Almanac Footy: VFL Country Zoning 1968-72 – Appendix 1
Ian Munro’s two-part article on The Unknown History of Country Zoning resurfaced this week and regular Almanac correspondent Glen! raised some points about the country recruiting successes of Carlton, Richmond and North Melbourne during the 1970s.
Those parts of my memory that still work switched on and alerted me to the fact that I’d seen some details about who recruited who, from where and how many games they had played.
Eureka!!! I mumbled when I found said article inside the Diamond Jubilee Souvenir Football Record for the 1972 VFL Preliminary Final between Carlton and St Kilda.
Country Zones map
I note that some parts of Victoria seem to not be allocated and similarly some parts north of the Murray seem to have been allocated.
Armed with the above, what does this say about the recruiting of particular clubs over the period in question? Who or what sticks out and why?
Over to you.
More from Swish Schwerdt can be read Here.
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About Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt
Saw my first SANFL game in 1967 - Dogs v Peckers. Have only ever seen the Dogs win 1 final in the flesh (1972 1st Semi) Mediocre forward pocket for the AUFC Blacks (1982-89) Life member - Ormond Netball Club -That's me on the right
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Thanks for this, Swish.
The zoning system always intrigued me. I enjoyed Ian’s earlier piece.
Growing up in Williamstown I could never understand why I was zoned to South Melbourne (across the bay), when the Western Oval was just up Williamstown Rd to the north.
The ‘ten year rule’ often gets a run, but I do know that North Melbourne did very well out of their Wangaratta/Corowa/Albury areas in the mid-70s golden era.
Thanks Smokie – I saw a map of the metro zones on FB last week. I’ll ping it your way if I can find it again.
For the record, the following passed through the SANFL at some point
Colin Anderson (Glenelg)
Steven Hoffman (Norwood)
Glenn Elliot (Port Adelaide player and West Torrens player and coach)
John Cassin (West Torrens)
Kevin Higgns (Sturt coach)
Barry Gniel (North Adelaide)
Greg Hollick (West Adelaide)
Graeme Robertson (West Adelaide and Port Adelaide)
Mike Delahunty (Sturt)
Graeme Dunstan (Norwood)
Max Parker (Woodville and North Adelaide)
John Keast (West Torrens)
Bill Nalder (Norwood and Central District)
Ken Crane (Woodville)
Gerry Noonan (West Torrens)
Merv Keane (Sturt, player and coach)
Swish v interesting what struck me was how many players ended up making there mark at a different club than there original.I caught up with Graham Dunstan on Saturday and he asked for his thanks to be passed on
That’s a great list Swish. So many names there that I encountered in 1974, my first year collecting footy cards, (bought at Don & Pat’s shop across the road from Burnie Primary School). Moncrieff, Gumbleton, Sault, Salmon, Goad. And not forgetting South Melbourne’s ubiquitous S. Gull.
Nice chart, you will find it in the various books (co-)authored by Bob Stewart. The list of players is interesting. I suggest that interested parties read Paul Daffey’s excellent book on the history of the VCFL. You will learn a lot about zoning and the various machinations of VCFL-VFL relations over the years concerning transfer fees, VFL investments in country football, and the like.
Paul Daffey. (2017). ‘Behind the Goals: The History of the Victorian Country Football League’, Ten Bag Press: Ballarat East.
It was reviewed on this website in 2017 by Rod Gillett:
https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/book-review-behind-the-goals-the-history-of-the-victorian-country-football-league-by-paul-daffey/
And the NLA Catalogue shows where you can find it in a library:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/210744674?
Ta Chris, hoped you enjoyed my recent Goad find.
Those details are much appreciated Robert.