Extract from Chapter 8: ‘The men of mark’ | Melbourne goes Victorian Rules mad
Clearly, Victorian Rules football was not destined to take over the world, or even the whole of Australia. But, in the 1880s, in its booming heartland of Melbourne, nothing could touch it. The city continued to grow at a dizzying rate, with over a quarter of a million people living there in 1880 (just 45 years after its foundation) and nearly half a million by the end of the decade.
Old suburbs expanded, new ones were built, and local industry thrived. Cable trams served the inner suburbs, and steam trains covered the outer ones, helping football fans to flock to games in greater numbers than ever before. In 1880, big matches often drew crowds of around 15,000 (compared with the 6,000 at that year’s FA Cup final). Later in the decade, South Melbourne regularly attracted over 25,000 fans, with a reputed 34,000 at their home game against Geelong in 1886.
The Victorian Football Association started employing neutral umpires in 1883, paying them £1 a week, a generous fee at the time. They were helped, at least in theory, by goal umpires – still chosen by the teams, and not noted for their impartiality. The field umpires were also equipped with whistles by this time, and were relieved of one of their burdens in 1887 when timekeepers were introduced, using large bells to signal the end of each quarter. As in cricket, there was no rule allowing an umpire to dismiss a player from the game. He could punish a serious offence by awarding the match to the opposing team; but this would undoubtedly have been a tough decision to make against the home team in front of a large, belligerent crowd.
Umpires were improving, and so were the players, particularly in their goal-shooting skills. The unpopular little mark was countered slightly by a rule change in 1886, requiring the ball to travel at least two yards before being marked. Tall forwards began to dominate the game, although Geelong found success by making good use of smaller, more agile players who would wait for the ball to emerge from rucks. The club became unofficial champions seven times out of nine from 1878 to 1886, and went unbeaten in their 27 games in the last of those seasons.
The VFA took a tighter grip on proceedings in the run-up to the 1889 season, taking control of fixture planning. The idea was to ensure that every club – especially the poorer ones – had a ‘fair’ schedule. An official league ‘ladder’ was finally introduced, with four points awarded for a win and two for a draw.
As the crowds at VFA matches grew, some observers started to wonder where all the money was going. Some had their suspicions. As competition intensified, clubs came under pressure to hire the best players they could get hold of, and often did so by dubious means. All kinds of inducements were offered to players in attempts to lure them into moving between clubs, or to persuade them to stay where they were. There were spurious or inflated expenses, offers of houses and notional jobs (Fitzroy’s Alf Bushby was officially employed by the club as, among other things, a comedian), prizes for turning up at training, and many other ruses.
Old suburbs expanded, new ones were built, and local industry thrived. Cable trams served the inner suburbs, and steam trains covered the outer ones, helping football fans to flock to games in greater numbers than ever before. In 1880, big matches often drew crowds of around 15,000 (compared with the 6,000 at that year’s FA Cup final). Later in the decade, South Melbourne regularly attracted over 25,000 fans, with a reputed 34,000 at their home game against Geelong in 1886.
The Victorian Football Association started employing neutral umpires in 1883, paying them £1 a week, a generous fee at the time. They were helped, at least in theory, by goal umpires – still chosen by the teams, and not noted for their impartiality. The field umpires were also equipped with whistles by this time, and were relieved of one of their burdens in 1887 when timekeepers were introduced, using large bells to signal the end of each quarter. As in cricket, there was no rule allowing an umpire to dismiss a player from the game. He could punish a serious offence by awarding the match to the opposing team; but this would undoubtedly have been a tough decision to make against the home team in front of a large, belligerent crowd.
Umpires were improving, and so were the players, particularly in their goal-shooting skills. The unpopular little mark was countered slightly by a rule change in 1886, requiring the ball to travel at least two yards before being marked. Tall forwards began to dominate the game, although Geelong found success by making good use of smaller, more agile players who would wait for the ball to emerge from rucks. The club became unofficial champions seven times out of nine from 1878 to 1886, and went unbeaten in their 27 games in the last of those seasons.
The VFA took a tighter grip on proceedings in the run-up to the 1889 season, taking control of fixture planning. The idea was to ensure that every club – especially the poorer ones – had a ‘fair’ schedule. An official league ‘ladder’ was finally introduced, with four points awarded for a win and two for a draw.
As the crowds at VFA matches grew, some observers started to wonder where all the money was going. Some had their suspicions. As competition intensified, clubs came under pressure to hire the best players they could get hold of, and often did so by dubious means. All kinds of inducements were offered to players in attempts to lure them into moving between clubs, or to persuade them to stay where they were. There were spurious or inflated expenses, offers of houses and notional jobs (Fitzroy’s Alf Bushby was officially employed by the club as, among other things, a comedian), prizes for turning up at training, and many other ruses.