Victorian Football Association
Season 1877
Season Notes
Victorian Football Association formed
The Victorian Football Association was formed in May 1877.
Senior clubs
Senior metropolitan clubs providing delegates to the Association in 1877 were:
== Albert Park
== Carlton
== Hotham (reformed in 1877, previously North Melbourne)
== Melbourne
== St Kilda
Provincial clubs
Senior provincial clubs providing delegates to the Association in 1877 were:
== Ballarat
== Barwon
== Geelong
In addition, the following clubs provided delegates to the VFA in 1877
== Beechworth
== Castlemaine
== Inglewood
== Rochester
During the period 1877 to 1879, of these four clubs, only Castlemaine played other affiliated senior clubs without odds. However, as Castlemaine only played one game per season, these games are not listed as counting towards the premiership.
Junior clubs
In 1877 there were three leading junior clubs which subsequently were elevated to Senior status in the following years:
== Essendon (1878)
== West Melbourne (1878)
== South Melbourne (1879)
East Melbourne was a Senior club in 1875 and 1876, but did not appear in 1877 or 1878. A new East Melbourne club was formed in 1879 and played one season as a Junior club before being elevated to Senior status in 1880.
It should be noted being a 'Junior' club was not a reflection of the age of the club's players, but rather the status of the club.
Junior clubs would usually be given odds when playing against Senior clubs (most commonly 23 or 25 players against 20).
The Victorian Football Association managed football matters for Junior clubs (including arbitration of disputes) until the formation of the VJFA (Victorian Junior Football Association) in April 1880.
Games included
Only games not played at odds between the affiliated senior Metropolitan clubs and Provincial clubs are listed here.
These are the games that effectively decided the Premiership and are the ones used in calculations of the Final Ladder.
It should be noted the VFA did not officially endorse a system of ranking the clubs until the 1888 season.
Rules governing the game in 1877
New rules proposed by the VFA were published in the Argus following a meeting of club secretaries on 7 May 1877.
Games were played in two halves. Four quarters were introduced commencing with the 1886 season.
Behinds were infrequently reported in match reports during 1877, so often only goal totals are listed in results below.
Behinds did not count towards the final score or in determining the result of matches until 1897.
Results
Round 1
|
24 May 1877 |
Geelong |
1 |
1 |
Venue: Argyle Square Ground, Geelong; Attendance: 1500-2000 |
|
|
Melbourne |
1 |
3 |
Result: Melbourne won by 2 goals |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
24 May 1877 |
Ballarat |
0 |
0 |
Venue: Wynne's Paddock, Ballarat |
|
|
Carlton |
0 |
0 |
Result: DRAW |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Round 2
|
2 June 1877 |
Melbourne |
1 |
1 |
Venue: Melbourne Football Ground; Attendance: 3000-4000 |
|
|
Hotham |
0 |
1 |
Result: DRAW |
|
Scheduled to start 2:30pm but actually started at 3:20pm. Age: 'the newly formed Hotham club was known to be exceptionally strong, as it had been constituted from a combination of the old North Melbourne and Carlton Imperial clubs.' Encroachment of spectators was a problem. |
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|
2 June 1877 |
St Kilda |
1 |
1 |
Venue: St Kilda |
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|
Albert Park |
1 |
1 |
Result: DRAW |
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|
|
|
|
|
Round 3
|
9 June 1877 |
Melbourne |
1 |
1 |
Venue: MCG; Attendance: 10000 |
|
|
Carlton |
1 |
2 |
Result: Carlton won by 1 goal |
|
First football game played on the MCG in many years. |
|
|
|
|
|
9 June 1877 |
Geelong |
1 |
1 |
Venue: Argyle Square Ground, Geelong; Attendance: 1500 |
|
|
Ballarat |
0 |
0 |
Result: Geelong won by 1 goal |
|
Drizzling rain made the ground very greasy. |
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|
|
|
Round 4
|
16 June 1877 |
Albert Park |
0 |
0 |
Venue: Albert Park; Attendance: 1500 |
|
|
Carlton |
1 |
3 |
Result: Carlton won by 3 goals |
|
Encroachment of spectators 'not excessive' |
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Round 5
|
23 June 1877 |
Melbourne |
0 |
1 |
Venue: Melbourne Football Ground; Attendance: 2000 |
|
|
Barwon |
1 |
1 |
Result: DRAW |
|
Grandstand reversed to face away from the cricket ground. Game started 30 minutes late. Barwon goal umpire denied a Melbourne goal. Longden of Melbourne chased a spectator who blocked his kick at goal up Wellington Parade followed by 500 to 600 spectators. |
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Round 6
|
30 June 1877 |
St Kilda |
0 |
0 |
Venue: St Kilda; Attendance: 700 |
|
|
Melbourne |
0 |
4 |
Result: Melbourne won by 4 goals |
|
St Kilda kicked a goal in the first half which was subsequently lost when it was discovered on half time they were playing with 22 men (although probably not at the time of the goal) |
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Round 7
|
2 July 1877 |
Melbourne |
2- |
3- |
Venue: Melbourne Football Ground; Attendance: 1000-1500 |
|
|
Ballarat |
0-2 |
0-2 |
Result: Melbourne won by 3 goals |
|
First time a temporary fence was used. |
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Round 8
|
7 July 1877 |
Carlton |
2 |
5 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 3000-5000 |
|
|
Hotham |
0 |
0 |
Result: Carlton won by 5 goals |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 July 1877 |
Barwon |
0 |
1 |
Venue: Commun na Feine ground, Geelong |
|
|
Albert Park |
1 |
1 |
Result: DRAW |
|
|
|
|
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Round 9
|
14 July 1877 |
Carlton |
1 |
4 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 6000 |
|
|
Melbourne |
0 |
0 |
Result: Carlton won by 4 goals |
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|
|
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|
14 July 1877 |
Geelong |
2 |
2 |
Venue: Argyle Square Ground, Geelong; Attendance: 1500 |
|
|
St Kilda |
0 |
0 |
Result: Geelong won by 2 goals |
|
St Kilda only had 18 men, 'but were allowed two excellent substitutes by Geelong' |
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Round 10
|
21 July 1877 |
St Kilda |
- |
0 |
Venue: St Kilda |
|
|
Carlton |
- |
7 |
Result: Carlton won by 7 goals |
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|
|
|
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|
21 July 1877 |
Hotham |
1-4 |
5-4 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 2000-3000 |
|
|
Melbourne |
0-12 |
0-13 |
Result: Hotham won by 5 goals |
|
The Argus reported: 'The ground was very wet in places, and almost unfit to play upon.' Melbourne played with 19 men. |
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Round 11
|
28 July 1877 |
Carlton |
0-1 |
2 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 2000-4000 |
|
|
Geelong |
0-7 |
0 |
Result: Carlton won by 2 goals |
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|
|
|
|
|
28 July 1877 |
Albert Park |
0-0 |
0- |
Venue: Albert Park |
|
|
Hotham |
0- |
2- |
Result: Hotham won by 2 goals |
|
Albert Park 'guilty of the unsportmanlike tactics of kicking the ball out of bounds to waste time.' |
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Round 12
|
4 August 1877 |
Carlton |
0 |
1 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 1500 |
|
|
Albert Park |
0 |
0 |
Result: Carlton won by 1 goal |
|
|
|
|
|
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Round 13
|
11 August 1877 |
Barwon |
2-9 |
2-12 |
Venue: Geelong Agricultural Showgrounds; Attendance: 600-700 |
|
|
Hotham |
0-0 |
1-9 |
Result: Barwon won by 1 goal |
|
Crowd very partial, cheering the local players and hissing the visitors. Ground extremely unsuitable, a strong wind blowing downhill to one of the goals. |
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Round 14
|
18 August 1877 |
Carlton |
0-2 |
3-12 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 4000 |
|
|
Hotham |
1-1 |
1-1 |
Result: Carlton won by 2 goals |
|
|
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|
18 August 1877 |
Ballarat |
0 |
0 |
Venue: Wynne's Paddock, Ballarat |
|
|
Barwon |
0 |
0 |
Result: DRAW |
|
|
|
|
|
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Round 15
|
25 August 1877 |
Melbourne |
0-1 |
2-2 |
Venue: Melbourne Football Ground; Attendance: 5000-7000 |
|
|
Carlton |
2-5 |
2-7 |
Result: DRAW |
|
|
|
|
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Round 16
|
1 September 1877 |
Hotham |
0-4 |
0-8 |
Venue: Royal Park |
|
|
Albert Park |
0-2 |
0-3 |
Result: Hotham won on forfeit |
|
Albert Park withdrew their team before the end to protest at the umpiring, after two seemingly valid goals were denied by the Hotham goal umpire. The Footballer 1877 lists this result for Albert Park as: 'Lost, left the ground' |
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Round 17
|
8 September 1877 |
Carlton |
3- |
3-12 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground |
|
|
St Kilda |
0- |
0- |
Result: Carlton won by 3 goals |
|
St Kilda started with 16 men but eventually had 19 playing. |
|
|
|
|
|
8 September 1877 |
Melbourne |
2-2 |
2-4 |
Venue: Melbourne Football Ground; Attendance: 5000-7000 |
|
|
Hotham |
0-3 |
0-5 |
Result: Melbourne won by 2 goals |
|
Play commenced 3:30pm due to late appearance by Melbourne. |
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Round 18
|
15 September 1877 |
Melbourne |
0-5 |
1-8 |
Venue: Melbourne Football Ground; Attendance: 3000-4000 |
|
|
Albert Park |
0-0 |
0-0 |
Result: Melbourne won by 1 goal |
|
|
|
|
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Round 19
|
22 September 1877 |
Barwon |
1-4 |
1 |
Venue: Geelong Agricultural Showgrounds; Attendance: 3000-4000 |
|
|
Carlton |
0-0 |
0 |
Result: Barwon won by 1 goal |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
22 September 1877 |
Melbourne |
2-0 |
6-20 |
Venue: Melbourne Football Ground; Attendance: 2000-3000 |
|
|
St Kilda |
0-2 |
0-2 |
Result: Melbourne won by 6 goals |
|
|
|
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Round 20
|
29 September 1877 |
Carlton |
2-4 |
2-9 |
Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 7000-10000 |
|
|
Melbourne |
2-3 |
3-10 |
Result: Melbourne won by 1 goal |
|
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|
Ladder
|
|
Team |
P |
W |
L |
D |
F |
A |
Points |
Proportional Points |
% |
|
1 |
Carlton |
13 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
34 |
8 |
40 |
40.00 |
425.00 |
|
2 |
Melbourne |
13 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
27 |
18 |
34 |
34.00 |
150.00 |
|
3 |
Hotham |
8 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
22.75 |
76.92 |
|
4 |
Albert Park |
7 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
4 |
7.43 |
22.22 |
|
5 |
St Kilda |
6 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
23 |
2 |
4.33 |
4.35 |
|
6 |
Barwon |
5 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
14 |
36.40 |
166.67 |
|
7 |
Geelong |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
26.00 |
80.00 |
|
8 |
Ballarat |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
13.00 |
0.00 |
|
|
Total |
60 |
23 |
23 |
14 |
83 |
83 |
120 |
|
|
Notes:
Proportional Points system (officially used only from the 1888 VFA season onwards) has been used to rank teams.
- Proportional Points system correlates with the contemporary rankings.
- Games played at odds, or against Junior clubs, and inter-colonial matches not included in the above ladder.
- Barwon, Geelong and Ballarat played too few games to attain a ranking.
------ In addition, until 1878, the provincial clubs were usually ranked separately from the metropolitan clubs.
- Rule requiring a minimum of 18 games to qualify for the Premiership not in force until 1888
- Behinds were only occasionally recorded during this season. Behinds did not count towards the final score or in determining the result of matches.
- The percentage column of goals for divided by goals against is included as an indication only.
1877 premiers: Carlton
Prepared and maintained by Andrew Robinson
Author: Andrew Robinson (contact:
andrew at elitetograssroots dot net)
First created: 14
July 2012
Last updated: 9 November 2014
(C) Copyright Andrew Robinson
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.
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