The Association was formed with the view to governing the sport via a collective body, made up of delegates representing the clubs.
Australian rules football had been played since the 1858, but had been administered in a less formal manner prior to the establishment of the VFA.
Disputes in the 1870s were common and were often left unresolved for this reason: for example, in 1876, a rule existed to prevent any player from playing with more than one club during the season, but when Carlton broke the rule against Albert-park, there was no means of recourse against it,[1] and the result of a disputed match between Carlton and Melbourne was unresolved, with each club ultimately reporting a different score in its annual report and no central body existing to declare one score as official.
There were five inaugural metropolitan senior clubs: Albert-park, Carlton, Hotham, Melbourne and St Kilda.
Compared with the unaffiliated 1876 season, there was no significant change to the manner in which matches were scheduled and played or the premiership decided.
The 1877 premiership was won by the Carlton Football Club, which played twenty-one matches during the year, winning fourteen and drawing four.