Expansion Quite a historic day for the league

[Bunk Moreland]

And 125 years is a big anniversary.

Anyway the meeting was 125 years ago today.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Incredibly, it was the day before Collingwood and South met in the “playoff match” (ie grand final), which was required as they had finished equal top of the ladder.

The match was at the EMCG. Those buildings on Jolimont Road are still there.

 

[Bluelegs]

Can anyone who is a little bit more learned in the history of the game explain why exactly the foundation clubs chose to breakaway?

 

[Kwality]

And 125 years is a big anniversary.

Anyway the meeting was 125 years ago today.

1896 & Fremantle completed 4 in 4: 1893 - 96.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremantle_Football_Club_(1882%E2%80%931899)#Premierships

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Can anyone who is a little bit more learned in the history of the game explain why exactly the foundation clubs chose to breakaway?

Others will have more detail but I think as the game became more popular and crowds grew, the higher drawing clubs wanted more control of the VFA in the decade leading up to the split.

The straw that broke the camels back was a proposal that all gate revenue from all games would be pooled and split evenly between all clubs.

The six clubs blew up and broke away.

Big clubs and money… much the same story that’s repeated to this day in plenty of sports.

 

[Breretonisahood]

Others will have more detail but I think as the game became more popular and crowds grew, the higher drawing clubs wanted more control of the VFA in the decade leading up to the split.

The straw that broke the camels back was a proposal that all gate revenue from all games would be pooled and split evenly between all clubs.

The six clubs blew up and broke away.

Big clubs and money… much the same story that’s repeated to this day in plenty of sports.

Violence was also an issue on field and in the crowd. Concerns were raised about the viability of the VFA given attacks on umpires, fights between players and spectators. Apparently Port, North, Footscray and Willy were the worst. Not surprising they were not included in the breakaway group.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Violence was also an issue on field and in the crowd. Concerns were raised about the viability of the VFA given attacks on umpires, fights between players and spectators. Apparently Port, North, Footscray and Willy were the worst. Not surprising they were not included in the breakaway group.

Yep sliding doors for those clubs, there’s plenty of them throughout history.

Apparently in the 1925 VFL expansion, Prahran were just nudged out of a spot when they went with Footscray, North and Hawthorn. Fast forward 100 years, those three are AFL clubs on the national stage and Prahran have merged with Assumption and play in the fourth tier of the VAFA.

 

[Occidental]

The VFA had 13 clubs by 1896 and a clear rift between the “bigger”and “smaller” clubs had emerged.
The bigger clubs had been exerting pressure on the VFA Admin for years to win themselves favours when making the fixture. The smaller clubs lamented the fixture was favouring the big clubs, preventing them drawing bigger crowds.
The big teams; Melbourne, Essendon, Fitzroy, South Melbourne & Geelong banded together for their own self interest. They wanted more say over fixturing & more scope to generate and keep their own revenue.
The smaller clubs; Richmond, Port Melbourne, Williamstown, Footscray & North Melbourne did likewise, but wanted a more equitable fixture & a pooling of revenue between all clubs.
The “swing” clubs in the middle; Carlton, Collingwood & StKilda were needed by each faction to pass any votes such as revenue pooling.
The Secretary of the VFA, T. S. Marshall had to make the call. A true gentleman of his time, he was a school principal and later for decades was the Chief Fire Officer for Victoria. He was determined the game remain fully amateur and that the Association would run the game for the good of the game. Professional sport is vulgar, football should be administered and played similar to the Olympic Spirit - you play for the enjoyment. Money is not the driver.
TS Marshall put forward a resolution to sort the schism. Naturally his proposal was to strengthen the role of the Association, dilute the power of individual clubs and split all monies that the VFA generated equally amongst all the clubs.
A reasonable idea, and supported by all the smaller clubs.
But before it was even formally tabled - the big clubs Essendon, Geelong, Fitzroy, South Melbourne & Melbourne had met in September 1896. They invited Collingwood who accepted immediately and together they voted to leave the VFA.
Soon the remaining swing clubs Carlton & StKilda were asked to join. They readily accepted.
Every club that supported the Marshall proposal was left to stay in the VFA; Footscray, Williamstown, Port Melbourne, Richmond & North Melbourne. To make an even number of clubs within weeks they invited Brunswick to join the VFA for season 1897.

 

[Kwality]

Others will have more detail but I think as the game became more popular and crowds grew, the higher drawing clubs wanted more control of the VFA in the decade leading up to the split.

The straw that broke the camels back was a proposal that all gate revenue from all games would be pooled and split evenly between all clubs.

The six clubs blew up and broke away.

Big clubs and money… much the same story that’s repeated to this day in plenty of sports.

The AFL Commission - Sports Industry AU

The McKinsey Report In 1983, the VFL appointed McKinsey to look into its administration. The League had been plagued by clubs reporting financial issues and the league itself wasn’t in great shape. Amongst McKinseys conclusions were that the VFL Board had never really had a clear and binding...

www.footyindustry.com

On 4 September 1984, at Sefton in Mt Macedon, Carlton president John Elliot led a meeting that proposed a national competition, and a change in the way the game was managed. According to Ross Oakley, Elliot was even prepared to leave the VFL in charge provided they became an independent commission.

One of the key points of Elliots proposal was “the establishment of a four-man board that would include a commissioner and three other members, with the commissioner having, effectively, autocratic powers, tempered marginally by the other members whose role “constitutes an Appeal Board function to decisions made by the Commissioner”.

Elliots proposal was eventually folded into the the existing Taskforce Mandie which finally reported on October 1, 1984, and then on November 7 the VFL Board endorsed in principal the Task Force recommendation that the existing VFL Board of Directors structure be replaced by the appointment of a full-time Commissioner and four part-time Commissioners to conduct the administrative affairs of the League on a trial basis.

A subcommittee, of Tony Capes (Footscray), Ron Cook (Hawthorn), Leon Wiegard (Fitzroy), Greg Sewell (Essendon) and Bob Ansett (North), was appointed to choose the commissioners. The subcommittee made Ansett, North’s president, its chair.

 

[manicmagpie]

Carlton & St Kilda are later invited to join the new 8-team VFL for 1897.

When‘s the 125th anniversary of that first mistake of the new league?