1: HISTORY OF THE
FEDERAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
1909-1981
Special thanks to Ross McCulloch SFNL Historian for the following article (sic)
From
the early 1890’s clubs around the South eastern bayside area had played in the
Commonwealth Association as well as the Brighton – Moorabbin Junior Football
Association along with an assortment of others. The decision was taken at that
meeting to affiliate the newly constituted F.F.A. with the Victorian Junior
Football Association and play under its rules, as far as possible. The
following clubs that competed in that first year, all senior First Grade were;
Mordialloc, Moorabbin, Glenhuntly, Cheltenham, Ellindale (Bentleigh),
Frankston, Mentone and Elsternwick. All of which with exception of Elsternwick
were on the Caulfield-Frankston rail line.
By
1911 the First Grade had been reduced to four clubs Carrum, Cheltenham,
Moorabbin and Victoria Brewery. As a result an under eighteen grade (B grade or
Junior Section) was formed with six clubs, Mordialloc, Cheltenham, Mentone,
Windsor, Moorabbin and Westbury (East St.Kilda). A handful of clubs in the
first two seasons had been importing ‘professionals’ or ‘has beens’ from senior
Leagues ‘up town’ and paying them for their services. It was also discovered
that the Association had likewise offered inducements to some of these players
not only to increase the Associations stature but also improve the standard of
football. These actions upset many clubs and as a result refused to field
senior teams until assurances were received that the practice would cease. The
clubs felt that this sort of thing was unfair on local players and would
eventually damage their clubs. The F.F.A. offered their assurances that the
practice would cease and as a gesture sacked their Honorary Treasurer!
The
First Grade was increased to six clubs in 1912 with the admission of Camdentown
(South Caulfield) and the return of Ellindale. The junior section age limit was
raised to nineteen and under. The Victoria Brewery Football Club, having won
the Premiership in 1910 and 1912 were offered and accepted the victors
prize-money. They were also offered the F.T.LePage Perpetual Premiership Trophy
which they could retain permanently on the proviso that they never again played
in the competition. They agreed and never returned to the F.F.A. They were
renowned for fighting, kicking, elbowing and anything else, legal or not.
Little
change occurred during the 1913 and 1915 seasons with clubs more in favour of
underage football and as a consequence a number of clubs came and went. World
War One, 1914-1918 saw the competition split into two divisions ‘A’ and B’ with
promotion and relegation of the bottom two with the top two. There is very
little information available through the newspaper archives during this period
and I suspect that competition was held on an informal basis. Football at all
levels was all but forced into recess during wartime and the reporting of young
healthy men enjoying their pastime pursuits was frowned upon as it was the
opinion of many that if they were healthy enough to play games then they should
enlist in the armed forces.It is therefore difficult to ascertain whether or
not the Grades were open age. A grade could have been open age and B under 21
or perhaps, A grade under 21 and B grade under 18. I very much doubt that both
grades could have been open age.
This
format continued through 1919. The F.F.A. ‘reformed’ in 1920 returning to the
format of one senior grade. The competing clubs were Heatherton, Brighton
District (Formerly Middle Brighton now Brighton V.F.A. reserves), Bentleigh
(Ellindale), Glenhuntly, Moorabbin Park, Black Rock, Chelsea, Sandringham,
Cheltenham, Hampton, Mentone and Mordialloc. The Association and its clubs had
for many years been strongly supported by people from within the local Racing
industry with tracks at Mentone, Epsom (Mordialloc) and Aspendale Park. There
were many players, administrators and supporters connected in some way to the
Racing Clubs.
It’s
fair to say that betting on local footy games was not unusual. Where you find
gambling you sometimes find people who tend to bend, if not break the rules.
The regulations in regard to player registration, clearances etc., were very
clumsy and there were weekly protests by club against club accusing each other
of playing unregistered, suspended, overage, uncleared players, the use of
false names and so on. There was even one club accused of playing a recently
escaped felon! The protests were not always laid by the losing side. On
occasions the winners would protest against losers for playing an unqualified
player, usually from another competition snuck in to bolster the chances of the
losers to not only win on the scoreboard but to increase the thickness of their
pocketbooks.
In
1920 a pre-season practice match was arranged between Chelsea and Mordialloc to
be played at Chelsea. Supporters from both clubs and probably the players
organised a fifty pound each wager, winner take all. A huge sum of money in
those days. Mordialloc had heard that Chelsea were going to bolster their side
with the inclusion of three players from the tough and highly regarded
Wednesday Industrial League. In retaliation Mordialloc engaged three players
with V.F.L. experience and eventually winning what was described as a ‘physical
encounter’. A police escort was summoned to ensure a safe journey to the local
rail station and then home for the supporters and players from Mordialloc.
The
following season, 1921 saw the departure of Bentleigh, Chelsea (expelled),
Sandringham and Hampton (both to the Amateurs), to be replaced by Edithvale and
Murrumbeena. New rules were brought in to curb kicking in the ruck and kicking
in danger! The season was marred by continual bickering amongst the clubs and
from within the association. The new kicking rules were not always enforced and
a number of local umpires freely condoned elbowing and punching with little or
no restraint. Betting and brawling amongst players and spectators was
commonplace.
Chelsea
were expelled early in 1921 following a number of incidents that occurred in a
match against Moorabbin Park. During the game a number of Moorabbin players had
been laid out as a result of punches and kicks behind the play. The local
umpire had warned the Chelsea secretary that if the rough play did not stop he
would abandon the match. In the second half a heated discussion ensued between
the umpire and a number of Chelsea players who thought he was very biased
against them. The umpire was then punched in the mouth whereupon he abandoned
the match reporting the whole club. He was struck again trying to leave the
oval and then a third time off the ground. A huge melee and all in brawl
occurred requiring the police to restore order, which they did but were then
required to provide an armed escort for the umpire and the players back to
Moorabbin. Not to be deterred the Chelsea ‘crowd’ followed in hot pursuit and
it took many hours for them to be dispersed despite a number of arrests.
The
F.F.A. acted immediately by expelling the Chelsea (senior grade) club and
handing down lifetime bans to three of its players. As a consequence Chelsea
took out a Supreme Court injunction against the Association which allowed them
to play the following week against Heatherton. The game went off without
incident however as the other clubs had made it clear to Chelsea that they
would no longer play at their ground without police protection they had no
choice but to withdraw the injunction and disband for the remainder of the
season.
Further none of its players were permitted to play with any club in the F.F.A. Black Rock withdrew from the Senior Grade for the 1922 season electing to play in the re-formed under 21 section. The senior teams were; Chelsea (readmitted under strict conditions), Brighton District, Cheltenham, Mordialloc, Edithvale, Carrum, Glenhuntly, Mentone and Moorabbin Park (withdrew to the underage section). Rough play again marred many matches which was to continue into the following season which saw Black Rock field a senior side, Glenhuntly withdraw and Bentleigh return.
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