Almanac Book Reviews: ‘The Football War: The VFA And VFL’s Battle For Supremacy’ – Xavier Fowler

 

The Football War: The VFA And VFL’s Battle For Supremacy, by Xavier Fowler,
Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2024, pp. 306, PB, $39.98.

 

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) formed in 1877; one of the first leagues in the history of sport. It is only preceded by the National Baseball League of Professional Baseball Clubs (one of two leagues of Major League Baseball), which formed a year earlier (England’s Football (Soccer) League formed in 1888). At the end of 1896, the more successful, financially stable clubs broke away to form the eight team Victorian Football League (VFL). The VFL later ‘poached’ further clubs from the VFA – Richmond (1908); Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne (1925); a twelve team competition which operated for another 60 odd years, before the VFL went ‘national’ adding interstate teams to become the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1990.

 

The VFL was more popular with fans than the VFA and assumed a more important role in the sporting, cultural and social life of Melbourne. The two leagues operated side by side; the VFL running proceedings in the inner city or older and more established suburbs, with the VFA the outer and new or developing suburbs. At the beginning of the 1930s, the two leagues had entered into a permit agreement on the transfer of players. Players moving from one club to another and across leagues would need to acquire a permit from the club they had previously played for. Both leagues experienced difficulties during the depression of the 1930s. In addition, the VFA and its clubs felt that they were being harshly treated under the permit agreement. They believed VFL clubs ‘were cherry-picking [their best players] just as they were heading into their playing prime’, with the VFL only prepared to let go of old players with declining form (p. 41).

 

As the end of 1938 approached, the VFA decided it would end its permit agreement with the VFL and make ‘big money’ offers to star VFL players in an attempt to increase the attractiveness of its competition. In 1930, the VFL had introduced the Coulter Law which allowed a maximum payment of £3 a game; a figure which did not increase throughout the 1930s, with only the more successful clubs paying this ‘maximum’. This £3 ‘maximum’ was below the minimum or basic wage determined by the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration during the 1930s.

 

The VFA also experimented with and introduced new playing rules to speed up the game and make it more appealing to spectators. The most important of these was the ‘throw pass’ which was designed to break up packs and enhance scoring. In this the VFA experienced success with higher scoring games than the VFL. Its ‘gun forwards’ had record hauls of goals. In 1941, former South Melbourne player Bob Pratt kicked 183 for Coburg. This was surpassed in 1946 when former Collingwood star Ron Todd bagged 188 for Williamstown!

 

Xavier Fowler maintains that this war between the VFA and VFA has received short shrift from historians of the Australian game. His object is to rectify this by providing a full, blow by blow, account of this contest for football hegemony between the two leagues. Wars between rival leagues have occurred in other sports in other nations, especially in American major leagues. The usual trajectory of such disputes is the incumbent league destroys the rival, which disappears; or the two reach a modus operandi and merge. This dispute provides a variation to these general rules; another example of Australian sporting exceptionalism.

 

The major goal of John James Liston, the President of the VFA from 1929 to his death in 1944, was for the two leagues to merge and introduce a promotion and relegation system, akin to that which has traditionally operated in soccer. In 1944, the VFL offered a watered down form of such an agreement which a new generation of VFA leaders rejected. Eventually, in 1949, the VFA capitulated to the VFL, agreed to a new player permit deal and an end to the ‘throw pass’.

 

Fowler provides an essentially descriptive chronological analysis of the major events associated with the war. He examines developments which occurred on and off the fields of both leagues, their interactions with each other and other parts of the football world, such as country and interstate leagues. The VFL ‘exploited’ its special relationship with the ‘Melbourne establishment’ to thwart VFA attempts to have its finals games played at the MCG, and be broadcast on ABC Radio (The VFL/Clubs received fees for such broadcasts). The VFA found itself having to pay commercial outfits for the privilege of being broadcast on radio. There is also information on how World War II impacted the game and the playing of football by defence based teams of personnel located in Melbourne.

 

This battle between the two leagues commenced in 1938. Unfortunately for the VFA (well really for the world) it was interrupted by World War II. While the VFL was able to continue operations the VFA was not. It’s competition was called off for 1942; it did not resume again until 1945. During 1943 and 1944 the two leagues meet to discuss a possible rapprochement. After finding a successor to John James Liston, the two sides met in September 1944.

 

VFA representatives were not happy with the financial and ‘influence’ advantages afforded to VFL clubs and rejected the offer outright. It might be reasonable to argue that they made a mistake, especially given that its competition was still in abeyance at the time. Conceivably the VFA could have accepted the deal, eat humble pie for a period and once having established a viable two tiered promotion and relegation league, push to even up finances and power between the old and new boys in such an expanded league. This never happened. Given its rejection of an overall deal, the parties did not enter discussions concerning the ‘throw pass’.

 

The VFA resumed its competition in 1945. The two leagues resumed their war, competing for players and bragging rights in Melbourne. Whereas the lack of a permit agreement had enhanced the ability of VFA clubs to attract players in the period 1938 to 1941, the boot was on the other foot in the second phase of the struggle between the two. World War II had thinned out the ranks of quality players. Clubs were on the lookout for young talent.

 

The VFL increased Coulter Law payments to £4 and introduced league wide provident payments. Combining such payments, Fowler reports, in 1946 VFL players ‘could now expect to earn up to £8 a game’ (p. 212). VFL clubs were attracting young talent from VFA clubs following its resumption in 1945. VFA clubs wanted to be rescued from these raids on their playing squads.

 

In 1949, they entered into negotiations with the VFL and agreed to a new player transfer deal and an end to the ‘throw pass’. In exchange they received a seat on the Australian National Football Council (as both were now playing under the same rules) and would be able to field a team in interstate carnivals. The status quo ante bellum was resumed. The VFA kept operating as a separate league for another 45 years. It closed up shop in 1994, taken over by the AFL being rebadged as the VFL; nothing more than a seconds’ competition for Victorian Based AFL clubs.

 

In recent years there has been a growth in writings on Australian football. Xavier Fowler’s The Football War: The VFA And VFL’s Battle For Supremacy is a welcome addition to such work. It provides a very readable account of major issues and events associated with this war between two Melbourne based Australian football leagues. He weaves together on and off field developments within and between the two leagues, and their respective interactions with other parts of the football world and establishment forces in Melbourne in a clear and engaging prose. He also helps to remember and focus attention on the VFA, one of the earliest leagues developed in the history of sport, a league which played an important part in establishing the Australian game – this ‘game of our own’, a league which operated for 117 years and played an important historical role in the sporting, social and cultural life of Melbourne and Australia.

 

Table One

 

VFA and VFL Average Home and Away Attendances 1937 to 1949

 

Year	VFA	VFL
1937	2,397	14,357
1938	3,620	17,084
1939	4,950	15,810
1940	3,695	12,781
1941	2,946	11,652
1942		8,328
1943		10,472
1944		13,055
1945	2,753	14,329
1946	3,785	18,041
1947	4,274	17,956
1948	3,798	18,070
1949	3,400	16,838

 

Source: Fowler, The Football War and VFL Sources.

 

Table One provides data on average home and away crowds for both the VFA and VFL for the period of these wars, as well as 1937 the year prior to the opening of hostilities as a basis for comparison. It shows that while there was an increase in VFA crowds in the first phase, prior to the impact of World War II, and after the resumption of play in 1945, the VFL always outdrew the VFA. Depending on the year, the VFL’s dominance was overwhelmingly substantial, being between three and six times more popular than the VFA. Beside its ‘social’ connections, the VFL was always financially better off than the VFA. The Table reinforces the proposition suggested above that the VFA erred in rejecting the VFL’s 1944 offer of a combined promotion and relegation league.

 

Reproduced with permission from the NSW Australian Football History Society.

 

The book can be purchased from the publisher Here.

 

To read more by Braham Dabscheck click here.

 

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