Victorian Football League

Past Clubs

The VFL has undergone significant format changes since its induction which means several clubs have either left the league or changed identity for different reasons.

*Albert Park Football Club
*Ballarat Football Club
*Ballarat Imperial Football Club
*Barwon Football Club
*Beechworth Football Club
*Bendigo Diggers (changed name to Bendigo Bombers)
*Berwick Football Club (the Trojans 1983-85 and Gippslanders 1986-87)
*Brighton Football Club (later Brighton-Caulfield Football Club)
*Brunswick Football Club (later Brunswick-Broadmeadows Football Club) (the Pottery Workers 1897–1908 and Magpies 1909-1990)
*Camberwell Football Club (the Tricolors 1926-78 and the Cobras 1979-1991)
*Carlton Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Castlemaine Football Club
*Caulfield Football Club (Brighton-Caulfield Penguins 1962–1964, Caulfield Bears 1965-1988)
*Collingwood Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL but the reserves side now plays in the VFL as of 2008)
*Dandenong Football Club(Redlegs 1958-1993)
*East Melbourne Football Club
*Essendon Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Essendon Town Football Club (later Essendon Association Football Club) (the Dreadnaughts 1901–1922. Club then merged with North Melbourne Football Club)
*Fitzroy Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Footscray Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Geelong Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Geelong Association Football Club
*Geelong West Football Club (the Roosters 1963-1988)
*Hawthorn Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Heidelberg Football Club (competed 1900–1902 in the short-lived VFA 2nd Division)
*Hotham Football Club (changed name to North Melbourne Football Club concurrent with the change of name of the municipality in 1888)
*Inglewood Football Club
*Kilsyth Football Club
*Melbourne Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Melbourne City Football Club (Disbanded after two seasons without a win.)
*Moorabbin Football Club (the Kangaroos 1951–1964, 1983-1988)
*Mordialloc Football Club (the Bloodhounds 1957-1988)
*Murray Kangaroos
*North Melbourne Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL - later fielded the Murray Kangaroos as a reserves side)
*Northcote Football Club (originally the Brickfielders and later the Dragons)
*Oakleigh Football Club (originally the Purple and Golds, and later the Devils)
*Prahran Football Club (the Two Blues 1886–1888, 1899-1959, 1960-1995)
*Richmond Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*Rochester Football Club
*St Kilda Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*South Ballarat Football Club
*Standard Football Club (an original Junior Club, albeit shortlived)
*South Melbourne Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL)
*South Williamstown Football Club (forced by the VFA to amalgamate with Williamstown Football Club in 1888)
*Sunshine Football Club (the Crows 1959-1989)
*Traralgon Football Club (the Maroons 1996-1997)
*University Football Club
*Victoria United Football Club (an original Junior Club, albeit shortlived)
*Victorian Railways Football Club (an original Junior Club, albeit shortlived)
*Waverley Football Club (the Panthers 1961-1988)
*West Melbourne Football Club
*Yarraville Football Club (the Villains 1927–1948, the Eagles 1949-1984)

Timeline

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PlotData= color:green width:3 bar:AP from:1877 till:1880 at:1880 mark:(line,red) shift:(1,0) text:Merged with South Melbourne bar:Ba from:1887 till:1893 color:blue at:1893 shift:(1,-3) text:(Ineligible for Premiership) bar:Be from:1998 till:end bar:Bw from:1983 till:1987 bar:BC from:1908 till:1988 bar:BH from:1951 till:end bar:BI from:1887 till:1893 color:blue at:1893 shift:(1,-3) text:(Ineligible for Premiership) bar:Br from:1897 till:1991 bar:Ca from:1877 till:1897 bar:Cb from:1925 till:end bar:Cm from:1926 till:1991 bar:Co from:1892 till:1897 bar:Da from:1958 till:1991 at:1991 text:Exit Unknown bar:EA from:1900 till:1922 at:1922 mark:(line,red) shift:(1,1) text:Merged with North Melbourne at:1905 mark:(line,black) shift:(1,-10) text:Name change from Essendon Town bar:EM from:1877 till:1878 from:1879 till:1882 bar:Es from:1877 till:1897 bar:Fi from:1884 till:1897 bar:Fo from:1886 till:1925 bar:Fr from:1966 till:end bar:Ge from:1877 till:1897 bar:GA from:1922 till:1928 bar:GW from:1963 till:1988 bar:Ha from:1877 till:1878 color:purple shift:(1,-3) text:(Juniors only) from:1914 till:1917 from:1919 till:1925 bar:Ki from:1982 till:1985 bar:Me from:1877 till:1897 bar:MC from:1912 till:1914 bar:Mo from:1951 till:1964 from:1983 till:1987 bar:Md from:1958 till:1988 bar:MK from:2001 till:2001 bar:NB from:1996 till:end bar:NM from:1877 till:1925 bar:NM at:1888 mark:(line,black) shift:(1,1) text:Name change from Hotham bar:No from:1877 till:1878 color:purple shift:(1,-3) text:(Juniors only) from:1908 till:1988 bar:Oa from:1929 till:1989 bar:PB from:1903 till:1912 at:1912 mark:(line,red) shift:(1,0) text:Merged with Northcote from:1926 till:end at:2000 mark:(line,black) at:1969 text:Name change from Preston bar:PM from:1886 till:end bar:Pr from:1886 till:1889 at:1889 mark:(line,red) shift:(1,0) text:Merged with St Kilda from:1960 till:1994 from:1899 till:1959 bar:Ri from:1885 till:1908 bar:Sa from:1929 till:end bar:SB from:1887 till:1893 color:blue bar:SB at:1893 shift:(1,-3) text:(Ineligible for Premiership) bar:SK from:1877 till:1880 from:1881 till:1883 from:1886 till:1897 bar:SM from:1879 till:1897 bar:Sp from:1982 till:end bar:St at:1880 shift:(1,0) text:(Juniors only) bar:St from:1877 till:1880 color:purple bar:Su from:1959 till:1989 bar:SW from:1886 till:1888 bar:SW at:1888 mark:(line,red) shift:(2,0) text:Merged with Williamstown bar:Tr from:1996 till:1998 bar:Ta from:2001 till:end bar:Un from:1885 till:1889 bar:Un at:1889 mark:(line,red) shift:(1,0) text:Merged with Melbourne bar:VU from:1877 till:1878 color:purple bar:VU at:1878 shift:(1,0) text:(Juniors only) bar:VR at:1878 shift:(1,0) text:(Juniors only) bar:VR from:1877 till:1878 color:purple bar:Wa from:1961 till:1988 bar:We from:1965 till:end bar:Wi from:1884 till:end bar:WM from:1877 till:1881 from:1899 till:1908 bar:Ya from:1928 till:1984

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VFA Top Four Clubs 1877-1988 / VFA Final Five 1989-1994 /
VFL Finalists 1995-

From 1888, the VFA published a list of the final four clubs at the end of what are now called home-and-away matches. The listings (below) 1877-1887 are based on various newspaper reports as researched by Graeme Atkinson and published in his book "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Australian Rules Football ..." (1982, The Five Mile Press, Melbourne).

Finals series (initially the Argus system, and from 1933 the Page-McIntyre system) were introduced in 1903 and, therefore from that date, the listing (below) reflects that situation after the finals.

In 1989 the VFA changed from a Final Four to a Final Five.

{| class="wikitable"
-! Year! PREMIER! RUNNER-UP! THIRD! FOURTH! FIFTH
-
1989
Coburg
Williamstown
Box Hill
Springvale
Frankston
-
1990
Williamstown
Springvale
Preston
Coburg
Werribee
-
1991
Dandenong
Werribee
Box Hill
Springvale
Port Melbourne
-
1992
Sandringham
Williamstown
Prahran
Box Hill
Werribee Tigers
-
1993
Werribee Tigers
Port Melbourne
Springvale
Prahran
Frankston
-
1994
Sandringham
Box Hill
Springvale
Dandenong Redlegs
FrankstonVFA evolved into the VFL.

ee also

*Early VFL Final systems
*History of Australian rules football in Victoria (1859-1900)

References

External links

* [http://vfl.footballvic.com.au/ VFL Official Site]
* [http://vfl.footballvic.com.au/default.aspx?s=historydisplay&aid=89804 VFL Official History]
* [http://svc227.bne117v.server-web.com/vfl/vfl_final_team_place.htm List of VFA/VFL premiers since 1877]
* [http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/vfl_vfa.htm VFA and VFL Stats and History at Full Points Footy]
* [http://www.vflfooty.com/ VFLFooty Unofficial Fan Site]
* [http://www.truenergy.com.au/About/inthecommunity/vfl.xhtml VFL Mark of the Year competition]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/un/aspirex/vfl_history.htm History of the VFL]
* [http://www.radio1611.com.au Radio 1611 AM VFL Broadcast Station]
* [http://www.footynews.info/ Footynews Unofficial VFL news and results]