Victorian Football Association
Season 1877
Season Notes
VictorianFootball Association formed
TheVictorian Football Association was formed in May 1877.
Seniorclubs
Seniormetropolitan clubs providing delegates to the Association in 1877 were:
== AlbertPark
==Carlton
== Hotham(reformed in 1877, previously North Melbourne)
== Melbourne
== StKilda
Provincialclubs
Seniorprovincial clubs providing delegates to the Association in 1877 were:
==Ballarat
==Barwon
==Geelong
Inaddition, the following clubs provided delegates to the VFA in 1877
==Beechworth
==Castlemaine
== Inglewood
== Rochester
Duringthe period 1877 to 1879, of these four clubs, only Castlemaine played otheraffiliated senior clubs without odds. However, as Castlemaine only played onegame per season, these games are not listed as counting towards thepremiership.
Juniorclubs
In1877 there were three leading junior clubs which subsequently were elevated toSenior status in the following years:
==Essendon (1878)
==West Melbourne (1878)
==South Melbourne (1879)
East Melbourne was aSenior 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 beingelevated to Senior status in 1880.
Itshould be noted being a 'Junior' club was not a reflection of the age of theclub's players, but rather the status of the club.
Juniorclubs would usually be given odds when playing against Senior clubs (mostcommonly 23 or 25 players against 20).
TheVictorian Football Association managed football matters for Junior clubs(including arbitration of disputes) until the formation of the VJFA (VictorianJunior Football Association) in April 1880.
Gamesincluded
Onlygames not played at odds between the affiliated senior Metropolitan clubs andProvincial clubs are listed here.
Theseare the games that effectively decided the Premiership and are the ones used incalculations of the Final Ladder.
Itshould be noted the VFA did not officially endorse a system of ranking the clubsuntil the 1888 season.
Rulesgoverning the game in 1877
Newrules proposed by the VFA werepublished in the Argusfollowing a meeting of club secretaries on 7 May 1877.
Gameswere played in two halves. Four quarters were introduced commencing with the1886 season.
Behindswere infrequently reported in match reports during 1877, so often only goaltotals are listed in results below.
Behindsdid not count towards the final score or in determining the result of matchesuntil 1897.
Results
Round1
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 |
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Round2
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. | ||||
2 June 1877 | St Kilda | 1 | 1 | Venue: St Kilda |
| Albert Park | 1 | 1 | Result: DRAW |
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Round3
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. |
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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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Round4
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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Round5
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. | ||||
Round6
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) | ||||
Round7
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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Round8
7 July 1877 | Carlton | 2 | 5 | Venue: Madeline Street Ground; Attendance: 3000-5000 |
| Hotham | 0 | 0 | Result: Carlton won by 5 goals |
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7 July 1877 | Barwon | 0 | 1 | Venue: Commun na Feine ground, Geelong |
| Albert Park | 1 | 1 | Result: DRAW |
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Round9
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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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' | ||||
Round10
21 July 1877 | St Kilda | - | 0 | Venue: St Kilda |
| Carlton | - | 7 | Result: Carlton won by 7 goals |
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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. | ||||
Round11
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.' | ||||
Round12
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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Round13
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. | ||||
Round14
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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Round15
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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Round16
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' | ||||
Round17
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. |
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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. | ||||
Round18
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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Round19
22 September 1877 | Barwon | 1-4 | 1 | Venue: Geelong Agricultural Showgrounds; Attendance: 3000-4000 |
| Carlton | 0-0 | 0 | Result: Barwon won by 1 goal |
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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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Round20
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 |
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Notes:
ProportionalPoints system (officially used only from the 1888 VFA season onwards) has beenused to rank teams.
-Proportional Points system correlates with the contemporary rankings.
-Games played at odds, or against Junior clubs, and inter-colonial matches not includedin 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 separatelyfrom the metropolitan clubs.
-Rule requiring a minimum of 18 games to qualify for the Premiership not inforce until 1888
-Behinds were only occasionally recorded during this season. Behinds did notcount towards the final score or in determining the result of matches.
-The percentage column of goals for divided by goals against is included as anindication only.
1877 premiers: Carlton
Prepared andmaintained byAndrewRobinson
Author:
First created:
Last updated: 9 November 2014
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