3:
CONTINUED
One
club emerged following WW2 eventually entering the V.F.A. as Moorabbin. Wells
Road was a breakaway club from Chelsea who added ‘City’ to its name following
the split. Chelsea Juniors although part of Chelsea City were administered
separately. Middle Brighton was the former Brighton District club. Brightonvale
was the junior side for its Amateur Association Senior team and Brighton
T.S.O.Bs. eventually fielded a senior team also with the Amateurs in 1930
winning the premiership. Note. The Brightonvale 1929 senior team was a second
string side to its main Amateur team made up from the old Middle Brighton club
plus an excess of over 21 players from the previous year. North Brighton was a
junior club, the first to play at Hurlingham Park.
Formed
in 1920 it originally played in the local junior league then went to the
Prahran Y.M.C.A. under 21 competition where it was unbeaten in 1922, 23 and 24.
A number of the players then went on to the senior Brighton clubs as listed
reforming in 1929. At that time Hurlingham Park was geographically in North
Brighton with East Brighton actually where East Bentleigh is today. Hurlingham
Park was home to Brightonvale F.C., Brighton T.S.O.Bs., North Brighton Junior
F.C. and the Brighton Soccer Club.
The
F.F.A. must have been jolted into action as 1930 saw the return to senior ranks
of Cheltenham, Moorabbin and Aspendale and also the entry of three new clubs
Dandenong, Glen Waverley and Parkdale. Sandringham, Highett and Murrumbeena
also entered teams in the junior section. Black Rock were expelled from the
Amateur Association and readmitted to the F.F.A. in 1931. Aspendale and
Edithvale merged to form Regents Park. The withdrawal of Dandenong after one
year and the suspension of Chelsea again early season was balanced by the entry
of East Burwood.
Changes
in 1932 saw the competition name altered from ‘Federal Football Association’ to
‘Victorian Football League Federal District’, or ‘F.D.L.’ In 1965 the
‘District’ was dropped and ‘Federal Football League’ was adopted. The ‘Page
Finals System’ was adopted and four playing quarters of 25 minutes introduced.
Caulfield and Carnegie were readmitted whilst Glen Waverley departed. The
following year Chelsea were re- admitted having repaired its rift with those
that joined Wells Road for a short period at the expense of Parkdale who could
not field a team.
By
1933 the ‘Great Depression’ had taken its toll on many senior and junior clubs
as people were often forced to journey far and wide in search of employment.
Weekend employment was taken when it became available. On a number of occasions
during the 1930s informal discussions were held with V.F.A. officials as to the
possibility of the Federal Association entering a club or a new team into its
competition. Although flattered by the thought no real interest was shown by
the Federal executive or by any of the clubs.
The
1934 season brought a whole new system to the League. The junior grade was
eliminated and two open age sections ‘A’ and ‘B’ introduced. In 1935 the ‘A’
section became the ‘open’ section and ‘B’ the ‘District’ section to promote
players from the local areas. Then from 1936 to 1940 yearly promotion and
relegation between the grades. This system remained in place until the end of
1940 with many clubs coming and going such as Vermont, Dandenong, Darling, East
Burwood and Mt.Waverley.
The
standard of football in the Federal was considered to be just below the V.F.A.
and was an attractive option to those clubs wishing to play in higher
competition. Some clubs played a reserve team in B Grade whilst others entered
their senior team in that grade only as they felt they would not be competitive
in A Grade. Regents Park became Edithvale-Aspendale and Camden reappeared.
From
1942 to 1944 no senior football was played due to WW2. The junior under 21 or B
grade was re-introduced to keep the Association afloat. Senior football
re-commenced in 1945 with the following clubs: Senior: Camden, Mordialloc,
Moorabbin, Chelsea, Cheltenham, Aspendale, Black Rock, Highett. (Aspendale
reverted back to Edithvale-Aspendale in 1947) Junior under 18: Black Rock,
Highett, Camden, Mordialloc, Chelsea, Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Aspendale.
The
‘FDL’ continued to grow and stabilise over the next five years until in 1951
Moorabbin departed for the V.F.A. which was a body blow to the League.
Dandenong entered covering the loss somewhat however it also eventually left
for the V.F.A. in 1958. A questionable restructure in 1953 saw the junior grade
abandoned and seniors and reserves only introduced. This was to change again
the following year with the introduction of an Under 16 or C Grade which ran
through to 1964 then becoming D Grade. Senior and Reserve Grade teams for 1954
were: Chelsea, Cheltenham, Dandenong, McKinnon, Black Rock, Highett, Mentone,
Clayton, Mordialloc, Camden, Editvale-Aspendale and Caulfield.
The
departure of both Mordialloc and Dandenong to the V.F.A. at the end of the 1957
season was another blow to the standard of the League and was met with a great
deal of animosity. There were a few officials who now regretted not entering a
team in the V.F.A. despite being courted on many occasions over the years to do
so. By entering their own team they may have been able to pick the cream of the
players from its participant clubs and not necessarily lose any clubs to the
V.F.A. thereby maintaining the F.D.Ls. high standard.
An
Under 18 Grade was introduced in 1961 becoming C Grade with the under 16, D
Grade. By 1964 the F.D.L. had recovered from the loss of three of its strongest
clubs and had become the third strongest football league behind the V.F.L. and
the V.F.A. Whilst the Victorian Amateur Association was usually considered of a
higher standard it, along with others for many years had considered the F.D.L.
a ‘rogue’ bayside competition. The introduction in 1961 by the V.F.A. of a
second division into its competition at that stage did not appear to be having
much effect on the overall standard or the popularity of the F.D.L.
Teams
for 1964 fielding Seniors, Reserves, Under 18 and Under 16 were; East Malvern,
Bentleigh, Oakleigh Districts, Black Rock, Springvale, Glenhuntly, Highett,
Parkdale, Mentone, Cheltenham, McKinnon, Clayton, Noble Park, Caulfield. The
F.D.L. was drawing huge crowds to its fixtures, many of which were now being
played on Sundays. The games tended to be rougher and more colourful and a
large number of the players were locals or had been recruited from the two
higher levels and were well known.
Being
unaffiliated with the V.F.U. clubs were free to recruit players without the
concern of a clearance as such. player mobility within the V.F.L. was severely
limited and had been since the introduction of zoning in 1915 and the
establishment of the V.F.U. in the 1930’s. Once a player signed with a V.F.L. club
only with the permission of the club Committee could a player be allowed to
play elsewhere. Along with the V.F.A. many suburban Leagues refused to join or
opted out of the V.F.U.
A
player could leave a V.F.L. club without a clearance or permit a join an
unaffiliated competition but the threat of up to five years ban should they
wish to join an affiliated competition was threatened though rarely used.
Monies being offered to Coaches (usually playing) and to other ‘senior’
recruits was very good. At least the equal of many V.F.A. and/or V.F.L. clubs.
So if a player was approaching the twilight of his career the threat of being
banned was of no consequence.
Continued on Page 4
Mr HP Peterson Secretary
