The season saw a significant change in the structure of the Association, with the competition split into two divisions, with promotion and relegation between them, a system which remained in place until 1988.
[1] However, it was becoming recognised that difference in class between the strongest clubs and the weakest clubs was widening, resulting in a lot of very one-sided matches; it was thought that dividing into a top and second division would allow teams in both divisions to play more competitive matches, and therefore attract greater public interest.
The motion to change required a three-quarters majority to pass, and passed by exactly that margin, 27–9; and, in fact, the motion would have been defeated had Mordialloc, one of the five clubs to oppose the change, sent both of its delegates to the meeting; its second delegate, Jack Danckert, was unavailable as his wife was expecting to give birth, and Mordialloc did not have time to arrange for his proxy to attend, leaving it with only one of its two votes.
[3] The arrangements for the division of the Association were as follows:[2][3] The two-division format was used in the VFA from 1961 until 1988, although the promotion and relegation structure was restructured in 1982.
East Malvern, like Springvale, ultimately decided that it was not ready for the step up to senior football, so on 21 December 1960, it withdrew its application and Glen Waverley was admitted to the Association.
[5] In January 1961, the future of the struggling Brighton Football Club for the 1961 season looked bleak.
[6] In a general meeting on 26 January attended by only fourteen voting members and 35 people in total, it was proposed to disband the club, but the members voted 10–4 to continue operating – buoyed by hopes that Sunday matches and a more competitive fixture in Division 2 would help the club.
As in 1960, any match could be moved from Saturday to Sunday by mutual agreement between the clubs, with approval from the ground management and local council, and with part of the gate donated to charity.
[5] Division 1 finals continued to be played at the St Kilda Cricket Ground on Saturdays.
[28] The build-up to the match was one of the biggest in Association history: the Association prepared a spectacle of a similar scale to the AFL's modern Anzac Day clash – featuring a troupe of marching girls, the Southern Command Band playing the Last Post, Reveille and the national anthem, and running races at half time[29] – the final quarter of the match was to be televised, and the R.S.L.
The Association played one interstate match during 1961, against Tasmania in Hobart on Queen's Birthday, Monday, 12 June 1961.