at", with passionate Bulldog supporters and its distinctive playing conditions making it an arduous task to leave with
10700-475: Was already using the name. Sunshine ultimately abandoned the Panthers nickname and replaced it with Crows , which became its official nickname for the remainder of its time in the VFA. Initially unsuccessful, Sunshine moved into Division 2 when the competition was partitioned in 1961 . They first competed in the finals in 1963, and the following season claimed the minor premiership, losing to Geelong West in
10807-490: Was also revamped to improve its ability to serve as a talent pathway, with each club required to field at least six under-22 players in each game. The 2021 season also saw increased broadcast coverage with Foxtel and its streaming service Kayo showing games in addition to the ongoing deal with Seven Network. The first award for the Association best and fairest player was the Woodham Cup , first awarded in 1923; this
10914-453: Was cut from twelve to nine in 1995, with Prahran, Oakleigh and Dandenong departing. This left nine clubs with a VFA heritage, coming from different eras: Port Melbourne and Williamstown from the pre-1897 era; Preston, Coburg and Sandringham from the 1920s expansion; Box Hill, Werribee and Frankston from the 1950s/1960s expansion; and Springvale from the 1980s expansion. The VSFL intended that each statewide under-18s team would be affiliated with
11021-501: Was incorporated in 1946. While the throw-pass was in effect, particularly during the early 1940s, there were talks between the VFA and VFL towards re-amalgamating the two bodies. Although the throw-pass had been a great success for the VFA, it was felt that a single controlling body for football in Victoria playing under a uniform set of rules was in the best interests of football as a whole. Negotiations for an amalgamation took place over several years, but broke down several times over
11128-465: Was not until the late 1980s that it was able to clean up on-field discipline and shake that image. In 1981, new VFA president Alan Wickes attempted to rectify the decline with further expansion: the VFA expanded further into the outer suburbs to twenty-four teams in 1983, adding Springvale , Moorabbin , Kilsyth and Berwick , and Wickes had a vision of expanding to thirty teams with an additional lower division which could affiliate more directly with
11235-578: Was renamed the Recorder Cup in 1926. Starting from 1933, a second award, the V.F.A. Medal, was awarded concurrently; the awards were both based on the votes of the umpires, but were based on different voting systems. In 1940, the Association dispensed with the Recorder Cup voting system, and awarded both trophies to the same player based on the same set of votes. Since 1945, the award for the best and fairest player in each VFA/VFL season has been
11342-411: Was the only season of the arrangement, as the club folded before the 1984 season. In addition to its use as a VFL/AFL ground, the Western Oval also hosted 9 National Soccer League matches during the 1980s and 1990s: Footscray JUST played 5 matches at the ground during the 1980 National Soccer League , with an average attendance of 3,398, while Brunswick United played 4 matches at the ground during
11449-487: Was the top-level club competition in Victoria until 1896 but became the secondary-level competition from 1897, after its eight strongest clubs seceded to form the Australian Football League VFL (now AFL) . As a secondary-level competition, the VFA enjoyed peaks of popularity, in the 1940s with a faster-paced rival code of rules and in the 1970s by playing on Sundays at a time when its competitor,
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