Victorian Junior Football Association

The Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA) was an open age Australian rules football competition and administrative body. It was the first successful junior football competition in Melbourne, and was in existence from 1883 until 1932. For most of its history it was a competition of independent junior level clubs, before it eventually transitioned to become the second eighteens competition for the senior Victorian Football Association.

Victorian Junior Football Association
SportAustralian rules football
Founded1883
Ceased1932
Replaced byVFA Second Eighteens
CountryAustralia
Most titlesYarraville (7)

History

During the 1870s in Victoria, junior football – which was the term used at the time for open age football of a lower standard than senior football, rather than for under age football – was mostly administered on an ad hoc basis. A couple of short-lived junior associations had been attempted, but none were successful until the Victorian Junior Football Association was established in April 1883.[1] Clubs represented at the inaugural meeting were Star of Carlton, South Yarra, South Park, Footscray, Brunswick, Emerald-hill, Albion, Richmond, Fortrose, Waverley and North Park.[2]

The VFJA, in addition to serving as an administrative body for junior football, ran the junior premiership. At its peak in the early 1890s when it was the only top junior football competition, more than twenty-five clubs competed,[3] and from 1892 until 1894 the competition ran in two divisions to manage its numbers. The establishment of other junior football competitions – including the Victorian Second-Rate (1890),[4] Third-Rate (1892)[5] and Fourth-Rate (1893)[6] Junior Football Associations and the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (1892) – saw numbers in the VJFA premiership decline rapidly through the 1890s, and by 1899 only seven clubs competed in the VJFA.[7] Eight to twelve teams typically contested the premiership thereafter.

The competition typically featured smaller clubs from districts already represented in senior football, or the top clubs from other districts. Four successful VJFA clubs from growing districts – West Melbourne, Preston, Northcote and Yarraville – ultimately went on to play senior football in the Victorian Football Association. In 1905, John Wren donated a silver shield to serve as a semi-perpetual trophy for the VJFA premiers; like many trophies of the era, it was held temporarily by the reigning premiers, then won permanently by the first team to win it three times. A total of five Wren Shields were awarded during the trophy's history.[8]

Strong rivalries resulted in some rough and controversial finals. Two notable finals were played out between Yarraville and Port Melbourne Railway United in the early 1910s. In 1910, with Railway leading by ten points in the final quarter, the primary ball (provided by Yarraville) burst, and was found to have been stabbed with a pen-knife by a spectator; the back-up ball (provided by Railway) could not be inflated because the pump could not be found – and Yarraville lodged a protest, which was quickly dismissed, arguing that it should be awarded the game by virtue of Railway not having provided a ready-to-use ball.[9] Yarraville won the replay, but Railway won a challenge final which was condemned for its violence.[10] Then in 1912, Railway originally won the final by three points, but Yarraville successfully protested one of Railway's second quarter goals on the grounds of goal umpire error, and the match was reversed to a three-point Yarraville victory;[11] as minor premier, Railway still had the right to challenge for the premiership, but refused as its own act of protest, forfeiting the premiership to Yarraville and almost being kicked out the association as a result.[12]

The VJFA eventually transitioned to become the VFA Second Eighteens during the 1920s. This began in 1924, when the competition expanded from twelve teams to eighteen in two divisions – one division set aside for clubs who played on the same grounds as their senior VFA counterparts, and one for clubs with their own grounds. All Melbourne-based senior VFA clubs were required to affiliate with a junior team in the VJFA, and an agreement was put in place to lift some restrictions on in-season player movements between the senior or junior clubs, making the affiliated junior clubs functionally closer to seconds teams.[13][14] In 1926, after the 1924 player transfer agreement ended, the VFA moved to convert its affiliated junior clubs into genuine second eighteens controlled by the senior clubs;[15] and, starting from 1928, all other clubs were excluded and the VFJA served wholly as a VFA seconds competition, with free player interchanges between senior and junior level permitted until 1 August each year.[16]

The VFJA can be considered to have ceased to exist, replaced by the VFA Second Eighteens, starting from the 1928 season; however, the VJFA name and the Wren Shield as a premiership trophy were both retained until the end of 1932. It was only at this point that competition was formally renamed the VFA Second Eighteens[17] and the Wren Shield was discontinued.[18] The VFA Second Eighteens and its successors, continued to operate until the end of the 2017 season.

Premierships

The premiers of the VFJA from 1883 until the discontinuation of the Wren Shield in 1932 are given below. Premierships between 1928 and 1932 overlap are included, but overlap with the commonly recognised VFA seconds premierships.

Wren Shield permanent winners
  • 1909 – Yarraville (1905, 1908, 1909)
  • 1914 – Port Melbourne Railway United (1910, 1913, 1914)
  • 1919 – Williamstown Juniors (1916, 1917, 1919)
  • 1926 – Yarraville (1920, 1925, 1926)
  • 1930 – Coburg seconds (1928, 1929, 1930)

References
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  2. "Football – the Victorian Football Association". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 27 April 1883. p. 3.
  3. "Victorian Junior Football Association". Leader. Melbourne, VIC. 4 October 1890. p. 21.
  4. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 29 March 1890. p. 10.
  5. "Football". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 25 March 1893. p. 9.
  6. "Junior". The Sportsman. Melbourne, VIC. 19 March 1895. p. 6.
  7. "Junior Items". The Sportsman. Melbourne, VIC. 15 August 1899. p. 6.
  8. "Football – Victorian Junior Association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 27 September 1909. p. 5.
  9. "Another football disturbance". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 10 October 1912. p. 9.
  10. "Rough football – Port Melbourne vs Yarraville". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 24 October 1910. p. 5.
  11. "Junior premiership". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 25 September 1912. p. 11.
  12. "V.J.F.A. First-Rate junior premiership". The Standard. Melbourne, VIC. 5 October 1912. p. 4.
  13. "Victorian Association – Affiliation with junior body". The Argus. Melbourne. 25 March 1924. p. 6.
  14. "Associations Affiliate". The Australasian. Melbourne. 29 March 1924. p. 609.
  15. "Victorian Association – agreement with V.J.F.A. ends". The Age. Melbourne. 8 July 1926. p. 6.
  16. "V.J.F.A. Annual Meeting". The Argus. Melbourne. 8 March 1928. p. 5.
  17. "V.F.A. seconds final". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 21 September 1932. p. 14.
  18. "Percentages decide lead in second 18s". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne, VIC. 14 June 1933. p. 11.
  19. "The Junior Football Premiership". The Herald. Melbourne, VIC. 1 October 1883. p. 2.
  20. "Football season, 1884". The Sportsman. Melbourne, VIC. 22 October 1884. p. 2.
  21. "Williamstown Junior Football Club – premier juniors 1885". Williamstown Chronicle. Melbourne, VIC. 3 October 1885. p. 3.
  22. "Football – the past season". The Leader. Melbourne, VIC. 9 October 1886. p. 21-21.
  23. "Football – the past season". The Australasian. Melbourne, VIC. 1 October 1887. pp. 645–646.
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  25. "Junior Football – Victorian Junior Football Association". The Sportsman. Melbourne, VIC. 9 October 1889. p. 2.
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  27. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Sportsman. Melbourne, VIC. 4 October 1892. p. 6.
  28. "Football – the Junior premiership". The Sportsman. Melbourne, VIC. 17 September 1893. p. 6.
  29. "Final Matches – Junior Premiership". North Melbourne Gazette. Melbourne, VIC. 5 October 1894. p. 2.
  30. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 30 September 1895. p. 7.
  31. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 8 September 1896. p. 3.
  32. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 6 September 1897. p. 6.
  33. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 12 September 1898. p. 7.
  34. "Football Notes and Comments". Weekly Times. Melbourne, VIC. 11 September 1900. p. 17.
  35. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Sportsman. Melbourne, VIC. 8 October 1901. p. 6.
  36. "Victorian Junior Association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 21 September 1903. p. 7.
  37. "V.J.F.A. premiership". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 18 September 1905. p. 9.
  38. "The final match". The Herald. Melbourne, VIC. 8 September 1906. p. 8.
  39. "Football – the Junior Premiership". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 7 October 1907. p. 10.
  40. "Football – Junior premiership". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 5 October 1908. p. 8.
  41. "Rough Football". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 24 October 1910. p. 5.
  42. "Junior Football Association". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 2 October 1911. p. 14.
  43. "Vict. Junior Football Association". The Standard. Melbourne, VIC. 27 September 1913. p. 3.
  44. "Victorian Juniors". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 24 August 1914. p. 5.
  45. "Football premiers". The Standard. Melbourne, VIC. 29 August 1914. p. 3.
  46. "Yarraville v. Footscray". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 27 September 1915. p. 10.
  47. "Football". Sporting Judge. Melbourne, VIC. 21 October 1916. p. 1.
  48. "Football – Junior final". Weekly Times. Melbourne, VIC. 13 October 1917. p. 19.
  49. "Football – the Junior Grand Final". The Australasian. Melbourne, VIC. 12 October 1918. p. 706.
  50. "Junior Football Final". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 20 October 1919. p. 7.
  51. "Junior Association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 27 September 1920. p. 11.
  52. "Football – The final matches". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 3 October 1921. p. 11.
  53. "Junior association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 29 September 1922. p. 7.
  54. "Junior association". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 28 September 1923. p. 5.
  55. "V.J.F.A. Grand Final". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 26 September 1924. p. 7.
  56. "Football – Port Juniors lose Grand Final". The Record. Melbourne, VIC. 10 October 1925. p. 2.
  57. "Victorian Juniors' Grand Final". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 4 October 1926. p. 17.
  58. "V.J.F.A.". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 3 October 1927. p. 6.
  59. "Coburg wins Junior premiership". The Argus. Melbourne. 17 September 1928. p. 15.
  60. Onlooker (30 September 1929). "Association – Draw in final match". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 15.
  61. "Sporting results all over Australia". Referee. Sydney, NSW. 8 October 1930. p. 13.
  62. "V.F.A seconds". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 6 October 1930. p. 7.
  63. Onlooker (28 September 1931). "Association – Premiership decided". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 11.
  64. "Association Seconds". The Argus. Melbourne. 3 October 1932. p. 13.
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