Australian rules football during the World Wars Australian rules football was heavily affected by both World War I and World War II . Hundreds of leading players served their country abroad , and many lost their lives . On the home front , competitions like the Victorian Football League ( VFL ) went ahead during these wars , but faced many restrictions . World War I . In March 1915 , the VFL voted on whether or not to suspend the 1915 season , but voted in favour of playing by 13 votes to four . Melbourne University Football Club were forced to withdraw from the league as too many of their players had enlisted to fight . The season began on 24 April , the day before Australian troops landed at Gallipoli . Attendances were poor throughout the year . St Kilda changed their club colours because their traditional red , white and black colours were the same as the German Empire . Their new colours of black , red and yellow were chosen as support to Australia ' s ally Belgium , where a group of St Kilda players were serving . The 1916 season was heavily affected by the war . Only four clubs , Carlton , Collingwood , Fitzroy and Richmond , competed in the league . The other clubs withdrew from the competition , both out of patriotism and as a result of player shortage . Despite finishing the home and away season in last place , Fitzroy won the Grand Final that year . Both Geelong and South Melbourne returned to the league in 1917 , while St Kilda and Essendon made their comeback in 1918 . Melbourne spent the longest time out of the league , missing three seasons before rejoining the VFL in 1919 . " Pioneer Exhibition Game " in London ( 1916 ) . On Saturday 28 October 1916 , the former Olympic champion swimmer and the later Lord Mayor of Melbourne , Lieutenant Frank Beaurepaire , organised an Australian Rules football match between two teams of Australian servicemen in aid of the British and French Red Cross . The match was promoted as the " Pioneer Exhibition Game of Australian Football in London " . It was held at Queen ' s Club , West Kensington before an estimated crowd of 3 , 000 , which included the ( then ) Prince of Wales ( later King Edward VIII ) , and King Manuel II of Portugal . The members of the competing teams , " Australian Training Units " and " The Third Australian Divisional Team " , were all highly skilled footballers , the majority of whom had already played senior football in their respective states . A news film was taken at the match . In order to celebrate the match Beaurepaire commissioned a set of team photographs that were inserted into a mounting board decorated with a British Union Jack and an Australian Red Ensign , that had " Australian Football in London . Pioneer Exhibition Game . At Queen ' s Club , West Kensington . Saturday 28 Oct . 1916 " at its head , and " Organizer of Match & Donor of Photos to Club Lieut . Frank Beaurepaire " at its foot . The names that follow are taken from the names of the team members and officials that appear beneath each of the photographs on the mounted set ; some of the names have been corrected from VFL , A . I . F . records , etc . Officials . The Field Umpires were Corporal Gray and G . Barry , the Boundary Umpires were Sinton Hewitt , and E . J . Watts , and the Goal Umpires were Lieutenant A . Olsson and S . M . Keen . Australian Training Units Team . The team played in a red guernsey with a large white kangaroo on its left breast , and in black shorts . The team ' s captain was Charlie Perry ( Norwood ) . The team members were : Jack Cooper ( Fitzroy ) , eighth man ( seventh player ) from left , top row , Percy Trotter ( East Fremantle ) , third from left ( of five ) in middle row , Clyde Donaldson ( Essendon ) , sixth man ( fifth player ) from left , top row , Harry Kerley ( Collingwood ) , John Hoskins ( Melbourne ) , Harold Boyd ( no club given ) , Stan Martin ( University ) , ninth man ( eighth player ) from left , top row , A . C . Cesari ( Association ) , Charlie Armstrong ( Geelong and Melbourne ) , J . Scullin ( South Fremantle ) , Malfield ( Fremantle ) , Thomas Paine ( Northam ) , George Bower ( South Melbourne ) , second man ( first player ) from left , top row , McDonald ( Essendon ) , Alfred Jackson ( South Australia ) , and H . Moore ( South Australia ) . Third Australian Divisional Team . The team played in a blue guernsey with a large white map of Australia ( minus Tasmania ) on the centre of its front , and in white shorts . The team ' s captain was Bruce Sloss ( South Melbourne ) , seated at left of man with hat , middle row . The team members were : Jack Brake ( University and Melbourne ) , Dan Minogue ( Collingwood ) , seated at right of man with hat , middle row , Carl Willis ( South Melbourne ) , Leo Little ( Melbourne ) , Bill Sewart ( Essendon ) , James Pugh ( Launceston ) , H . M . Moyes ( St Kilda ) , Percy Jory ( St Kilda ) , Charlie Lilley ( Melbourne ) , Les Lee ( Richmond ) , fourth player from left , top row . Cyril Hoft ( Perth ) , player at right of middle row with back row team mates ' hands on his shoulders , L . Martin ( University ) , Ned Alley ( Williamstown , formerly South Melbourne ) , Hugh James ( Richmond ) , fourth player from right , top row , Benjamin Mills ( Brunswick ) , Jim Foy ( East Perth ) , and Billy Orchard ( Geelong ) , player at left , top row . Result . The Third Australian Divisional Team beat the Australian Training Units Team 6 . 16 ( 52 ) to 4 . 12 ( 36 ) . World War II . Disputes over whether football should be played in wartime came up again in World War II . The VFL continued operation , but Geelong withdrew from the 1942 and 1943 VFL seasons when rail and road transport restrictions made it too difficult to attend games in Melbourne . Many clubs also had to play their home games away from the Melbourne Cricket Ground because it was taken over by the United States Air Force who turned it into a base . The West Australian Football League restricted the competition to players under the age of 18 between 1942 and 1945 . The eight SANFL clubs temporary merged into four combined clubs for a reduced competition between 1942 and 1944 . In 1940 , both the SANFL and the VFL staged the first Australian football Lightning Carnivals as fundraising events . The carnivals featured every team in the league in a one - day knockout tournament , featuring shortened games . Several more of these carnivals were held by major and minor leagues as wartime fundraisers . Australian rules football also played a significant part in the Australian forces during the war , with the first Australian assault in Libya commencing with the signal of a football being kicked into no - man ' s land . Prisoners of War . Australian rules football was also played by Prisoners of War throughout World War II , with competitions held in Singapore and Germany . The Changi Football League , played at Changi Prison was held in 1942 / 43 and contested by teams called " Melbourne " , " Richmond " , " Essendon " and " Carlton " , while a League was also set up at Stalag 383 , near Nuremberg , contested by the " Kangaroos " , " Emus " , Kookaburras " and Wallabies " . The Changi Football League , run by Brownlow Medal ist Wilfred Smallhorn , awarded its only Changi Brownlow for Best and Fairest to Peter Chitty , a former St Kilda footballer . VFL players who died in active service . Many VFL players served in the armed services , and a number lost their lives , including Ron Barassi Sr . , Bruce Sloss and Len Thomas . Commemorations . Since 1995 a match between Collingwood and Essendon has taken place on Anzac Day as a tribute to those who died serving their country .