History of Australian rules football in Victoria (1859–1900)

The original local football rules were drafted on 17 May 1859, in a meeting between four members of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC), which included Tom Wills, William Hammersley, J.

At the end of first 50 teams may leave ground for 20 minutes for refreshments but must be ready to resume on time otherwise rival captain can call game off or (if his side has scored) claim it as a win.

Pushing with the hands or body is allowed when any player is in rapid motion or in possession of the ball, except in the case provided for in Rule 6.

Until the 1980s, the earliest known rules were a printed set that came out of a meeting of delegates of the various clubs, held at the Freemason's Hotel, Melbourne on 8 May 1866.

The stab's discovery is usually attributed to Dick Condon but Eddie Drohan, Charlie Pannam and Bob Rush would have also contributed.

[citation needed] The 1859 rules made provision for marking but they were usually taken on the chest or, sometimes, on the shoulder or with the hands outstretched but with the feet still firmly on the ground.

The Argus prophetically said: While Mr Pearson takes risks with his rocket-like leaps into the air, who knows but that this may be a new revolution in high marking.

Moysey was directed to shadow McKnight, young Wardill had to prevent Windley getting possession ... and Lewis was appointed to control the movements of Waugh.

There was nothing in the tactics adopted that infringed a solitary rule of the game and the plan was singularly effective, but I own to feeling a shade of doubt concerning the manliness of the whole proceeding.

In 1861 the first moves towards the establishment of a roof body were seen when the Athletic Sports Committee presented a Challenge Cup for the champion Senior team, which was donated by the Royal Caledionian Society of Melbourne.

[20] Prior to the actual establishment of an official football-only roof body in 1877, there was still a great degree of organisation and cooperation between the various clubs.

The listing for most clubs includes details of its uniform, officials, playground (sic), year of formation, number of members and, importantly, potted biographies of most players.

[39] There were as many as 33 junior clubs listed in the 1875 The Footballer, viz: Adeplhian, Abbotsford United, Albion Union, Alma, Brunswick, Carlton Rifles, Cambridge Union, Clifton, East St. Kilda (late Alpaca), Elwood, Esplanade, Essendon, Excelsior, Fawkner Park, Hawthorn, Hotham United, Jolimont, Richmond (no relation to the present club), Richmond Standard, Sands and McDougall,[d] St. Kilda Alma, South Melbourne, South Melbourne Imperial (late Stanley), South Park, Southern Rifles, Southern, Star of Richmond, Vaucluse, Victoria Parade, West Melbourne, West Melbourne, Williamstown, Windsor.

[12][page needed] During the first decades, the VFA was not responsible for the setting of fixtures, which continued to be the province of meetings between the secretaries of the various clubs.

[45] However, a lot of the other organisational work was now done by the VFA, from its inception, including the setting of rules and the naming of the premiers (or champion team).

[20] Until 1886, the ball was thrown into the air to start a quarter but in 1887 the bounce, now a traditional part of Australian football, was introduced.

Players desirous of playing are requested to send their names to Messrs. Boyle and Scott before that time, and those selected will leave by steamer on the 29th inst.

The game was held at South's Emerald Hill ground and a then-record crowd of 34,121 paid 6d[f] per head for a total revenue of £747/7/-.

After the game, thousands of people lined Clarendon Street, South Melbourne, to cheer the victorious Geelong on their way.

Julien, Kearney, Kerley, Mc Lean and Phil McShane;[i] South – Docherty, Henry Elms, Greaves, Harper, Hill, M. Minchin and H.

In 1894, Geelong, Essendon, Melbourne and Fitzroy again planned a new organisation that would consist of the aforementioned four clubs, along with teams from Ballarat and Bendigo.

Another contemporary writer called the Collingwood v North Melbourne game in July 1896: "the greatest disgrace of all time in Australian football".

Female spectators slashed away with long hat pins and one male supporter even produced an iron bar, which he used.

Players McDougall (North Melbourne) and Bill Proudfoot (Collingwood) were knocked unconscious and most of their teammates suffered some injuries, albeit some minor.

[12][page needed] On 2 October 1896, just after the end of the 1896 season, representatives from six clubs held a meeting at Buxton's Art Gallery in Collins Street, at which it was decided to form the VFL Victorian Football League, which would represent the stronger clubs and begin playing in the 1897 football season.

[12][page needed] Carlton had not been a top team for a number of years but their dominance in the 1860s and 1870s meant that they still had one of the largest supporter bases.

Carlton obtained permission to fence-in an area at the northern end of Princes Park and work commenced on clearing a rubbish tip from part of the site.

The first game that would have been a draw under the old scoring method, but achieved a result under the new system was in Round 4 of 1897: South Melbourne 5.11 (41) d. Collingwood 5.3 (33).

[12][page needed][51] During that 1898 season another change was made in that after 15 home-and-away matches, the four teams at the top of the ladder played an extra two games prior to the Premiership being awarded.

[12][page needed] In general, this list covers 19th century football grounds only but the final year of use is usually included, even if this was in the 20th or 21st century:[20][52] 1887 Wesley College Oval, St Kilda Road At completion of 1887 season, the VFA forced Prahran to amalgamate with St Kilda From the earliest days of white settlement in Australia, the concept of using nicknames for people and organisations was widely adopted.