Footy in Metropolitan Melbourne

Current Scores: Weekend of August 3/4, 2024
It was in metropolitan Melbourne that the first game in history was played between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar so it is in this region that the game was truly born. Club formations soon followed with clubs that stood the test of time including Melbourne, Carlton, South Melbourne, St Kilda and Williamstown, along with the original Melbourne University. Other clubs that formed included South Yarra, Albert Park, Hotham, East Melbourne, West Melbourne and an earlier version of Hawthorn. Melbourne had a set of rules drawn up that had some changes from the rules of the Scotch/Melbourne Grammar game and were a lot closer to the set of rules that formed the base of today's game. Challenges and other matches were settled in 1877 with the formation of the Victorian Football Association.
The foundation clubs came from the early group and were joined at various stages by other clubs before a Melbourne based nucleus was set with one anomaly - Geelong. Outer suburban clubs were also being formed and those that were unable to join the VFA turned to forming their own competitions like the Heidelberg District Football League, the Keilor Broadmeadows Football League and the Federal Football Association amongst others including the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association - the only suburban competition formed in the 19th century that still exists today as the Victorian Amateur Football Association. Churches also formed their own competitions.
The breakaway by the Victorian Football League allowed the VFA to expand out into the suburbs more and both competitions recognised suburban football forming Sub District competitions. A controlling body was also formed for those leagues called the Victorian Football Union.
The Great Depression had some effect as some stronger formations came about. The Essendon District Football League, the Caulfield Oakleigh District Football League, the East Suburban Football League and the Footscray District Football League were all formed in the early 1930's, while the Diamond Valley Football League had formed in the 20's. As such leagues strengthened on either side of World War 2, localised competition waned leading to the VFL Sub District competition breaking away to form the Metropolitan Football League while the VFA Sub District competition disbanded. Church football continued but were now primarily represented by the CYMS Football League and the Eastern Suburbs Protestant Churches Football Association. Protestant football elsewhere in Melbourne was harder to find as players were flocking to the Footscray District Football League and later the new West Suburban Football League formed out of the remnants of former regional competition the Werribee Football League as a result of the formation of the Werribee Football Club. The metropolitan area was expanding and players were also moving out of inner Melbourne. This partly led to the merger of the Caulfield Oakleigh and East Suburban competitions to form the South East Suburban Football League, along with clubs defecting further east to one minor competition that was battling along - the Croydon Ferntree Gully Football League that changed it's name as a result to the Eastern Districts Football League.
Sunday football was also gaining steam with as many as three competitions before the VFA started playing games on Sunday leading to the demise of that structure. The CYMS competition was replaced in effect by the YCW competition and relentless on field fighting placed a few competitions under pressure.
The onset of national expansion efforts and the VFL's foray into Sunday football led to a contraction of suburban competitions. The Federal league was the first to fold with clubs mostly going to the SESFL. The YCW competition also folded with the ESCFA (who dropped the Protestant label at the beginning of the 70's) absorbing those clubs. Another small outer suburban competition the Panton Hill Football League also folded with the Diamond Valley Football League absorbing those clubs. Finally in the early 1990's the ESCFA folded with the SESFL already renamed the Southern Football League absorbing the clubs there.
That left the metropolitan area of Melbourne with six competitions, seven if one counts the Riddell District Football League which crosses over metro and regional areas. All bar the Amatuers, Essendon District and Southern have had name changes with Eastern Districts becoming Eastern, Footscray District becoming Western Region and Diamond Valley becoming Northern.
Category:Footy History